Sampras steals the show

"I regret it a lot, especially on the clay. I would have loved to play with a bigger racket where you develop so much more power and spin way behind the court. I used the one racket with the same specs my whole career and at the end it started to catch up with me, playing [Andy] Roddick with the big Babolat and serving at 140 mph. If I would have continued to play, I would have had to change and not been so stubborn and be creative about it. Jose Higueras recommended it at the end and I said, 'No.' At least I should have tried it."

Jesse Levine moves up the ladder
In ATP matches, wild-card Jesse Levine, a former hitting partner Roger Federer's, took out Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Levine will face James Blake in the second round.

Levine has yet to make a major name for himself amongst the younger US set, but he appears to be a comer. He's about the same height as the better-known Donald Young and shares the same slight build. Both are lefties, but Young was a junior stud and Levine was standout for the Univ. of Florida, where in his sole year there, he went undefeated in dual matches.

"I really felt in order for my game to improve that I needed to play guys who are a lot better," Levine said. "I was ready to take it to the next level and I've been doing that. It was hard to leave my friends and coaches, but I had to do it."

A Nick Bollettieri Academy-product, Levine has been working hard on his fitness, serve and backhand. He's a match player, saying that it's when he gets in a ton of hours on court is when he tends to peak.

"I had a really good fall and had my first Grand Slam win in Australia," said Levine, who is hoping to crack the Top 100 by the time the summer Slams roll around. "I went to Vienna for Davis Cup as a practice partner and I got a lot of experience there. One day I played four sets. It was a lot of fun, but my body was sore. The guys are so cool."

In his brief stint in the pros, where he's won two Challengers, Levine has learned one crucial difference between the juniors and the pros. "There's no room for mental lapses and the top guys will bounce on that."

Fifth-seed Hyung-Taik Lee pulled out of the tournament with a back injury and was replaced by Wayne Odesnik, who outlasted Young 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. Make that two straight-set, early losses for Young at Delray Beach and San Jose, a time of the year when he should be peaking.

DOUBLING THE SERIES
The USTA has been considering developing a US Open style winter/spring series, which may not be a bad idea considering what's happening with the run-up events to Indian Wells and Miami. Only the SAP Open in San Jose sports both Andy Roddick and Blake, the two biggest American draws. Delray Beach, which was played last week, featured Blake, US veterans Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri and Vince Spadea, plus the US kids Sam Querrey and Young. None of those guys can pack the house.

Then there's smattering of Europeans, South Americans and Asians, few who draw decent crowds. Haas, a longtime Florida resident, is a fixture in the mini-circuit, but he's not a large ticket seller. Radek Stepanek, who won LA last year, is playing San Jose and is likely headed to Memphis, too. He's a delightful player to watch when he's on, but he's not a big draw, either. Memphis' sole name player is Blake. The Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas doesn't even have Blake, who won the title two years ago and was involved in last year's round-robin fiasco. The TCO's main man is Lleyton Hewitt, at best a marginal draw these days. They are hoping that Marat Safin recovers from the flu and his toe injury and adds some flavor to the event. If not, like Memphis, they can expect mediocre crowds at best.

US tournaments need at least two high profile players to succeed and then buttress those men with the youngsters and the eclectic mix of veterans from both home and abroad. Indian Wells and Miami get all the world's best, so they don't have to worry about if their marquee guy goes down. But with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic not willing to leave Europe (except for the near mandatory flight to Dubai in two weeks time) until Indian Wells and many of the standout clay courters outside of Nadal plying their trade in South America, the US fields are pretty thin.

Imagine this: Roddick, America's No. 1 attraction, is skipping Memphis and Las Vegas and will instead play Dubai for what has to be at least a $200,000 guarantee. That's a huge blow to those American tournaments, which obviously couldn't have come up with Dubai money, but could have come up with something decent. Does that matter to Andy?

So what if next year, Blake joins Roddick and bails on Memphis? What if Hewitt has another humdrum year and isn't even worth a guarantee in Vegas. Who steps in until some of the US youngsters come around? Maybe its time to bring in Jim Courier and his senior tour to mix in with the small ATP Tour events in the States and give them a few recognizable names to hang their hats on. It worked for San Jose on Monday and may have to work for other events in the very near future.

© TennisReporters.net 2008