| 24 August 2010
The U.S. Open men's and women's qualifying draws have been posted. If you're in New York I hear the action is free to go and watch. There are plenty of unknown names sprinkled throughout the draws, but that can lead to some nice surprises I find I always enjoy going to a tournament and finding some fresh faces to discover.
On the men's side Marsel Ilhan from Turkey is the number one seed. Wimbledon marathon man Nicolas Mahut is also in the draw while Kei Nishikori remains a dangerous player to keep an eye on as well.
For Canadian tennis fans we've got three players in the qualifying draw. Peter Polansky recently defeated top-fifteen player Jurgen Melzer in the first round of the Rogers Cup.
Frank Dancevic is normally Canada's top ranked player when healthy but has struggled since returning from a back injury in June. Since then has also missed some time with a gash in his leg that he incurred after running into a scoreboard in Atlanta.
Finally, 19 year old Milos Raonic rounds out the Canuck presence and he represents the future of Canadian tennis. At 6'5'' he has a booming serve and along with partner Vasek Pospisil he defeated the doubles tandem of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the Rogers Cup two weeks ago.
Looking at the women's qualifying draw reveals a few more recognizable names. While Akqul Amanmuradova might not be a household name as the number one seed, people like Jelena Dokic, Laura Robson, Mirjana Lucic, Michaella Krajicek and Sania Mirza should all ring a bell.
Valerie Tetreault, Heidi El Tabakh, Sharon Fichman, Rebecca Marino and Stephanie Dubois ensure a strong Canadian contingent.
Qualifiers must win three matches in a row to advance to the main draw.
The main draw's themselves will be announced at 12:30pm ET on Thursday August 26th. Stay tuned for more U.S. Open coverage at Tennis Diary.
Also, don't forget to follow me on Twitter for regular updates throughout the tournament.
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