Scottsdale Open Qualifiers

Yesterday, Jean and I went to the Scottsdale Open at the Fairmont Princess Resort in Scottsdale to watch the qualifying rounds. We did this primarily because it is free :), but also because Jean had never been to a professional tournament before. Of course, neither had I until a few years ago when Christi took me to this very same tournament. Anyway, we watched the qualifiers play. For those who don’t know, the qualifiers are the guys who were not officially invited to the tournament because they aren’t ranked high enough. However, they play a couple days ahead of the tournament, and if they win enough, they get one of the four qualifying spots and a chance to play the big boys :). We saw at least 3 matches yesterday, including Michael Kohlmann and Frank Dancevic v. Rajeev Ram. Kohlmann and Dancevic got in. They will have their hands full however since Spadea, and Haas here, among others. We also saw James Blake warming up for doubles while we were wandering around. He looks a lot taller than the 6’1 his profile says he is (or else he was practicing with a bunch of shorties) All in all, pretty cool.