Sam Querrey Day

Today marks the beginning of the Ojai tournament, a conglomeration of junior, college and open tennis that tops my list of tournaments-I-would-love-to-attend-but-haven't.
Sam Querrey is the top seed in the men's division, and Rhiannon Potkey of the Ventura County Star has a tournament preview here. But after she wrote that story, she followed with two others about Querrey. This one centers on his normal life, and the balance he's been able to strike between tennis and regular teenage activities.

The second one is absolutely a must-read for anyone who cares about junior and college tennis. Called The College Conundrum, Potkey explores Querrey's still-unmade decision about whether he will enter USC or skip college to begin playing professionally. Free registration is required, but do it, you be glad you did. Potkey quotes players, coaches, the USTA, his parents, each giving their opinion on the complex issue of the implications of playing college tennis.

I believe I mentioned a few weeks back that I went to the Davis Cup at Rancho Mirage for the opportunity to ask James Blake about Querrey for a much shorter story I'm writing for Tennis Magazine. (Potkey quotes portions of the answer he gave me in her story). When I interviewed Querrey a few days after that, he told me he would probably decide in the next month or two, because he felt the waiting much longer would be too distracting.

Most readers of zootennis know I think college should be the first choice, but I also feel that each case has its own set of factors to be weighed. How those factors tip the scales to one or the other can only be decided by the person who will live the life.