Young Guns Seek To Wrest Crown In Mens Singles Clash

Questions abound as the U.S. Open Mens Singles Championship gets under way on Aug. 27, winding up on Sept. 9, at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.
A good deal of pre-Open hype centers around Andy Roddick, an 18-year-old player from Boca Raton, Fla. He has been called the No. 1 curiosity in mens tennis. Has it changed him?
"I know he hasnt changed," Blanche Roddick, Andys mother, said with a smile. "His room is still a mess."
Theres a large crop of young contenders waiting to put an end to the Agassi-Sampras reign in the U.S. But Roddick, Taylor Dent and Mardy Fish are the standouts on the Tours youthful roster.
Roddick et al know about the meteoric rise of then 19-year-old Mark Philippoussis. He made the leap from No. 307 to No. 32 in 1995 with his legendary 140-mile-an-hour serve. Since then, the Austrian star has been hampered by injuries. Roddicks star appears on the rise since jumping from No. 325 to No. 27 last week.
Dent, 20, is in the same league with Philippoussis serve.
The "kids" face a wealth of talent including three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, who is the No. 1 ranked player in the ATPs 52-week rollover entry system. Kuerten, who ended 2000 as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, won the French Open for a third time in June, defeating Spains Alex Corretja in the final.
Kuerten is following No. 3 ranked and defending champion Marat Safin of Russia. Last year, Safin won his first Grand Slam singles title and defeated Sampras in the U.S. Open final.
Other strong contenders include Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Roger Federer of Switzerland.
Four players with special protected rankings due to injury — No. 57 Magnus Larsson of Sweden, No. 67 Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, No. 80 Martin Damm of the Czech Republic and No. 89 Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark — are also entered in the tournament.
Americans winning direct entry into this years tournament include No. 18 Jan-Michael Gambill of Spokane, No. 29 Todd Martin of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., No. 93 Michael Russell of Ponte Vedra and No. 98 Chris Woodruff of Knoxville.
Other wild card entrants include:
Hugo Armando, 23, of Bradenton, Fla., recently broke into the top 100 of the ATP entry-system rankings with his first ATP quarter final showing at Kitzbuhel, Austria.
James Blake, 21, of Fairfield, CT., made the top 100 with a third-round showing at the Tennis Masters Series in Cincinnati where he defeated reigning Australian Open finalist Arnaud Clement.
Bob Bryan, 23, of Camarillo, Calif., has advanced through the qualifying rounds at four events this year and holds a victory over Nicolas Escude in France.
Rob Ginepri, 18, was runner-up to Andy Roddick at the 2000 U.S. Open junior championships and has qualified for three ALLTP events this year.