Is it worth playing a tennis tournament the week before a Slam?  One player that has a habit of playing up to a Slam is Fernando Verdasco.  Last year, Verdasco played the Pilot Pen Classic the week before the US Open and beat Sam Querrey to win the title.  He reached the quarterfinals of the US Open losing to Novak Djokovic.  Sam Querrey lost in the 3rd round to Robin Soderling so, at the very least, he got as far as he was expected to go.

While players like Robin Soderling and Gael Monfils have already lost in the Open de Nice, Verdasco has found himself in the finals against unseeded Richard Gasquet.  Verdasco beat Leonard Mayer, 7-6(3), 7-5 in one semi while Richard Gasquet beat Potito Starace 7-6(1), 7-6(8).  This should give Gasquet confidence heading into the French where he opens with the 4th seed, Andy Murray.

The finals of the ARAG World Team Cup is also set with the US playing Argentina.  Sam Querrey will play Juan Monaco while Robby Ginepri will play Horacio Zeballos.  The likelihood is Querrey will need to beat Monaco for the US to win as Ginepri is probably not strong enough to beat Zeballos.  It’s not clear why Isner is not playing the other singles.  One would imagine the French Open would make accommodations for Isner to play later in just such a situation.