Much like Queen’s, nearly all the seeds lost (Newport only has 8 seeds), including top seed, Sam Querrey.  The only remaining seeds were Olivier Rochus, 4th seed, and Mardy Fish, 5th seed.  Fish’s ranking has dropped some since he last played.  He was the top seed last year, but left the tournament to play Davis Cup.

Although Fish reached the finals at Queen’s, his ranking isn’t quite up high as he’d like.  But with a relatively weak field, Fish faced Frank Dancevic of Canada, who has been on the tour for a few years now, and won it in three close sets: 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4.

The other American hopeful, Ryan Harrison, is an up-and-comer, but is still waiting for a breakthrough.  Reaching the quarters is a pretty good result.  However, playing unheralded Richard Bloomfield, a qualifier from the UK, Harrison had hoped to reach the semifinals of an ATP event.  Quick.  Is Bloomfield an up-and-coming talent from Britain, or has he been on the tour for some number of years?  The answer is the second.  He’s 27 years old, has never broken the top 100 in his career, and primarily plays Challengers.  Although Harrison took the first set, 7-5, Bloomfield came back to take the second set in a tiebreak, 7 points to 3.  Bloomfield then took the third set, 7-5.

This is one of those losses that newcomers to the tours face quite often.  They play well in the juniors, but find a savvy veteran who may not have accomplished a lot as a pro, but has picked up some skills over years of play.  Bloomfield beat Christophe Rochus in the first round.  This win, by the way, has drawn the attention of tennis authorities who have noticed unusual betting patterns that lead some to suspect Rochus may have tanked the match to make money.  Bloomfield is ranked in the 500s, while Christophe is ranked about 160 in the world.  I suppose Bloomfield is making the most of this by continuing to advance in the draw.

Yesterday, Christophe’s brother, Olivier, beat Raven Klaasen 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semifinals.  He will meet Brian Dabul of Argentina in the semifinals.  Dabul beat Jamaican Dustin Brown in straight sets.

Tournaments like this are filled with players trying to make a name for themselves, much like Rajeev Ram did last year, without a lot of top players making it difficult.  On the one hand, you see players like Mardy Fish, once a top 20 player, trying to win a title.  Olivier Rochus is somewhat in the same boat at Fish.  On the other, you see Ryan Harrison and Denis Kudla trying to get a big win in their young career.  And then you have players like Richard Bloomfield or Dustin Brown that are looking for a career highlight, going deep in a ATP 250 event.

Not everyone who plays tennis can try for number 1.  Some do what they can just to have a good week, and that might be qualifying for the main draw, or getting past the first round, or occasionally, just maybe, reach deep into a small tournament.