Sam Querrey is one match from his first claycourt title.  His opponent was a bit of a surprise.  Were it not for an incident that occurred a few weeks ago where Wayne Odesnik was found to have smuggled HGH into Australia and potentially faces a ban, no one might have cared that Odesnik was making decent progress at Houston.  Odesnik was born in South Africa, but plays for the US, and is one of the few Americans that prefers the clay, especially the clay of Houston, his favorite event.  He’s only ever reached one ATP final and it was in Houston.  Indeed, it’s the only event he’s reached the semis, which he’s done three times.

Querrey looked like he might be headed to a tough straight set win, winning the first set, 7-6.  However, he lost focus in the second set, 6-1, but managed to recover in the third set to win 7-5 late in the third set.  This set had a huge rally that went more than 20 incredible shots, which ended in Odesnik drop-shotting for a winner.

Querrey’s opponent will be an Argentine, either Juan Ignacio Chela or Horacio Zeballos who upset Fernando Gonzalez, the top seed.

In Casablanca, Morocco, Stanislas Wawrinka needed 3 sets to beat Potito Strarace.  He will face Romanian, Victor Hanescu, who won more easily in straight sets, over Florent Serra.  This will be a good title for either player.  Wawrinka was once in the top 10, but has since had his ranking drop.  Hanescu is Romania’s best player and is looking to improve his ranking.

Next week, the third Masters 1000 of the year starts in Monte Carlo.

The draw for Monte Carlo is already out.  Several players are missing, most notably Roger Federer.  Nikolay Davydenko and Juan Martin del Potro are out due to injuries.  Andy Murray is in, asking and receiving a wildcard, where he had previously decided to skip, but changed his mind. Many Americans have decided to skip Monte Carlo.  Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey, and John Isner are not playing Monte Carlo.

Interestingly, Stanislas Wawrinka and Victor Hanescu, finalists at Casablanca, will meet each other again in the opening round of Monte Carlo.

The big questions people will want answered are: is Djokovic ready to play again?  He reached the finals last year.  Is Nadal ready to win his sixth consecutive title and reclaim his mantle as king of clay?