...But Americans can play

Last week, I tore into the American style of tennis. I said that they are over-dependent on their serves and they lack the tools to compensate for a bad serving day.

In Memphis, Sam Querrey served 53 percent and was still able to overcome fellow American John Isner, who served 65 percent. Querrey was also out-aced 19 to 17. With experience, Querrey has developed a superior ground game and that was on display throughout the tournament. See a recap of the match at http://www.memphistennis.com/news/story-63.

Querrey outlasted Andy Roddick earlier in the tournament, triumphing 6-1 in the third set. Breaking Roddick once is a task in itself, and Querrey was able to do it three times on only four chances. Querrey may have been a threat at the Australian Open if it weren't for a laceration on his arm that kept him short of full strength.

Not only did Querrey win the hard-court singles title, he went home with a doubles crown too. His partner. . . none other than Isner. They won in straight sets.

Where do they get their height? Not their moms.

Querrey has played doubles in four tournaments this year, coming out victorious in two of those. In the other two, the established team of Dlouhy and Paes were too much to handle.

In other news in Memphis, Maria Sharapova showed that she could shake off her lackluster performance at the Australian Open. She cruised through a relatively easy field with little trouble, winning the final while only dropping three games.

A possible developing story on the men's side is the progression of Ernests Gulbis. If you haven't heard of him or haven't seen him play then you might be in for a treat this year. Gulbis has all the potential in the world, but hasn't quite found the mindset to rise to the top.

In Memphis, Gulbis upset Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych in consecutive rounds before falling to Querrey. Gulbis snagged a set off a former talented underachiever, Roger Federer. Once Federer gained control of his shots and mind, he has risen to greatness. Is Gulbis headed in that direction? See Gulbis' profile at http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Ernests-Gulbis.aspx?t=pa.

I believe that Gulbis is the next Jo-Wilifried Tsonga. I predicted Tsonga's rise to the top before he went to the Australian Open semifinal in 2008.

Gulbis will vault his way into the upper echelon of tennis, starting with a deep run at the French Open, maybe reaching the quarterfinals. He will follow that up with a solid performance at Wimbledon, falling to a top five ranked player in the fourth round. The young Latvian is my Player to Watch.