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Here are the games of the top 10 seeded tennis players that will play on Monday at the U.S. Open:

Men’s Seeds
Rafael Nadal (Spain) [1] vs Bjorn Phau (GER)
David Ferrer (Spain) [4] vs Martin V. Arguello (Argentina)
Sergio Roitman (Argentina) vs Andy Murray (Scotland) [6]
Marcos Daniel (Brasil) vs David Nalbandian (Argentina) [7]
James Blake (USA) [9] vs Donald Young

Women’s seeds
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) vs Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) [2]
Shuai Zhang (China) vs Svetlana Kutznetsova (Russia) [3]
Elena Dementieva (Russia) [5] vs Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan)
Vera Zvoraneva (Russia) [8] vs Barbara Zhalova Strycova (Czech Republic)
Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) [10] vs Simone Bolelli (Italy)

For tickets to these and other U.S. Open tennis matches click here.

American James Scott “Jimmy” Connors held the top ranking for 160 consecutive weeks from July 29, 1974 through August 29, 1977 and an additional eight times during his career (a total of 268 weeks). He won eight Grand Slam singles titles (five of them at the U.S. Open) and two Grand Slam doubles titles (one at Wimbledon, one at the U.S. Open) with Ilie Nastase. He was also the mixed doubles runner-up with Chris Evert at the 1974 US Open.

He is considered to be one of the top male tennis players of all time. Also as  former coach of Andy Roddick, he helped the young American become the winner of the 2003 U.S. Open.

Turning pro in 1972, Connors won his first title that year at Jacksonville, FL.  Known for his fiery temperament Connors played more tournaments (401) and won more matches than any other male pro, 1,337-285 (.824), and, in fact, has never officially retired.

He has excelled at the the U.S. Open winning five championships, an open era record shared with Pete Sampras, but Connors was singular in winning on all three surfaces: grass (1974) and clay (1976) at Forest Hills, and hard (1978, 1982 and 1983) at Flushing Meadow. Connors is, therefore, one of only three men (Mats Wilander and Andre Agassi are the others) to have won a Grand Slam singles title on grass, hard, and clay courts.

Beginning in 1974, Connors played in five successive U.S. Open finals, the first man to do so since Bill Tilden between 1918 and 1925. Connors was beaten by Manolo Orantes in the 1975 finals and by Guillermo Vilas in 1977.

Connors was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998 and by the time he finished his career his  total of eight singles majors was second only to Bill Tilden’s 10 among American men, and tied with Fred Perry, Ke Rosewall, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras for fourth on the all-time roll.

Tennis enthusiasts looking for fine dining and premium hospitality services at the 2008 U.S. Open can now purchase the 2008 U.S. Open packages from White Glove International.  

Live the ultimate experience at the 2008 US Tennis Open with White Glove International.  A pass to the largest and most popular tennis event in the United States this summer is just the beginning. Throughout the event, you and your party will be served by White Glove International at the exquisite Aces Restaurant, located on the club level within Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the U.S. Open club.

The U.S. Open Club, which is famous for its striking decor, its grand buffet and American cuisine, is located on the ground floor of Arthur Ashe Stadium and is available to all series ticket holders for the duration of the tournament for a nominal entrance fee, and is included for Silver loge box seat holders.

So call White Glove International at 888-627-0704 and complement your trip to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York with a 2008 U.S. Open tennis package.  With over 10 years of experience providing fans and fortune 500 companies with sports travel packages and corporate hospitality services, White Glove International guarantees to deliver the total US Open Experience.

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Petros “Pete” Sampras is a retired American tennis player that won a record 14 Grand Slam men’s singles titles in 52 appearances.

During his 15-year career Sampras finished as World No. 1 on the ATP rankings for six consecutive years, a record for the open era and tied for third all-time. Sampras won the singles title at Wimbledon seven times, a record shared with William Renshaw. He also won two singles titles at the Australian Open twice and five singles titles at the U.S. Open (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2002) an open era record shared with Jimmy Connors.

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American tennis player John Patrick McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles (three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open), nine Grand Slam men’s doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. He is remembered for his famous rivalries with Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl and for his confrontational on-court behavior.

McEnroe won a total of 155 top-level titles (a record for a male professional) during his career — 84 in singles, 70 in men’s doubles, and 1 in mixed doubles. His career singles match record was 864-194 (81.66%). He won seven Grand Slam singles titles and the season-ending Masters championships three times (1978, 1983, and 1984).

His performance at the U.S. Open was remarkable. He played in five U.S Open finals and won four of them: 1979 against American Vitas Gerulaitis, 1980 against Swede Bjorn Borg, 1981 against Borg once again and 1984 against Czechoslovakia’s Ivan Lendl.

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Total prize money at the U.S. Open will top $20 million for the first time this year, with the men’s and women’s singles champions each earning a tournament-record $1.5 million.

The overall payout of $20.6 million is $1 million more than in 2007, matching the largest single-year jump in the hard-court Grand Slam tournament’s history, the U.S. Tennis Association announced Tuesday.

There also was a $1 million jump in total prize money from 2006 to 2007, when the singles champions’ take rose from $1.2 million to $1.4 million.

Adding in the bonuses available to the leading finishers in the summer circuit U.S. Open Series, the overall prize money could eventually be more than $23 million.

The No. 1 performers in the U.S. Open Series will earn a total of $2.5 million if they win the Grand Slam tournament, which begins Aug. 25.

Last year, Roger Federer won both the summer series and the U.S. Open title, giving him a total payout of $2.4 million — the largest paycheck in tennis history.

(AP)

American tennis player Andre Agassi won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is one of only five male players to have won all four Grand Slam singles titles, but he is the only man to have done so on three different surfaces. He won the Tennis Masters Cup and was part of a winning Davis Cup team. He won 17 ATP Masters Series tournaments, more than any other player.

Agassi thrived at the U.S. Open, an event where he reached the finals six times and managed to win twice in his career (1994, 1999). Agassi could have had more U.S Open titles, but he had to face Pete Sampras, arguably the most dominant player of the 1990’s, on three of those finals and lost all of them.

The last time Agassi reached the U.S Open final was in 2005, when he had to face the player that has pretty much dominated the current decade: Roger Federer. The Swiss beat Agassi in straight sets  (6–3, 2–6, 7–6, 6–1) and won what would be the second of his four straigh titles at the tournament.

Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the U.S. Open. Agassi is currently married to Steffi Graf and has two children.

Oh well, my US Open American dream is over!. With the exit of Andy Roddick in 3 sets 6-7, 6-7, 2-6 -by swiss player and world’s # 1 Roger Federer-, America hopes for an Open win are over…at list in the men’s finals. Even though Andy was fired-up and produced some of his best tennis ever it proved not enough to threaten the phenomenal display by Federer in the US Open quarter final.

This is not saying he has no future in tennis, but like Pete Sampas said once - “Andy’s close, but he’s not quite there,” and “The guys (Federer and Nadal) are getting better and they’re younger. Andy’s going to have to get it going. The next few years are key for him. Read more

If your US Open hopes were to catch a third consecutive match up between the first two ranked tennis players of the world? -I’m sorry to disappoint you- David Ferrer 15th ranked got rid of fellow country man Rafael Nadal (#2) yesterday in a well fought four set game. In a tight match dominated by powerful rallies, where Nadal won the first set before losing 7-6 4-6 6-7 2-6.

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Sixth ranked player James Blake would like 2007 to be his breakthrough year at the Tennis US Open. The 28-year-old American has already participated in seven US Opens. He has reached the quarterfinals each of the last two years.

In 2006, Blake lost to Roger Federer in four sets. Federer was the returning champ. Blake was born December 28, 1979 in Yonkers, New York. He began playing tennis at age 5. He was inspired to pursue the sport after hearing a speech given by his role model Arthur Ashe. Throughout his childhood, he practiced with brother Thomas, who also is currently a pro. Read more