I am Sam

Sam Querrey is really on the breakthrough this summer. Right after Wimbledon, the US boy reached three finals in a row, winning the title in Los Angeles. In Cincinnati he knocked out world No.5 Andy Roddick. Now, by virtue of reaching the quarterfinal stage in New Haven, he clinched the win in the US Open Series Championship. This means, whatever he earns at US Open, it will be doubled.

I am Sam - US Open Series 2009 champ - Querrey

The ranking of the Series is based on 10 tournaments, that are being played before the US Open. Querrey's win over Bjorn Phau leaves him with 145 points, equaling Andy Murray's result, but because the American has clinched 14 wins this summer, he'll get past the Brit in the standings.

“The most pressure I felt all summer was probably today, knowing that if I won it, I would win (the series) and if I didn’t it was third place. I don’t think if Federer is 15 points away from winning, or Nadal, I don’t think they’re going to take a wild card into this tournament and say, ‘Hey, if I get to the quarterfinals, I’m going to win that. But, I’m going to.” - he said

friends off-court, rivals on-court

Leading the woman's US Open Series championship is Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, but she still hasn't sealed that victory. Should Flavia Pennetta win the New Haven title, she would overtake the Russian. The Italian is the in-form player of this summer, capturing two titles (Palermo, Los Angeles) and several huge wins over marquee players (Venus Williams, Sharapova, Zvonareva and Petrova) and finally breaking the Italian curse, by being the first Italian Woman to have ever reached the top 10.

~jachal