Nick is awfully proud, but or course he was hard at work no sooner than he got home, out on the hard courts of the indoor center. The only sign of his trip was a shopping bag with a big Lego-toy box sticking out of it. Among the pros here this week are Jelena Jankovc, Vera Zvonareva, Sabine Applemans, Taylor Dent. . . Tommy Haas and Kei Nishikori are enroute. And while I was lollygagging around, Ryan Harrison arrived, fresh from his big win at the USTA training center in Boca Raton, across the state.
The USTA has a reciprocity wild-card agreement with the Australian Open, so Harrison's win over Jesse Levine in the final guaranteed him a main-draw berth in the first Grand Slam of the year. The boy is stoked. I spent some time with Ryan this afternoon, and will report on that in the coming days. He's a fine prospect, working his way up toward the pro tour the old-fashioned way - through Futures and Challengers and qualifying events.
Tomorrow, I hope to get together with Jelena Jankovic and maybe Taylor Dent. Then I'm back in New York early Friday.
-- Pete