PICK A NAME ...ANY NAME
I may be starting to sound like a broken record, but as each big tournament approaches the potential winner is as hard to pick as the last tournament. And it has been like this since Jonathon Power and Peter Nicol left the scene over the last 12months. Mind you, their dominance had decreased in 2005 as more and more up-and-coming young turks chalked up victories over that wonderful pair as age finally caught up with them.

Not that this situation brings any complaints from me (except when I have to pay out on bets foolishly made). In former times, I could go down the draw and more or less know who would be playing who in the semis and the probable winners. That may be possible now in the first round with the qualifiers usually acting as the first round fodder, but once into the second round each match becomes a must-see in case of upsets. For spectators who used to buy in only at the quarter- finals stage for the exciting matches, this means they can start at the second round where they will almost certainly witness some great matches.

MOVE OVER JAMES ... HERE COME RAMY
James Willstrop was the young star over the last two years but Egypt's Ramy Ashour has taken over that title after sensationally carving his way through the field in Hong Kong to reach the final.

His progress after winning the world junior crown for the second time has been quite fantastic and has shot him into the top ten in the November rankings, although he is seeded only 11 in Boston. Although he joined the tour barely three years ago, Ashour has reached five finals, winning one - not bad for kids still in his teens.

WILLSTROP vs ASHOUR? YES PLEASE.
He gets a qualifier in the first round and then probably meets Anthony Ricketts. Should he beat Ricketts he could well face Willstrop and that will be a match to watch now that Willstrop has got over his injuries If it does happen I hope there are some cameras around to catch a meeting of two incredibly talented young players.

I shall be watching Nick Matthew who is playing with increased confidence after his victories in the Gerrard and British Open. I expect him to meet Amr Shabana in the quarters and it will interesting to see if that confidence translates into a real challenge to the current world number one.

In the lower half of the draw David Palmer, seeded two, has Lee Beachill, Thierry Lincou, Stu Boswell and Gregory Gaultier. Beachill is still trying to find his top form: he won this tournament last year beating Palmer, but since then has had disappointing results and has reached just one final, the Hungarian Open, where he lost to Gaultier. Indeed, even semifinal appearances have been hard to make in the last year.

On the other hand Stu Boswell has started to pick up some big scalps, suggesting he is back to the standard he was before injury put him out for a year. He will need to play well in the second round against Thierry Lincou, a match that is sure to last a long time as both players prefer a rhythmic game with just the occasional squib to break up the rhythm.

WATCH THE QUALIFIERS
There is always something to see in the qualifying tournament and the top six qualifiers have some interesting recent history.

Alister Walker, the 24 year old Englishman has finally come good and jumped up 12 places to 32 in the world as a results of two fine wins: beating Azlan Iskander in the Cathay Pacific and a 3/0 win over Peter Barker in Hungary. Both players ranked well above him
which suggests that Walker has entered another level of play.

Canadian Shawn DeLierre has also increased his performance in the last six months and is beginning to chalk up victories against decent opposition. The incredibly tough Mexican Eric Galvez is always a threat and should start his breakthrough. As the US Open is now a 32 man draw, it means there is room for eight qualifiers and Galvez will surely be among them. Julian Illingworth, lone waver of the Stars and Stripes is ranked sixth in the qualifying and he should, considering his full-time status and new Brit residency, have no trouble making the main draw.

Another Englishman, Darry Selby is the second seeded qualifier and has yet to make the breakthrough with a notable scalp. He is ranked one above Netherland's Dylan Bennett, a very talented player, who, as a junior, showed wonderful racket skills and was good enough to take the European Junior title. Results in the senior ranks have not been spectacular - which disappoints me as I predicted big things for him.

A NEW STAGE
This year the tournament moves again, this time to a theatre. John Nimick, EventEngine's driving force, had so much success in moving the Pace Canadian Classic to a Toronto theatre earlier this year, that he thought he would try the same thing for the US Open. This
tournament has always been the Cinderella of Nimick's trio. While the Canadian Classic has always found good sponsorships and the Tournament Champions in New York has always been well funded, the US Open has struggled. Well it seems this year the money has been found and now matches the $75,000 prize pot of the other two tournaments. This means that Nimick is now responsible for almost a quarter million dollars on the PSA circuit. I do hope the PSA and the players appreciate just how much work that entails. But when is a major US Corporation going to come along and put a pile of money into the US Open?
Or come to that take Nimick's three tournaments and have their own, say, Cadillac Grand Prix Series, a move that would raise the profile of all three tournaments and give Cadillac (or whoever) a unique promotional vehicle.

I will be in Boston on Friday to see the qualifying draw and start of qualifying action at Harvard University. There will be full reports, interviews and Deborah Tessier's marvelous photographs, so keep logged on to Squashtalk.