Wimbledon may be over for another year but the grass court swing experiences one final fling for 2011 with the Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships in Newport.
Newport hosts the sole grass-court event in the States, the location of the first ever US National Lawn Tennis Championships, way back in 1881. The town is most commonly known for its International Tennis Hall of Fame museum but around this time of the year it's a hotspot for the tour's serve-volley exponents.
They are a dying breed these days but Newport is one of the few venues on the circuit where they still flourish. Fast, low bouncing grass-courts mean that baseline play is not really an option, music to the ears for the likes of top seed John Isner.
Isner is bidding to reach his first ATP grass-court final this week and the 6'9 American will be strong favourite. The next highest ranked player is Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov at 62 in the world.
Watch out for Tommy Haas. The former world number two and Wimbledon semi-finalist continues his comeback from right hip surgery. However Haas has lost all three of his matches since returning at the French Open and is unlikely to feature strongly this week.
Keep an eye out for Olivier Rochus who took Novak Djokovic to five sets at Wimbledon 2010 and is always dangerous on grass. Ryan Harrison is also worth a watch. The teenage American prospect reached the quarters as a wildcard last year and has enjoyed some impressive results in 2011. He starts against the veteran Arnaud Clement.
