The format of the U.S. Open is that one must break from the box. There have been MANY discussions between the players as to what has been working for them.
When Earl Strickland was playing against Timothy Hall, he said out of 11 games, there were 10 games in which he did not make a ball on the break. Keith McCready struggled with making balls on the break as well when he was playing against Shane from South Dakota. Earl Strickland was watching part of the match between Keith and Shane, and he suggested to Keith to shorten up his stroke when breaking. The next match, Keith took Earl's advice, and it did seem to help a little.
Shawn Putnam made three 9-balls in a row and almost made a fourth, leaving it hanging in the jaws of the pocket during one match several days ago.
Several players said that they were using the "cut break," and the way it was explained to me was that you place the cue-ball on one side of the box and aim for the 1-ball on the opposite side from the cue-ball placement, using low inside english.
Rob Saez was breaking with an open-hand bridge which seemed to work for him.
Since the break is such a big part of the game of 9-ball, there are many breaking strategies. How to execute them consistently, though, is the $64,000 question.
JAM