query question

[Tom Smith]

Here is my problem... echo "$userx"; provides me with correct username from my database e.g. tom1, but when I do query I got no results... if I replace '$userx' with "tom1" all works fine..
Very appreciate your help..

<?php

$user_report_A = $_POST['user_report_A'];

$userx = "$user_report_A" ;
echo "$userx";

include 'db.php';
$query = "Select * FROM database WHERE username = '$userx'";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error());
$row = mysql_fetch_array( $result);


$user_first_name = $row['first_name'];
$user_last_name = $row['last_name'];


echo "$user_first_name";

?>