Monday, August 3, 2009

US Open Series' Lackluster Start

We're into the third week of the US Open Series i.e. the tennis tournaments leading up to the US Open and it's been kinda missing something... like its top players.

The top four men and the number one woman have so far not participated in any of the US Open series tournaments. Federer is no doubt still enjoying the company of his new daughters while Nadal is still taking of his injured knees. Safina played and won an even last week, but it wasn't part of the US Open Series.

With their absence, others have stepped up. Robby Ginepri won at Indianapolis with Sam Querrey as the runner-up. Querrey followed that up by winning against qualifier Carsten Ball at the LA Tennis Open. In the women's side Marion Bartoli won the Bank of the West Classic by beating Venus Williams. Serena was ousted in the quarterfinals by Sam Stosur, but Serena and Venus teamed up for yet another doubles win.


So as of today, Sam Querrey and Marion Bartoli are on top of the standings. The top three finishers of the US Open Series will have a chance to play for bonus money at the US Open. The player to top the standings will have a chance to win more than $1 million in bonus money if they win the US Open. Only two players have done this, Kim Clisters in 2005 and Roger Federer in 2007.

Looking forward, this week Dinara Safina heads the ladies at the LA Women's Tennis Championships as fifth-ranked Andy Roddick and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro lead the men at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. After that will be the Cincinatti and Canadian tournaments were ALL of the top players are expected to attend including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The US Open starts August 31st at Flushing Meadows, New York where Serena Williams and Roger Federer are defending champions.

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