United States Open Series
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The US Open Series is the six-week summer tennis "season" linking 10 ATP Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments together. The Series leads to the U.S. Open.
It was organized in 2004 as a way to focus more attention on American tennis tournaments by getting more of them on domestic television. Until 2004, most summer North American tournaments were not on television, the exceptions being the highly televised ATP Masters Series events in Canada and Cincinnati.
The eight non-Masters tournaments now enjoy about 50 hours of television combined -- about two hours on each day of their final weekends, chiefly on ESPN2, which is where ESPN shows its tennis programming. NBC (The RCA Championships), CBS, and The Tennis Channel also cover portions of The Series. Canada and Cincinnati continue to be televised from beginning to end, with approximately 60 hours of television time between them.
Players earn points according to their results in the events; points awarded at ATP Master Series and WTA Tier I events are doubled. The male and female player with the highest point totals each earn double the prize money at the U.S. Open, players with the second highest point totals increase their prize money by 50%, and players with the third highest point totals receive a 25% increase. Lleyton Hewitt and Lindsay Davenport were the top point-getters in 2004, and Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters won in 2005.
Although Roddick was upset in the first round against Gilles Müller at the Open, Clijsters became the first person to win $2.2 million (the largest payday ever in women's sports) by beating Frenchwoman Mary Pierce in straight sets: 6-3, 6-1.
Contents |
[edit] Winners
| Year | Men | Women |
| 2004 | Image:Flag of Australia.svg Lleyton Hewitt (Final) | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Lindsay Davenport (Semi-final) |
| 2005 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Andy Roddick (First round) | Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Clijsters (Champion) |
| 2006 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Andy Roddick (Final) | Image:Flag of Serbia (state) (bordered).svg Ana Ivanović (Fourth round) |
- Result at U.S. Open of same year between brackets.
[edit] 2006 Tournament Schedule
| Week | Men's Events - Total Purse - Draw Size | Women's Events - Total Purse - Draw Size |
|---|---|---|
| #1 July 17-23 | Indianapolis - $600,000 - 48 Draw RCA Championships | - |
| #2 July 24-30 | Los Angeles - $500,000 - 32 Draw Countrywide Classic | Stanford - $600,000 - 28 Draw Bank of the West Classic |
| #3 July 31-August 6 | Washington, D.C. - $500,000 - 48 Draw Legg Mason Tennis Classic Presented by Geico | San Diego - $1,340,000 - 56 Draw Acura Classic, a WTA Tier I Event |
| #4 August 7-13 | Toronto - $2,450,000 - 64 Draw Rogers Cup Presented by American Express, an ATP Masters Event | Los Angeles - $600,000 - 56 Draw JPMorgan Chase Open |
| #5 August 14-20 | Cincinnati - $2,450,000 - 64 Draw Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, an ATP Masters Event | Montreal - $1,340,000 - 56 Draw Rogers Cup Presented by National Bank, a WTA Tier I Event |
| #6 August 21-27 | New Haven - $675,000 - 48 Draw Pilot Pen Tennis Presented by Michelob ULTRA | New Haven - $600,000 - 28 Draw Pilot Pen Tennis Presented by Michelob ULTRA |
[edit] Points Distribution
| Round | ATP Master Series/WTA Tier I Tournaments | ATP International Series/WTA Tier II Tournaments |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | 100 | 50 |
| Finalist | 70 | 35 |
| Semifinalist | 45 | 22 |
| Quarterfinalist | 25 | 12 |
| Round of 16 | 15 | N/A |
[edit] 2006 Standings (Top 3)
[edit] Men
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[edit] Women
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Note: Only players with points in two US Open Series events are eligible for the final standings.
[edit] 2005 Final Standings (Top 3)
[edit] Men
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[edit] Women
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[edit] 2004 Final Standings (Top 3)
[edit] Men
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[edit] Women
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- * Hewitt and Davenport finish first in final standings based on more match wins in US Open Series Events.
[edit] External links
