The Olympics are over for the tennis players, and the ATP and WTA circuits move back to North America for the 2012 US Open Series.
This week, women play in Montreal, whereas men play in Toronto.
Thanks to Rick for his pics of last year’s Montreal tournament. Enjoy!
Nicolas Almagro:
The US Open Series is the seven-week summer tennis season linking 10 ATP and WTA tournaments together. The Series leads to the US Open. It is often referred to as the U.S. or North American hard court season.
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 events in Canada and Cincinnati.
Bonus Prize
Players earn points according to their results in the events.
The US Open series gives bonus money to the top three player in the US Open Series, depending on their results at the 2012 US Open and the 2012 US Open Series.
| US Open finish | USO Series 1st place | USO Series 2nd place | USO Series 3rd place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | $1,000,000 | $500,000 | $250,000 |
| Finalist | $500,000 | $250,000 | $125,000 |
| Semifinalist | $250,000 | $125,000 | $62,500 |
| Quarterfinalist | $125,000 | $62,500 | $31,250 |
| Round of 16 | $70,000 | $35,000 | $17,500 |
| Round of 32 | $40,000 | $20,000 | $10,000 |
| Round of 64 | $25,000 | $12,500 | $6,250 |
| Round of 128 | $15,000 | $7,500 | $3,750 |
Last year’s US Open Series winners were Mardy Fish and Serena Williams.
Schedule
| Week | Date | Men’s event | Winner | Women’s event | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 9–15 | No event | Stanford | Serena Williams | |
| 2 | July 16–22 | Atlanta | Andy Roddick | San Diego | Dominika Cibulkova |
| 3 | July 23–29 | Los Angeles | Sam Querrey | No event | |
| 4 | July 30–Aug 5 | Washington DC | Alexandr Dolgopolov | No event | |
| 5 | Aug 6–12 | Toronto | Novak Djokovic | Montreal | Petra Kvitova |
| 6 | Aug 13–19 | Cincinnati | Roger Federer | Cincinnati | Li Na |
| 7 | Aug 20–26 | Winston-Salem | New Heaven |
Thanks to JC for sharing his pics and anecdotes about his 2009 European tour.
Next stop of JC’s European tour: Roland Garros
How do you get into the French Open, sit in the reserved box seats just behind the Tennis Magazine team, and then watch Nadal play live just a few feet away on center court (Court Philipe Chatrier) – all for just 19 Euros?
Answer: Benny Berthet Day. This exhibition day is held each year on the eve of the tournament; the profits are donated to various charities. This is similar to the Arthur Ashe day event held at the US Open annually. The public can attend 1-set matches with most of the top players spread out across the top 3 courts. Many of the French tennis starts come out for kids to get autographs and pictures.
Site: O2 London
Dates: 20-27 November 2011
Surface: Hard
Visit official website
Singles:
– Group A: Novak Djokovic (1), Andy Murray (3), David Ferrer (57), Tomas Berdych (7)
– Group B: Rafael Nadal (2),Roger Federer (4), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (6), Mardy Fish (8)
Doubles:
–Group A: Bob and Mike Bryan (1), Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes (4), Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau (6), and Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner (7).
–Group B: Michael Llodra Nenad Zimonjic (2), Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi (3), Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (5), Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski (8).
