Olympus US Open Series Showcases Top Players
The 2010 Olympus US Open Series (OUSOS) will again stage the world's top tennis players as they compete in a string of events that lead up to the season ending US Open Grand Slam. The OUSOS lasts for six weeks, not including the two week finale at Flushing Meadows. The series is a platform for the very best in tennis and is a collection of 10 men's and women's tournaments including Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto and Montreal. The events are linked all throughout the United States, starting with the men in Atlanta, Georgia and finishing in New Haven. The only non-US stops are the two Rogers Cup events.
If a player happens to win both the OUSOS and the US Open, they are granted a bonus purse. This has only happened once in both men's and women's tennis. In 2007, Roger Federer collected the biggest paycheck in tennis history as he was awarded $2.4 million for winning the US Open and the Olympus US Open Series. In 2005, Kim Clijsters accomplished the same feat and was granted $2.2 million dollars which is the largest women's purse in the history of tennis. That same year, Clijsters was also the champion at Rogers Cup and went on to become the No.1 player in the world.
Along with Federer and Clijsters, former OUSOS champions have included Rafael Nadal, Dinara Safina, Andy Roddick, Ana Ivanovic, Lleyton Hewitt, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and last year's champions, Sam Querrey and Elena Dementieva. In 2009, Dementieva also won the Rogers Cup title, but was not able to carry the momentum as she lost in the second round of the US Open.
Week One of the OUSOS has just been completed as the men kicked it all off at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Mardy Fish won the event, defeating John Isner 4-6, 6-5, 7-6(4) in the final. Fish has now won back-to-back ATP World Tour titles as he was also the champion at Newport the previous week. Fish now holds the No.1 position on the OUSOS standings and Isner is currently ranked second, but that could quickly change when the men take on the Farmers Classic during Week Two in Los Angeles. The women are also scheduled to play this week in California at the Bank of the West Classic, where Marion Bartoli will compete to defend her title at this event.