Clijsters Claims Lead in US Open Series Bonus Challenge Standings
Following Win Over Venus Williams in Bank of the West Final
Agassi Jumps To Second Place In Men’s Standings After Winning Mercedes-Benz Cup
Andre Agassi defeated Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the Mercedes-Benz Cup at the Los Angeles Tennis Center today to claim his 60th career singles title and move into second place in the 2005 US Open Series Bonus Challenge Standings after two weeks of play.
Kim Clijsters won her third Bank of the West Classic singles title in the past five years with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Venus Williams in today's final at Stanford, Calif. By capturing the first women's event of the 2005 US Open Series, Clijsters takes the lead in the US Open Series Bonus Challenge Standings. Williams is in second place, 15 points behind Clijsters.
Robby Ginepri, who won the men's opener last week in RCA Championships in Indianapolis and was a quarterfinalist in Los Angeles, continues in first place in the men's standings. He leads Agassi by 13 points.
The men's and women's winners of the US Open Series will compete for double prize money at the 2005 US Open. The US Open Series leaders after Week Two are as follows:
2005 US Open Series Bonus Challenge Standings (as of July 31, 2005)
Position - Men’s Standings - Points
1. Robby Ginepri, USA - 48
2. Andre Agassi, USA - 35
3. Taylor Dent, USA - 28
4. Gilles Muller, LUX - 24
5. (T) Karol Beck, GBR - 18
Greg Rusedski, GBR - 18
7. (T) Juan Ignacio Chela, ARG - 15
Dominik Hrbaty, SVK - 15
Position - Women’s Standings - Points
1. Kim Clijsters, BEL - 50
2. Venus Williams, USA - 35
3. (T) Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER - 22
Patty Schnyder, SUI - 22
5. (T) Iveta Benesova, CZE - 12
Nathalie Dechy, FRA - 12
Daniela Hantuchova, SVK - 12
Jelena Jankovic, SCG - 12
Next on the US Open Series: The US Open Series continues this week with the women playing at the Acura Classic in San Diego, which joined the US Open Series earlier this year. The men head east to Washington, D.C. for the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. ESPN2 will provide 12 hours of live coverage from both events starting with quarterfinal action Friday. The men's final will air at 3 p.m. ET Sunday followed by the women's final at 5 p.m. The Tennis Channel will provide 20 hours of additional coverage throughout the week.
The US Open Series is the eight-week summer tennis season linking 10 major ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments to the US Open. The US Open Series launched in 2004, and resulted in record attendance and TV viewership with over 200 live broadcast hours. In total, the US Open Series events - - including the US Open - - generated a record 1.5 million attendees, 126 million TV viewers and over 15 million website visits. Lindsay Davenport and Lleyton Hewitt won the inaugural US Open Series.