DEFENDING CHAMP KIM CLIJSTERS WINS FIRST US OPEN SERIES WOMEN’S EVENT
TOMMY HAAS WINS MEN’S EVENT IN LOS ANGELES -- BLAKE AND HAAS TIED FOR LEAD IN US OPEN SERIES
Sunday, July 30 -- Defending US Open Series Champion Kim Clijsters won her fourth Bank of the West Classic singles title in the past six years with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Patty Schnyder in today’s final in Stanford, Calif. By capturing the first women’s event of the 2006 US Open Series, Clijsters takes the lead in the US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge.
Tommy Haas won the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles for the second time in his career with a tight three-set victory over Dmitry Tursunov. The win gives Haas 50 points in the US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge and moves him into a tie for first place with James Blake, who captured the season-opening RCA Championships last week.
Andy Roddick, who was runner-up to Blake in Indianapolis and reached the quarterfinals this week before withdrawing with a back injury, is in third place with 47 points.
Last year Clijsters collected the biggest paycheck in women’s sports, $2.2 million, by capturing the US Open women’s singles title after winning the US Open Series. She now has a 21-match winning streak in North American hard court events, beginning at the 2005 JPMorgan Chase Open. Schnyder is in second place in the women’s standings with 35 points followed by teenagers Tatiana Golovin and Nicole Vaidisova, who are tied for third with 22 points.
The men's and women's winners of the US Open Series will compete for $1 million in bonus prize money at the 2006 US Open, and the top three winners will compete for a total of up to $2.6 million in bonus prize money.
The US Open Series leaders after Week Two are as follows:
Next on the US Open Series: The US Open Series continues this week with the men playing in Washington, D.C. at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. The women remain in California for the Acura Classic in San Diego. ESPN2 will provide 12 hours of live coverage this week starting with quarterfinal action from Washington on Friday from 3-5 p.m. ET. The men's final will air at 3 p.m. ET Sunday followed by the women's final at 5 p.m.
The US Open Series is the six-week summer tennis season linking 10 major ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments to the US Open. Since its inception in 2004, the six-week US Open Series has doubled television viewership and increased attendance, while generating new corporate partnerships for the sport. Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters were the winners of the 2005 US Open Series, with Clijsters doubling her prize money at the US Open.