Anna Chakvetadze Wins The First US Open Series Women's Event of 2007
Dmitry Tursunov Wins Men's Event at Indianapolis;
Stepanek and Tursunov Tied For Men's Lead in US Open Series
Series Continues as Men Move to Washington, D.C. and Women Shift to San Diego;
Two Consecutive Weeks of Back-to-Back Finals to Be Broadcast on ESPN2
July 29, 2007 – Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, currently ranked No. 7 in the world and the top seed in this week’s Bank of the West Classic, captured her first career US Open Series title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over unseeded Sania Mirza of India in today’s final in Stanford, Calif. By winning the first women’s event of the 2007 US Open Series, Chakvetadze earns 50 points and takes the early lead in the US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge. This is her fourth overall Tour-level singles title of 2007.
On the men’s side, No. 3 seed Dmitry Tursunov of Russia won the Indianapolis Tennis Championships with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over unseeded Frank Dancevic of Canada. Tursunov, who previously reached a US Open Series final in 2006 at Los Angeles, earns 50 points and moves into a tie for first place with Radek Stepanek in the US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge. Stepanek won the season-opening Countrywide Classic last week in Los Angeles.
James Blake, who won at Indianapolis in 2006, reached the quarterfinals this week and is currently in third place with 47 points. Mirza is in second place in the women’s standings with 35 points followed by Sybille Bammer of Austria and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who are tied for third with 22 points after advancing to the semifinals at Stanford.
The men's and women's winners of the US Open Series will compete for $1 million in bonus prize money at the 2007 US Open, and the top three finishers will compete for more than $2.6 million in bonus prize money.
The US Open Series leaders after Week Two are as follows:
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| (as of July 29, 2007) |
2007 Men's Standings
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2007 Women's Standings
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NOTE: Only players with points in two (2) US Open Series events are eligible for the final standings.
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 while the women remain in California for the Acura Classic in San Diego. ESPN2 will provide 12 hours of coverage this week starting with quarterfinals action from Washington, D.C. on Friday from 7-9 p.m. ET. The men's final will air at 3:00 p.m. ET Sunday followed by the women's final at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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.
In 2006, Andy Roddick captured his second straight US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge and claimed $500,000 in bonus prize money for his runner-up finish at the 2006 US Open for a total payout of $1.1 million. Maria Sharapova, who finished second in the women’s final US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge standings, also took home $500,000 on top of the $1.2 million she received for winning the women's singles tournament for a total payout of $1.7 million.