John Isner claimed his first BB&T Atlanta Open title Sunday and grabbed an early lead in the Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge by defeating South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 7-6(2), to win the Series’ opening men’s event. Isner, who finished second to Novak Djokovic in the Bonus Challenge last year, was making his third appearance in the Atlanta final in the last four years, having lost to fellow American Mardy Fish in 2010 and 2011. The title is Isner’s third on the Emirates Airline US Open Series, tied for the fourth most by a single player.

 

 

Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia won her second career Emirates Airline US Open Series event by upending Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., the Series’ opening women’s event. Her first title on the Emirates Airline US Open Series came in Carlsbad, Calif., last year, when she finished third in the EAUSOS Bonus Challenge.

 

 

The men’s and women’s winners of the Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge will compete for $1 million in bonus prize money at the 2013 US Open. Click here for the Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge leaders after Week 1.

 

Next on the Emirates Airline US Open Series: The men play at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., this week, while the women take the courts at the Southern California Open in Carlsbad, Calif. Television coverage from both events begins with eight hours on Tennis Channel on Thursday and continues through the weekend. ESPN2 will televise each final on Sunday, with the men at 3 p.m. ET and the women at 5 p.m. ET. The full television schedule can be found here.

 

Now in its 10th season, the Emirates Airline US Open Series continues to serve as a true regular season of hard-court tennis, linking nine summer tournaments to the US Open. More than 200 of the game’s top players will compete during the Series for more than $40 million in prize money. Additionally, through the Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge, the USTA will offer up to an additional $2.6 million in bonus prize money at the US Open to the top three men’s and top three women’s singles finishers in the Emirates Airline US Open Series. The Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge has resulted in some of the largest paychecks in tennis history for men ($2.4 million–Roger Federer, 2007) and women ($2.2 million–Kim Clijsters, 2005 and 2010). Last year, Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova captured the Emirates Airline US Open Series titles.

 

 

The Emirates Airline US Open Series season will be supported again by a multi-million dollar national marketing campaign, the EmiratesUSOpenSeries.com website and sponsor activation on both the national and local levels. This is the second year Emirates Airline is serving as the title sponsor of the Series, as well as the official airline of the US Open. The Emirates Airline US Open Series is also supported by American Express, Chase, Citizen Watch Company and Esurance.