By E.J. Crawford
This year’s Emirates Airline US Open Series women’s championship came down to the wire, with Agnieszka Radwanska winning the Connecticut Open to steal the 2016 Series crown from Johanna Konta.
Radwanska’s victory over Elina Svitolina in Saturday’s Connecticut Open final gave her 220 points in the summer season’s Bonus Challenge, matching Konta. The world No. 4 earned the Series title based on a tiebreaker – in this case head-to-head matchup. Radwanska beat Konta in round of 16 in Cincinnati.
In addition to her victory in New Haven, Radwanska reached the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the round of 16 at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. That was enough to edge Konta, who won the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., to open the Series season and also reached the quarterfinals in Montreal and the round of 16 in Cincinnati.
Rogers Cup champion Simona Halep finished third in the Series standings, with 145 points.
All three women are now eligible to add bonus prize money at the 2016 US Open. Radwanska would earn $1 million in bonus prize money should she claim her first Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows, while Konta could add a maximum of $500,000 and Halep a max of $250,000.
Kei Nishikori won the men’s 2016 Series title, with Grigor Dimitrov finishing as the runner-up and Milos Raonic coming in third.