 Series Premiere
The US Open Series is underway and gaining steam, with events in Washington and San Diego taking place this week.
Rising stars like Anna Chakvetadze, Sania Mirza have grabbed early leads in the points race established for the series – the leaders get a bonus with their US Open prize money – but now it’s time for the established champs to come out and play. Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams are both participating in the Acura Classic at San Diego this week.
Other Grand Slam champs like Justine Henin and Serena Williams are sitting on the sidelines for the moment, but look for them to make at least one or two appearances as the summer rolls on. But no matter how little they play, it won’t affect their status as US Open favorites when the tour hits New York.
Many of the leading European men will make the trip across the Atlantic just in time for the Rogers Masters in Montreal next week, but Americans like Andy Roddick, James Blake and Sam Querrey have been grinding it out on the hardcourts for a couple of weeks now. They’ve had some good wins mixed in with some disappointments, but a title has so far eluded them.
Will that change in the next few weeks? Keep up with all the results and matchups on our
US Open Series calendar.
 The Grass is Past
As usual, it was a wet and wild fortnight at Wimbledon. Roger Federer captured his fifth successive crown at the All England Club, narrowly holding back Rafael Nadal for the second year in a row. It was the first time the Swiss world No. 1 had ever been pushed to five sets in a Grand Slam final. Fellow five-time champ Bjorn Borg was in the house to see Federer break his record, and predicted even more success for his successor in the years to come.
On the women’s side, Venus Williams mimicked her sister Serena’s unexpected ride to the Australian Open title earlier this year as she put aside recent struggles to capture her fourth Wimbledon title. Billie Jean King was on hand for Venus’ triumph, and Venus didn’t forget to acknowledge the women’s sports pioneer when she picked up the first-ever equal prize money cheque at the event.
The other women’s finalist was far more unexpected: Marion Bartoli used her two-fisted groundstrokes to shock Justine Henin in the semifinals, preventing the Belgian from completing a career Slam. Bartoli, who said it was the presence of Pierce Brosnan in the stands that inspired her, went on to put up a decent fight in the final before falling in straight sets.
The second Saturday was a rare occasion at Wimbledon as the men played their semifinals on the same day as the women’s final. All the rain earlier in the fortnight left the tournament with some serious catching-up to do, and losing semfinalists Richard Gasquet and Novak Djokovic had both played five-set thrillers the day before facing off against Federer and Nadal, respectively. It proved a bridge too far for the rising youngsters, but both left heartened by their best performances at SW19 so far.
On the court, in the stands or on TV at home, it was a Wimbledon to remember. Recap all the action at TENNIS.com’s Wimbledon section.
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