News

Reigning Olympus US Open Series champion Sam Querrey began a successful defense of his Series title, defeating world No. 4 Andy Murray in the final of the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 while Victoria Azarenka upset former Series champion Maria Sharapova, 6-4, 6-1, to win the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., today. Both Querrey and Azarenka earned 70 points in the Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge Standings to take a share of first place in the current points race.

Querrey is tied for first atop the men’s standings with Mardy Fish, who won the season opener in Atlanta last week. Querrey, who grew up in nearby Thousand Oaks, Calif., won all four of his matches this week in three sets and was down match point in both the semifinals and final en route to capturing the title in Los Angeles for the second straight year. It was the first time in his career that Querrey entered an event as the reigning champion and thus his first successful defense of a tournament title.

Seeded No. 8 this week, Azarenka upset No. 4 seed Marion Bartoli, the reigning Bank of the West champion, in the quarterfinals, No. 1 Samantha Stosur in the semifinals and No. 5 Sharapova in the final to win her first Series tournament title and take sole possession of first place in the Series standings.

The men’s and women’s winners of the Olympus US Open Series will compete for $1 million in bonus prize money at the 2010 US Open. The Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge men’s and women’s leaders after Week 2 are as follows:

Next on the Olympus US Open Series: The men will compete at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, DC – where two-time Olympus US Open Series champion Andy Roddick headlines a strong field – while the women, led by world No. 2 Jelena Jankovic, return to San Diego for the first time since 2007 for the Mercury Insurance Open. ESPN2 will provide 16 hours of coverage, including back-to-back finals on Sunday beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Tennis Channel will provide coverage beginning Thursday. For a complete television schedule, visit usopenseries.com.

Now in its seventh season, the Olympus US Open Series has established itself as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. Fans can follow the action throughout the summer through national television coverage, culminating each week with back-to-back men’s and women’s finals every Sunday afternoon. Players battle for $40 million, including a chance for bonus prize money at the US Open. In 2008, Olympus became the first title sponsor of the Series. The Olympus US Open Series is also supported by sponsors American Express, Evian, Grand Marnier and SPDR Gold Shares.

Sam Querrey won the 2009 Olympus US Open Series men’s title and Elena Dementieva won the women’s title. In 2007, Roger Federer collected the biggest paycheck in tennis history — $2.4 million — for winning US Open and the Olympus US Open Series. In 2005, Kim Clijsters also captured both the US Open and the Olympus US Open Series, winning $2.2 million — the largest purse in women’s sports history.