Tennis Note #17
ATTN: Tennis Lovin’ Americans!
SEVEN WEEKS. The tennis scene moves to Northern America today and will last seven weeks ending at the US Open. This means one thing: I can sleep at normal hours again. I am in a state of complete bliss. I thought I would take you on a quick tennis road trip in North America. It begins in BB&T Atlanta Open with the men. For those outside of the US, the logo is paying tribute to Georgia, also known as the Peach State.
It then travels to Stanford at the Bank of the West Classic for the women. This is the only tennis on the west coast during the summer, which saddens me. Simultaneously, although not actually part of the US Open series, Citi Open is hosted in Washington DC. The US Open series itself is more an opportunity for players to win particular tournaments. If they happen to have the most total points by the end of these tournaments AND win the US Open, they get a bonus check. This is plenty of incentive for top players.
The US Open Series gets a little more serious with two back-to-back Masters 1000 tournament played. Recall, there are nine Masters 1000 tournaments. The men play in the Rogers Cup in Montreal and the women in Toronto.
Side note: Why is it called the US Open series if this tournament is played in Canada? This entire road trip ends at the US Open, which obviously takes center stage. Sorry Canada. At least you hosted the FIFA Women’s World Cup…which also ended in the United States women as victors after 16 years! Between the women’s national team and Serena Williams, I would say US women dominate international sports right now. Check out my video of the final minute and celebration!
Back to ‘Murica — the men and women then travel to Cincinnati to play in the second Masters 1000: Western and Southern Open. Cincinnati will be rather interesting because it is the one Master tournament that Djokovic has not won. If he does win, he accomplishes a new record that I do not see anyone surpassing in the foreseeable future. (It would require Federer to win on clay and Rafa to win in Miami and an indoor hard court).
In the final week prior to the US Open, the men and women split up. While the women play in New Haven at the Connecticut Open, the men compete in the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina.
Finally, all players end in Flushing Meadows, NY at the US Open, the final major of the year. If you did not already guess, the cover photo for this tennis note is from the 1964 New York’s World Fair. This year is exciting because Serena Williams will try to win her 22nd major (tie with Steffi Graf), a career grand slam (4 in a row), and probably a countless number of records that I am currently missing but will have for my US Open preview next month. I would say the odds are in her favor, having won the last 3 titles. Keep an eye out for Tennis Note #18, a Serena Williams appreciation piece that will convince you of one thing: Do not miss this tournament because Serena is unstoppable.
North Americans! You have no excuse not to watch tennis live unless you are like me — a graduate student with limited income and no car. In that case, I guess you have a decent excuse but I still expect everyone to watch the matches live, considering most of it is available online through ESPN3. As the US women’s national team campaigned with Nike: #NoMaybes.
Last thoughts — catch me on the ByTheMinTennis twitter account but also, their brand new podcast! In the last podcast, we discussed the end of Wimbledon and our expectations of the future.
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