Rafael Nadal has clinched the U.S. Open Series following John Isner’s Winston-Salem Open withdrawal on Monday. Isner, seeded third this week, had been the two-time defending champion of his hometown event.
Cincinnati runner-up John Isner pulled out of the Winston-Salem Open on Monday afternoon. Isner cited a hip injury, but really he just needs rest in between a long week in Cincinnati and the start of the U.S. Open. The 14th-ranked American finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the Western & Southern Open after losing 7-6(8), 7-6(3) in Sunday’s title match.
With Isner’s withdrawal, Nadal clinches the 2013 Emirates U.S. Open Series title. The second-ranked Spaniard won back-to-back Masters titles in Montreal and Cincinnati and he will finish 15 points ahead of the man he conquered on Sunday. Isner snags second place on the strength of a title in Atlanta and a runner-up showing in Washington, D.C. in addition to his Cincinnati performance.
In New York, Nadal will compete for the biggest payout in tennis history–a possible $3.6 million ($2.6 million for winning the U.S. Open and a $1 million bonus for winning the U.S. Open Series). Isner has a chance to accumulate $500,000 in bonus money at the season’s final Grand Slam. Juan Martin Del Potro, who had a match point against Isner in the Cincinnati semifinals, came in third and can win up to $250,000 in bonuses at the U.S. Open.
Tomas Berdych, also a semifinalist last week, joined Isner in withdrawing from the Winston-Salem tournament on Monday. Berdych lost last year’s Winston-Salem final to Isner, who won it back-to-back in 2011 and 2012–the first two years of its existence.
Rafa won the U.S. Open Series also in 2008.
A nice top up bonus for Rafa to compensate for the prize money he didn’t earn during his injury layoff 🙂
Winston-Salem is turning into a joke – almost on a par with the Bercy Masters. The less said the better. It least it gives some of the 2nd echelon players a chance to pick up points and a decent pay packet!
seriously?
Winston-Salem is a 250-event before a Grand Slam. Paris is a Masters 1000. Winston-Salem’s field is VERY good (even without Isner and Berdych) for a 250 event, especially one in the week before a major!
Ricky: the reason I likened W-S to Bercy is the number of retirements/withdrawals and early losses by seeded players which is reminiscent of the unusually high fall-out rate at the Paris Masters!!
yep. Paris is before the WTFs. Winston-Salem is before the USO. Hence nobody really cares about them….
….other than Isner (who really had no choice but to WD, otherwise he surely would have won it again then lost early in the USO).
It’s looking more and more as if Mardy Fish’s career is coming to a close 🙁
He’s been battling with the heart problem now for two years – not a good prognosis in a sport that induces so much stress and demands such a high level of fitness.
i believe he has played his last match
The King of Clay is spanking everybody’s behind on HC. If he doesn’t win USO, all the haters will agay say how much he sucks on HC 🙂