Serena Williams, Mardy Fish compete for record $2.8 million

Written by: Staff on 29th August 2011

Serena Williams, Mardy Fish compete for record $2.8 million

Serena Williams of the U.S. follows through with a serve against Marion Bartoli of France during the Bank of the West tennis final at Stanford University in Stanford, California, USA 31 July 2011. Williams defeated Bartoli 7-5, 6-1. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

(Courtesy of USTA)

Following Serena Williams’ victory at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, the three-time US Open champion reflected on her victory: “This is the best I have ever done at the [Olympus] US Open Series,” she said. “My goal was to do really well so I can get some extra cash because I haven’t played all year.”

As it so happens, Williams’ “extra cash” could add up to $1 million as part of the largest single payday in tennis history. She and Mardy Fish are the 2011 Olympus US Open Series champions, meaning that a singles title for either of them at this year’s US Open would be worth $2.8 million in total prize money—$1.8 million in US Open prize money plus $1 million in bonus money as the Series champions.

The potential $2.8 million would eclipse the current records set by Roger Federer, who won the Olympus US Open Series and the US Open in 2007 to earn a tennis record payout of $2.4 million, and Kim Clijsters who won the Series and US Open titles in 2005 to take home a women’s record $2.2 million. (Clijsters also won $2.2 million a year ago as the US Open champion and the Series runner-up.)

Now in its eighth year, the Olympus US Open Series is the six-week summer tennis season that links 10 North American hard-court tournaments to the US Open. The driving force behind the Series is the Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge. Throughout the summer, the top finishers in each of the Series events rack up points, with the top three men’s finishers and the top three women’s finishers getting the chance to earn bonus prize money at the 2011 US Open. (See page 49 of the media guide for a complete round-by-round breakdown of the 2011 bonus prize money.)

Williams had never won a Series title entering the year and had played sparingly since June 2010 due to a foot injury and a health scare. But she wasted little time getting acclimated to the hard courts, winning the first women’s Series event of the summer in Stanford, Calif., and adding a second title two weeks later in Toronto to hold off Carlsbad, Calif., champion Agnieszka Radwanska and Cincinnati champion Maria Sharapova for the 2011 crown.

Fish, meanwhile, cruised to the men’s title. He entered four Series events and reached at least the semifinals in each, with a victory in Atlanta and runner-up showings in Los Angeles and Montreal. In all, he outpaced second-place finisher Novak Djokovic by 60 points, the largest gap between the top two finishers in men’s Series history. John Isner placed third behind his tournament title in Winston-Salem, N.C.

2011 Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge Results

Men Points Women Points

1. Mardy Fish 230 1. Serena Williams 170

2. Novak Djokovic 170 2. Agnieszka Radwanska 130*

3. John Isner 140 3. Maria Sharapova 130

* Takes second place based on Series tiebreaker (more Series match victories)