By E.J. Crawford
Andy Murray missed out on the chance to accomplish the Montreal-Cincinnati double when he fell in the semfinals of the Western & Southern Open to Roger Federer. On Sunday, the Scot earned a nice consolation prize: the opportunity to earn $1 million in bonus prize money at the 2015 US Open.
Murray is the 2015 Emirates Airline US Open Series champion, winning the title on the strength of a championship at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and a semifinal finish in Cincinnati. That gave him 145 points, edging 2015 Series runner-up Novak Djokovic, who finished with 140 points. The third-place finisher is still to be decided.
Click here for the current Emirates Airline US Open Series standings.
The 2012 US Open champion clinched the title when Federer defeated Djokovic in the Cincinnati final. As the 2015 Series champion, Murray can add $1 million in bonus prize money if he also prevails at the 2015 US Open. As the runner-up, Djokovic can add $500,000 in bonus prize money with a US Open championship.
Click here to see the 2015 US Open bonus prize money schedule.
Murray, who also won the Series in 2010, is the third man to win multiple Series championships, joining Andy Roddick (2005, 2006) and Rafael Nadal (2008, 2013). The men’s third-place finisher, also eligible to earn bonus prize money at the US Open, will be decided during the final men’s event of the 2015 Series: the Winston-Salem Open in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The 2015 Series women’s title will come down to the final women’s event of the 2015 Series: the Connecticut Open in New Haven, Conn. Serena Williams currently leads with 145 points, to 140 for Simona Halep, but Halep would pass Serena for the 2015 title if the world No. 2 reaches the quarterfinals or better in New Haven. Three other women – Karolina Pliskova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Elina Svitolina – remain in contention for the 2015 women’s title.
Edit Note: John Isner finished third in the Seires standings, with 95 points. Roger Federer finished with 100 points but was ineligible for the Series title because he only registered points in one event.