The 2017 Winston-Salem Open will be little different from what it has been in previous years. This is always the tournament for second- or third-tier players to get match play ahead of the U.S. Open, if they aren’t already tired or injured. Men who need matches and want to sharpen their games head to Wake Forest University in the state of North Carolina to move forward with their tennis in late summer.
The competition in the 48-player main draw begins on Sunday, August 20.
Event Details
Event: Winston-Salem Open
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: August 20-26, 2017
Location: Wake Forest University – Winston-Salem, North Carolina
With a prize money allotment of just over $664,000, this is a highly above-average amount of money for an ATP 250 tournament. However, the per-player payouts are relatively normal. This is an extremely rare example of an ATP 250 event with a large field. Most ATP 250 tournaments have 28 to 32 players. This one has 48. Guys are here to participate in tennis matches and get a workout if they couldn’t do much of anything at the Canada or Cincinnati Masters. They are not here for the paycheck. They are trying to build toward the U.S. Open.
Points:
Champion – 250
Runner-up – 150
Semifinal – 90
Quarterfinal – 45
Former Champions and Results
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016: Pablo Carreno Busta d. Roberto Bautista Agut – 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
2015: Kevin Anderson def. Pierre Hugues Herbert 6-4, 7-5
2014: Lukas Rosol def. Jerzy Janowicz 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5
2013: Jurgen Melzer def. Gael Monfils 6-3, 2-1, ret.
2012: John Isner def. Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(9)
Player Info:
Roberto Bautista-Agut had a solid run at the Rogers Cup, where he made it to the quarterfinals. Most of the time he goes deep in a tournament, he has the misfortune of facing a big four player. Bautista Agut’s record against those top guns is far from inspiring but he consistently makes deep runs to bump in to them. So, there was no surprise when the Spaniard lost to Roger Federer in straight sets in Montreal. Given his solidity in the big events, his result this week in the ongoing Cincinnati Masters is surprising. Bautista-Agut went down to the 20-year-old next generation ATP talent Jared Donaldson in straight sets.
The 14th ranked Spaniard plays in Winston Salem next, where he was the runner-up to his countrymen Pablo Carreno Busta last year.
Carreno Busta is having an up-and-down season this year. The 17th-ranked Spanish player has had to counter some injuries but still has a good record in 2017. He is 28-16 and seems to be slowly regaining his form in time for the U.S. Open. Carreno Busta is the defending champion in Winston-Salem, but with so many in-form players in the draw, he’ll need to produce his best tennis to defend his crown.
John Isner is one of only two men to have won multiple ATP titles since Wimbledon. The big American is back in form after lifting the trophy in back to back tournaments in Newport and Atlanta. Isner reached the semifinals in Cincinnati after Alexander Zverev’s early exit. Isner has won here in Winston-Salem before in 2012, but he hasn’t returned to the final since then. There is a good chance of him returning to the final this time if he isn’t fried after Cincinnati.
At 29, Sam Querrey seems to have finally found the formula to win consistently on the ATP tour. Big Sam now has 10 titles to his name and is ranked 20th in the world. After his Wimbledon heroics, he continued to thrive by triumphing in Los Cabos, where he beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in the finals. He has 30 wins this season and is likely to add more in Winston Salem.
Talking of the in-form players, Kevin Anderson is one of them. He may have checked out of Cincinnati earlier than expected, but don’t let his early departure fool you. Currently, Anderson has been winning a lot of matches but has failed to translate it in to title runs. The tall South African overcame top-seeded Dominic Thiem in the third round in Washington but couldn’t handle Alex Zverev’s fireballs in the finals. Anderson carried his confidence to Montreal, where he made the quarterfinals but ran into Zverev again, losing to him in straight sets. However, he did beat Querrey and Carreno Busta, who will be present in Winston Salem, on his way to the quarterfinals. For Anderson, Winston Salem seems to be the right place to break the title jinx.
Wake Forest University
This college campus in the United States is part of a densely packed area of major universities in North Carolina. The collection of universities includes but is not limited to the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and North Carolina State University.
The central court is a simple one-bowl stadium seating a few thousand spectators.
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