Sam Querrey wins US Open Series title

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Hard-serving Sam Querrey won the U.S. Open Series championship Wednesday by moving into the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen tennis tournament with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Bjorn Phau of Germany.

The series ranks players using a points system based on their play in 10 selected tournaments throughout the year.

The victory gives Querrey 145 series points, enough to tie Andy Murray, who is not playing in New Haven. Querrey wins the title because he has 14 match wins in series events, to eight for Murray.

The title gives Querrey a chance to earn a bonus of between $15,000 and $1 million, to be determined by his finish in the U.S. Open.

Querrey said there won’t be any added pressure because of that.

“The most pressure I felt all summer was probably today, knowing that if I won it, I would win [the series] and if I didn’t it was third place,” he said.

The 6-foot-6 American served up 14 aces against Phau, with a serve that reached 134 mph.

Querrey will play top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. The Russian advanced in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3 over Fabrice Santoro of France.

Another Russian, Igor Andreev, also moved into the quarters, beating Frederico Gil, 6-4, 6-4.

In the women’s draw, top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova needed a third-set tiebreaker to beat Belgian teenager Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (2).

Two other top seeds advanced in straight sets. Caroline Wozniacki, the defending champion, dispatched Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-1, 6-4, while No. 3 Flavia Pennetta beat Iveta Benesova 7-6(1), 6-4, racking up eight aces.

Virginia Razzano also advanced, when Agnieszka Radwanska retired before the third set of their match with a hand injury. Radwanska said she will be able to play in the U.S. Open.

Samantha Stosur, the ninth seed, lost to Elena Vesnina, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.