Azarenka, Djokovic Claim Western & Southern Open Championships; US Open Welcomes Virtual Fans; USTA Makes Junior Memberships Free; ITA Fall Circuit Entries Open Monday

The Western & Southern Open concluded today at the USTA's Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with men's and women's singles and doubles champions crowned. 

Unseeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus didn't have to strike a ball, with No. 4 seed Naomi Osaka withdrawing due to a hamstring injury. Azarenka, who won the 2013 Cincinnati title, had lost the only two matches she'd played this year, so her title was definitely unexpected.

Not so for men's champion Novak Djokovic, who defeated unseeded Milos Raonic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, despite suffering from an illness during his semifinal match Friday and the distractions of leading a movement to form a men's professional tennis players association.  Undefeated in 2020, he has now won all the ATP Masters events at least twice. Djokovic, who is a heavy favorite to win the upcoming US Open, is scheduled for a Monday night match, as is Osaka. 

In the Western & Southern Open doubles finals, Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands took the women's title and Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and Alex De Minaur of Australia claimed the men's championship. Peschke and Schuurs, the No. 3 seeds, beat No. 2 seeds Nicole Melichar and China's Yifan Xu 6-1, 4-6, 10-4.  Unseeded Carreno Busta and De Minaur, playing together for the first time, defeated Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski of Great Britain 6-2, 7-5, with a lengthy rain delay with Carreno Busta and De Minaur leading 6-5 in the second set proving to be no advantage to the British team.

The US Open has announced an initiative to bring the US Open experience to fans' home virtually, with a variety of innovations, including US Open Fan Cam, Ask a Player, Virtual Player Boxes and  Crowd Sounds. For more, see this press release.

USTA has recently announced changes to its membership structure, which now includes free memberships for juniors and organizations. See this FAQ for more on the upcoming changes in the membership program.

I'll be fully immersed in the US Open next week, so I wanted to make sure to take time this weekend to remind everyone that entries for the ITA Fall Circuit by UTR begin on Monday for Weeks 1-3 from September 18 through October 5. Twenty-three more sites have been added since Monday's initial announcement. Some sites in the Summer Circuit filled up fast, so don't put off entering if you think it might fit into your schedule.