Winston-Salem Wrap-Up

John Isner beat Julien Benneteau in the W-S Final 3-6 6-4 6-3

John Isner bested Career journeyman Julien Benneteau 4-6 6-3 6-4. Benneteau, 29, was searching for just his first ATP-tour level championship in 176 tournaments entered. After the loss, he was visibly upset and tired from playing 9 matches this week, including his last 5 matches being 3-setters.

John Isner rides into next weeks' US Open with a 5-match winning streak, something he desperately needed after a rough start to the year.

In the inaugural Winston-Salem Open in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, just miles from John Isner's hometown of Greensboro, NC, took the hometown title, while

[caption id="attachment_36" align="alignright" width="150" caption="France's Julien Benneteau"][/caption]

Benneteau, 4045 miles from his home in Bourg en Bresse, France, fell to 0-5 in Finals.

One man's Championship is another man's crushing defeat. Although Tennis is just another sport, matches like these bring light to not only the top-tier players, but also the men (and women) who fight day in and day out, until they can fight no more, looking for that one win, that one victory to show they made a mark on the game. Not everyone can be a Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, or Rafael Nadal, but its the hope to one day knock them off that keeps men like Julien Benneteau fighting.

On to the final Major of the year, the United States Open. Reigning champs:

Men's: Rafael Nadal

Women's: Kim Clijsters (injured this year)

play starts Monday, Hurricane Irene permitting.

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