CONNECTICUT OPEN TENNIS FEATURES – WORLD NO. 3 HALEP, WORLD NO. 5 KVITOVA, & TRIO OF AMERICANS HEADLINE PLAYER FIELD AS WELL AS LEGENDS, JAMES BLAKE, ANDY RODDICK, JIM COURIER, JOHN MCENROE

Written by: Staff on 15th July 2015

CONNECTICUT OPEN TENNIS FEATURES - WORLD NO. 3 HALEP, WORLD NO. 5 KVITOVA, & TRIO OF AMERICANS HEADLINE PLAYER FIELD AS WELL AS LEGENDS, JAMES BLAKE, ANDY RODDICK, JIM COURIER, JOHN MCENROE

A close-up view of a ball and racket seen at the Gaz de France WTA Open 2011 tennis tournament in Paris, France, 09 February 2011. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

American Trio Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe Featured Among Talented Field

Men’s Legends Presented By PowerShares Series To Feature Former World No. 1’s And Grand Slam Champions John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier Along with Fairfield’s James Blake

World No. 3 and 2013 Champion Simona Halep and Defending Champion and World No. 5 Petra Kvitova headline the field for the 2015 Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies, it was announced today by Tournament Director Anne Worcester. The WTA event, which is part of the Emirates Airline US Open Series, will be held August 21-29, 2015 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale.

Halep has won three titles this season, hoisting trophies at Indian Wells, Dubai and Shenzhen. The Romanian also boasts semifinal efforts at Miami, Rome and Stuttgart and quarterfinal appearances at the Australian Open and Birmingham. Her rise to the top of the game began in 2013, when she won six titles that year, including at New Haven, where she dropped only one set en route to the title. In 2014 she continued to climb, winning two more titles, reaching the final of the French Open and WTA Finals, and semifinals at Wimbledon. She returns to Connecticut for the third consecutive year.

Kvitova marched through the field without dropping a set at the 2014 Connecticut Open, capturing her second title in the last three years at New Haven after winning in 2012. The World No. 5 and two-time Wimbledon Champion has enjoyed another solid campaign in 2015, defeating World No. 1 Serena Williams in the semifinals on her way to the title at the Madrid Open, capturing the crown in Sydney to start the year, and making a semifinal run in Shenzhen this spring. She will be making her fifth trip to Connecticut.

An American trio – Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe – is also a big part of the talented field. Madison, coached by 2005 Connecticut Open Champion Lindsay Davenport, produced a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon and a semifinal run at the Australian Open earlier this year propelling her to No. 18 in the world, Sloane reached the semifinals in Eastbourne and Strasbourg this year, and CoCo reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon just this past week.

Aside from Kvitova, Halep and Keys, five other players in this year’s Connecticut Open field are ranked in the WTA top 20. No. 11 Ekaterina Makarova, who reached the semifinals of last year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open, and advanced to the quarterfinals at New Haven in 2013; No. 12 Karolina Pliskova, who captured a title in Prague and produced runner-up finishes at Dubai, Sydney and Birmingham; No. 14 Timea Bacsinszky, who reached the semifinals at the French Open, quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and won two titles at Monterrey and Acapulco; No. 17 Elina Svitolina, who triumphed at Makkakech and scored a quarterfinal berth at the French Open; and Sara Errani, a 2012 French Open finalist and 2015 Roland Garros quarterfinalist will compete for the title.

Joining the top-20 stars in this year’s field are Belinda Bencic, who won her first WTA career-title last month at Eastbourne; Canadian Genie Bouchard, who advanced to the finals at Wimbledon and semifinals at the Australian and French Opens in 2014; Flavia Pennetta, a 2015 quarterfinalist at Indian Wells and Dubai; Alize Cornet, who advanced to the Round of 16 at the French Open this season; Irina-Camelia Begu, a quarterfinalist at Charleston and Madrid; Camila Giorgi, a 2014 Connecticut Open semifinalist who won her first career WTA Title this year at ‘s-Hertogenbosch; and Dominika Cibulkova, a 2014 Australian Open finalist and former Top 10 ranked player, who is on the comeback trail following surgery earlier this year.

Rounding out the field are Zarina Diyas, who produced a Round of 16 showing at Wimbledon; Kristina Mladenovic, finalist at Strasbourg and semifinalist at Birmingham; and Caroline Garcia, finalist at Acapulco and Monterrey.

“The 2015 Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies player field features a tantalizing mix of WTA veterans and exciting up-and-comers, from two-time Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova to Grand Slam singles finalists Simona Halep, Genie Bouchard, Sara Errani, and Dominika Cibulkova and a trio of Americans in Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Coco Vandeweghe,” said Worcester. “Two of the top five players in the world, eight of the top 20, and a host of other talented stars once again give us a very solid field. Add in the second annual Men’s Legends event, off-court entertainment, and this tournament is a quintessential way for fans to close out their summer.”

Daily tickets for the tournament are on sale and fans can look forward to a weeklong festival of food, music and activities. In addition, for the second consecutive year, Fairfield native James Blake, Andy Roddick and Jim Courier will compete in the Men’s Legends Event presented by PowerShares Series. This year, they will also be joined by John McEnroe. On Thursday, August 27, Blake will play Roddick, and on Friday, August 28, McEnroe will battle Courier. Both matches will be the second match of the evening session, following the WTA quarterfinal and semifinal match, respectively.

The field will be completed in the coming weeks with the addition of four wildcards, which the tournament will award, and the addition of six players who will advance through the 48 player qualifying draw. The first two seeds at the tournament will receive a bye.

For more information about the 2015 Connecticut Open, including daily tickets and packages, sponsorship packages, hospitality and becoming a volunteer, visit www.ctopen.org or call 1-855-464-8366.

About Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies

Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies is owned by the State of Connecticut and is a not-for-profit 501c3 charitable organization. The event has always existed to give back to the community, and has always been much more than just a tennis tournament; it is a leading example of leveraging a large-scale international sporting event to generate millions of dollars in regional economic impact and build community pride, spirit and engagement, especially among youth. The women’s-only WTA event will be held August 21-29, 2015 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, and features five different competitions including WTA qualifying, WTA singles, WTA doubles, Men’s Legends, and the US Open National Playoffs Championship. The Connecticut Open is prominently featured domestically on ESPN2 and is also broadcast in 160 countries around the world. For more information about the tournament and tickets, visit www.ctopen.org or call 1-855-464-8366.

About United Technologies

United Technologies, based in Hartford, Connecticut, provides high technology products and services to the building and aerospace industries. For more information, visit our website at www.utc.com or follow us on Twitter: @UTC.

About Emirates Airline US Open Series

Now in its 12th season, the Emirates Airline US Open Series continues to serve as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking seven summer tournaments to the US Open.

Topics: Atp, Connecticut Open, Tennis News, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

July 15, 2015 at 8:13 pm

-@connecticutopen #TENNIS FEATURES – WORLD No 3 HALEP, WORLD NO. 5 KVITOVA, & TRIO OF AMERICANS HEADLINE PLAYER FIELD http://t.co/7wUESqp6B2
donhowei says:

July 15, 2015 at 11:15 pm

RT @TennisNewsOne: CONNECTICUT OPEN TENNIS FEATURES – WORLD NO. 3 HALEP, WORLD NO. 5 KVITOVA, & TRIO OF AMERICANS HEADLIN… http://t.co/9p…