CONNECTICUT OPEN – STOSUR & FLIPKENS RECEIVE WILDCARDS; DRAW CEREMONY AT 1:00 PM FRIDAY

Written by: Staff on 14th August 2014

CONNECTICUT OPEN - STOSUR & FLIPKENS RECEIVE WILDCARDS; DRAW CEREMONY AT 1:00 PM FRIDAY

epa04351246 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium hits a return shot to Simona Halep of Romania in their second round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 12 August 2014. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

FORMER US OPEN CHAMPION SAM STOSUR AND 2013 WIMBLEDON SEMIFINALIST KIRSTEN FLIPKENS AWARDED WILDCARDS INTO 2014 CONNECTICUT OPEN

American Alison Riske Gains Entry Into Main Draw;

Field Features 11 Of The Top 25 Ranked Players In The World

Former US Open Champion and World No. 22 Sam Stosur and 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens have been awarded the final singles main draw wildcards into the Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies, a WTA event that is part of the Emirates Airline US Open Series to be held August 15-23, 2014 at the Connecticut Tennis Center, it was announced today by Tournament Director Anne Worcester.

Stosur, the 2011 US Open Singles Champion, returns for her seventh trip to the Connecticut Open, advancing to the semifinals in 2006 and producing a quarterfinals effort in her last trip in 2010. The Australian has been ranked as high as World No. 4 in her career, and also sports one final and two semifinal appearances at the French Open. Flipkens reached a career high ranking of No. 13 last year, in part due to her fantastic grass court season where she was a runner-up at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon. Flipkens was awarded the wildcard after Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew her wildcard request that was granted yesterday. In addition, American Alison Riske also gained entry into the main draw with the withdrawal of Zhang Shuai.

Stosur and Flipkens join World No. 13 Dominika Cibulkova and World No. 19 Andrea Petkovic as wildcard recipients, and the field features 11 of the top 25 ranked players in the world including Defending Connecticut Open Champion Simona Halep (No. 2), 2014 Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova (No. 4), 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Genie Bouchard (No. 8), and four-time Connecticut Open Champion Caroline Wozniacki (No. 12).

“We added two solid players yesterday, and today adding another Grand Slam Champion in Sam Stosur, and a recently ranked top 20 player in Kirsten Flipkens, is a great way to round out the Connecticut Open field,” said Worcester. “Sam played World No. 1 Serena Williams extremely tough yesterday in Cincinnati, and if she plays that way in New Haven next week then she will have a legitimate shot at the title.”

For more information about the Connecticut Open and to order tickets visit to www.ctopen.org, call 1-855-464-8366, or visit our social media channels.

About Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies

Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies is now owned by the State of Connecticut and is newly minted as a not-for-profit 501c3 charitable organization. However, 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 $26 million in regional economic impact and to build community pride, spirit and engagement, especially among youth. The women’s-only WTA event will be held August 15-23, 2014 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, and feature six different competitions including WTA qualifying, WTA singles, WTA doubles, Men’s Legends, US Open National Playoffs Championship, and the Maureen Connelly Cup. The Connecticut Open is prominently featured domestically on ESPN2 and also broadcast 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 The US Open Series

Now in its 11th season, the Emirates Airline US Open Series continues to serve as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking eight summer tournaments to the US Open. Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams won the 2013 US Open and Emirates Airline US Open Series men’s and women’s titles, each earning a record tennis paycheck of $3.6 million. In 2007, Roger Federer collected $2.4 million for winning the US Open and the Emirates Airline US Open Series. In 2005, Kim Clijsters also captured both the US Open and the Series, winning $2.2 million and equaled that amount in 2010, winning the US Open and finishing the Emirates Airline US Open Series in second place.

RE: DRAW CEREMONY

@ The Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies Draw Ceremony. World No. 13 Dominika Cibulkova will be on hand to assist with the draw and be available for interviews following the completion of the ceremony.

@ Baseline Tap House (located between the Stadium and Upper Courts)@1:00

Topics: Connecticut Open, Kirsten Flipkens, Samantha Stosur, Tennis, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

August 14, 2014 at 10:41 am

@connecticutopen – STOSUR & @FlipperKF RECEIVE #WILDCARDS; DRAW CEREMONY AT 1:00 PM FRIDAY- http://t.co/SFnGWJYg29 #tennis #WTA