Mac Attack Back

Crowd favorites John McEnroe (left) and James Blake will return for
another year of Legends Play at the Connecticut Open in New Haven
in August. (Photo courtesy Connecticut Open)

By Bob Phillips

NEW HAVEN—Two Connecticut favorites, John McEnroe and James Blake, will join Tommy Haas and Todd Martin in the Invesco Legends New Haven event—the circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30—at the 2018 Connecticut Open, to be held August 17-25, at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, it was announced by tournament director Anne Worcester. The Connecticut Open Men’s Legends Event, which began four years ago, is an official part of the 2018 Invesco Series QQQ champions tennis circuit.

On Thursday, Aug. 23, following the women’s quarterfinal, Invesco Legends newcomer Haas will play Blake, while McEnroe will play Martin on Friday, Aug. 24, after the women’s semifinal. The winners of each matchup will compete in a final, also on Friday night.

Haas, the tournament director at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., officially retired from the ATP Tour last month. He was the silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, losing a five-set gold medal match to Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Haas achieved a career-high ranking of No. 2, reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1999, 2002 and 2007, and the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2009. He won 15 career singles title in his career, including the title in Halle in his native Germany in 2012, where he defeated Roger Federer in the final.

“I have great memories of playing in the City of New Haven, and I look forward to coming back and participating in the Invesco Legends at the Connecticut Open,” said Haas, who won his Legends debut in Charleston Legends event in his debut two weeks ago. “Unfortunately, I remember a three-set loss to James on his home turf back in 2005 so I’ll certainly be hoping to reverse that result on Thursday night in front of the great fans at the Connecticut Tennis Center.”

Blake, who was born in Yonkers and grew up in Fairfield—a friend of blues/rock/pop star John Mayer—is a two-time Connecticut Open Champion. Blake, who bears a striking resemblance to New Jersey Senator Corey Booker, has won 10 singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour. As an active player, Blake reached a career-high ranking of No.4, and earlier this year was named tournament director at the Miami Open. He returns to his home state to play in the Legends event for the fourth consecutive year and holds a 3-2 advantage in ATP head-to-head matches vs. Haas.

The feisty McEnroe—a crowd favorite wherever he competes—is a seven-time Grand Slam singles and nine-time Grand Slam doubles champ. This will be his third visit to New Haven on the Legends Tour. With more than 150 singles and doubles championships in on his resume, Johnny Mac was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.

Martin, currently CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, will be returning to the Invesco Series for the first time since 2015. Martin, who reached the finals of the Australian Open in 1994 and the US Open in 1999, won eight singles titles in his career. He was also a member of the US team that won the Davis Cup in 1995, beating Russian 3-2 in the final.  

“The Legends Event is always a fan favorite at the Connecticut Open and we are excited to bring some of the most entertaining players in the history of the game to New Haven each year,” said Worcester. “We are so pleased to have John McEnroe back in 2018 and to get Todd Martin back competing for the first time since 2015. James Blake, our finalist last year, remains as popular as ever here, and we can’t wait to see him take to the court against a friend and rival in Tommy Haas. The Invesco Legends lineup this year is a fantastic clash of two generations and we are intrigued to see who comes out on top.”

Fans can guarantee the best savings to the Invesco Legends matches by purchasing a weeklong or multiple session package. 2018 Connecticut Open ticket options include:

• After Hours (Aug. 20-25)–Every evening session, including all Legends matches, and Saturday afternoon (WTA Finals)
• Final 4 (Aug. 23-25)–Thursday evening (WTA Quarterfinal/Legends), Friday day and evening (WTA Semifinal/Legends), and Saturday (WTA Finals)
• Pick 4 (Aug. 19-23)–Choice of four early round sessions including Thursday evening (WTA Quarterfinal/Legends)

For those looking to see all 14 sessions plus both Legends nights, week-long box seats are available and provide significant savings and a host of exclusive benefits. For more information about the 2018 Connecticut Open, including multi-session packages, weeklong box seats, sponsorship packages, hospitality and becoming a volunteer, visit www.ctopen.org or call 203-776-7331. Daily tickets for the tournament will be on sale starting the week of June 11.

The Connecticut Open is a WTA tournament held at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale featuring a 30-player singles main draw, a 48-player qualifying draw, and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $799,000. The 2017 title was won by Australia’s Daria Gavrilova, who collected her maiden WTA trophy as the tournament celebrated 20 years of women’s tennis in New Haven.

The past champions list is a veritable Who’s Who of women’s tennis, and includes Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki (four titles apiece), Petra Kvitova (three titles) and Lindsay Davenport (two titles), as well as Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, and Justine Henin. As a not-for-profit 501c3 charitable organization, the Connecticut Open’s mission is to leverage the excitement of world-class women’s tennis to benefit the local community and maximize support for women’s, youth and other causes.

The tournament generates in excess of $10 million in regional economic impact. The Connecticut Open is prominently featured domestically through 50+ hours on ESPN2 and ESPN3, and is also broadcast worldwide by WTA Media in 158 countries. In 2017, the global audience reached nearly 12 million viewers. For more details and tickets, visit www.ctopen.org, or call 1-855-464-8366

—with staff reports 

Team USA Women's Basketball Pool Dominated By ... You Guessed It! UConn Players

Breeana Stewart is one of several UConn players, past
and present, trying out for Team USA. the USA Women's
National Team camp will be held in Stewie's new home,
Seattle.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-A total of 19 members of the 2018-20 USA Basketball Women's National Team athlete pool, including three members of the Seattle Storm, are expected to participate in the USA Women's National Team's April 24-26 camp in Seattle.

The three-day camp will culminate with an exhibition contest against the China National Team April 26 in Seattle's KeyArena. The final USA roster for the exhibition game will be comprised of athletes participating in the training camp and will be announced on April 25.

Tickets for the game, which will tip-off at 7 p.m. (all times listed are PDT) and are available via StormBasketball.com or by calling the Storm at 206-217-9622.

"I'm excited to have this group of players joining us in camp in a couple of weeks," said Dawn Staley, USA National Team and University of South Carolina head coach. "I look forward to working with them and gaining some more chemistry with both players and staff, now that we have a staff in place. We can get a lot more done and really focus on in-game situations, especially with the exhibition against China at the end of camp."

Prior to its April 26 game, the USA will train at 10 a.m. April 24 and 11 a.m. April 25 at Seattle Pacific University.

The Seattle training camp will mark the third in the USA's preparations for the 2018 FIBA World Cup, which will be held Sept. 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain. Members of the national team first gathered Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2017, in Santa Barbara, California, and concluded a Feb. 9-11, 2018, camp at the University of South Carolina.

The 21 athletes expected to participate in the Seattle camp include: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx); Sue Bird (Seattle Storm); Layshia Clarendon (Atlanta Dream); Napheesa Collier (University of Connecticut); Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics); Skylar Diggins-Smith (Dallas Wings); Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky); Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx); Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings); Tiffany Hayes (Atlanta Dream); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever); Tiffany Mitchell (Indiana Fever); Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm); Brittney Sykes (Atlanta Dream); Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury); Morgan Tuck (Connecticut Sun); Sydney Wiese (Los Angeles Sparks); and Elizabeth Williams (Atlanta Dream).

Listed among the April training camp roster are seven Olympic and FIBA World Cup gold medalists, including Bird, who tops the list with four Olympic gold medals, three World Cup golds and one World Cup bronze medals. Taurasi also owns four Olympic golds and has two World Cup gold medals and one World Cup bronze. Augustus and Fowles won three Olympic golds apiece, both have one World Cup gold medal and Augustus also has a World Cup bronze medal. Charles is a two-time Olympic and two-time World Cup gold medalist, Stewart won gold at the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics and Delle Donne earned Olympic gold in 2016.

Members of the USA National Team pool who are unable to participate in camp due to injury or other commitments are: Tina Charles (New York Liberty); Asia Durr (University of Louisville); Chelsea Gray (Los Angeles Sparks); Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury); Jantel Lavender (Los Angeles Sparks); Kayla McBride (Las Vegas Aces); Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream); Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx); Chiney Ogwumike (Connecticut Sun); Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks); Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces); Katie Lou Samuelson (University of Connecticut); Odyssey Sims (Los Angeles Sparks); Courtney Williams (Connecticut Sun); and A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces).

Assisting Staley and the USA National Team through the 2018 FIBA World Cup are a trio of head coaches, Dan Hughes (Seattle Storm), Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) and Jennifer Rizzotti (George Washington).

—Staff Reports 

 

It's a Wrap: Wolf Pack Take Two From Devils

The Hartford Wolf Pack wrapped up the 2017-18 season with a pair of victories over the Albany Devils. BINGHAMTON, NY–Ryan Gropp scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to lead the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 4-2 victory over the Binghamton Devils before 4,897 fans at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday night. It was the Wolf Pack’s last game of the 2017-18 season. Gabriel Fontaine also had a goal and an assist for the Pack, and Vinni Lettieri also found the back of the net.  Adam Tambellini added an empty-net goal, and Chris Bigras had two assists. The two teams traded goals in an evenly-played first period, in which both teams had a dozen shots on goal. Binghamton got an early power play opportunity, when Dawson Leedahl was called for slashing at 1:46, and the Devils converted at 2:23, on a goal by Brett Seney.  He took a pass from Nick Lappin and fired a shot from just inside the left faceoff dot that beat Wolf Pack goaltender Marek Mazanec on the stick side. The Wolf Pack equalized at 7:14, on Fontaine’s ninth goal of the season.  Bigras snapped the puck toward the net from the right point, and Fontaine deflected it past Binghamton netminder Ken Appleby. Most of the second period was scoreless, before both clubs scored in a span of 23 seconds late in the frame. The Wolf Pack took a short-lived 2-1 lead at 17:25, when Lettieri increased his team-leading goal total to 23.  Ryan Lindgren passed from the left point to Bigras at the right point for a one-timer, and Lettieri deflected it past Appleby’s right pad. The Devils answered right back, though, at 17:48, on a goal by Kevin Rooney.  Michael Latta centered the puck from behind the net, and it hit Mario Lucia and came to Rooney, who fired it past Mazanec. The Wolf Pack controlled the early stages of the third period, and would go ahead to stay at 4:12, with Gropp scoring his 14th of the season.  After a shot by Vince Pedrie from the right point was deflected through Appleby’s legs and wide of the goal, Fontaine moved the puck to Gropp on the left side.  Gropp let go a shot that Appleby went down on the ice to attempt to stop, but it hit his pads and slid just over the goal line. Tambellini then iced the win with 1:19 left, after the Devils had lifted Appleby for an extra skater.  Tambellini collected the puck near the center line and wired in through Devil defenseman Yaroslav Dyblenko’s legs and into the vacated cage. With the win, the Wolf Pack finished the season above .500, at 34-33-6-3, and swept a home- and-home with the Devils, whom they defeated 2-1 in overtime on Friday night at the XL Center. “In a back-to-back scenario where there was not much on the line, you want to make sure that you finish playing the game the right way, and I thought, to a man, we did that,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. With nothing to play for but pride, McCambridge liked the effort shown by his group.  “The last push as we moved ourselves through the back half of the season, the character, the work ethic, having the chance to really have the structure and systems sink in, with the some of the movement that we’ve had with regards to players going up and down,” McCambridge said. “A real nice way to finish in a back-to-back scenario here, to go into the summer on a positive note.” —Staff Reports