Former World No.1 Lindsay Davenport To Return to New Haven

Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport, who has three Grand Slam singles and
three Grand Slam doubles titles on her resume, will return to New Haven,
where she won the 2005 Pilot Pen tournament in August.

NEW HAVEN—The 2018 Connecticut Open announced today that Hall of Fame Inductee Lindsay Davenport will be the guest speaker at the sixth annual Anthem Girls Symposium. More than 100 female high school student-athletes throughout the state of Connecticut are expected to attend on Monday, August 20, and will have the opportunity to engage with Davenport as she speaks on the important role of sports in her personal and professional life.

 

Davenport, the 2005 Connecticut Open champion and a five-time finalist here, won 55 singles titles and 38 doubles titles in her 17-year career. That includes singles titles at the U.S. Open (1998), Wimbledon (1999) and the Australian Open (2000). She has won three Grand Slam doubles titles: the French Open (1996), the U.S. Open (1997), and Wimbledon (1999). Davenport will take part in a fan-friendly doubles exhibition following the tournament’s first singles night session.

“I always love coming back to New Haven,” said Davenport, an Olympic gold medalist. “Being invited to take part in this symposium that focuses on all the good things sport can bring to our lives is a wonderful opportunity and hopefully I can have an impact on these young female athletes. I have a lot of good memories from playing in six finals here, so it will be great to be back out on Stadium Court.”

The 2018 Anthem Girls Symposium at the Connecticut Open sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut entitled “Championing Your Own Success” will be held at the Courtside Club at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. The forum was created by the Connecticut Open in 2013 in partnership with CIAC to provide an informative and engaging forum for female student athletes competing in Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) schools.

“At Anthem, we are working to ensure all Americans have an opportunity to live a healthier life. Our collaboration with the Connecticut Open further supports Anthem’s efforts to foster a greater awareness with today’s youth about the benefits of leading a healthier lifestyle and how that can positively impact their future,” said Jill Hummel, president, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. “We are excited to be back at the Connecticut Open and bring to the community an influential female athlete to share personal insights, advice and inspiration to local female student athletes.”

At the completion of the symposium, all attendees are invited to enjoy the afternoon of tennis matches at the WTA Premier event, which takes place from August 17-25 as the tournament celebrates 21 years of women’s professional tennis in New Haven.

“We are excited to host the Anthem Girls Symposium again this year,” said Tournament Director Anne Worcester. “It fits directly with our non-profit mission to benefit the community and what better way to inspire female student-athletes, than bringing them out to learn from Lindsay, one of the top female athletes in the world and is also currently coaching US Open finalist Madison Keys.”

Tickets for the 2018 Connecticut Open are available at CTOpen.org/Tickets or by calling the box office at 1-855-464-8366.  Individual session tickets start at $25 for adults and $15 for children 14 and younger.  Multi-session packages are available online or through the box office and offer up to 24 percent savings including:

• AFTER HOURS (all evening sessions and Saturday’s final)
• PICK 4 (four sessions of your choice from Sunday through Thursday)
• FINAL 4 (the last four sessions including Thursday night’s quarterfinal and men’s legends, Friday’s semifinals and men’s legends and Saturday’s finals).
• Week-long box seats, which offer more than 45 percent savings versus individual session prices, may be purchased through the box office only. Tickets for Beer Fest at the Connecticut Open on Saturday, August 25 are available at bit.ly/BeerFestatCTO. 

In addition, a $10 discount is being offered for Opening Night by using code CO18LINDSAY online at www.CTOpen.org/Tickets or by calling the tournament box office at 1-855-464-8366 before 5 p.m. on Friday, June 29. 

About Connecticut Open

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. Past champions include Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport (2 titles), Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams (4), Justine Henin, Caroline Wozniacki (4) and Petra Kvitova (3). 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 also generates $10+ million in regional economic impact. The Connecticut Open is prominently featured domestically through 50+ hours on ESPN2 and ESPN3 and is also broadcast internationally 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.

—Staff Reports