Cibulkova Joins Radwanska, Kvitová in Star-Studded Connecticut Open Field

Dominika Cibulkova, ranked No. 11 in the world, joins a very strong field
in this year's Connecticut Open, which will be played Aug. 18-26 at the
Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale.

NEW HAVEN–Dominika Cibulkova, currently ranked
No. 11 in the world, will join defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová and a plethora of WTA stars in one of the strongest fields in the history of the Connecticut Open which will take place from Aug. 18-26 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale.

Cibulkova, the 2016 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore champion, will be making her eighth appearance in New Haven. She will be joned by No. 13-ranked Kiki Mladenovic, who is enjoying a breakthrough year after winning her first WTA title in St Petersburg (Russia). Indeed, the 20 players confirmed in the 2017 field, 10 have won at least one WTA singles titles this year, illustrating just how deep and dangerous the draw will be at the WTA Premier event. Also in this year’s New Haven field are a trio of Russians: 19-year-old Daria Kasatkina, who won her first WTA title this year in Charleston, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who copped WTA titles in Monterrey and Rabat (Morocco), and Olympic gold medallist and 2016 Connecticut Open quarterfinalist Elena Vesnina, who earned the biggest title of her career earlier this season at Indian Wells.

Vesnina and her partner, Ekaterina Makarova, teamed up to win the womens’ doubles title at Wimbledon—their third Grand Slam title together—and the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore champions now lie second in the Porsche Race to Singapore doubles standings.

Samantha Stosur (Strasbourg), Kvitová (Birmingham), Lesia Tsurenko (Acapulco), Anett Kontaveit ('s-Hertogenbosch), Lauren Davis (Auckland) and Kiki Bertens (Nurnberg) are the other entrants to have lifted silverware this year as the Connecticut Open prepares to celebrate 20 years of women’s tennis in New Haven this summer.

“We are delighted that our field contains so many players in outstanding form,” said tournament director Anne Worcester. “Half of our players have already won a title this year, which shows the rich depth in women’s tennis right now. Add that emerging talent to established Grand Slam champions like Petra Kvitová and Sam Stosur, plus Domi Cibulkova and our defending champion Aga Radwanska and we have an extremely exciting and competitive field. We will also aim to add two more big names in the next month with our additional Top 20 wild cards.”

Representing the United States will be Davis, who won the title in Auckland in a field that contained both Williams sisters, and Sloane Stephens, a wild card who made her return to competition at Wimbledon after an extended break with a foot injury.

The legendary Martina Navratilova will participate in Opening Ceremonies
and take place in a mixed doubles exhibition match.

Worcester also announced a wild card for 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Genie Bouchard, who counts New Haven as one of her favorite stops on the tour and will return for the fourth consecutive year.

“I’m really excited to be heading back to New Haven this summer,” said the Canadian. “The tournament conditions are just perfect as a warm-up to the US Open and I have really enjoyed getting to know the city and Yale University in the past three years.”

The main draw currently features 22 players—20 direct acceptance and two wild cards—with the direct entry cut-off at 38. Also making an appearance will be Roland Garros semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky, five-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Carla Suarez Navarro, Australian Open semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and 2016 Top 10 debutant Roberta Vinci.

Chinese No.1 Zhang Shuai and No.2 Peng Shuai will also be in action. Peng Shuai lies in fifth position in the Porsche Race to Singapore doubles standings with her partner Andrea Hlavackova. All but one of the singles players (Daria Gavrilova) has won at least one career WTA title, and 10 are at the peak of their game, having reached career-high rankings this year.

In addition to adding two more Top 20 players with wild cards, six players will advance through the 48-player qualifying draw to complete the field. The top two seeds at the tournament will receive a bye.

John McEnroe will bring the Mac attack back to New Haven when he
participates in the PowerShares Series men's matches.

The legendary Martina Navratilova will take part in the opening ceremony on Monday evening (Aug. 21) followed by a mixed doubles exhibition with fellow Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander.

Best seats to the Navratilova Exhibition and PowerShares Series men’s matches (Aug. 24-25) featuring Tennis Hall-of-Famers Michael Chang and John McEnroe along with Fairfield’s James Blake and defending champion Mark Philippoussis, are available now with the purchase of a multiple session package. These include Week-Long Box Seats (all 14 sessions), After Hours (every evening session and Saturday finals),

The Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies is a women’s-only WTA tournament held at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale featuring four different competitions (WTA qualifying, WTA singles, WTA doubles and PowerShares Men’s Legends). The tournament is prominently featured domestically through more than 40 hours of combined coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN3, and is broadcast internationally to 160 countries, with more than 15 million viewers worldwide. For a complete broadcast schedule, click HERE.

For details about the tournament and tickets, or to become a volunteer, visit www.ctopen.org or call 203-776-7331.

—Staff Reports