McHale Highlights First Day of Qualifying at CT Open

Christina McHale of New Jersey is one of several big-name WTA players
who will play in the qualifying draw at the Connecticut Open on Friday.

NEW HAVEN–The 2017 Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies kicks off on Friday with the qualifying draw on Sportmaster Grandstand court beginning at 10 a.m., with New Jersey’s Christina McHale taking on Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.

Magdalena Rybarikova, the 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist and runner-up in New Haven in 2014, is the No.1 seed in a qualifying competition that contains three top 50 players and nine Americans competing for six spots in the coveted main draw.

Other standouts in the qualifying draw include Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, who faces Belgium’s Elise Mertens, and Vera Zvonareva, who is making her WTA comeback in Connecticut. Zvonareva, the former World No. 2, will take on Anastasia Rodionova of Australia in the fourth match on Stadium Court.

Shelby Rogers will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich while Kayla Day (17) faces Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva (20) in a clash of the talented youngsters. In addition, former Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium will square off against Barbora Krejčíková of the Czech Republic.

The full qualifying draw, including Friday’s order of play is as follows:

ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017
 

SPORTMASTER GRANDSTAND starting 10 a.m.
Qualifying - B. Haddad Maia (BRA) vs [8] C. McHale (USA)
Qualifying - K. Day (USA) vs [11] N. Vikhlyantseva (RUS)
Qualifying - A. Sasnovich (BLR) vs [7] S. Rogers (USA)
Qualifying - [WC] V. Zvonareva (RUS) vs An. Rodionova (AUS)

COURT 1 starting 10 a.m.
Qualifying - [4] M. Barthel (GER) vs P. Parmentier (FRA)
Qualifying - [2] K. Pliskova (CZE) vs Ar. Rodionova (AUS)
Qualifying - [WC] J. Elbaba (USA) vs K. Nara (JPN)
Qualifying - [1] M. Rybarikova (SVK) vs [WC] B. Minor (USA)

COURT 2 starting at 10 a.m.
Qualifying - K. Flipkens (BEL) vs B. Krejcikova (CZE)
Qualifying - M. Doi (JPN) vs [WC] S. Kenin (USA)
Qualifying - [3] E. Mertens (BEL) vs M. Puig (PUR)
Qualifying - L. Hradecka (CZE) vs [9] L. Arruabarrena (ESP)

COURT 3 starting at 10 a.m.
Qualifying - C. Witthoeft (GER) vs M. Vondrousova (CZE)
Qualifying - M. Linette (POL) vs [WC] S. Martinelli (USA)
Qualifying - E. Alexandrova (RUS) vs S. Aoyama (JPN)
Qualifying - K. Bondarenko (UKR) vs M. Sakkari (GRE)

COURT A starting at 10 a.m.
Qualifying - E. Rodina (RUS) vs [10] T. Maria (GER)
Qualifying - [WC] M. Mateas (USA) vs V. Tomova (BUL)
Qualifying - A. Bogdan (ROU) vs G. Dabrowski (CAN)
Not Before 3 p.m.
TBA - Qualifying - [6] I. Begu (ROU) vs V. Golubic (SUI)

COURT C starting at 10 a.m.
Qualifying - R. Ozaki (JPN) vs [12] V. Lepchenko (USA)
Qualifying - A. Krunic (SRB) vs A. Kudryavtseva (RUS)
Qualifying - [5] J. Larsson (SWE) vs M. Martínez Sánchez (ESP)
Qualifying - J. Cepelova (SVK) vs S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP)

—Staff Reports