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
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