Connecticut Open (tennis)

Connecticut Open
Defunct tennis tournament
Tour	WTA Tour
Founded	1948
Abolished	2019
Editions	50
Location	New Haven, Connecticut United States
Category	ATP World Series (1990–1997) ATP International Series (1998–2008) ATP World Tour 250 series (2009–2010) WTA Tier IV (1988–1989) WTA Tier III (1990–1994) WTA Tier II (1997–2008) WTA Premier (2009–2018)
Surface	Hard / outdoor

The Connecticut Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts under various names and in various venues from 1948 until 2019.

It was most recently a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Premier Tournament on the WTA Tour, held annually at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, just before the fourth and last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open.^[1] From 2005 through 2010, the tournament was also part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour.

In 2019, the tournament sanction was sold to APG, a sports and entertainment company, which transferred it to Zhengzhou, China.^[2]

History

The tournament was created in 1948 as the U.S. Women's Hardcourt Championships and first played in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Over the 20 years of its first run, the event was held in various locations in the western United States: San Francisco; Berkeley, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Washington; La Jolla, California; and Denver, Colorado. Among the winners of the event were Doris Hart, Darlene Hard, Nancy Richey, Rosemary Casals, Billie Jean King, and Jane Bartkowicz. The event was discontinued in 1969 after the beginning of the Open Era.^[3]

In 1988, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) reinstated the tournament. The first edition of the new U.S. Women's Hardcourt Championships was held that year in San Antonio, Texas, first as part of Tier IV of the WTA Tour, then as an upgraded Tier III event in 1990. The championships were sponsored by Post Cereals in 1990^[4] and by Acura from 1992 to 1994.^[4] Over the first years of its second run, the tournament was won by several past or future World No. 1s, including Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and Martina Navratilova. The event was held in Stratton Mountain, Vermont, in 1993 and 1994, but conflicts with the 1996 Summer Olympics prevented the tournament from being held the following two years. In 1997, the event returned again, now within Tier II and first in Stone Mountain, Georgia, then settling in 1998 in New Haven, Connecticut, under the new sponsorship of Pilot Pen.^[3] In the first years of its run in New Haven, the renamed Pilot Pen International saw its competition dominated by Lindsay Davenport (four-time runner-up in New Haven, one previous time in Stone Mountain, and 2005 champion) and Venus Williams (four-time champion from 1999 to 2002).

New Haven was already host to a men's tournament, the Pilot Pen International. It was created in 1973 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, as the Volvo International, and moved to Connecticut in 1990, where it took Pilot Pen sponsorship in 1997. When the men's event was cancelled in 1999, the women's Pilot Pen tournament remained the only one of the region.

In 2005, the USTA purchased the men's tournament of Long Island, New York,^[5] and merged it with the women's Pilot Pen International to create Pilot Pen Tennis, the first large joint ATP–WTA tournament leading to the US Open.^[6] The tournament became the last event of the US Open Series and continued to attract top players, including champions Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova, James Blake, Justine Henin, and Nikolay Davydenko.

In 2011, after the men's competition moved to Winston-Salem, the newly women's-only event was renamed the New Haven Open at Yale.^[7] In 2014, it was renamed the Connecticut Open.^[8]

In 2019, the Connecticut Open ended due to a lack of funding. The tournament's sanction was sold and assigned to Zhengzhou, China, after the 2019 US Open.^[9] In 2021, the Tennis in the Land tournament in Cleveland took over its former spot on the WTA schedule.^[10]

Past finals

Women's singles

Location	Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
San Francisco	1948*	Gussie Moran	Virginia Wolfenden Kovacs	2–6, 6–1, 6–2
	1949*	Doris Hart	Dorothy Head Knode	6–3, 6–4
Berkeley, California	1950*	Patricia Canning Todd	Magda Rurac	6–2, 6–1
Salt Lake City	1951	Patricia Canning Todd (2)	Anita Kanter	6–1, 6–4
Seattle	1952	Mary Arnold Prentiss	Anita Kanter	6–1, 8–6
Salt Like City	1953	Anita Kanter	Joan Merciadis	6–0, 6–4
	1954	Beverly Baker Fleitz	Barbara Green	6–1, 6–3
La Jolla, California	1955	Mimi Arnold	Patricia Canning Todd	6–0, 6–0
	1956	Nancy Chaffee Kiner	Patricia Canning Todd	6–4, 5–7, 7–5
	1957	Beverly Baker Fleitz (2)	Mimi Arnold	6–1, 6–1
	1958	Beverly Baker Fleitz (3)	Karen Hantze	6–1, 8–6
Denver, Colorado	1959	Sandra Reynolds	Beverly Baker Fleitz	6–3, 6–2
La Jolla, California	1960	Katherine D. Chabot	Karen Hantze	4–6, 7–5, 7–5
	1961	Nancy Richey	Dorothy Head Knode	6–1, 6–1
Seattle	1962	Carol Hanks	Marilyn Montgomery	7–5, 6–3
La Jolla, California	1963	Darlene Hard	Tory Fretz	6–1, 8–6
Sacramento, California	1964	Kathleen Harter	Kathy Blake	6–1, 6–0
	1965	Rosemary Casals	Kathleen Harter	6–4, 4–6, 6–2
La Jolla, California	1966	Billie Jean King	Patti Hogan	7–5, 6–0
Sacramento, California	1967	Jane "Peaches" Bartkowicz	Valerie Ziegenfuss	6–4, 6–4
La Jolla, California	1968	Maryna Godwin	Janet Newberry	6–3, 8–6
Sacramento, California	1969	Eliza Pande	Kristien Kemmer	7–5, 6–4
	1970– 1987	Not held
San Antonio, Texas	1988	Steffi Graf	Katerina Maleeva	6–4, 6–1
	1989	Steffi Graf (2)	Ann Henricksson	6–1, 6–4
	1990	Monica Seles	Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière	6–4, 6–3
	1991	Steffi Graf (3)	Monica Seles	6–4, 6–3
	1992	Martina Navratilova	Nathalie Tauziat	6–2, 6–1
Stratton Mountain, Vermont	1993	Conchita Martínez	Zina Garrison	6–3, 6–2
	1994	Conchita Martínez (2)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
	1995	Not held
	1996	Not held
Stone Mountain, Georgia	1997	Lindsay Davenport	Sandrine Testud	6–4, 6–1
New Haven, Connecticut	1998	Steffi Graf (4)	Jana Novotná	6–4, 6–1
	1999	Venus Williams	Lindsay Davenport	6–2, 7–5
	2000	Venus Williams (2)	Monica Seles	6–2, 6–4
	2001	Venus Williams (3)	Lindsay Davenport	7–6^(8–6), 6–4
	2002	Venus Williams (4)	Lindsay Davenport	7–5, 6–0
	2003	Jennifer Capriati	Lindsay Davenport	6–2, 4–0 retired
	2004	Elena Bovina	Nathalie Dechy	6–2, 2–6, 7–5
	2005	Lindsay Davenport (2)	Amélie Mauresmo	6–4, 6–4
	2006	Justine Henin	Lindsay Davenport	6–0, 1–0 retired
	2007	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Ágnes Szávay	4–6, 3–0 retired
	2008	Caroline Wozniacki	Anna Chakvetadze	3–6, 6–4, 6–1
	2009	Caroline Wozniacki (2)	Elena Vesnina	6–2, 6–4
	2010	Caroline Wozniacki (3)	Nadia Petrova	6–3, 3–6, 6–3
	2011	Caroline Wozniacki (4)	Petra Cetkovská	6–4, 6–1
	2012	Petra Kvitová	Maria Kirilenko	7–6^(11–9), 7–5
	2013	Simona Halep	Petra Kvitová	6–2, 6–2
	2014	Petra Kvitová (2)	Magdaléna Rybáriková	6–4, 6–2
	2015	Petra Kvitová (3)	Lucie Šafářová	6–7^(6–8), 6–2, 6–2
	2016	Agnieszka Radwańska	Elina Svitolina	6–1, 7–6^(7–3)
	2017	Daria Gavrilova	Dominika Cibulková	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
	2018	Aryna Sabalenka	Carla Suárez Navarro	6–1, 6–4

• From 1948 through 1950, the U.S. Women's Hardcourt Championships were a combined event with the Pacific Coast Championships.

Women's doubles

Location	Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
New Haven	2018	Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková Barbora Strýcová	Hsieh Su-wei Laura Siegemund	6–4, 6–7^(7–9), [10–4]
	2017	Gabriela Dabrowski Xu Yifan	Ashleigh Barty Casey Dellacqua	3–6, 6–3, [10–8]
	2016	Sania Mirza (3) Monica Niculescu	Kateryna Bondarenko Chuang Chia-jung	7–5, 6–4
	2015	Julia Görges Lucie Hradecká	Chuang Chia-jung Liang Chen	6–3, 6–1
	2014	Andreja Klepač Sílvia Soler Espinosa	Marina Erakovic Arantxa Parra Santonja	7–5, 4–6, [10–7]
	2013	Sania Mirza (2) Zheng Jie (2)	Anabel Medina Garrigues Katarina Srebotnik	6–3, 6–4
	2012	Liezel Huber Lisa Raymond (4)	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	4–6, 6–0, [10–4]
	2011	Chuang Chia-jung Olga Govortsova	Sara Errani Roberta Vinci	7–5, 6–2
	2010	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	Bethanie Mattek-Sands Meghann Shaughnessy	7–5, 6–0
	2009	Nuria Llagostera Vives María José Martínez Sánchez	Iveta Benešová Lucie Hradecká	6–2, 7–5
	2008	Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond (3)	Sorana Cîrstea Monica Niculescu	4–6, 7–5, [10–7]
	2007	Sania Mirza Mara Santangelo	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–1, 6–2
	2006	Yan Zi Zheng Jie	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–4, 6–2
	2005	Lisa Raymond (2) Samantha Stosur	Gisela Dulko Maria Kirilenko	6–2, 6–7^(1–7), 6–1
	2004	Nadia Petrova Meghann Shaughnessy	Martina Navratilova Lisa Raymond	6–1, 1–6, 7–6^(7–4)
	2003	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	Alicia Molik Magüi Serna	7–6^(8–6), 6–3
	2002	Daniela Hantuchová Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Tathiana Garbin Janette Husárová	7–6, 1–6, 7–5
	2001	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	Jelena Dokić Nadia Petrova	6–0, 3–6, 6–2
	2000	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–4, 5–7, 6–2
	1999	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	Elena Likhovtseva Jana Novotná	7–6^(7–1), 6–2
	1998	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	Mariaan de Swardt Jana Novotná	6–1, 6–0
Stone Mt.	1997	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	6–7^(5–7), 6–3, 6–2
	1996	Not held
	1995	Not held
Stratton Mountain	1994	Elizabeth Sayers-Smylie (2) Pam Shriver (3)	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–6^(7–4), 2–6, 7–5
	1993	Elizabeth Sayers-Smylie Helena Suková (2)	Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière Mercedes Paz	6–1, 6–2
San Antonio	1992	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver (2)	Patty Fendick Andrea Strnadová	3–6, 6–2, 7–6^(7–4)
	1991	Patty Fendick Monica Seles	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	7–6^(7–2), 6–2
	1990	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Sayers-Smylie	Gigi Fernández Robin White	7–5, 7–5
	1989	Katrina Adams Pam Shriver	Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
	1988	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	Rosalyn Fairbank Gretchen Rush-Magers	6–3, 6–7^(5–7), 6–2

Men's singles

Location	Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
Long Island (exhibition)	1981	Brian Teacher	Yannick Noah	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
	1982	Gene Mayer	Johan Kriek	6–2, 6–3
	1983	Gene Mayer	Heinz Günthardt	6–7^(9–11), 6–4, 6–0
	1984	Ivan Lendl	Andrés Gómez	6–2, 6–4
	1985	Ivan Lendl	Jimmy Connors	6–1, 6–3
	1986	Ivan Lendl	John McEnroe	6–2, 6–4
	1987	Jonas Svensson	David Pate	7–6, 3–6, 6–3
	1988	Andre Agassi	Yannick Noah	6–3, 0–6, 6–4
	1989	Ivan Lendl	Mikael Pernfors	4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Long Island	1990	Stefan Edberg	Goran Ivanišević	7–6, 6–3
	1991	Ivan Lendl	Stefan Edberg	6–3, 6–2
	1992	Petr Korda	Ivan Lendl	6–2, 6–2
	1993	Marc Rosset	Michael Chang	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
	1994	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	Cédric Pioline	5–7, 6–1, 6–2
	1995	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	Jan Siemerink	7–6^(7–0), 6–2
	1996	Andrei Medvedev	Martin Damm	7–5, 6–3
	1997	Carlos Moyá	Patrick Rafter	6–4, 7–6^(7–1)
	1998	Patrick Rafter	Félix Mantilla	7–6^(7–3), 6–2
	1999	Magnus Norman	Àlex Corretja	7–6^(7–4), 4–6, 6–3
	2000	Magnus Norman	Thomas Enqvist	6–3, 5–7, 7–5
	2001	Tommy Haas	Pete Sampras	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
	2002	Paradorn Srichaphan	Juan Ignacio Chela	5–7, 6–2, 6–2
	2003	Paradorn Srichaphan	James Blake	6–2, 6–4
	2004	Lleyton Hewitt	Luis Horna	6–3, 6–1
New Haven	2005	James Blake	Feliciano López	3–6, 7–5, 6–1
	2006	Nikolay Davydenko	Agustín Calleri	6–4, 6–3
	2007	James Blake	Mardy Fish	7–5, 6–4
	2008	Marin Čilić	Mardy Fish	6–4, 4–6, 6–2
	2009	Fernando Verdasco	Sam Querrey	6–4, 7–6^(8–6)
	2010	Sergiy Stakhovsky	Denis Istomin	3–6, 6–3, 6–4

Men's doubles

Location	Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
Long Island	1990	Guy Forget Jakob Hlasek	Udo Riglewski Michael Stich	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
	1991	Eric Jelen Carl-Uwe Steeb	Doug Flach Diego Nargiso	0–6, 6–4, 7–6
	1992	Francisco Montana Greg Van Emburgh	Gianluca Pozzi Olli Rahnasto	6–4, 6–2
	1993	Marc-Kevin Goellner David Prinosil	Arnaud Boetsch Olivier Delaître	6–7, 7–5, 6–2
	1994	Olivier Delaître Guy Forget	Andrew Florent Mark Petchey	6–4, 7–6
	1995	Cyril Suk Daniel Vacek	Rick Leach Scott Melville	5–7, 7–6, 7–6
	1996	Luke Jensen Murphy Jensen	Hendrik Dreekmann Alexander Volkov	6–3, 7–6
	1997	Marcos Ondruska David Prinosil	Mark Keil T. J. Middleton	6–4, 6–4
	1998	Julian Alonso Javier Sánchez	Brandon Coupe Dave Randall	6–4, 6–4
	1999	Olivier Delaître Fabrice Santoro	Jan-Michael Gambill Scott Humphries	7–5, 6–4
	2000	Jonathan Stark Kevin Ullyett	Jan-Michael Gambill Scott Humphries	6–4, 6–4
	2001	Jonathan Stark Kevin Ullyett	Leoš Friedl Radek Štěpánek	6–1, 6–4
	2002	Mahesh Bhupathi Mike Bryan	Petr Pála Pavel Vízner	6–3, 6–4
	2003	Robbie Koenig Martín Rodríguez	Martin Damm Cyril Suk	6–3, 7–6
	2004	Antony Dupuis Michaël Llodra	Yves Allegro Michael Kohlmann	6–2, 6–4
New Haven	2005	Gastón Etlis Martín Rodríguez	Rajeev Ram Bobby Reynolds	6–4, 6–3
	2006	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–3, 6–3
	2007	Mahesh Bhupathi Nenad Zimonjić	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–3, 6–3
	2008	Marcelo Melo André Sá	Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles	7–5, 6–2
	2009	Julian Knowle Jürgen Melzer	Bruno Soares Kevin Ullyett	6–4, 7–6^(7-3)
	2010	Robert Lindstedt Horia Tecău	Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi	6–4, 7–5

2011 earthquake

On August 23, 2011, 1:51 PM local time^[11] a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia stopped play for two hours^[12] while the main stadium was checked for damage by the fire department.

See also

• Volvo International

References

1. "Connecticut Open | Connecticut Open". www.ctopen.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2014. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
2. "Events". APG Sports Media. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
3. pilotpentennis.com (2008-08-15). "2008 Pilot Pen Tennis Press Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-08-22.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
4. sonyericssonwtatour.com. "Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Final Results: 1971-2007" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
5. "USTA buys ATP event, moves it to New Haven". USA Today. Associated Press. 2005-05-09. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
6. USTA (2005-05-10). "USTA purchases ATP men's tournament to create first combined summer event". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
7. "Tennis tournament continues as New Haven Open at Yale". New Haven Open at Yale website. 2010-10-21. Archived from the original on 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
8. "ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
9. "Connecticut Open tennis tournament comes to an end after rights to tournament sold". Hartford Courant. 2019-02-01. Archived from the original on 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
10. "Tennis in the Land brings WTA to Cleveland in August for first time". News-Herald. 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
11. "Magnitude 5.8 – VIRGINIA". Virginia: USGS. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
12. "Earthquake Causes Evacuation At New Haven Open". The Huffington Post. September 2, 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.

External links

• Official website. Archived 2014-04-04 at the Wayback Machine.
• ATP tournament profile (New Haven)
• ATP tournament profile (Long Island)
• sonyericssonwtatour.com profile (New Haven years)