Davenport Takes Wildcard, Leads WTA Cincinnati Field

You've got to wonder why Cincinnati isn't part of the US Open Series with two Top 10 players in Lindsay Davenport and Vera "Warren" Zvonareva, while on the men's side this week the Washington stop is part of the Series. Too little star-power as Lindsay took a wildcard at the last minute?

Joining Davenport and Zvonareva among the seeds are Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, Marion Bartoli, Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova, Jill Craybas, Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta who won her career-first title last week in Sopot, and Marlene Weingartner. This year marks Cincinnati's return to the WTA Tour for the first time since 1988.

"Fans have been asking when women's tennis would return to Cincinnati, and to the Midwest, for many, many years," said tournament chairman Paul Flory, who also puts on the ATP event. "We're very pleased to finally be able to answer that question, and to announce a field which should produce some very competitive and very entertaining matches."

Wildcards went to Davenport, Lilia Osterloh, and Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad.

On court Monday are Bartoli vs. Kirilenko, Razzano vs. Grande, Irvin vs. Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, and Weingartner vs. Gagliardi.