August 23rd, 2009
ATP/WTA Pilot Pen Tennis Preview: Davydenko! Kuznetsova!
PILOT PEN TENNIS
New Haven, Conn., USA
Surface: Hard outdoor
Men
Seeds: Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Igor Andreev, Victor Hanescu, Nicolas Almagro, Jeremy Chardy, Jurgen Melzer, Philipp Petzschner, Andreas Beck, Igor Kunitsyn, Fabrice Santoro, Andreas Seppi
Floaters: Ivan Ljubicic, (WC) Taylor Dent, Marcos Baghdatis
Notes: All 16 seeds receive 1st rd. byes; Ljubicic vs. Dent 1st rd., winner to face (14) Kunitsyn; not a lot of excitement in two Top 10ers Davydenko, Verdasco; two-time winner James Blake skips the event to promote his Fila line; Fish runner-up in New Haven last two years; defending champ Cilic skips out; top-seeded Davydenko won in ‘06; Richard Gasquet lost in the weekend qualifying.
Women
Seeds: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki, Flavia Pennetta, Nadia Petrova, Aggie Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, (Dominika Cibulkova withdrew), Amelie Mauresmo, Sam Stosur
Floaters: Jie Zheng, Anna Chakvetadze, Alize Cornet, Patty Schnyder
Notes: Wildcards to Kuzy, Petrova, Meghann Shaughnessy; Cibulkova withdrew with right rib injury; Wozniacki is the defending champ; Kuzy won in 2007; Lindsay Davenport was 1-5 in career New Haven finals, while Venus Williams won four in a row from 1999-2002; no U.S. stars this year (wildcard Shaughnessy is only U.S. player!).
Also Check Out:
WTA Championships Preview
ATP/WTA Previews: Nadal, Women’s Full Slate in Beijing
U.S. Olympic Tennis Preview: Tough Draws for Blake, Men
US Open Draws: Women’s Singles Preview
On-Court Coaching Saves Safina in Stuttgart Semis
