World No. 6 Caroline Garcia of France is the latest world-class player to

commit to this year's Connecticut Open. NEW HAVEN— World No.6 Caroline Garcia joins two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová, 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist Julia Goerges and a host of outstanding WTA talent in a world-class player field at the 2018 Connecticut Open, a U.S. Open Series event that will take place August 17-25, tournament director Anne Worcester announced. Garcia, a 2015 Connecticut Open quarterfinalist, won back-to-back titles in Wuhan and Beijing to qualify for the 2017 BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore. She is set to make her fifth appearance in New Haven alongside world No.14 and Wimbledon quarterfinalist Daria Kasatkina, who is enjoying a breakthrough year after reaching her first WTA Premier Mandatory final at Indian Wells, and lies ninth in the Porsche Race to Singapore.





“New Haven is such a fantastic place to prepare for the U.S. Open,” said French No.1 Garcia. “I have played there many times in the past and always enjoy the tournament atmosphere, the support of the fans and the great competition that the strong draw provides. I have played well there in the past, so I hope to be able to build on that this year.”





Goerges reached the semifinal at Wimbledon where she fell to Serena Williams. It was the first time the German reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal, having also broken into the Top 10 for the first time earlier this year. Also featured in the entry list are last year’s runner-up and crowd favorite Dominika Cibulkova, dangerous Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens, and Camila Giorgi, who will be forced to play qualifying in New Haven such is the strength of the draw.





Of the 20 players confirmed in the field, four have combined to win eight WTA singles titles in 2018, illustrating the collective international talent that will be on display at the WTA Premier event, which also contains three former Connecticut Open champions in Kvitová, defending champion Daria Gavrilova and 2016 winner Agnieszka Radwanska. Other notable names on the entry list include Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu, Johanna Konta and Ashleigh Barty. Buzarnescu began 2017 ranked outside the Top 500 and has rocketed up the rankings to No.28 after reaching finals in Hobart and Prague. Talented Australian Barty, our 2017 doubles runner-up with Casey Dellacqua, picked up her first grass-court title in Nottingham last month, beating British No.1 Konta in the final.





Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová returns to New Haven

where she will seek her fourth Connecticut Open title. “We are thrilled with the strength in depth of our 2018 field,” said Worcester. “We have star players in Caroline Garcia, Petra Kvitová, and Wimbledon semifinalist Julia Goerges; local favorites in our defending champion Daria Gavrilova and last year’s runner-up Domi Cibulkova, as well as breakthrough players on the WTA this year such as American Danielle Collins as well as Wimbledon quarterfinalists Daria Kasatkina and Kiki Bertens. Bottom line is that our event will feature a highly competitive field that will treat our fans to some exciting tennis from start to finish and we still have three wild cards to add a couple more big names to the mix.”





One might wonder if Serena Williams, who made a valiant charge to the Wimbledon women’s finals this past week, might be best served by playing a tune-up event prior to the U.S. Open.





Flying the American flag this year will be Danielle Collins , who has been awarded a main draw wild card after rising from 162 to 41 in the WTA rankings this year. A two-time NCAA champion, Collins enjoyed a superb run to the semifinals of the Miami Open, defeating Venus Williams en-route for her first Top 10 victory.





Two future stars to watch in this year’s draw include Eastbourne finalist Aryna Sabalenka (20), Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit (22), a semi-finalist in Stuttgart and Rome. While experience – and loyalty to the event - comes in the form of our 2014 runner-up Magdalena Rybarikova , making her seventh appearance in New Haven, 2016 quarterfinalist Ekaterina Makarova , also returning for the seventh time, 32-year-old Czech Barbora Strycova (fifth appearance) and Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro (fifth visit).





Kvitová, a three-time champion in New Haven, will try to join the pantheon. Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki have four Connecticut titles apiece.





The main draw currently features 21 players—20 direct acceptance and one wild card—with the direct entry cut-off at 35. In addition to adding two more Top 20 players with wild cards, six players will advance through the 48-player qualifying draw to complete the field. The top two seeds at the tournament will receive a bye





The Connecticut Open will also welcome top doubles seeds at Wimbledon, Timea Babos and her partner Kristina Mladenovic . Babos became the first Hungarian to rise to the World No.1 ranking in either singles or doubles on Monday, her historic rise helped by 18 career doubles titles, including this year’s Australian Open (w/Mladenovic). The pair currently top the doubles leaderboard in the Porsche Race to Singapore.





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% 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.





Volunteer applications are now open. There are a variety of roles available, including ball persons, in-stadium ushers, player transport, general volunteers and more. Volunteers will receive a free uniform, tickets, meal vouchers, photo credential and parking. Additionally, volunteer time can be used toward community service hours. Ball persons are also needed and tryouts will be held Aug. 4 and 5 from 9-11:30 a.m. at the Yale University tennis courts. Please visit www.ctopen.org/volunteer , or email volunteers@ctopen.org. Eligible ball persons should email ballpersons@ctopen.org.

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 Kvitová (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