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In addition, Sania Mirza and Samantha Stosur have withdrawn from the tournament and thus World No. 12 Daniela Hantuchova and World No. 20 Nicole Vaidisova have moved into the main draw, giving the women's field nine of the top 20 female players in the world. Hantuchova will also play in the doubles tournament with a rather well-known star, American Lindsay Davenport. Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam singles (Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open) and doubles (Wimbledon, US Open, French Open) champion, returned to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour last summer (after the birth of her first child) at the Pilot Pen by playing doubles. This year she has won singles titles at Auckland and Memphis, and a doubles title at Memphis. This will be her ninth appearance at the Pilot Pen, the most of any player in the history of the event, with her best result coming in 2005 when she won the tournament. Schnyder, also a frequent visitor to New Haven, has had a solid campaign this year reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open, finals of Bangalore and quarterfinals of five other events. This will be her seventh trip to the Pilot Pen with her best result coming in 2002 when she reached the quarterfinals. Mattek is having the best year of her career reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon earlier this summer, two semifinals appearances at Birmingham and Los Angeles, and achieving a current career-high ranking of No. 43 just this week. Craybas, a New England native, represented the United States in the women's Olympic singles draw this week. This year she has reached the finals of Pattaya City and semifinals of Acapulco. Wildcards into the qualifying draws of Pilot Pen Tennis were awarded to Scoville Jenkins, Todd Paul, Adam El Mihdawy, Naomi Cavaday, Asia Muhammad and Mallory Cecil, in addition to Yale Summer Championship winners Christina McHale and Will Boe-Wiegaard. The men's qualifying draw features 32 players while the women's qualifying draw features 48 players. Jenkins, who has played on the USTA Challenger circuit this year, has reached the finals of Winnetka and semifinals of Aptos, California and Tunica Resorts, Mississippi. Paul, a three-time All-American at Wake Forest from Stamford, Connecticut, has solid results on the ITF Futures circuit this year with a finals appearance at North Miami Beach and semifinals berth at Decatur, Illinois. El Mihdawy has reached the semifinals of the Futures event in Orange Park, Florida, and has made three other quarterfinal appearances. Cavaday, from Great Britain, has reached the semifinals of two Futures tournaments this year at New Delhi and Toronto. Muhammad, 17, won her first pro event last season at the USTA Pro Circuit event in Houston. Cecil has two wins this year in Futures events at Sumter, South Carolina and Hilton Head. Boe-Wiegaard and McHale won the Yale Summer Championship titles earlier this summer gaining automatic wildcards into the qualifying draws of Pilot Pen Tennis. Boe-Wiegaard, a former NCAA Division III national champion at Bates College, is an Easton, Connecticut native and resident. McHale, a rising junior star, hales from Englwood Cliffs, New Jersey. For a more information about the tournament, how to become a volunteer or daily tickets, please call the Pilot Pen Tennis Box Office at 888/99-PILOT, 203/776-7331, or log on to www.pilotpentennis.com. Women's Main Draw WC Patty Schnyder Bethanie Mattek Jill Craybas Men's Qualifying Draw WC Adam El Mihdawy Scoville Jenkins Todd Paul (Stamford, CT) Will Boe-Wiegaard (Easton, CT) Women's Qualifying Draw WC Naomi Cavaday Asia Muhammad Mallory Cecil Christina McHale About Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick(R) Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick, an Olympus US Open Series event on the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, will be held August 15-23, 2008 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale and feature group of top-ranked international stars including former World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, World No. 10 Anna Chakvetadze, World No. 12 Daniela Hantuchova, World No. 13 Marion Bartoli, World No. 14 Agnes Szavay, World No. 13 Fernando Verdasco, World No. 19 Juan Martin Del Potro, and Americans Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri, Donald Young and John Isner. The Pilot Pen is the first ever combined men's and women's summer tournament leading into the US Open. The 2007 Pilot Pen, whose champions are Svetlana Kuznetsova and James Blake, drew nearly 100,000 spectators and was televised nationally for 18 hours on ESPN2 and CBS Sports. For tickets, how to become a volunteer, or more information about the tournament, please call the Pilot Pen Tennis Box Office, 888/99-PILOT, 203/776-7331, or log on to www.pilotpentennis.com. About the Olympus US Open Series The Olympus US Open Series brings together the 10 summer tournaments in North America, three television networks, tennis' sanctioning bodies and top corporate sponsors during the summer tennis season. In 2007 the Series continued its enhancements to the sport, including more national TV hours, live back-to-back Finals every Sunday, bonus prize money at the US Open, new court colors, and a significant national marketing campaign. © Copyright by NorwalkPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of NorwalkPlus.com, Norwalk Plus magazine, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar. Related Articles: Fairfield County Sports Commission names Sports Persons Of The Year in 15 communities - Sep 8, 2008 - 9:57 AM Hot happening and special access events to occur at Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament - Aug 13, 2008 - 4:30 PM American Robby Ginepri receives first wildcard - Aug 13, 2008 - 3:15 PM Governor Rell declares “Connecticut Olympians Day” - Aug 7, 2008 - 3:42 PM CURRENT HEADLINES: Top of Page
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