tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26994800744410059432024-02-08T09:03:23.897-05:00Pilots' BlogOur bloggers check in with the latest news and views from the 2008 Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament.Register Sportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16987212520596223660noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-52472206144120613372009-06-05T17:14:00.003-04:002009-06-05T18:01:11.611-04:00Oh, say can you see ...We will be providing periodic updates, speculation, player updates leading up to the 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament and will turn this into an all-things in the world of Connecticut tennis destination.<br /><br />Starting off, the tournament will be holding auditions for national anthem singers (for contestants age 12 and under) on Wednesday. Here's the release:<br /><br /><br /><strong>SECOND ANNUAL PILOT PEN TENNIS CASTING CALL GIVES CHILDREN CHANCE TO PERFORM “AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL” AT THE 2009 TOURNAMENT<br /><br />Boys And Girls Age 12 And Under Invited To Audition At The Shubert<br />Theater On June 10;<br />American R&B And Pop Singer-Songwriter JoJo To Judge on Celebrity Panel<br /><br />NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 4, 2009 – Pilot Pen Tennis today announced it<br />will host the second annual Pilot Pen Tennis Casting Call on<br />Wednesday, June 10 at the historic Shubert Theater in downtown New<br />Haven to select children to perform “America the Beautiful” at the<br />2009 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, to be held August 21-29. Winners<br />will perform live on stadium court during all evening sessions of this<br />year’s tournament as well as both men’s and women’s final.<br /><br />The open auditions, sponsored by Olympus America, are free of charge<br />and will be held from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Children 12 years of age and<br />younger (as of August 29, 2009) will be asked to sing “America the<br />Beautiful” a cappella in front of a panel of celebrity judges,<br />including American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress<br />JoJo, who’s first two albums have debuted at No. 4 and No. 3 on the<br />Billboard Hot 200. Other celebrity judges include Desiree Fontaine,<br />co-host of WTNH’s Connecticut Style, and a disc jockey from radio<br />station KC101 (WKCI-FM).<br /><br />"This Casting Call brings together some of our City's greatest<br />treasures: kids, music, the Shubert Theatre and Pilot Pen Tennis,"<br />said DeStefano. "This program is a great opportunity to showcase the<br />musical talents of our youth on the national stage of the Pilot Pen."<br /><br />“Last year’s Pilot Pen Tennis Casting Call and subsequent performances<br />by the children during the Pilot Pen were a resounding success,” said<br />Anne Worcester, Tournament Director. “The Pilot Pen is always seeking<br />to recognize local talent – both on and off the court – and this is<br />yet another way we can showcase that talent.”<br /><br />This exciting community collaboration will also serve as the kick-off<br />for the Shubert Theater’s annual S.N.A.P. (Shubert Night at A<br />Performance) program. S.N.A.P. is a community outreach initiative<br />serving New Haven’s inner-city neighborhoods by offering community<br />organizations the opportunity to experience cultural and entertainment<br />events at the Shubert Theater. The S.N.A.P. program creates access to<br />the arts for children, families and senior citizens from New Haven’s<br />diverse community.<br /><br />The Pilot Pen will announce the final selections on June 30, 2009. All<br />contestants will receive tickets to the Pilot Pen. For more<br />information on the open casting call, including the official rules,<br />log on to www.pilotpentennis.com.</strong><br /><br />Now switching to tennis, considering that I saw some familiar names advancing deep in the French Open singles draw, my curiousity got the better of me. I looked up how often the singles quarterfinals on the men's and women's side have played in the Pilot Pen.<br /><br />On the men's side, while Roger Federer has never been to New Haven, his opponent in the final has. Robin Soderling, who upset Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, reached the second round in 2005 and semifinals in 2006. Semifinalists Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Martin Del Potro played in 2005 and 2007 respectively (Del Potro was supposed to play last year but was a late withdrawal). Tommy Robredo is the only men's quarterfinalist who has committed to the tournament but Nikolay Davydenko has played the Pilot Pen three times (winning in 2006) and Gael Monfils also played in 2005, 2006 and 2007.<br /><br />For the women, finalists Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova (the 2007 champion) have played here twice but neither were in the event last year. Safina would seem to be a longshot if she remains the No. 1 player but both talented Russians figure to be pursued relentlessly by tournament director Anne Worcester. Semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova has already committed to play in New Haven and the other semifinal loser Sam Stosur played every year from 2004-07. While quarterfinalist Serena Williams has not played at the Pilot Pen (although she did have one well-documented late withdrawal), the other quartefinal losers Victoria Azarenka (who lost in qualifying in 2005 and 2006), Maria Sharapova (a second-round loser in 2004) and Sorana Cirstea (a quarterfinalist last year) have all previously played in the tournament.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-55422383635083510082008-08-24T23:35:00.003-04:002008-08-24T23:45:46.238-04:00Looking aheadThe 2008 Pilot Pen is in the books but with the U.S. Open beginning Monday, there are some intriguing first-day matches with familiar names to New Haven area tennis fans.<br /><br />Both 2008 Pilot Pen women's singles champion Caroline Wozniacki and runner-up Anna Chakvetadze will be in action on Monday. Chakvetadze will face fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth match on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Wozniacki will play American Ashsa Rolle in the fourth match on Grandstand Court although there is a chance it could be shifted to Arthur Ashe Stadium.<br /><br />Lindsay Davenport, who played doubles only at the Pilot Pen the last two years, will meet Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak in a pretty intriguing first-round match. It will be up second on Ashe Stadium. Two-time Pilot Pen men's singles champion and former Fairfield resident James Blake will face Donald Young, who won his first career ATP match at the 2007 Pilot Pen, in the second match in the night session at Ashe Stadium.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-10613453472672371162008-08-23T22:51:00.003-04:002008-08-23T23:34:45.413-04:00Cilic makes historyTeenager Marin Cilic won his first career title with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Mardy Fish in the men's singles final.<br /><br />Cilic finished off Fish with a 123 mile an hour ace. He raised his arms in celebration and after a couple of seconds he fell to his knees in celebration.<br /><br />"I was all over the place, my mind was going (everywhere)," Cilic said. "I will know next time how (to celebrate)."<br /><br />Fish was obviously disappointed after losing in the New Haven final for the second year in a row and dropping to 2-9 in ATP finals.<br /><br />"It's my 11th final and I have only won twice and it is starting to really sting," said Fish. "I have a lot of runner-up trophies. These are the ones I need to get. To get somebody who certainly has a lot of talent, a lot of up side and will be out here for a long time. I would have liked to have put more pressure on him and showed that I was a little more adapted to the situation.<br />"I love this tournament, I would love to win this tournament. I have come close both times and I feel like I can do it again. I felt there were some great opportunities to get my third title. There are definitely a lot of what ifs, a lot of finals of tournaments I have played."<br /><br />Lisa Raymond and Kveta Peschke won the women's doubles title with a 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 win over Sorana Cirstea and Monica Niculescu. It was Raymond's 67th career doubles title and second straight in New Haven.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-33705226011838142172008-08-23T18:21:00.002-04:002008-08-23T18:26:26.376-04:00A tale of two PensAs if competition on the court isn't enough, now we have the case of the dueling pens at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.<br /><br />As the name would indicate, Pilot Pen is the preferred pen at the tournament. But as fans made their way from Stadium Court and walked across the street to go to the food court, notepads and pens - Bic pens. Pretty ironic, don't you think?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-73425405224134639462008-08-23T16:36:00.002-04:002008-08-23T16:41:33.336-04:00To Denmark, From PolandIf Pilot Pen women's champion Caroline Wozniacki's last name doesn't exactly sound like a Danish -- well, it isn't. Both her parents, Piotr and Anna, are natives of Poland.<br /><br />So why does Wozniacki sport the Danish flag painted on her thumbnails, rather than Poland? Well, she was born in Denmark. Her father was a professional soccer player in Poland, but he was sold -- first to Germany, then to Denmark, where he eventually settled.<br /><br />"And he took my mother with him," Wozniacki quipped.<br /><br />And that's no Polish joke.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-1163077716777648742008-08-22T22:43:00.001-04:002008-08-22T22:43:57.339-04:00Cilic reaches finalSixth-seeded Marin Cilic advanced to his first career ATP final with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over qualifier Luka Gregorc.<br />Cilic only lost two points on his serve in the first set and 11 points on serve in the match to advance to Saturday's championship match against Mardy Fish.<br />Cilic, who is projected to break into the top 25 in the ATP rankings on Monday regardless of the results of the final, had never advanced in four previous trips to the semifinals in his young career.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-51881652258704503232008-08-22T22:04:00.004-04:002008-08-22T22:18:16.297-04:00Chaka Con?Anna Chakvatadze minces no words -- she wants to be the No. 1 women's tennis player in the world.<br /><br />"That's my goal," she said on Friday after beating Amelie Mauresmo in a Pilot Pen semifinal match.<br /><br />If so, Chakvetadze (currently ranked No. 10) will need to improve her concentration and maturity level to get there, according to Mauresmo herself.<br /><br />"Mentally today, she went down a little bit in the second set. I guess she will have to raise these moments," Mauresmo said. "Her serve, also – there were a few double faults there (nine for the match). But it's very hard to say the way she's going to evolve and grow up a little bit in her game, and mentally. It's difficult to know if she's going to be able to put things together and really focus the way she has to to get to that No. 1 spot. It's going to be hard."<br /><br />Mauresmo knows a thing or two about being No. 1. She held that spot for most of 2006 while winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Since then, injuries and illness have contributed to her falling out of the top 30, though her strong performance this week at the Pilot Pen has her thinking she can get back to her former perch.<br /><br />Not to pick on Chakvatadze too much, but she also had probably the most embarassing moment of the tourney on Friday night. Awaiting a high Mauresmo lob return at the net late in the third set, Mauresmo flat-out swung and missed at the ball. Just plain old swung and missed.<br /><br />She was able to spin around and hit a backhand -- into the net. Chakvatadze was able to laugh at the mistake, both on the court and after the match.<br /><br />"Oh my God. I just lost the ball in the sky, I don't know how it happened," she said. "It was not that difficult a shot."<br /><br />I asked her the last time she remembers whiffing at a shot.<br /><br />"I don't know," she replied. "I just remember the last time, my hair got stuck in the racket."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-74679195654779407692008-08-22T18:21:00.002-04:002008-08-22T18:34:03.126-04:00Not Rotten in DenmarkCaroline Wozniacki, who advanced to tomorrow's Pilot Pen women's finals, is a hero in her native Denmark. Earlier in the month, she became the first Danish native ever to win on the WTA Tour with a victory at the Nordea Nordic Light Open in Stockholm, Sweden.<br /><br />She sports the colors of her country's flag on her thumbnails to show her pride, but it's a safe bet her country is just as proud of her. A large crowd in her home town of Copenhagen filled an indoor arena to watch her dispatch Russia's Vera Dushevina in the finals at Stockholm.<br /><br />"There aren't really that many tennis players in Denmark, so there was a lot of focus," Wozniacki noted. "It was a big deal. I only spent a few hours in Denmark before I left for the Olympics … but I heard so many people were cheering for me at home."<br /><br />Wozniacki lives in Monte Carlo, so she doesn't get a chance to spend much time in Denmark. When she's there, however, she's treated like royalty. <br /><br />"The people support me so much," she said. "I get more and more attention. People on the streets want my autograph, but in a nice way. It's really nice. It's great to know people are supporting me."<br /><br />Wozniacki was recently was named as an ambassador for her native country. <br /><br />"I hope that it will help the younger girls and boys to start playing," she said. "Hopefully, we'll get more good players in the future."<br /><br />When asked if she was the most popular sports figure in Denmark right now, she said "Sure, one of them." <br /><br />Wozniacki couldn't think of anyone more popular, which got us to thinking: who is the most accomplished Danish-born athlete? Top of our head, we could only come up with longtime ex-NFL kicker Morten Andersen and current PGA Tour pro Thomas Bjorn.<br /><br />Can anyone think of any others? Feel free to reply.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-11613684342052121242008-08-22T17:16:00.002-04:002008-08-22T17:29:49.789-04:00Bucking the trendSomehow Caroline Wozniacki has avoided the Pilot Pen draw pulling jinx.<br /><br />Dating back to 2002, which ever player has been asked to serve as the WTA representive has exited quickly from the tournament. Tamarine Tanasugarn (2002), Ashley Harkleroad (2003), Alicia Molik (2005) and Patty Schnyder (2006) all lost in the first round while Tatiana Golovin in 2004 and Sania Mirza last year were gone by the end of the second round. <br /><br />Wozniacki, however, who made history earlier this summer by becoming the first player from Denmark to win a WTA title, prevented this little piece of Pilot Pen history from repeating.<br /><br />On a side note, all four players who had their photos on the Register's special section have been eliminated. Juan Del Potro pulled out of the men's field while Dominika Cibulkova and Nicole Vaidisova lost in the first round of the women's singles draw. Alize Cornet, who lost to Wozniacki in the semifinals on Friday, was the last of the four talented teenagers to be alive in the tournament.<br /><br />Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page <br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com">http://pilotpen.nhregister.com </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-69406410161642216602008-08-22T13:57:00.003-04:002008-08-22T14:02:01.117-04:00Great DaneEarlier in the month, Caroline Wozniacki became the first native of Denmark ever to win a WTA Tour title when she won in Stockholm, Sweden. Now, the 18-year-old from Copehnagen is honing in on title No. 2.<br /><br />Wozniacki beat France's Alize Cornet, 7-5, 6-4, in a women's semifinal match today to advance to the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament finals. She'll face the winner of tonight's semifinal match between top seed Anna Chakvetadze and comeback kid Amelie Mauresmo in the finals tomorrow afternoon.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-30357980525367755752008-08-21T21:59:00.002-04:002008-08-21T22:20:33.803-04:00Quick with the quipsMardy Fish is doing more than putting on a show on the court, he has been delivering the one-liners during the press conferences.<br /><br />On the subject of the hurricane expected to wreak havoc in the area near Fish's Tampa, Florida home he had this little nugget:<br /><br />"It rained quite a bit but that is about it. I had to get my pool pumped. I didn't know about it, I haven't been there for a few weeks but my mom told me there was a hurricane coming there but it was a tropical storm. I have been in Florida my whole life so we don't get scared unless there is a (category) 3."<br /><br />A few hours before Fish came in for his post-match press conference after beating Jesse Levine, some Evian bottles were left on the table, a reminder of the James Blake press conference set up by Evian and the ATP tour. Fish, who lives on the same street as Blake in Tampa, was asked if he ever considered designing a facial spray like Blake did for Evian.<br /><br />"I actually heard about that for the first time this week. I don't have any, I don't see any in Tampa but if he has some there, I know where the spare key is to his house."<br /><br />Speaking of Evian, expect there to be more events with Blake at future Pilot Pen Tennis tournaments. Evian has been sponsoring the former Fairfield resident for three years. Whether it will be a meet and greet session like on Thursday where people were able to get their pictures taken with Blake and were given the framed photos, that will be decided at a later day.<br /><br />On a more somber note, Fernando Verdasco - the top seed in the men's draw - dedicated his quarterfinal win to the victims of the plane crash in his hometown of Madrid. More than 150 are feared dead.<br /><br />Verdasco requested to make a statement before taking questions from the media.<br /><br />"First of all, I want to dedicate my victory today to all the victims and all the families of the victims in the flight in Madrid and send them all my support. I am so sorry about that. Is my hometown. I really felt so bad yesterday and today. It's really hard. But I only want to send them all my support and everything for them."<br /><br />Play kicks off at noon on Friday with the women's semifinal between 18 year olds Caroline Wozniacki and Alize Cornet on Stadium Court while the men's doubles semi between the team of Lucas Arnold Ker/Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa on Grandstand Court. The rest of the Stadium Court day session schedule will be Verdasco vs. Fish in the men's semifinals followed by the women's doubles match between Anastasia Rodionova/Galina Voskoboeva and Kveta Pescke/Lisa Raymond. The men's doubles match between the teams of Simon Bolelli/Andreas Seppi and Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles.<br /><br />The night session, which begins at 7 p.m., begins with the women's singles semifinal between Anna Chakvetadze and Amelie Mauresmo followed by Luka Gregorc facing either Igor Andreev or Marin Cilic in the final men's semifinals.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-22042192005302042402008-08-21T19:12:00.001-04:002008-08-21T19:14:55.623-04:00It's All Over for HantuchovaWhen Lindsay Davenport and Daniela Hantuchova entered the media center to answer questions following their 6-3, 1-6, 11-9 loss to Anastasia Rodionova and Galina Voskoboeva, Pilot Pen media coordinators asked the press first to ask questions about the doubles match, then to ask Hantuchova questions about her singles loss earlier in the day.<br /><br />When no one had a question about doubles after about a 10-second pause, Davenport said, "Oh good, OK," and left the podium.<br /><br />Hantuchova expressed some frustration over her 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Alize Cornet in the singles quarterfinals. Late in the match, a Hantuchova shot was ruled out. She disagreed but was out of challenges and could do nothing about it. Apparently, chair umpire Yvette Kahn agreed that it was out, as well, according to Hantuchova.<br /><br />"I saw the mark, and the umpire saw the mark, too," she said. "She admitted it was in, she told me it was just too late to make a decision, which I had never heard about before. It was kind of strange, especially when she was sitting right there. I don't understand why she didn't overrule it."<br /><br />Hantuchova insisted she wasn't flustered by about a 10-minute delay in play midway through the second set, when Cornet tended to a quad injury.<br /><br />"After all these years, you're used to it," she said. "There are so many players doing it, there's nothing you can really do about it."<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-91023873989853289542008-08-21T16:19:00.001-04:002008-08-21T16:21:37.553-04:00Dedicating his victoryFernando Verdasco, the top-seeded player in the Pilot Pen men's singles draw, could be excused if his thoughts were anywhere but on his Thursday morning quarterfinal against Mischa Zverev.<br />The news of Thursday's plane crash which killed 153 in Verdasco's hometown of Madrid left the world's No. 13 ranked player so shaken that he requested to make a statement to the media before his post-match press conference.<br /><br />"I want to dedicate my victory today to all the victims and all the families of the victims in the flight in Madrid and send them all my support and everything of me that I can," Verdasco said.<br /><br />"I am so sorry about that. Is my hometown. Is so bad when these things happen, no? I really felt so bad yesterday and today. But I only want to send them all my support and everything for them."<br /><br />Verdasco put aside his emotions and quickly jumped up on Zverev en route to a 6-2, 7-6 victory and a berth in the semifinals.<br /><br />Jim Fuller<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to Register's Pilot Pen site.</a>Register Sportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16987212520596223660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-82191052006766838382008-08-21T16:13:00.002-04:002008-08-21T16:17:31.638-04:00Quiet pleaseForget crowd noise.<br /><br />With Daniela Hantuchova serving to extend her match with Alize Cornet, facing triple match point, about two dozen canadien geese flew over just as she was ready to serve, squawking away.<br /><br />Obviously not Hantuchova's day.<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to Register's Pilot Pen site.</a>Register Sportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16987212520596223660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-77544849277170239472008-08-21T15:32:00.004-04:002008-08-21T16:22:28.537-04:00Hurray, Cornet!No. 7 seed Alize Cornet just knocked off No. 2 seed Daniela Hantuchova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in a quarterfinal match at Stadium Court.<br /><br />Cornet won despite needing a medical timeout in the second set. She had just gone up, 4-3, in that set when she asked for a trainer. The trainer attended to her back, and eventually wrapped her thigh. After about 10 minutes, play resumed.<br /><br />Cornet actually looked even better follwing the break, winning the second set then rallying back from a 4-1 deficit in the third to win the final five games. She'll face unseeded Carloine Wozniacki of Slovakia in tomorrow's semifinals.<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to Regisgter's Pilot Pen site</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-86477761335476994042008-08-20T17:04:00.003-04:002008-08-21T16:12:33.881-04:00Karlovic is outAfter winning the much-hyped battle of the men's tennis giants on Tuesday night, 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic was knocked out of the men's singles draw with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 loss to qualifier Luka Gregorc on Wednesday.<br /><br />Gregorc won 56 percent of the points on Karlovic's second serve to upset the second-seeded Karlovic. Karlovic had beaten 6-9 John Isner on Tuesday night to advance to the third round.<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to Register's Pilot Pen site.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-9096888798631974842008-08-20T16:34:00.002-04:002008-08-20T16:39:57.424-04:00Show me the moneyOne thing which went unnoticed when Marion Bartoli advanced to the Pilot Pen quarterfinals with a win over Tsvetana Pironkova on Tuesday was that she clinched the No. 2 spot in the women's U.S. Open Series.<br /><br />Dinara Safina had already clinched the top spot with 170 points and will receive a 100 percent bonus of her U.S. Open singles earnings. Bartoli will get a 50 percent bonus for finishing second. She currently has 105 points and would max out at 160 points. Dominika Cibulkova is currently third with 85 points but Anna Chakvetadze would pass Cibulkova and receive a 25 percent bonus if she wins the Pilot Pen. Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro are the top three finishers in the men's U.S. Open Series.<br /><br />Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page <br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com">http://pilotpen.nhregister.com </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-65749169099443567942008-08-20T14:14:00.001-04:002008-08-20T14:15:54.934-04:00Workin' OvertimeIf Amelie Mauresmo ends up earning the $95,000 winner's check from the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, she might want to look into receiving a little overtime pay, as well.<br /><br />For the second straight day, Mauresmo battled through a grueling three-set match on Wednesday, this time holding on for a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8) victory over fifth-seeded Patty Schnyder on Stadium Court.<br /><br />One more fault away from an early ouster, Mauresmo held consecutive serves in the tiebreaker to go up, 7-6, and won it when Schnyder hit a return shot into the net to complete the 2-hour, 9-minute match.<br /><br />The day before, Mauresmo took 2:38 to dispatch Kaia Kanepi in a three-setter.<br />Mauresmo will face fourth-seeded Agnes Szavay in an intriguing quarterfinal match today.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-26020884894138696902008-08-19T20:01:00.002-04:002008-08-19T20:07:41.567-04:00Jame's Blake's "Going" ProblemMaybe James Blake needs a prescription for Flomax. Apparently, he's got a bit of a "going" problem.<br /><br />Let's explain.<br /><br />Blake, along with Mike and Bob Bryan and some other members of the U.S. men's Olympic tennis team shared an apartment with women's team member Lindsay Davenport at the Olympic Village last week. Davenport was the only woman in the apartment.<br /><br />The place had three bedrooms; one had its own bathroom, the other two shared a conjoined bathroom. At first, Davenport was in one of the rooms with a shared bath, but that quickly changed.<br /><br />"James went to the bathroom, like, three times, in the middle of the night, turning the lights on," Davenport explained. "The next day I was like, 'There's no shot I'm staying here. I’m getting the bedroom with my own bathroom.'"<br /><br />She did, but not without incurring the wrath of Blake & Co., who started bombarding here with practical jokes. Blake put a salami in her pillow, and other guys started throwing stuff in her toilet.<br /><br />"Eventually, they got me to leave," Davenport said, with a laugh.<br /><br />No hard feelings, of course. It was all in good fun.<br /><br />"We had a great time," Davenport said. "(Blake is) a great guy."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page </a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-41204268950881908832008-08-19T15:08:00.003-04:002008-08-19T15:12:08.169-04:00Mauresmo's MarathonIn a nearly three-hour marathon, Amelie Mauresmo staved off a spirited upset bid from Estonia's Kaia Kanepi and won her first-round Pilot Pen Tennis tournament match, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, Tuesday afternoon on Stadium Court.<br /><br />The No. 33-ranked Mauresmo won the first set rather easily, though a slew of double-faults towards the end of the set were a harbinger of things to come. Her troubles from the service line continued in the second set, and Kanepi jumped out to a 3-0 lead.<br /><br />Mauresmo won the next five, but Kanepi rallied back to go up 6-5. Mauresmo tied it again, but Kanepi won the tiebreaker to send it to a third set.<br /><br />Once again, it seemed nearly every game went to deuce as the two continued their long battle. Mauresmo broke Kanepi's serve to go up, 4-2, rallied from a 15-40 deficit to win the next game, then won the final game off deuce again.<br /><br />Mauresmo, who won both Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006 but has battled injuries and illness since, will face Sweden's Patty Schnyder in the next round. <br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page </a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-33347626610756219522008-08-18T17:07:00.003-04:002008-08-18T18:16:02.785-04:00Del Potro pulls outArgentine teenager Juan Martin Del Potro, winner of his last four tournaments, is pulling out of the men's tournament.<br /><br />Del Potro soared to No. 17 in the latest rankings and other than Rafael Nadal might be playing better than anybody else on the ATP tour. He is in New Haven and will address the media in about 20 minutes.<br /><br />American Jesse Levine will take Del Potro's spot in the draw.<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page<br /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-66023553576438537892008-08-18T15:49:00.002-04:002008-08-18T16:06:48.243-04:00New HeightsWith John Isner's win over Igor Kunitsyn today, it sets up what is believed to be the tallest matchup in the history of professional tennis.<br /><br />Isner, 6-foot-9, will take on 6-10 Ivo Karolovic, the tournament's No. 2 seed Tuesday. Time TBA.<br /><br />Learn more about <a href="http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/playerprofiles/?playersearch=isner">Isner </a>and <a href="http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/playerprofiles/?playersearch=karlovic">Karlovic</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page.</a>Register Sportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16987212520596223660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-79553353307475868202008-08-18T14:48:00.006-04:002008-08-18T15:40:55.996-04:00Feeling The HeatIt was billed as a battle of the up-and-coming teenagers, and for the first set the match lived up to the hype.<br /><br />Denmark's Caroline <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Wozniacki</span>, 18, and Slovakia's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dominika</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Cibulkova</span>, 19, met in the first match on Stadium Court Monday.<br /><br />Although down early, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Wozniacki</span> rallied to tie the set at 6 and force a tiebreak. She went to win the tiebreak, 9-7, and claimed the first set.<br /><br />But before the start of the second set, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Cibulkova</span> retired due to illness from fatigue and the heat. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Cibulkova</span> is ranked 19<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">th</span> on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">WTA</span> singles tour and was seeded eighth in this tournament.<br /><br />Since the end of July, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Cibulkova</span> has played tournaments at Stanford, Los Angeles, Montreal and at the Olympics in China before coming to New Haven on Saturday night.<br /><br />"I'm sure (all the traveling played a factor)," <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Cibulkova</span> said. "I had a tough month because I was traveling. I played two tournaments in the U.S. and I played Montreal. I flew from Montreal home (to Slovakia), then to Beijing then home then here. I am kind of tired and I need to have some days off."<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Cibulkova</span> was making her second appearance in New Haven. She advanced to the main draw as a "lucky loser" from the qualifying round but was forced to retire in the first round against Emilie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Loit</span>.<br /><br />"It was another retirement," <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Cibulkova</span> said. "Maybe I will think about (playing here) next time about having a week off (before next week's U.S.Open)."<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page<br /></a>Register Sportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16987212520596223660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-41774073241751173202008-08-17T17:54:00.003-04:002008-08-18T15:49:45.968-04:00Davenport Healthy, Ready to GoLindsay Davenport was pondering how many times she has been at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.<br /><br />"Nine," quickly came a voice from the back of the room. The voice belonged to tourney director Anne Worcester, who was ecstatic that Davenport had flown in from Beijing the night before to play doubles at this year's event.<br /><br />Davenport is 32, with a young son, and has been bothered by cartilage damage in her knee for much of the year. She has publicly pondered retiring after this year's U.S. Open, but hasn't decided yet.<br /><br />For now, she'll be perhaps the most popular player at this year's Pilot Pen. Worcester said on Friday that she hoped to get Davenport's doubles matches with new partner Daniela Hantuchova on center court as much as possible.<br /><br />Davenport, who lost with doubles partner Liezel Huber in the quarterfinals at the Olympics, said the experience was "one of the greatest times of my life, professionally." A highlight: shortly before Opening Ceremonies, the entire U.S. contingent (Dream Team, Michael Phelps ... everybody) was pulled into the fencing hall. There, they were surprised by both President Bushes -- 43 and 41 -- to address the athletes for about two hours.<br /><br />For more on Davenport, check out tomorrow's New Haven Register story.<br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com/">Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page</a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2699480074441005943.post-83927935482578672182008-08-17T15:47:00.004-04:002008-08-17T15:59:25.848-04:00Queens of the RoundtableThe Pilot Pen's top four women's seeds -- world No. 10 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 12 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 13 Marion Bartoli and No. 14 Agnes Szavay -- recently held an all-access, roundtable discussion with the media.<br /><br />Here's some of what they had to say:<br /><br /><em>Chakvetadze, on the brutal invasion of her Moscow home last December, in which burglars made off with over $200,000 worth of valuables while bounding Chakvetadze and her parents. Chakvetadze had her hands tied together so hard that she couldn't hold a racket for nearly two weeks</em>:<br /><br /><strong>"I did put it behind me, I don't think about it anymore ... It's affected me because I didn't practice. For almost 10 days, I couldn't hold a racket ... I just wanted to play, and I couldn't ... I wanted to move, but my parents didn't want to. They wanted to stay (in the home), so we stayed."</strong><br /><br /><em>Szavay, on the pressure she's felt since her remarkable run from the qualifiers to the finals of last year's Pilot Pen (she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova):</em><br /><br /><strong>"It wasn't easy to play this year, I've had some ups and downs. It's not easy to deal with this pressure I get from other people. It's really not easy to play like that, when everybody wants to beat you, you're not the one who has nothing to lose, everybody's expecting you to win, not the (opponent)."</strong><br /><br /><em>Hantuchova, on her Pilot Pen doubles partner, Lindsay Davenport:</em><br /><br /><strong>"I planned not to play too many doubles because of the (stress fracture) injury I had, but when you get asked by somebody like her, it's impossible to say no. She's such a great champion, and I think it's great for the tournament to have her here, at least for doubles. We always have a lot of fun together, there's so many things I can learn from her. I respect her game so much."</strong><br /><br /><em>Hantuchova, on Davenport's gesture at the Australian Open, where she decided to pull the pair out after the third round because Hantuchova had a quarterfinals singles match the next day:</em><br /><br /><strong>"It's such a great gesture from her ... She said 'Look, I just don't want you to have any regrets, having to play doubles the night before. You've got to save your energy for the match.' That was something I respected so much. I don't know anybody else who would do that."</strong><br /><br />Unfortunately, no one had much to ask Bartoli.<br /><br />Return to the Register's Pilot Pen page <br /><br /><a href="http://pilotpen.nhregister.com ">http://pilotpen.nhregister.com </a>David Borgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18076952029033761095noreply@blogger.com0