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February 1, 2019

No sponsor steps up, so CT Open ends 21-year run in Elm City

Photo| John Stearns Tourney director Anne Worcester stands inside the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, where the Connecticut Open was played.
By Natalie Missakian

The Connecticut Open, which has hosted some of the biggest names in women’s tennis and drew some 50,000 fans to the Elm City last summer, is ending its 21-year run in New Haven.

Rumored for weeks, the news became official Friday morning when officials for the tournament announced they had sold the event to APG, a sports and entertainment company with a strong presence in Asia. The company plans to host the tournament Sept. 9-15 in Zhengzhou City, China.

“It has been an amazing 21-year-run for women’s professional tennis in New Haven and we are truly grateful to all the fans, volunteers, players, media and sponsors involved,” Tournament Director Anne Worcester said in a statement.

The Tennis Foundation of Connecticut board, which oversees the state-owned, not-for-profit tournament, said it decided to sell the Premier World Tennis Association sanction after an exhaustive search failed to produce a title sponsor. Organizers determined the event wouldn’t be financially viable without one.

Connecticut Open officials said they are exploring whether a more sustainable WTA or professional tennis event can be brought to the Elm City in its place by 2020.

Despite its financial woes, the Connecticut Open was the third-best attended women’s-only WTA tournament in 2018 and has generated more than $10 million annually in economic impact for New Haven and the state, officials said. It also raised thousands annually for charity.

“The Connecticut Open has had an undeniably positive economic impact on New Haven over the past 21 years,” New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said in a statement. “We remain hopeful that professional tennis will return to New Haven in the very near future.”

Pilot Pen sponsored the event from 1998 to 2010, when it was still a men’s and women’s tournament. After Pilot Pen’s departure, the men’s sanction was sold and the tournament changed its name to the New Haven Open at Yale.

In 2013, the tournament was nearly sold and moved to North Carolina before the state stepped in, paying $618,000 to keep it here and changing the name again to the Connecticut Open.

“It stayed in New Haven due to efforts by many people, when there was almost certainty five years ago that it would leave for another state,” TFC board member Mark Ojakian, former chief of staff to then-Gov. Dannel Malloy, said in a statement.

“Five additional years of economic impact, marketing of the state around the world and year-round community outreach programs is something to be celebrated,” he said.

The 2018 title was won by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who entered the WTA Top Ten this week. Past champions include Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova, currently ranked second in the world.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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