Former World No. 1 To Play Doubles With Fellow American Lisa Raymond
NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 18, 2007 - Just 5 ½ weeks after giving birth to son Jagger Jonathan, three-time Grand Slam champion and 2005 Pilot Pen singles champion Lindsay Davenport has committed to Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick, a US Open Series event on the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to be held August 17-25, 2007 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, it was announced today by Anne Worcester, tournament director.
Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam singles (Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open) and doubles (Wimbledon, US Open, French Open) champion, has entered the doubles draw and will play with doubles World No. 2 and fellow American Lisa Raymond.
She joins World No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, World No. 6 Amelie Mauresmo, World No. 11 and Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, World No. 12 Daniela Hantuchova and World No. 15 Elena Dementieva as women's players already committed to the tournament. On the men's side, defending champion Nikolay Davydenko, World No. 8 Tommy Robredo and World No. 9 and Connecticut native James Blake headline the men's field.
"After the birth of my son Jagger on June 10th, I am very excited to announce that I will return to professional tennis at the Pilot Pen in August," said Davenport. "This will be my eighth visit to New Haven and I have obviously loved playing the Pilot Pen for years."
"To think that just 5 ½ weeks after giving birth to a healthy baby son, Lindsay has decided to return to competitive tennis is nothing short of a miracle," said Worcester. "And that she has chosen Pilot Pen Tennis and New Haven for her comeback is truly a privilege and honor for us."
Davenport, a 51-time singles and 36-time doubles champion on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, hasn't played since last September due to the fact that she was pregnant. On June 10th, she gave birth to a son and her return to the Tour will come with her eighth appearance at the Pilot Pen, but her first appearance in the doubles tournament. She has had great success in New Haven winning the 2005 event, reaching the finals five times and the semifinals once.
In addition to Davenport, Francesca Schiavone, the No. 31 ranked Italian star who single-handedly carried Italy past France this past weekend in the Fed Cup semifinals by winning both her singles matches (one over World No. 6 Amelie Mauresmo) and her doubles match, has entered the Pilot Pen and is first on the next-in the main draw list. Also, World No. 15 David Ferrer, who has won two titles this year at Bastad (last week) and at Auckland earlier this year, has requested a wildcard into the men's draw.