Top-Ranked British Star Adds Depth To Men's Field
NEW HAVEN, CT -- World No. 13 and top-ranked British star Andy Murray has received a wildcard into the men's draw of Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick, a US Open Series event on the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to be held Aug. 17-25, 2007, at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, it was announced today by Anne Worcester, tournament director.
Murray, who had a breakthrough year in 2006 winning the first title of his career at San Jose and reaching the top 20 in rankings, has had an even better year in 2007. The Scot defended his title at San Jose, reached the finals of Doha and semifinals of Memphis and Masters Series events at Indian Wells and Miami, and achieved a career-high ranking of No. 8. In May he suffered a wrist injury, which kept him sidelined for the past few months, but he is planning to return to the tour next week at the Masters Series event at Montreal.
"Having missed more than two months of competition, I thought it would be a good idea to play another tournament before the US Open and the Pilot Pen is the perfect opportunity to do so," said Murray. "It will be my first time playing this event and I look forward to it."
He joins defending champion and World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, World No. 7 Tommy Robredo, World No. 9 and Connecticut native James Blake and a host of other stars in the men's field. On the women's side World No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, World No. 6 Amelie Mauresmo, World No. 10 Daniela Hantuchova, World No. 12 and Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, and World No. 15 Elena Dementieva have already committed to the tournament. In addition, three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport has entered the doubles draw.
"Andy Murray is one of the most talented young players on tour and adds considerable depth to the Pilot Pen field," said Worcester. "Adding him to a roster that already includes Blake, Davydenko, Robredo, Ginepri and Henman means that our fans will have the chance to see competitive and entertaining tennis all week long."
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 Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick
The 2007 Pilot Pen presented by Schick (www.pilotpentennis.com), a US Open Series event on the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, will be held August 17-25 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale.
The Pilot Pen is the first ever combined men's and women's summer tournament leading into the US Open. Some of the biggest names in men's and women's tennis will play in the 2007 Pilot Pen including ATP players James Blake, Nikolay Davydenko (defending champion), Tommy Robredo, Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Robby Ginepri and Vince Spadea and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players Svetlana Kuznetsova, Amelie Mauresmo, Daniela Hantuchova, Marion Bartoli, Elena Dementieva and Lindsay Davenport. The 2006 Pilot Pen drew 100,000 spectators and was televised nationally for 20 hours on ESPN2 and CBS Sports and in over 180 countries worldwide.
About the US Open Series
The US Open Series, launched in 2004, is the cohesive, six-week summer tennis season of 10 North American tournaments linked to the US Open. The Series has produced record attendance, TV viewership and live broadcast hours for the sport. In total, the US Open Series events -- including the US Open -- generated a record 1.6 million attendees, 137 million TV viewers and 27.8 million website visits making it the strongest summertime property in sports. Ana Ivanovic and Andy Roddick are the defending US Open Series champions.