By David Li, bostonese.com
Most sports fans are very excited watching the London Olympics now. In just two weeks, the 2012 New Heaven Open at Yale will be upon us. For many top tennis players, this tournament is a warmup for the US Open. For tennis fans, New Heaven Open provides them a great opportunity to see the best tennis players with inexpensive tickets and easy parking.
| On August 26, 2011, just two days before Hurricane Irene’s landfall, it was a perfect summer day at New Haven, CT. It was an eventful tournament to say the least. Just three days earlier, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia stopped play for two hours while the main stadium was checked for damage by the fire department.
I got a media pass to the lady’s semifinal match between Li Na and Petra Cetkovska. Li Na had a slow start, and managed to tie the match at 1:1. In the deciding set, Li Na had quite a few unforced errors, and lost the match. This was just the beginning of Li Na’s year-long struggle, with early exits in major tournaments, like most recently the first round exit at London Olympics in Wimbledon. |
The 2011 tournament featured World No. 1 and now four-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki, and three Grand Slam champions Li Na, Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
| It took me about three-hour drive from north of Boston. I didn’t stay for the final match as I was a little bit worried about Hurricane Irene.
The women’s-only WTA event is part of the Olympus US Open Series and will be held August 17-25, 2012 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. The New Haven Open is prominently featured domestically on ESPN2 and also broadcast around the world. For more information about the tournament and tickets, visit www.newhavenopen.com or call 1-855-464-8366. |
The following are some pictures I took at the semifinal match last year.
