Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Alison Riske have all taken wildcards into the upcoming Connecticut Open in New Haven. The former world number one is a four-time champion at the last WTA event before the US Open. Radwanska is coming off of a difficult last two weeks crashing out early in both the Rogers Cup and the Western & Southern Open. Also joining these three women in taking a wildcard into the tournament is French Open finalist Lucie Safarova.
While these four women have taken spots into the main draw, Rogers Cup champion Belinda Bencic and Citi Open champion Sloane Stephens have withdrawn from the tournament. Bencic has played a high volume of tennis over the past three weeks. She retired from her match against Lucie Safarova in Cincinnati due to a right wrist injury.
Similarly to Bencic, Stephens has been playing an immense amount of tennis over these past three weeks. The American finally lifted her first career title on tour with her victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in DC and played these last two weeks as well, including a physically and mentally draining loss to Ana Ivanovic in Cincinnati.
How the draw looks for the ladies
Numerous top women have entered the Connecticut Open that the final direct entry was world number 39 Daria Gavrilova. Wozniacki, who is seeded third, just missed out on a first round bye and will meet fellow wildcard, American Alison Riske, in the first round. Lucie Safarova, seeded fourth, meets the aforementioned woman who was the last direct entry. Radwanska, who is seeded seventh, meets Wimbledon quarterfinalist Coco Vandeweghe in the first round.
The number of top-quality players in this draw means we’ll be seeing a high-caliber of tennis from the get-go. The top seeds in New Haven are Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova. Halep is currently in the final of the Western & Southern Open and will meet Serena Williams in the final.