Amelie Mauresmo Headed to Cincinnati During US Open Series
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jul 15, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
Two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo leads an impressive list of 23 players who have made early commitments to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open.
The tournament will be played August 9-17 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason.
Mauresmo, who reached the world No. 1 ranking in 2004, owns 24 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles including the Australian Open and Wimbledon. She won both in 2006.
“Amelie Mauresmo is just a few years removed from being the No. 1 player in the world, and while injuries last year have caused her ranking to dip a little, she’s still a force on the women’s tour,” said tournament director Bruce Flory.
“I think our fans are really going to be excited to watch her play here, along with Petrova and Kirilenko and Bartoli, and so many others.”
Also on the list are 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, former world No. 3 and current top-20 player Nadia Petrova, rising Russian star Maria Kirilenko, American Ashley Harkleroad, 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Tamarine Tanasugarn, 2006 W&SFG Women’s Open finalist Katarina Srebotnik, and 2007 W&SFG Women’s Open doubles champion Bethanie Mattek.
The tournament will bestow its three wild cards sometime before the draw ceremony, which will be open to anyone with a ticket to the qualifying matches on August 9. It will be held at noon in the Food Court, and adult tickets to the qualifying are only $5, free for kids 14-and-under.
Four spots will be determined by a qualifying tournament held on August 9 & 10.
In addition, two spots in the draw will be reserved for the winner of two ITF events. Anna Tatishvili, a native of the country of Georgia and a current resident of Florida, has claimed one of those spots by winning the ITF event in Boston, Mass., played in June. Milagros Sequera of Venezuela, the winner of the event in Allentown, Penn., which was concluded July 13, gets the other slot in the draw.
The 32-women’s main draw is comprised of 23 direct acceptances, three wild cards (three spots in the main draw filled at the tournament’s discretion), four qualifiers (four players who win two matches in the 32-draw qualifier on Aug 9 & 10) and two exemptions (two spots are left open for players who win ITF Circuit events in June and July), for a total of 32.
The main draw of the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open will be held August 11-17 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, about 25 miles from downtown Cincinnati.
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