Friday, August 15, 2008

Pilot Pen begins on Monday

The main draw is out for Pilot Pen Tennis, to be held next week in New Haven. By "out," I mean it is set except for the insertion of the qualifiers' names. The qualifying matches, to be held this weekend, are also worth looking at. Some dangerous floaters should emerge from those contests.

Of note in the main draw:

Good friends and former doubles partners Gisela Dulko and Flavia Penntetta play each other in the first round. Patty Schnyder plays Jill Craybas again, and Alize Cornet plays Nicole Vaidisova again. Also, Amelie Mauresmo will have to deal with Kaia Kanepi in the first round, and what will probably be the first round match to watch--Dominika Cibulkova vs. Caroline Wozniacki.

Anna Chakvetadze is the top seed. She could potentially meet Sorana Cirstea, who defeated her in Charleston, in the third round (assuming she survives the second), but she is more likely to see either Pennetta or Dulko.

In the qualifying rounds, the top seed is Sara Errani. And surely, the hottest first round qualifying match has to be the once between Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Also competing in the qualifying rounds are Julia Goerges, Andrja Klepac and Nuria Llagostera Vives.

No comments: