According to Anne Worcester of the CT Open, “we work 51 weeks a year to put on a nine-day show”
You could say Worcester is the Queen of the CT Open and this is her court – empty now, but not for long.
“This small city that becomes the CT Open comes together this week. The video boards are craned in, the mulch and the landscaping can’t go in until today, signage on the Goose Island Tavern...” she said.
Then there are the players. Some are already here, getting as much practice in before the qualifiers end and the tournament begins.
“My cell phone is blowing up with a lot of wild card requests from players and agents all over the world,” said Worcester.
Three top 10 players were added in just the last week, including Caroline Wozniacki – and sure enough, while we were doing our interview, came another request in.
Deputy Commissioner of Tourism Tim Sullivan got a tour on Wednesday. Better marketing across the state outside of New Haven has been one successful effort they say has sold more tickets, Sales are outpacing last year's.
One of the reasons more seats are being sold this year is due to a new initiative called ‘50/50’, where local charities are going out and selling tickets, with the incentive that they get to keep 50 percent of the proceeds.
“It is nice to be able to help those non profits, many of whom have had their budgets slashed,” said Worcester.
Despite all of the packages, and VIP tours they’ve got going on – they tell us there are still seats available for all of the matches.