NEW HAVEN -- Preparations are now being made for the Connecticut Open.
The women’s professional tennis tournament has a tough act to follow as the state continues to buzz after the recent Traveler’s Championship which drew record crowds and made national headlines thanks to Jordon Spieth’s epic winning shot.
The Connecticut Open’s lead sponsor is United Technologies, but it was announced Wednesday the tournament has a brand new automotive sponsor, Porsche Cars North America.
The company recently partnered up with the WTA, the governing body of women’s professional tennis. Porsche’s sponsorship of the Connecticut Open is the first time the company has sponsored a WTA tournament anywhere in North America.
The organizers of the Connecticut Open who also boast this year’s tournament, will have more activities going on during the week of the event off the court including a foodie event at the Omni Hotel, an Autism Awareness day, and a ladies day event, all while hosting a Veteran’s Appreciation Day.
As for the tournament, the court will be filled with returning champions and some of the top women’s professional players of right now.
New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, attended Wednesday’s Media Day at the event’s facilities.
“We really hoping for a huge turnout we want people to know all ages will enjoy the Connecticut Open," said Mayor Harp.
The Connecticut Open is held in Stadium Court, on Yale University’s property. The facility was built 25 years ago. It’s maintained by the Tennis Foundation of Connecticut, with the Connecticut Open the facility’s only tenant for many years, leaving it vacant for several months out of the year.
“We're hoping at some point to be able to do concerts here and I think in order to do that there needs to be a change in the statutes that enable this. So we're hoping that will happen in the special session of the General Assembly,” Mayor Harp said.
The building itself is now getting a facelift in hopes to make it user friendly to events beyond tennis.
“We've been talking to concert promoters, we've been talking to event planners, Yale is very excited to hold conferences here and we already house New Heights our New Haven tennis and their mentoring program all year long,” Anne Worcester, Tournament Director, said.
“It's almost like we're the book ends of summer and how lucky is the state to have two international large scale sporting events that put this state in an international media limelight,” Worcester said, while praising the success of the men’s professional golf tournament.
“The Travelers is the gold standard at giving back to community and as this tournament becomes more and more viable, our goal is absolutely to do even more to benefit the community but that doesn't take away form how proud we are to generate economic impact,” Worcester said.
The tournament is expected to bring in roughly $10 million in economic impact to the New Haven region and to the state.
The Connecticut Open runs August 18 to the 26.