Thursday was a typical wild card deadline day for New Haven Open tournament director Anne Worcester.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Worcester had two wild cards left for the tournament, which starts with qualifying Friday. The deadline was Thursday at 4 p.m. And she wasn't sure when two of the players she wanted to play in New Haven — French Open winner Li Na and world No. 9 Marion Bartoli — were playing their third-round matches Thursday in Cincinnati. The outcomes would likely determine whether or not they came to New Haven.

But when Samantha Stosur beat Serena Williams Wednesday and had to set up a matchup with Li Thursday, things fell into place. Both matches started at 11 a.m. (if Williams had played Li, that match likely would have been later). Both Li and Bartoli lost in three sets. And within five minutes of each other, both confirmed — an hour before the deadline — that they would accept wild cards for New Haven.

"This year was the longest wait for the biggest result," Worcester said. "We got really lucky. Three weeks ago, none of them had any interest in playing because they were all going to go deep in Toronto and Cincinnati.

"This is such a critical year for the tournament so it's a good year to be lucky. We have five new sponsors we're trying to impress."

She had been trying to get Li to return to the tournament for the first time since 2006, when Li was ranked 25th in the world and lost in the second round. But Li didn't want to play before the U.S. Open. Now, as the fifth-ranked player in the world and the first Asian player to win a major, Li is a sensation in China and her acceptance was a coup for Worcester.

Bartoli is a regular at New Haven, having played there seven times previously.

Worcester also went after Venus Williams, who said Wednesday she wouldn't return to New Haven, where she won four times. No. 3 Kim Clijsters told New Haven no last week and No. 6 Petra Kvitova declined Wednesday.

Along with the first round of qualifying for the WTA event Friday, the U.S. Open National Playoff Championships continue in New Haven with quarterfinals in men's and women's singles. The finals will be Sunday.

Jelena Jankovic, a former world No. 1 player, accepted a wild card into the New Haven Open, which will begin Friday with qualifying matches at the Connecticut Tennis Center.

Jankovic, who is ranked No. 14, recently lost in the first round at Toronto. She has 12 WTA titles, with the most recent coming last year with a victory over current No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at Indian Wells. Jankovic was the top player in the world in 2008, when she advanced to the finals of the U.S. Open and lost to Serena Williams.

This will be her third time playing in New Haven, where she reached the third round in 2005.

"We are delighted to welcome Jelena Jankovic, a former world No. 1 player with a wonderful, fan-friendly personality, to the New Haven Open," tournament director Anne Worcester said in a statement. "There have only been 20 players in history that have reached the No. 1 ranking, so that speaks to her incredible talent."

There are two wild cards left for the main draw, which begins Sunday. The first was given to Christina McHale, a rising American ranked No. 76 who upset Wozniacki, 6-4, 7-5 Wednesday in the second round at Cincinnati.

Wozniacki, the three-time defending New Haven champion, has been struggling lately, also losing her first match in Toronto the week before.

The U.S. Open National Playoff Championship, which will send the winning men's and women's singles player into the U.S. Open qualifying round, will start at the Connecticut Tennis Center Thursday.

NEW HAVEN — The fact that the New Haven Open is now a women's-only tennis tournament this year has been well-documented since last fall when the announcement was made.

But some people have e-mailed tournament director Anne Worcester and asked why are there men's matches scheduled this weekend at the Connecticut Tennis Center?

"I've gotten five e-mails last week from people saying you need to update your website — it still says that men are coming," Worcester said last week. "We did such a good job of promoting the fact that the new face of tennis in New Haven is women's, only with all these extra bells and whistles … and now we have to explain this is a WTA event and the U.S. Open national playoffs."

While the qualifying and first-round matches for the New Haven Open women's event are going on this weekend, the tournament will also be hosting the U.S. Open national playoff championship.

Sixteen men and sixteen women will vie for a singles entry into the U.S. Open qualifying round, which starts next week in New York. There will also be a new mixed doubles tournament, which will be played Aug. 24-27. The winning mixed doubles team will get an entry into the U.S. Open's main draw.

Blake Strode of Cary, N.C., won the inaugural men's playoff event last year and went to the U.S. Open, where he won a first-round qualifying match but lost in the second round. Strode, who was an All-American at Arkansas, deferred going to Harvard Law School in 2009 to play professionally. He won the New England regional this year to qualify for the playoffs and is also the second seed in the mixed doubles with Whitney Jones.

"It was a great experience," said Strode, 24, of last year's national playoffs. "It was a big incentive to be able to play in the Open."

Last year, between the men's and women's tournaments, the Pilot Pen had about 160 matches. This year, with the addition of the U.S. Open playoffs, there will be 120 matches.

The event was added to the tournament after Worcester got a phone call in January from Jeff Ryan, the director of USTA team competitions.

"He contacted me and said what if we would be able to bring this women's and men's national playoff championships to one place?" Worcester said. "Last year, it was in Stanford for the women and Atlanta for the men. What if we were able to bring it to one place and that one place was New Haven?"

Worcester didn't take long to think about it before she agreed.

"I think the USTA looked at this tournament's history with promoting the rising stars of tomorrow," she said. "I think they knew we would not put this event on the back courts; we would put it on stadium court, which we are."

The first round of singles is Thursday and is free to the public. The WTA qualifying matches don't start until Friday. The U.S. Open playoff finals will be Sunday on stadium court. Mixed doubles start Aug. 24 and the final will be Aug. 27 on stadium court before the New Haven Open championship match.

Like The Tournament

Each day starting Wednesday, fans who "Like" the New Haven Open Facebook page will be eligible to win two tickets to the finals. … The USTA and the New Haven Open unveiled the refurbished tennis courts at Wilbur Cross High Tuesday, part of the USTA's Olympus U.S. Open Series Legacy program.

22-Time Grand Slam Champion Captured 1998 Pilot Pen Tennis Crown

Work behind the scenes at the final women's stop before the US Open!  As a volunteer, you will receive a uniform, complimentary tickets, credential, meal coupons and free parking.  Applications are due by Friday, August 5th.
We still have positions in three areas where we could use your help:
 
Transportation: A unique opportunity to transport players and other New Haven Open at Yale VIPs in private tournament vehicles.This department also runs 15 passenger shuttle vans between the tournament site and tournament hotels. Transportation volunteers WILL NOT be driving golf carts. We also provide airport transfers to the following airports: Tweed, Hartford, White Plains, and occasionally JFK and LGA. We require a photocopy of your valid driver's license along with your application for insurance purposes. Minimum age is 21.
 
General Volunteer: Work in various areas from staffing Hospitality Suites to monitoring on court entrances. Great for volunteers who would like a variety of different duties throughout the week. Minimum age is 18.
 
Usher: The backbone to the tournament. The primary duty of ushers is checking for proper tickets and controlling movement during play. Each usher is assigned to a section of the venue each shift. Long periods of standing are required and ushers are subject to being in the sun during the day. Minimum age is 18.
 
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