Reigning French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, currently ranked No. 6 on the WTA tour, will be coming to New Haven.

Kuznetsova, who reached the semifinals in 2006 and won the title in 2007 in her two previous appearances at the Pilot Pen, was just 3-4 since winning the French Open leading to her requesting a wild card.

Kuznetsova will give the tournament three top 10 women's players in No. 6 Kuznetsova, No. 8 Carolina Wozniacki and No. 10 Flavia Pennetta.

Veteran American Meghann Shaughnessy, currently ranked 915th in singles and unranked in doubles as she has been forced out of action because of a knee injury, will receive wild cards into both the singles and doubles draw.

The tournament now has two wild cards left for both the men and women.

No. 12 Nadia Petrova is a strong candidate to receive one of the women's wild cards while the tournament is awaiting word from No. 22 Daniela Hantuchova.

On the men's side, No. 34 Dudi Sela and No. 41 Juan Monaco withdrew from the main draw.

Following up on a previous entry, it looks as if Venus Williams and James Blake, the only players to win the Pilot Pen more than once, will opt for rest over playing in New Haven.

Williams quotes following her loss on Tuesday in Toronto made it clear that she is not planning to play again before the U.S. Open. Blake, a former Fairfield resident, also appears to be leaning that way. A post on his official site said Blake will take next week off meaning that the only matches he will play between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open will be a pair of losses in a Davis Cup tie to Croatia and Tuesday's loss in Mason, Ohio to Igor Kunitsyn.

Could the Pilot Pen women's field be adding a former New Haven champion as well as the reigning French Open winner?

Well, 2007 Pilot Pen champio Svetlana Kuznetsova was one of the prominent players who suggested to tournament director Anne Worcester that she not give out all her wild cards prematurely. The message was pretty clear, if Kuznetsova lost early in Canada, she would be willing to play in New Haven.

With Kuznetsova losing to the red-hot Samantha Stosur (who would be my pick right now to win the New Haven title based on the success she has enjoyed this summer) on Tuesday in Canada, it seems likely that Kuznetsova will return to New Haven.

Kuznetsova, currently ranked sixth, peaked at No. 2 in the rankings shortly after winning the 2007 Pilot Pen title. At the French Open, Kuznetsova beat No. 2 Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, Stosur in the semifinals and top-ranked Dinara Safina in the championship match. If Kuznetsova enters the Pilot Pen, it would be the third top 10 player in the New Haven women's field joining No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 10 Flavia Pennetta.

As hard as it is to believe, at this time next week day one of the 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament will be in the books.

Between now and Friday, the final six wild card spots (two on the men's side and four on the women) will be announced and I'm sure tournament officials are hoping that will be the only player movement.

The draws of the women's event in Montreal and men's tournament in Cincinnati came out on Friday and there are some matchups which could impact which players request wild cards.

On the women's side, Pilot Pen Tennis tournament director has been reaching out to Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Daniela Hantuchova (among others) based on their summer results or lack of results in most cases.

Considering that Petrova, who will fall out of the top 10 when the rankings come out on Monday, has to play Maria Sharapova, Kuznetsova could draw red-hot Samantha Stosur in the second round while Hantuchova will have to play Serena Williams if she beats a qualifier in her first match, the odds of those three requesting wild cards seems to be pretty good. Ivanovic, however, seems to have a favorable draw. She will play a qualifier in the first round, either Kaia Kanepi or another qualifier in the second round and possibly Caroline Wozniacki in the third round if that portion of the draw plays out according to form.

On the men's side, two-time champion James Blake is at the top of the tournament's wish list. I haven't heard any updates on Blake's injured foot which forced him to pull out of the tournaments in Washington and Canada but if he is healthy, he seems to have a favorable draw. Blake, who is unseeded in Cincinnati, will face Igor Kunitsyn in the first round. Among the other players in his portion of the bracket, Blake has a winning record again all six of them including a 7-0 mark against Nikolay Davydenko and 6-0 record versus Igor Andreev so a run to the quarterfinals is not out of the question. If he does win at least three matches, it is possible Blake will deem that enough match preparation for the upcoming U.S. Open.

Another player to watch is defending Pilot Pen champion Marin Cilic. Cilic has not been making waves about playing in New Haven but he lost to No. 153 Somdev Devvarman in Washington and fell to Mikhail Youzhny in his opener in Canada. Cilic has to play former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been playing inspired tennis this summer, in the first round so a third straight first-round exit is not out of the question.

Gael Monfils, who has been making some noise about playing in New Haven, drew hard-serving Ivo Karlovic in the first round in Cincinnati while American Robby Ginepri will have to play Marat Safin in the opening round. Another intriguing first-round showdown in Cincinnati (or Mason, Ohio to be exact) features Lleyton Hewitt against Robin Soderling.

PAIGE IMPRESSIVE AT NATIONALS
After winning two matches in the main draw of the USTA 16-and-under national championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., Hopkins rising sophomore Nolan Paige was denied a spot in the quarterfinals by Robert Stineman. But the Fairfield resident and reigning Register Area Boys' Tennis MVP, rebounded by winning four matches in the "feed in" portion of the draw including victories over seeded players Spencer Simon and Mitchell Krueger. He will face Nick Chappell in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket next meaning Paige can finish no worse than 12th out of the 256 players in the signature 16-and-under event on the USTA junior calendar.

The wins keep coming for Pilot Pen commit Flavia Pennetta, who upset Venus Williams to reach the quarterfinals of this week's event in Cincinnati. Pennetta's 13th straight match win coupled with early losses by Nadia Petrova and Ana Ivanovic has Pennetta about to jump into the top 10 for the first time.

Pennetta, who won at Palermo (Italy) and Los Angeles in her last two events, would be tied with Ivanovic for the 10th spot if she did not advance any further. It appears as if Ivanovic would hold the tiebreaker, denying Pennetta of top 10 status. But if she beats Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals, she would definitely crack the top 10.

If that happens, she will join No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki to give the tournament two top 10 players. Wozniacki would jump up a spot if she reaches the finals in Cincinnati.