The 2008 Pilot Pen Tennis was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the Pilot Pen Tennis, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier II Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, United States, from August 15 through August 23, 2008.
The men's field was headlined by ATP No. 13, Nottingham runner-up and Umag champion Fernando Verdasco, Cincinnati Masters semifinalist and Nottingham titlist Ivo Karlović, and winner of back-to-back titles in Stuttgart, Kitzbühel, Los Angeles and Washington Juan Martín del Potro. Other top seeds are Gstaad and Umag finalist Igor Andreev, Viña del Mar and Pörtschach runner-up Juan Mónaco, Marin Čilić, Andreas Seppi and Mardy Fish.
The women's draw was led by WTA No. 10, Rome Tier I semifinalist and Paris champion Anna Chakvetadze, Australian Open semifinalist and Indian Wells Tier I quarterfinalist Daniela Hantuchová, and Paris, Eastbourne and Montreal semifinalist, Standford finalist Marion Bartoli. Also competing are Paris finalist Ágnes Szávay, Bangalore runner-up Patty Schnyder, Flavia Pennetta, Alizé Cornet and Dominika Cibulková.
Famous quotes containing the words pilot, pen and/or tennis:
“Whenever the weather licks the pilot instead of him lickin’ the weather, he’s finished. The first time makes the second time easier. And the first thing he knows, he’s in trouble when the weather is perfect.”
—Frank W. Wead (1895?–1947)
“With this pen I take in hand my selves
and with these dead disciples I will grapple.
Though rain curses the window
let the poem be made.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.”
—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)