Pro tennis stop in New Haven could be the city’s last unless a sponsor steps forward

New Haven, Conn., scrambles to keep tennis stop

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — About a half-dozen companies are being wooed in an effort to keep alive New Haven’s pro tennis tournament, the last held before the U.S. Open.

Pilot Pen is citing the poor economy as it drops its $2 million sponsorship. The tournament begins Sunday and is anxiously courting replacements for next year.

Director Anne Worcester says interested companies include ones dealing in insurance, financial services and consumer goods. Each will get a tailored tour next week.

Pilot Pen is one of just four tournaments sanctioned by both the men’s ATP Tour and the women’s WTA Tour.

Worcester says the tournament must let the United States Tennis Association know whether it will continue leasing the sanctions or “hand back the keys by the end of September.”