New Haven Open 2012: Why Tournament Was Nothing Special This Year

The New Haven Open 2012 saw Petra Kvitova take home the tournament victory over Maria Kirilenko in what was an exciting final match.

However, despite the excitement of the final match, this tournament, like in past years, continues to fall flat.

Not all the top players in the sport took part in the event this year, which is something that can no doubt hurt attendance numbers and the overall attention on the New Haven Open.

Two of the sport's biggest names, Venus and Serena Williams, did not take part in the tournament. Both have been known to be busy off the tennis court and a small-time event like the New Haven Open is at the bottom of their respective to-do lists.

Maria Sharapova also missed the tournament, effectively leaving the three biggest names in tennis off the guest list.

The few top players in the tourney didn't exactly have as much success as expected.

Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska was bounced in just the second round. The early exit of the No. 2 player in the world badly weakened the field and erased any chance of seeing two great tennis players square off in the final.

On top of that, Caroline Wozniacki, the four-time champion of the event, fell victim to injury in the semifinal, cancelling her out of the final and ending any hope she could become a five-time champ.

It isn't clear just how the directors of the New Haven Open can begin to attract the bigger names in women's tennis, but it's obvious that doing so would greatly help the cause.

Until then, without household names in the tournament, the New Haven Open will remain irrelevant for the foreseeable future.