But replacing the hole left by loyal sponsor Pilot Pen was a formidable task.

Taking a new approach to tournament sponsorship

Instead of finding a single sponsor, Worcester pulled in five "cornerstone" sponsors: Yale University, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Aetna, American Express and presenting sponsor First Niagra.
 
"It became crystal clear that the financial model that we were trying to run with the combined event wasn't working," said Worcester, adding that fewer top men play in the week leading up to the Open because they are prepping for two weeks of best-of-five set matches.

"With the women, we went after this cornerstone model where we would take on as many as eight companies as a unit," Worcester explained of the novel approach. Nearly every other tournament operates with a single title sponsor — except the Grand Slam tourneys — or a "bridge" sponsor that carries from year to year.

Talk around last year's Pilot Pen was depressingly grim, Worcester recalls. Media outlets wanted to know one thing: "Are you going to have a title sponsor next year?"

Pilot Pen had given the tournament nearly a year to find a replacement sponsor when it announced in November 2009 that it would withdraw from the relationship. But as last year's tourney passed and the fall deadline approached, Worcester turned to Yale University President Richard Levin for support.

He committed the school's support as the host site and led Worcester to "new money" as she describes it: Aetna. Yale-New Haven Hospital and American Express signed on afterward. The final piece of the puzzle came in February of this year when First Niagra committed.

"I had a verbal commitment from [First Niagra] that they were going to do this," Worcester explains of last fall, before the company had officially signed on as presenting sponsor. The USTA approved the tournament staying in New Haven and they were in business as of October 11, only 10 days after revealing to the media that the tournament intended to enlist new sponsors.

"I was going apple-picking with my family that day and had to talk to the press first," Worcester said. "Everyone expected us to say, 'That's it' or announce one single title sponsor.' No one expected us to do what we did."

USTA moves National Playoffs to New Haven

The New Haven tournament's focus continued to be its community and the development of grassroots and junior programs. The USTA appreciated this approach and in January of 2011 offered to move the National Playoff tournament, still in its infancy, to New Haven for the week of Worcester's tourney.

"That has been a homerun," she said. "We have men's tennis at the beginning of the week and mixed doubles. We're the only event outside of the Open to have mixed doubles."

All the while,  Worcester battled cancer

In the meantime, Worcester was diagnosed with breast cancer, took a medical leave of absence and went through multiple surgeries. Coming through all of it to see through a smooth transition not only for the tournament, but for the community of tennis in New Haven as a whole.

The future looks bright
 
Earlier this year, Eastshore Park in New Haven became the first official site of 10 and Under tennis courts in New England, the USTA granting $50,000 to the New Haven Open at Yale, the New Haven City Parks Dept. and the USTA New England section to fix up decrepit courts and re-fashion some of them into official 10 and Under courts.

"The USTA supports us in so many ways," Worcester said, eyeing a match playing on the conference room's TV. "We've learned to leverage the celebrity of tennis for the community tennis. This tournament is a means to our end: develop tennis at the community level."

The tournament has also done that by holding the Family Classic, an event that spreads across eight states that pairs family members together over the course of a months-long competition, culminating at the New Haven Open at Yale. This year's winners got their trophies from Caroline Wozniacki.

"How cool is that? Worcester asked enthusiastically. "And we do a lot of unusual things here. This tournament is an economic driver in the city because we have the New Haven Food and Wine Festival and a fashion show and barbecues and these things that make us different."

Not to mention that the New Haven Open at Yale now sits as the only hardcourt tournament in the Northeast, a fact which USTA New England took seriously to support, especially with tennis' history in the region.

What really makes them different is how they've stayed alive: five sponsors (and countless more as part of the Olympus U.S. Open Series) teaming up together — but not one with the title spot.

"They are the best thing to happen to this tournament," Worcester said defiantly. Any memories of being burnt out? Not really. And cancer? None of that either. "We've re-invented this tournament. Brought it back from the dead."