STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – The Taube Family Tennis Stadium will host the best in women’s tennis as five of the top-10 and 21 of the top-50 ranked players in the world have committed to play the Bank of the West Classic, July 14-20, on the campus of Stanford University.
For the first time since 2002 the Bank of the West Classic field boasts five players ranked in the top-10 including eight time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams (No. 5), defending Bank of the West Classic Champion Anna Chakvetadze (No. 6), Russian standout Elena Dementieva (No. 8), 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli (No. 9) and Slovakian star Daniela Hantuchova (No. 10).
The Bank of the West Classic’s impressive field also features former World No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam Champion Lindsay Davenport, 2007 Bank of the West Classic finalist Sania Mirza, former World No. 3 and seven-time Tour winner Nadia Petrova, 10-time Tour winner Patty Schnyder, three-time Tour winner and two-time defending Bank of the West Classic doubles champion Shahar Peer, six-time Tour winner Ai Sugiyama and Chinese star Li Na.
Overall, there are 15 countries represented by the 21 players currently entered to play the tournament.
Heading into this summer’s Olympics in Beijing, the 2008 Bank of the West Classic will feature the No. 1 ranked player from 14 different counties including the United States (Williams), France (Bartoli), Slovakia (Hantuchova), Swtizerland (Schnyder), Belarus (Victoria Azarenka), Israel (Peer), Italy (Francesca Schiavone), Ukraine (Alona Bondarenko), India (Mirza), Japan (Sugiyama), China (Li), Argentina (Gisela Dulko), Bulgaria (Tsvetana Pironkova) and Uzbekistan (Akgul Amanmuradova).
The Bank of the West Classic, a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, features a 28-player singles draw as well as a 16-team doubles draw. The event is owned and operated by IMG and serves as the opening women's event of the Olympus US Open Series.
The list of past champions of the event reads like a Who's Who of women's tennis including Lindsay Davenport, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Anna Chakvetadze.
Single-session tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com. Tickets for the tournament's opening round start at just $23.
Full week packages, which include tickets to all 13 sessions, are also available and start at only $525. Those who purchase a box of four full week packages will also receive four passes to the exclusive VIP Plaza Club, four invitations to the Meet the Players Party and two VIP parking passes.
2008 BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC PLAYER FIELD
Seq. Name Nation Rank
1 WILLIAMS, Serena USA 5
2 CHAKVETADZE, Anna RUS 6
3 DEMENTIEVA, Elena RUS 8
4 BARTOLI, Marion FRA 9
5 HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK 10
6 SCHNYDER, Patty SUI 11
7 AZARENKA, Victoria BLR 17
8 PEER, Shahar ISR 18
9 SCHIAVONE, Francesca ITA 19
10 PETROVA, Nadia RUS 25
11 DAVENPORT, Lindsay USA 26
12 BONDARENKO, Alona UKR 27
13 CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK 31
14 MIRZA, Sania IND 32
15 SUGIYAMA, Ai JPN 35
16 GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR 37
17 LI, Na CHN 39
18 DULKO, Gisela ARG 40
19 PIRONKOVA, Tsvetana BUL 43
20 VESNINA, Elena RUS 45
21 AMANMURADOVA, Akgul UZB 50
ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is the longest-running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world and is the first stop of the US Open Series. A Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tier II event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $600,000. Held on Stanford University’s campus at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include: Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams. The Bank of the West Classic is owned and operated by IMG.
ABOUT BANK OF THE WEST: With more than $62 billion in assets, Bank of the West is the second-largest bank based in California. Founded in 1874, Bank of the West is a full-service financial institution with nearly 4 million accounts in more than 700 branch and commercial offices across 19 Western and Midwestern states.