STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – A total of 23 players currently scheduled to play at the 2008 Bank of the West Classic will compete for the Gold medal later this summer at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Of the 23 players, 18 are already in the Bank of the West Classic main singles draw, three are entered in the qualifying tournament and two scheduled to compete in doubles.
Three fourths of the United States Olympic Team will be visiting the Bank of the West Classic this year including Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport who will compete in both singles and doubles in Beijing, and Liezel Huber who will team with Davenport in doubles.
Huber, one half of the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the world, is entered in the Bank of the West Classic doubles draw with partner Cara Black. Black will also be in Beijing this summer competing in singles for Zimbabwe.
Other Bank of the West Classic main draw entries scheduled to compete at the Olympics include Elena Dementieva (RUS), Daniela Hantuchova (SVK), Patty Schnyder (SUI), Vera Zvonareva (RUS), Shahar Peer (ISR), Francesca Schiavone (ITA), Sybille Bammer (AUT), Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), Sania Mirza (IND), Ai Sugiyama (JPN), Olga Govortsova (BLR), Li Na (CHN), Gisela Dulko (ARG), Elena Vesnina (RUS), Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) and Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR).
The three Olympians scheduled to compete in the qualifying draw include Marta Domachowska (POL), Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) and Samantha Stosur (AUS).
A Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, the Bank of the West Classic 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.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, call the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or log on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com.
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: Founded in 1874 and headquartered in San Francisco, $62 billion-asset Bank of the West is the second-largest commercial bank based in California. Bank of the West offers a full range of business, trust, international and personal banking services. The bank currently operates more than 700 commercial and retail banking locations in 19 Western and Midwestern states. In 2008, Bank of the West ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Retail Banks in the West” by J.D. Power and Associates. Bank of the West's holding company, BancWest Corporation, is owned by BNP Paribas, a leading global financial services institution ranked by Standard & Poor's as one of the world's four strongest banks. More information is available at www.bankofthewest.com.