STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – Qualifying singles play at the Bank of the West Classic is set to begin Saturday, July 12 at 10 a.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium on the campus of Stanford University.
Saturday and Sunday’s qualifying rounds are free to the public.
Six players participating this weekend in qualifying play are also set to compete for the Gold medal later this summer at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China including Darya Kustova (BLR), Ayumi Morita (JPN), Tatiana Poutchek (BLR), Cara Black (ZIM), Marta Domachowska (POL) and Samantha Stosur (AUS).
Additionally, former Stanford University standouts, Anne Yelsey, Theresa Logar and Hilary Barte will offer fans a local flavor to the qualifying weekend.
Logar is scheduled to face Japan’s Morita in the third match of the day on Stadium Court, followed by the match between Yelsey and Olga Puchkova of Russia. Barte will round out play with the last match of the day against Natalie Grandin of the Republic of South Africa on court 1.
Yelsey and Logar, both three-time All Americans, helped lead the Cardinal to a perfect 30-0 record and the school’s third consecutive NCAA Championship in 2006.
Barte, the 2008 ITA National Rookie of the Year, posted a team-best 30-8 overall mark while finishing 22-4 in duals. She became the first freshman in school history to win at least 30 overall matches and 20 duals since 2004 when Logar posted a 38-4 overall mark.
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.