2010 Bank of the West Classic Main Draw Announced
The 2010 Bank of the West Classic draw was announced on Saturday afternoon, with Samantha Stosur and Elena Dementieva both earning first-round byes and locking up the top two seeds, respectively.
There are several notable matchups on both sides of the draw, which should make for another competitive tournament when main draw competition gets underway on Monday, July 26.
Stosur appears to be well-positioned in the first quarter of the draw, as she is guaranteed to face a qualifier in her second round matchup. Wildcard entrant Hilary Barte, a three-time All-American in both singles and doubles heading into her senior season at Stanford, will square off against Dominika Cibulkova in another interesting contest.
The second quarter of the draw features two seeded players in No. 4 Marion Bartoli, the defending Bank of the West Classic champion and No. 8 Victoria Azarenka, along with a few other familiar names. Former World No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic looms as a wildcard and faces Alisa Kleybanova, while rising American star Melanie Oudin takes on Aleksandra Wozniak, the 2008 Bank of the West Classic champion.
Current World No. 11 Agnieszka Radwanska is seeded No. 3, headlining the top half of the main draw on the opposite side. Sixth-seeded Shahar Peer opposes Daniela Hantuchova in a must-see contest, while Maria Kirilenko battles one of two qualifiers in that section.
After a first-round bye, Dementieva will play the winner of former World No. 1 Dinara Safina and Kimiko Date Krumm. On the opposite side of that quarter is a highly-anticipated matchup between three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova and 2010 Australian Open semifinalist Jie Zheng.
Tickets for the 2010 Bank of the West Classic can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com. Single-session tickets for the tournament's opening round start at just $26.
In addition to individual session tickets, full-week packages start at just $575 and include tickets to all 13 sessions, a pass to the exclusive Grand Marnier Plaza Club and an invitation to the Meet the Players Party. Those who purchase a pair of seats will also receive a weeklong VIP parking pass and a Bank of the West Classic Tournament program.
The Bank of the West Classic is also offering several weekend packages starting at $240.
Entering its 40th year the Bank of the West Classic is the longest running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world. 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 and Kim Clijsters.
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 Olympus US Open Series. A Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Premier event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 30-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $700,000. 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: Based in San Francisco, $61 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com) offers a full range of business, corporate, personal, trust and international banking services. For the third year in a row, Bank of the West has been ranked "highest in customer satisfaction in retail banking" in California by J.D. Power and Associates. The Bank operates more than 700 branch locations and commercial banking offices in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West's holding company, BancWest Corporation, is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, among the six strongest banks in the world, according to Standard & Poor's.
