Maria Sharapova to Play Doubles at 2010 Bank of the West Classic
STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Maria Sharapova confirmed today that she will play doubles at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic. The former World No. 1 will team with Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.
This will mark only the second time in the previous five years that Sharapova has competed in doubles play. Sharapova last competed in doubles at the 2009 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Prior to Indian Wells she competed in doubles at the 2005 AEGON Classic in Birmingham, England.
Sharapova has won three Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles titles during her career and has a career doubles record of 23-17.
Sharapova will team up with Yanina Wickmayer who is currently ranked 17th in the world in singles and was a singles semifinalist at last year’s US Open. Wickmayer has maintained a strong doubles presence in 2010 having competed at six tournaments already this year and has a career doubles mark of 63-39.
Sharapova and Wickmayer join the team of Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber as doubles entries to the 2010 Bank of the West Classic.
With only two weeks until the start of the 2010 Bank of the West Classic, the addition of Sharapova and Wickmayer to the doubles draw gives fans even more to look forward to at this year’s tournament.
The 2010 Bank of the West Classic singles draw is shaping up to be one of the most competitive ever with many of the world’s best players entered to play including Sharapova, Wickmayer, former World No. 1’s Ana Ivanovic and Dinara Safina, 2008 Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva, 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur, 2010 Australian Open semifinalist Zheng Jie, defending Bank of the West Classic champion Marion Bartoli and young American star Melanie Oudin.
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.
Full-week packages, which include tickets to all 13 sessions, start at only $575. 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, two VIP parking passes and an autographed poster.
The Bank of the West Classic is also offering several weekend packages starting at $240.
The 2010 Bank of the West Classic will feature a 30-player singles draw and 16-team doubles draw. The official tournament draw, and first round match-ups, will be released on Saturday, July 24. Qualifying will be held July 24-25 and is free to the public.
The Bank of the West Classic, a premier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, is now in its 40th year. 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 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.
