Serena Williams and Venus Williams Crowned Doubles Champions
STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – Venus Williams might have come up short in her bid for a third Bank of the West Classic singles title. However, she still managed to walk away with one championship trophy.
One hour after falling shy in a three-set loss to Marion Bartoli in the tournament’s singles title match, Venus Williams and teammate Serena Williams cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 victory in the doubles final over the team of Yung-Jan Chan and Monica Niculescu.
The title was the third this year for the Williams sisters, as the duo also captured the crowns at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. It is the 15th championship overall for the Williams sisters and the first non-Grand Slam doubles title since 1999.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams enjoyed a dominating run through the tournament, never allowing more than four games to an opponent.
Playing together for the first time, Chan and Niculescu were also impressive during the week. Unseeded in the draw, Chan and Niculescu’s signature moment came during the quarterfinals in the form of a 7-5, 6-3 victory over the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
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 32-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: With more than $66 billion in assets, San Francisco-based Bank of the West is one of the nation’s 25 largest banks. 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.
