The Bank of the West Classic Hosts Women in Sports Night Monday at 6:30pm
The Bank of the West Classic, the longest-running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world, will be hosting a Women in Sports event Monday evening, starting at 6:30pm.
Tournament attendees can participate in an autograph session with four-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Marta, Olympic and World Cup gold medalist Brandi Chastain as well as soccer forward and NCAA champion Christine Sinclair.
Marta and Sinclair both currently play for the FC Gold Pride of Women’s Professional Soccer. Marta was a member of the Brazilian national teams that won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 2007 Women’s World Cup, she won both the Golden Ball award as the best player and the Golden Boot award as the top scorer.
Chastain, who played for the FC Gold Pride last year, is best known for her game‐winning penalty kick against China in the 1999 Women’s World Cup, followed by the celebratory ripping off of her soccer jersey. To honor her retirement, Chastain will host a testimonial soccer match with teammates, celebrity friends and guest athletes on October 2, 2010, at the Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
In addition, past Olympians who will be at the on-court presentation include Stanford’s own five-time NCAA swimming champion Julia Smit and two-time NCAA champion Elaine Breeden. Both earned silver medals as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Other Olympians scheduled to appear include Mary Anne O’Connor, Barbara Higgins, Kim Carlisle, Marilyn King, Beverly Brockway and Anne Cribbs.
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.
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 announced on Saturday, July 24.
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 it 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.
The event is owned and operated by IMG and serves as the opening women's event of the Olympus US Open Series. Qualifying will be held July 24-25 and is free to the public.
Log on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com for more information.
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, $60 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.
