Two Former World No. 1's Highlight Wild Card List
STANFORD, CA (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – The 2010 Bank of the West Classic announced the full list of wild cards today. The list is highlighted by 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, former World No. 1 Dinara Safina, 18th-ranked Victoria Azarenka and Stanford All-American Hilary Barte.
At just 22 years of age, Ivanovic has already won eight-career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles, including the 2008 French Open, and reached a career-high ranking of No. 1 in the world in 2008.
Safina, a former World No. 1 herself, has won 12-career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles and reached the final of three Grand Slam events including the 2008 and 2009 French Open as well as the 2009 Australian Open.
Both Ivanovic and Safina will be making their first appearances at the Bank of the West Classic.
Rounding out the list of main draw wild cards will be Victoria Azarenka and Stanford sensation Hilary Barte. Azarenka, currently ranked 18th in the world, has won three-career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles including the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Both Azarenka and Barte will be making their second career appearance in the main draw of the Bank of the West Classic. Barte, who will be entering her senior year at Stanford University this fall, is already a six-time All-American having earned singles and doubles honors her first three years.
The wild card selections for the qualifying draw include two future Stanford players. Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs have yet to take their first class at Stanford, but both will have the opportunity to play on the courts they will call home over the next four years as they have been issued wild cards into the 2010 Bank of the West Classic. Ahn and Gibbs are both currently ranked in the top 500 in the world.
Finalizing the qualifying wild cards are Tamaryn Hendler and Coco Vandeweghe. Hendler, better known as Tammy Hendler, is 18 years of age and a former World Top 5 junior player. Hendler reached the quarter-finals in the 2008 US Open Girls' singles tournament and the semi-finals at 2008 Junior Wimbledon.
Vandeweghe, who resides in Rancho Santa Fe, California, defeated Hendler on her way to winning the 2008 US Open Girls’ Singles championship. Vandeweghe, currently ranked 200 in the world, is the niece of former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe.
Tickets for the 2010 Bank of the West Classic, which will be held July 26-August 1 at Stanford University, 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, $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.
