Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko Crowned 2011 Bank of the West Classic Doubles Champions
STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – In a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2, the second-seeded duo of Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko defeated the top-seeded tandem of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday afternoon, claiming the doubles championship at the 2011 Bank of the West Classic.
Playing in their 11th tournament as a team, Azarenka and Kirilenko claimed their third title overall and second of the year since winning in Madrid. Since first pairing up at New Haven in 2007, Azarenka and Kirilenko reached the semifinals at last year’s Bank of the West after not playing together for three years.
Azarenka and Kirilenko won three of their four matches in straight-sets, allowing only 11 games combined over that stretch. Their toughest challenge came in the semifinals, outlasting the third-seeded duo of Julia Goerges and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 4-6, 6-3, [10-5].
The experienced duo of Huber and Raymond came up short on Sunday. Huber, who joined Lindsay Davenport in capturing last year’s Bank of the West Classic doubles crown, was bidding for her 45th career title while Raymond was trying for her 71st career championship.
Azarenka and Kirilenko raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first set and held on for the 6-1 victory.
Trailing 3-0 in the second set, Huber and Raymond picked up the next two games to cut the deficit to 3-2. However, Azarenka and Kirilenko increased their lead to 5-2 and eventually won the match on Kirilenko’s serve at 6-3.
ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is one of the oldest women-only professional tennis tournaments in the world and is the first stop of the Olympus US Open Series. A WTA Premier event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $721,000. 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: Founded in 1874, $58 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com) offers a full range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services. The bank operates more than 700 retail and commercial banking locations in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, one of the world's largest and best rated financial institutions with more than 200,000 employees in more than 80 countries.
ABOUT IMG: IMG Worldwide is a global sports, entertainment and media business, with nearly 3,000 employees operating in 30 countries around the globe. IMG’s areas of expertise are diverse and wide ranging: IMG College; IMG’s Joint Ventures in China, Brazil and India; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing. More information is available at www.imgworld.com
