Williams’ Dominant Debut Highlights Tuesday’s Main Draw Singles Action
STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – Playing in only her third tournament since last year’s Wimbledon, Serena Williams opened her tournament run at the 2011 Bank of the West Classic with a dominating performance similar to many others in her star-studded career.
Williams overwhelmed Anastasia Rodionova 6-0, 6-0, completing the match in a tidy 47 minutes. Unseeded in this year’s draw, Williams has reached the quarterfinals and semifinals in her last two appearances at the Bank of the West Classic.
Next up for Williams is an intriguing matchup against Maria Kirilenko, who notched one of two upsets on the afternoon. A quarterfinalist here last year, Kirilenko cruised past sixth-seeded Julia Goerges 6-2, 6-3.
Earlier in the day, Ayumi Morita took down seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic by a 6-3, 7-5 count. An unlikely candidate to take down the former World No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion, Morita entered the day just 2-19 against top-20 players in her career.
Daniela Hantuchova had little trouble with Rika Fujiwara, prevailing 6-0, 6-2. Hantuchova will now face Maria Sharapova on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the featured match of the evening session. Sabine Lisicki also breezed through her match, defeating Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2.
Qualifiers Marina Erakovic and Urszula Radwanska both extended their tournament runs, posting victories in the main draw after winning three straight matches just to reach Tuesday’s action.
The third-seeded doubles team of Julia Goerges and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova closed out the night session with a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
Tuesday’s afternoon session attracted a crowd of 2,298, representing a tournament attendance record and surpassing the previous best of 2,009 back in 2009.
The 2011 Bank of the West Classic will be held from July 25-31. Tickets 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.
In addition to single-session tickets, fans can also purchase Daily Double passes to attend both the day and evening sessions for as little as $45. Attendees may also pre-purchase parking passes for the event for just $10.
The Bank of the West Classic, a WTA Premier event, is now in its 41st year and features a 28-player singles draw as well as a 16-team doubles draw. The event is owned and operated by IMG and serves as the opening women's event of the Olympus US Open Series.
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.
