Sharapova, Bartoli Notch Straight-Set Victories Thursday, Advance To Quarterfinals
No. 8 seed Victoria Azarenka is also into the quarterfinals, having allowed just six games overall so far.
STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – Fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova stormed into the quarterfinal round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Olga Govortsova, highlighting Thursday’s action at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic.
Under pressure at times on Tuesday night in her 6-4, 7-5 opening-round win over Zheng Jie, Sharapova was essentially in control throughout Thursday’s contest. She claimed the final three games of the first set following a 3-3 tie and did not trail in the second frame. Sharapova will now face fellow Russian and No. 2 seed Elena Dementieva on Friday at 8 p.m. in the night’s featured match.
Also advancing on Thursday afternoon was eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who put away Melanie Oudin 6-3, 6-1. Tied at 3-3 in the first set, Azarenka went on to win the next three games and coasted to a 6-1 triumph in the second set.
Azarenka’s next opponent will be fourth-seeded Marion Bartoli, who posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over wildcard headliner Ana Ivanovic in the featured match of the night session. Both players looked very sharp in their first round victories, surrendering just five games in the process. But it was Bartoli who duplicated that effort on Thursday night, jumping out to a sizeable lead in the first set and winning the last two games of the match to snap a 4-4 tie in the second set.
Unseeded Maria Kirilenko continues to play well without the fanfare, this time posting a 6-4, 6-3 win over sixth-seeded Shahar Peer. Kirilenko will next face Agnieszka Radwanska in the first match of Friday’s day session.
In doubles play, the wildcard tandem of Liezel Huber and Lindsay Davenport picked up its second win in as many nights, moving into the semifinals. Huber and Davenport defeated the team of Alla Kudryavtseva and Olga Govortsova 6-4, 6-2 in exactly one hour.
The U.S. Open National Playoff series continued on Thursday, with Maureen Diaz, Courtney Dolehide, Alexandra Mueller and Jessica Pegula claiming victories.
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. The Bank of the West Classic is also offering several weekend packages starting at $240.
Entering its 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.
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.
