STANFORD, Calif. (www.mubadalasvc.com) – The Stanford women's tennis program will be well-represented this weekend when the 2016 Bank of the West Classic gets underway at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium as Carol Zhao was granted a wildcard into the tournament’s main draw while returning sophomores Caroline Lampl and Melissa Lord received wildcards into the qualifying draw.
The three will join former Stanford great and current World No. 72 Nicole Gibbs at this year’s Bank of the West Classic. Gibbs received an automatic entry into the tournament based on her world ranking.
The Bank of the West Classic qualifying tournament will start on Saturday, July 16 and conclude on Sunday, July 17. The tournament’s main draw begins on Monday, July 18.
Tickets for the Bank of the West Classic are on sale now with individual session tickets for the opening round start at just $34.
The Bank of the West Classic also provides fans with multiple money-saving ticket packages that start as low as $192 for Night Session Packages, $265 for Weekend Packages and $620 for Full Week Packages. Groups of 15 or more can also receive discounts of up to 20%.
The qualifying tournament is free and open to the public.
Go to www.mubadalasvc.com or call (866) 982-8497 to secure your tickets today
Zhao, who recently announced she would forego her senior season to turn professional, helped lead the Cardinal to their 19th NCAA team title. She was a 2015-16 All-Pac-12 First Team selection and ended the season ranked No. 25 in the nation.
Following her spectacular sophomore season in which she advanced to the NCAA Women’s singles final and earned All-American honors in both singles and doubles, she spent most of the Fall training with the Canadian Fed Cup team.
This will mark Zhao’s third consecutive Main Draw appearance at the Bank of the West Classic.
Lampl lead the team in wins last season posting a 30-5 record as a freshman. Playing most of her matches at the No. 5 spot she finished 21-2 in dual matches marking the most dual match wins by a freshman since Nicole Gibbs (27-0 in 2010-11).
Lampl went 5-0 in the Cardinal’s NCAA Championship run earning NCAA All-Tournament Team recognition.
Lord posted a 25-12 record as a freshman including a 16-7 record in dual matches. She won 10 of her final 11 matches, including a perfect 6-0 mark in NCAA Tournament competition, and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.
Headlined by seven-time Grand Slam Champion and four-time Olympic Gold Medalist Venus Williams this year’s player field boast 12 players ranked among the top-2 in their respective countries and may end up competing at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.
Overall 12 countries are represented in the field, and of the 20 players on the WTA official acceptance list, 12 have won at least one career WTA singles title. The 2016 player field has combined to win 76 career WTA singles titles.
The player field also includes 2013 Bank of the West Classic champion and current World No. 12 Dominika Cibulkova, World No. 18 and 2016 Australian Open semifinalist Johanna Konta, 2012 Bank of the West Classic finalist Coco Vandeweghe, Japanese No. 1 Misaki Doi and two-time NCAA singles champion at Stanford Nicole Gibbs.
The Bank of the West Classic, a Premier WTA event, 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 Emirates Airline US Open Series.
The list of past champions of the event reads like a Who's Who of women's tennis including Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.
The Bank of the West Classic offers several different seat options with prices to fit everyone's budget so reserve your seats today.
Log on to www.mubadalasvc.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 Emirates Airline US Open Series. Owned and operated by IMG, the WTA Premier event features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $753,000. Held on Stanford University’s campus at Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include: Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.
ABOUT BANK OF THE WEST: Bank of the West is a regional financial services company chartered in California and headquartered in San Francisco with $77.2 billion in assets as of March 31, 2016. Founded in 1874, Bank of the West provides a wide range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services through more than 600 offices in 23 states and digital channels. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which has a presence in 75 countries with 185,000 employees.