STANFORD, Calif. (www.mubadalasvc.com) – Sunday’s 2 p.m. Bank of the West Classic singles final will feature a matchup between No. 4 seed Karolina Pliskova and No. 5 seed Angelique Kerber.
Both players cruised in their semifinal matchups on Saturday afternoon, with Pliskova defeating Varvara Lepchenko 6-2, 7-5 and Kerber handling Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-1. Kerber has won three of the five career meetings, which includes two split matchups already in 2015.
Pliskova has won all three of her tournament matches in straight-sets, including a 6-2, 7-5 victory in the first match of the day. Making her second career tournament appearance, Pliskova fell behind 5-4 in the second set before rallying to win the final three games. Pliskova tallied five aces in the match, four in the second set and two during her comeback down the stretch to remain perfect in three tries against Lepchenko.
Kerber breezed past Svitolina 6-3, 6-1 in the other semifinal, booking a spot in the final for the second straight season. A runner-up last year to Serena Williams, Kerber needed only 55 minutes to win the match and looked extremely sharp despite outlasting No. 2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets less than 24 hours before. Tied 3-3 in the first set, Kerber rattled off nine of the next 10 games overall.
Pliskova will be playing in a WTA-best fifth final on Sunday, having captured one title in four tries. Kerber is seeking her fourth crown this season in as many attempts.
Sunday’s doubles final is also set, with the second-seeded duo of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja squaring off against the tandem of Yi-Fan Xu and Saisai Zheng.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to www.mubadalasvc.com or call 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497).
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.
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 $731,000. 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: Founded in 1874, $62.4 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com), member FDIC and equal housing lender, offers a wide 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, which has a presence in 80 countries with nearly 200,000 employees.