Qualifier Date-Krumm caps night session with three-set win
STANFORD, Calif. (www.mubadalasvc.com) – The final two seeded players to take the court, Angelique Kerber and Elina Svitolina posted main draw victories on Tuesday at the Bank of the West Classic.
Kerber, the tournament’s No. 5 seed and last year’s runner-up, required only 65 minutes to dispatch of Daria Gavrilova in a 6-1, 6-3 win.
Eighth-seeded Svitolina found herself in a battle with qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko, rallying for a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory in a match that lasted two hours and 31 minutes. Bondarenko led the third set 5-3 before Svitolina charged back to win the final four games.
In the nightcap, Kimiko Date-Krumm overcame an early deficit to stun 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. The oldest player on tour at age 44, Date-Krumm had to survive two qualifying rounds just to make the main draw.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Ajla Tomljanovic both prevailed in three-setters while Ana Konjuh cruised to a straight-set victory.
Four doubles matches were contested on Tuesday, with both seeded duos moving on to the quarterfinals. The second-seeded tandem of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja notched a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory while the third-seeded pairing of Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska grinded out a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 12-10 win.
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.