STANFORD, Calif. (www.mubadalasvc.com) – For the top-seeded duo of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears, the fourth time proved to be the charm.

 

Competing together at the Bank of the West Classic for the fourth consecutive season, Kops-Jones and Spears finally came away with a title, defeating the second-seeded tandem of Julia Goerges and Darija Jurak 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the doubles championship.

The draw played out according to seed, with the top four teams reaching the semifinals. The previous best result for Kops-Jones and Spears at the Bank of the West Classic was a quarterfinal finish last year, falling to eventual champions Marina Erakovic and Heather Watson. 

 

In the first meeting between the two teams, Kops-Jones and Spears jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in the first set and closed out the final two games for a 6-2 victory.

 

Kops-Jones and Spears built a 4-3 lead in the second set, only to see Goerges and Jurak battle back to force a tiebreaker. Tied at 4-4 in the tiebreaker, Kops-Jones and Spears closed out the final three points.

 

The last time the top two seeded teams reached the Bank of the West Classic final was in 2011, when No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko topped No. 1 seed Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond 6-1, 6-3.

Kops-Jones and Spears became the first American pair to win the Bank of the West Classic crown since Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber (as wild cards) accomplished the feat in 2010 with a 7-5, 6-7 (8), 10-8 triumph.

 

It’s the seventh career WTA doubles title for Kops-Jones and Spears, including four in 2012 (Carlsbad, Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka).

 

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 Emirates Airline 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 $740,000. 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, $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. 

 

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, India and Turkey; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing.