STANFORD, Calif. (www.mubadalasvc.com) – Six seeded players posted victories on Sunday afternoon, as the second round of qualifying competition continued at the Bank of the West Classic.

 

No. 1 seed Olga Puchkova cruised in her first match following a first-round bye, defeating Petra Rampre 6-2, 6-1. Puchkova will next face No. 5 seed Vera Dushevina, who ended Stanford senior Kristie Ahn’s solid qualifying run with 6-1, 6-3 victory.

 

No. 2 seed Michelle Larcher De Brito survived a scare from Julia Boserup, moving on with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory. Her next opponent will be Natalie Grandin, who knocked off No. 8 seed Sachie Ishizu 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-5.

 

The third quarter of the qualifying draw will feature a matchup between No. 3 seed Sharon Fichman and Coco Vandeweghe, who reached last year’s final after emerging as a lucky loser. Fichman outlasted Alexandra Stevenson 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 while Vandeweghe upset No. 7 seed Gabriela Dabrowski 6-4, 6-1.

 

Monday’s final qualifying match pits No. 4 seed Alla Kudryavtseva and No. 6 seed Sacha Jones. Kudryavtseva breezed past Ivana Lisjak 6-4, 6-2 while Jones bested Allie Will 6-4, 6-1.

 

All four qualifying matches will be played during the morning session.

 

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 $795,000. 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 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com), member FDIC and equal housing lender, offers a full range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services. The bank operates more than 600 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 and India; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing. More information is available at www.imgworld.com.