STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com)
– Venus Williams and Marion Bartoli will clash in Sunday’s 2009 Bank of
the West Classic final, despite both players taking different paths to reach the
tournament’s championship match.
The tournament’s No. 2 seed, Williams has looked sharp throughout the week by
winning all four of her matches convincingly in straight sets. One day after
routing Maria Sharapova in the tournament’s most highly-anticipated contest,
Williams pounded No. 3 seed Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-1 on Saturday afternoon in
the semifinals.
Williams improved to 9-2 lifetime against Dementieva and has now won six in a
row since her last loss to Dementieva in 2004.
Williams will be seeking her third Bank of the West Classic championship, as
she won the event in 2000 and 2002. She is also looking for her first U.S.
outdoor hardcore title since 2002.
Her opponent on Sunday will be No. 8 seed Marion Bartoli, who survived yet
another challenge to reach the tournament final for the second straight year.
Bartoli outlasted upstart Samantha Stosur 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 to notch her second
consecutive three-set victory of the week. Bartoli squeaked past No. 4 seed
Jelena Jankovic in three sets on Friday following two hard-fought victories in
the early rounds.
Bartoli’s experience came into play on Saturday night against Stosur, who
enjoyed an impressive tournament run that included a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 upset of No.
1 seed Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Bartoli has now won four
consecutive matches, her longest winning streak of the year since claiming the
hardware with five straight wins at Monterrey, Mexico, back in March.
Venus Williams also has a chance to lock up a title on the doubles side with
her sister Serena, as the duo breezed to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the team of
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nadia Petrova. The Williams sisters won the last three
games of each set after leading 3-2.
The singles final begins at 12 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2.
Across the court in doubles will be the tandem of Yung-Jan Chan and Monica
Niculescu, who upended the team of Sorana Cirstea and Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 6-3,
(10-8) in the nightcap. Chun and Niculescu are playing together for the first
time.
The doubles final will take place following the singles championship
match.
Tickets for the 2009 Bank of the West Classic can be purchased by calling the
box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com.
The Bank of the West Classic, a premier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, is now
in its 39th year and features a 32-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 Olympus US Open Series.
The list of past champions of the event reads like a Who's Who of women's
tennis including 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 Olympus US Open Series. A Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
Premier event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 32-player singles draw
and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $700,000. 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: With more than $66 billion in assets, San
Francisco-based Bank of the West is one of the nation’s 25 largest banks.
Founded in 1874, Bank of the West is a full-service financial institution with
nearly 4 million accounts in more than 700 branch and commercial offices across
19 Western and Midwestern states.