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Stanford: Where To Watch

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KEY INFORMATION:
Tournament Level: Premier
Prize Money: $846,000
Draw Size: 28 main draw (4 byes)/16 qualifying
Qualifying Dates: Saturday, July 16 – Sunday, July 17
First Day of Main Draw: Monday, July 18
Singles Final: Sunday, July 24, 2pm PDT
Doubles Final: Sunday, July 24, after singles final

MUST FOLLOW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
@WTA
@WTA_Insider – WTA Insider, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen
@BOTWClassic – Official handle
Get involved in conversations with the official hashtags, #BOTWClassic and #WTA.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:
· Two-time champion Venus Williams returns to tournament for the 13th time as top seed.
· Dominika Cibulkova, another former winner, is No.2 seed while Johanna Konta is No.3 seed. The 2012 runner-up, CoCo Vandeweghe, Jelena Ostapenko and Alizé Cornet are also in the draw.
· The draw’s highest-ranked player, World No.7 Venus Williams is nearly 20 years older than the lowest-ranked player 16-year-old Maria Mateas.
· Click here to see the draw after it is made on Saturday evening.

WILDCARDS:
CiCi Bellis (USA), Julia Boserup (USA), Maria Mateas (USA), Carol Zhao (USA)

WITHDRAWALS:
Timea Babos (left shoulder), Daria Kasatkina (illness), Mariana Duque-Mariño (gingivoplasty), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (left abductor), Agnieszka Radwanska (right hand), Lesia Tsurenko (left thigh)

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Bellis Blasts Past Ostapenko

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

STANFORD, CA, USA – 17-year-old Catherine Bellis thrilled the Northern California crowd in her first round against No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko; the American ousted the Latvian youngster, 6-4, 6-4 at the Bank of the West Classic.

Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“In the end, I was just a little bit more consistent than she was,” she said in her on-court interview. “I just tried to make as many balls as I could – especially in that last game. It was a little tight; I had a couple of heart attacks, but it’s all good!”

Bellis burst onto the scene back in 2014, when at 15 years of age, she stunned Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the US Open to become the youngest woman to win a main draw match there in nearly a decade. Two years on, the potential still burned bright from the young American, who twice recovered from early deficits to survive the surging Ostapenko, who struggled on serve with nine double faults in the 72 minute match.

Injured in doubles on Monday, Bellis admitted to Andrew Krasny she considered pulling out of the tournament before the match took place.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to play tonight because yesterday I got hit with an overhead in the eye. I was crying so hard and wasn’t even able to see. So to even come out today meant so much to me.”

Improving to 3-2 against Top 50 opposition, Bellis will play the winner of the second night match in Stanford between qualifiers Sachia Vickery and Elitsa Kostova.

Her win over Ostapenko was the first Stadium Court match to last only two sets as Julia Boserup, Magda Linette, and Alison Riske each needed a decider to capture their first round wins. Another American wildcard who reached the third round of Wimbledon in her Grand Slam debut, Boserup dispatched rising star Naomi Osaka, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Linette recovered from a one-set deficit to defeat Kristyna Pliskova, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Riske pulled off the most dramatic win of all against Varvara Lepchenko, clinching victory in a third set tie-break, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).

More to come…

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Venus Thrills Home Crowd In Victory

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

STANFORD, CA, USA – Former World No.1 Venus Williams treated the Bank of the West Classic to a topsy-turvy three-setter against Magda Linette, but the top seed found her way against the Pole when it counted, emerging victorious, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals.

Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Playing at the very tournament where she made her WTA debut back in 1994 – and playing as the No.1 seed at a WTA Premier level event for the first time since 2004 (Toray Pan Pacific Open) – Venus assumed the role of the favorite to emphatic effect to start the match, racing through the opening set without dropping serve and edging ahead an ostensibly decisive break to start the second.

Two games from elimination, Linette was coming off just her first WTA main draw win since reaching the quarterfinals of the Katowice Open, but nonetheless turned the tides against the illustrious American, breaking back to force a tie-break.

Venus had lost just one tie-break all year, and though she fell behind 6-2 two in Wednesday night’s sudden death, the five-time Wimbledon winner appeared poised to close out the match fairly quickly as she saved four set points in a row. But Linette held firm to level the match after a second set that lasted just over an hour.

The Pole had one last comeback in her late in the final set; after losing the first four games on the bounce, she nabbed one of the breaks back to put pressure on the Venus serve in the seventh game, one that had proven crucial in the second set. But with sister Serena in the stands, Venus made no mistake the second time around, and eased into the quarterfinals in two hours and 17 minutes.

Up next for the top seed is either qualifier Sachia Vickery or wildcard Catherine Bellis, who caused the upset of the tournament by taking out No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.

More to come…

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