The 2017 Bank of the West Classic has a loaded field. This is the much bigger women’s tennis event next week, compared to the tournament in Washington, D.C. Stanford University’s tennis center attracts the brighter names in tennis, making this an event many top players want to be part of.
The competition in the 32-player main draw will begin on Monday, July 31.
Event Details
Event: Bank of the West Classic
Category: WTA Premier Level
Date: July 31 – August 6, 2017
Location: Taube Family Tennis Center – Stanford University / Palo Alto, California
With a prize money allotment of nearly $710,000, this tournament offers a lot more than Washington, nearly $485,000 more distributed among all the players. This isn’t as prestigious as the Premier 5 or Premier Mandatory tournaments, but for the Premier level, it’s still more lucrative than other comparative tournaments. Washington is, by comparison, an International level event, which is much less substantial in a bigger context.
Points
Champion – 470
Runner-up – 305
Semifinal – 185
Quarterfinal – 100
Round of 16 – 55
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016 – Johanna Konta def. Venus Williams – 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
2015 – Angelique Kerber def. Karolina Pliskova – 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
2014 – Serena Williams def. Angelique Kerber – 7-6, 6-3
2013 – Dominika Cibulkova def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
2012 – Serena Williams def. CoCo Vandeweghe – 7-5, 6-3
Player Info:
Garbine Muguruza won Wimbledon in a one-sided final against Venus Williams. After winning her second Grand Slam title with rock solid defense and impressive hitting from both wings, Muguruza has blasted her way into the top 10, thus restoring the faith of fans that she is one of the top players in the world.
Muguruza plays her first tournament in Stanford since her Wimbledon heroics and she’ll be the number one seed on American shores. The challenge for Muguruza is not only to justify her No. 1 seeding but also to maintain consistency.
Petra Kvitova earned late entry into Stanford. She simply needs match play and a chance to build fitness after an early exit at Wimbledon, when she was clearly winded in the third set of a loss.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will try to make amends after ruling herself out of the event last year. Pavlyuchenkova has already won two titles this year but had a terrible grass court season, posting a 2-3 win-loss record and failing to defend her quarterfinal points at Wimbledon. Pavlyuchenkova is the number three seed at Stanford and her challenge will be to play like one. The Russian is ranked 18th in the world and knows if she can play to her potential, she can crack the top 10 of the rankings.
Ana Konjuh is another huge talent in the Stanford draw. Konjuh recently made the second week of Wimbledon, losing to Venus Williams in straight sets in the round of 16. She’ll hope to build on her good form.
Madison Keys, Coco Vandeweghe and Catherine Bellis are all in the draw and will get a lot of local support during the event. Vandeweghe had a decent Wimbledon but would like to keep up the good work throughout the season to break into the top tier of the WTA. CiCi Bellis is the highest-ranked unseeded player in the tournament. At just 18 years of age, she is already seen as the future of American tennis alongside Keys and Sloane Stephens. Of all the Americans, the crowd will cheer for her the most. Keys is having a frustrating 2017 so far. The talented American, after breaking into the top 10, has faced early exits due to wrist injuries but seems to be getting better. It will be surprising if she triumphs in Stanford but some back to back wins will make her feel good about herself.
Also here: Dangerous Naomi Osaka, who has the ability to upset higher-ranked players; Varvara Lepchenko, who has had giant killing wins in Stanford in the past; Francesca Schiavone, who will be making her last appearance in Stanford after announcing her retirement from professional tennis at the end of the season; and Kristyna Pliskova, who hopes to continue her steady rise.
Taube Family Tennis Center
The Taube Tennis Center was originally built in 1926 and has experienced many renovations and additions. Currently, in a modernized form, its two main stadiums (the Taube Family Tennis Stadium and the adjacent Taube South Courts) seat approximately 3,500.
The facility was first built and laid out with 11 courts. Now it has 17. The tennis complex has six lighted courts, allowing for plenty of night tennis. A lot of tournaments on tour do not have the capacity to host night matches. Stanford is a popular tour stop for this reason. Players relish not having to play in the sun whenever possible.
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