Publication Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Stanford's Liu will use summer tennis tourneys to help decide future
Stanford's Liu will use summer tennis tourneys to help decide future
(June 30, 2004) by Rick Eymer
Stanford junior Amber Liu could be making her professional debut when she returns to Los Gatos from June 29th to July 4th for the fifth annual State Farm Women's USTA Challenger.
Part of the 2004 USTA Professional Circuit, the State Farm Challenger will feature 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams competing on the hard courts of the Los Gatos Swim & Racquet Club for a share of the $50,000 purse and valuable Sanex WTA Tour ranking points.
Among the leading entries for the singles title are Samantha Reeves of Miami, Fla., former finalist Ansley Cargill of Atlanta, Ga., and Southern Californians Angela Haynes and Liu.
Liu, who has not announced whether she is turning pro or returning to Stanford for her junior season, won her second straight NCAA singles title in the spring, and helped Stanford go undefeated and win the national team title as well.
Top-seeded Reeves, 25, is currently ranked No. 92 in the world. Second-seeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden is No. 111; Canada's Maureen Drake is No. 3 (No. 152) and Haynes, a powerful groundstroker from Compton, is ranked No. 157 and seeded fourth.
Seventh-seeded Cargill (No. 182) was the finalist in 2001, losing to former Stanford star Marissa Irvin in three hard-fought sets.
Liu was awarded the tournament's wild card last year and eventually reached the singles final, where she was defeated by fellow American Shenay Perry.
This year, the 19-year-old Liu is a direct entry into the main draw, courtesy of her No. 261 world ranking.
Stanford sophomore Theresa Logar was awarded a wild card into the singles draw. Logar, who recently completed her freshman year, played No. 5 singles for the Cardinal and will likely retain her amateur status. The Michigan resident won the United States Tennis Association's Girls 18 Super National Hard Court singles championship in San Jose last August.
Stanford grad Meredith McGrath returns for her second year as tournament director.
One of the most successful players to ever come out of Stanford, McGrath achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 18 in the world in 1996. That same year, she was the world's No. 4-ranked doubles player, also a career-best.
Qualifying for the event runs June 27-29. Main draw action takes place from Tuesday, June 29th, with the singles and doubles final on Sunday, July 4th.
For more information, call the Los Gatos Swim & Racquet Club at (408)
356-2136.
Bank of the West
For most of the participants in the Bank of the West women's tennis tournament, which begins July 12 at Stanford's Taube Tennis Center, it will be their first tournament after Wimbledon.
All 21 certified entrants in the Bank of the West competed at Wimbledon, which continues through this week, including former two-time Bank of the West champions Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport.
Williams, of course, was upset by Karolina Sprem in the second round over the weekend. Sprem beat former Stanford star Laura Granville in the first round.
On the men's side, former Menlo School star and Central Coast Section singles champion Dmitry Tursunov reached the third round before losing to ninth-seeded Carlos Moya, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
Stanford alum Anne Kremer defeated Tian Tian Sun, 6-3, 7-5, in the second round on Friday, but then lost to ninth-seeded Paola Suarez, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0, Sunday.
Others ranked in the top 40 playing at Wimbledon and confirmed for the Bank of the West Classic include: Patty Schnyder, Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi, Francesca Schiavone, Elena Bovina, Eleni Daniilidou, Amy Frazier, Meghann Shaughnessy, Maria Vento-Kabchi, Jelena Kostanic, Petra Mandula, Nicole Pratt, and Elena Likhovtseva.
Davenport was scheduled to play Sperm in the quarterfinals on Monday, while Frazier reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. Shaughnessy reached the third round before losing to Sprem on Sunday.
Schnyder and Schiavone each lost in the second round.
The Bank of the West Classic is a WTA Tour Tier II event, featuring a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw. Total prize money for the event is $585,000.
In addition to Williams and Davenport, previous winners include Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Martina Navratilova, Zina Garrison, Chris Evert, and Hana Mandlikova.
"We're delighted to once again showcase the best players in world" said Gus Sampras, Bank of the West Classic tournament director. "The Bank of the West
Classic is one of the few remaining tournaments on the WTA Tour where fans can watch great tennis in such an intimate setting as the Taube Family Tennis Stadium on the beautiful grounds of the Stanford University campus."
Individual tickets range in price from $10-$80 per session and are available through City Box Office at 415-392-4400, or through Tickets.com at 415-478-2277, 650-478-2277, 408-998-2277, or 510-762-2277. Box seat and weekend packages range from $195-$2,700, including individual session skyboxes available for $2,000 per session Monday through Thursday, and are available by calling 415-227-8099. Qualifying matches, held July 10-11, are free to the public.
Day Sessions will begin Monday, July 12, through Thursday, July 15 at 10 a.m. and Friday, July 16 through Saturday, July 17 at 11 a.m. Evening sessions will begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 p.m. on Saturday. The final session on Sunday, July 18 begins at 1 p.m.
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