July 8, 2012

STANFORD, Calif.- Senior Mallory Burdette and junior Nicole Gibbs have been awarded wildcard entries to the main draw of the 2012 Bank of the West Classic, with both players scheduled to open tournament play on Tuesday.

Burdette and Gibbs will also team up as a wildcard in the doubles draw, with that match not yet scheduled.

Burdette will square off against Anne Keothavong at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The winner of that match will take on No. 2 seed Marion Bartoli, the 2009 Bank of the West Classic champion.

A three-time All-American, Burdette is also a two-time NCAA doubles champion, teaming with Gibbs to win this year's title one season after bringing home the crown with Hilary Barte. The 2012 NCAA singles runner-up, Burdette has compiled a 104-22 overall singles record in three seasons and provided the clinching point in Stanford's 2010 NCAA championship victory against Florida.

Gibbs is coming off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Julie Coin on Sunday afternoon to win the Colorado International, a $50K event on the ITF pro circuit. Gibbs will face qualifier Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in her first-round match, with that contest scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Should Gibbs prevail, she would take on the tournament's No. 1 seed and 14-time major champion Serena Williams on Wednesday afternoon (day session, match would not start before 3 p.m.).

Gibbs is coming off one of the best seasons in school history, becoming only the third player in NCAA history to capture both the NCAA singles and doubles titles in the same season. Stanford's first NCAA singles champion since Amber Liu in 2004, Gibbs was also named the 2012 Honda Sports Award recipient and ITA National Player of the Year. In just two seasons, Gibbs has produced an 87-11 overall record and 48-2 mark in dual match play.

Burdette and Gibbs will face the tourney's No. 3 seeded-duo of Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova in the first round.

The 2012 Bank of the West Classic will be held from July 9-15 at the Taube Family Tennis Center at Stanford University. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com. Individual session tickets to the tournament's opening round start at $26.

ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is one of the oldest women-only professional tennis tournaments in the world and is the first stop of the Emirates Airline US Open Series. A WTA Premier event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $740,000. 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: Founded in 1874, $62.4 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com), member FDIC and equal housing lender, offers a wide range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services. The bank operates more than 700 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, India and Turkey; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing. More details available at www.imgworld.com.