STANFORD, Calif. – Carol Zhao dropped a 6-3, 6-0 decision to Germany’s Mona Barthel on Monday night in the opening round of the main draw at the Bank of the West Classic.
Monday’s loss was a rarity for Zhao, who has chalked up a 33-2 record at home during her two years on The Farm. When you include last year’s second-round Bank of the West Classic defeat to Ana Ivanovic and tonight’s setback against Barthel, Zhao has suffered only four losses overall in her career at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
In the first set, Zhao held serve to go up 1-0 before Barthel stormed back to win the next five games. Zhao trimmed the deficit to 5-3 before Barthel broke her serve for the victory.
Barthel needed just 22 minutes to claim the second set.
Zhao, who reached the second round of last year’s Bank of the West Classic, exits this year’s event having gained valuable experience playing on her home court against a WTA pro.
The 2015 NCAA singles runner-up, Zhao has earned All-America honors in each of her first two seasons and finished 35-5 overall and 21-2 in duals as a sophomore. Three weeks ago, Zhao captured a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games, pairing with Gabriela Dabrowski as the Canadian duo defeated Mexico’s Victoria Rodriguez and Marcela Zacarias 6-1, 4-6, 10-5.
Tickets for the tournament’s opening round start at just $33 while ticket packages start at $205. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com or call 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497).
The Bank of the West Classic, a Premier WTA event, features a 28-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 Emirates Airline US Open Series.
The list of past champions of the event reads like a Who's Who of women's tennis including Serena Williams, 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 Emirates Airline US Open Series. Owned and operated by IMG, the WTA Premier event features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $731,000. Held on Stanford University’s campus at Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include: Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.
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.