STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford women's tennis will be well represented this weekend when the 2016 Bank of the West Classic gets underway at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, highlighted by two sophomores in qualifying while former standouts Carol Zhao and Nicole Gibbs will face off in the main draw on Monday.
The qualifying round begins at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday, July 16, with main draw competition getting underway Monday, July 18.
Two months after helping guide Stanford to the 2016 NCAA championship, rising sophomores Caroline Lampl and Melissa Lord received wildcards in the qualifying draw and will be making their tournament debuts.
A native of Bluemont, Virginia, Lampl will square off against Asia Muhammad in the third match inside the stadium. Lampl enjoyed a terrific rookie season, leading the Cardinal in overall victories (30-5) and winning 13 of her 14 matches at the No. 5 position of the lineup. Lampl finished 21-2 in duals, representing the highest dual win total by a Cardinal freshman since Nicole Gibbs went 27-0 in 2011. Lampl, who clinched a team-best seven matches in 2016, won five NCAA Tournament matches and finished 11-4 in three-setters, earning a reputation as the Cardinal's most clutch player.
A native of Bloomfield, Connecticut, Lord will face Olga Govortsova in the second match inside the stadium. Lord finished 25-12 overall and was 16-7 in duals, playing most of her matches at the No. 6 spot (9-4) of the lineup. Arguably Stanford's hottest player down the stretch, Lord won 10 of her final 11 matches, and was the only player to win all six of her NCAA contests. Lord, who provided the clinching point three times in 2016, also posted a 9-6 record against conference opponents.
Zhao announced last month that she would forego her senior season to pursue a career in professional tennis. A three-time All-American and 2015 NCAA Singles runner-up, Zhao played a key role in Stanford's 2016 NCAA championship run, despite missing the entire fall season and much of the spring as she had been training with the Canadian National Team and competing in pro tournaments. The Cardinal finished 14-1 with Zhao in the lineup and 6-4 without in 2016. Zhao concluded her career on The Farm having compiled a 76-16 overall record and 51-8 dual match mark. Zhao was a three-time all-conference pick and consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 in singles throughout her career, including a career-high No. 1 ranking in the 2016 preseason poll.
Currently ranked No. 72 in the world, Gibbs has been competing on the WTA tour since 2013, months after electing to turn pro following her junior season on The Farm. An All-American in singles during each of her three seasons (2011-13) at Stanford, Gibbs was a two-time NCAA Singles champion (2012, 2013) and teamed with Mallory Burdette to capture the 2012 NCAA Doubles crown. Gibbs, who helped guide Stanford to a national title in 2013, wrapped up her career with a 111-15 overall record and was 65-6 in duals. One of seven Cardinal players named to the Pac-12 All-Century Team in April, Gibbs was also a three-time all-conference pick and her 27 dual match wins in 2011 rank third in school history.
The most storied program in women's college tennis, Stanford (20-5, 9-1 Pac-12) captured its 19th national championship (18 NCAA, 1 AIAW) in 2016, defeating No. 12 Oklahoma State in a 4-3 thriller in Tulsa, Oklahoma. No. 15 Stanford became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title, knocking off No. 2 Florida, No. 10 Michigan and No. 6 Vanderbilt in a span of five days prior to reaching the final. Stanford has now won 14 of its last 16 NCAA matches when seeded lower than its opponent, a streak that covers six years. That includes winning it all as a No. 12 seed three years ago – at the time the lowest-seeded team to accomplish the feat – and taking home the crown in 2010 as a No. 8 seed. Stanford now owns a 142-18 all-time record in the postseason since the NCAA Tournament went to its present format in 1982.
Individual session tickets for the Bank of the West Classic opening round start at just $34. For tickets go to www.bankofthewestclassic.com or call (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.
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 $753,000. 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: Bank of the West is a regional financial services company chartered in California and headquartered in San Francisco with $77.2 billion in assets as of March 31, 2016. Founded in 1874, Bank of the West provides a wide range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services through more than 600 offices in 23 states and digital channels. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which has a presence in 75 countries with 185,000 employees.