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Aug 1, 2007

Ana Ivanovic Commits to East West Bank Classic presented By Herbalife

World's No. Five Ranked Player Becomes Sixth in WTA Top 10 Committed to Compete at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Next Week

Tuesday, July 31, 2007, Carson, CA -- Ana Ivanovic, currently ranked No. 5 in the world on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, has committed to competing in next week's East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife at The Home Depot Center, it was announced by Shawn Hunter, President of AEG Sports.

Ivanovic's entry to the stellar field boosts the total of Top 10 players committed to playing in this historic tournament to six, and also includes 12 of the Top 20 women's players in the world. Ivanovic will be battling against other top seeded players such as Maria Sharapova (WTA's No. 2), Jelena Jankovic (No. 3), Serena Williams (No. 8), Nadia Petrova (No. 9) and Daniela Hantuchova (No. 10).

Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Ivanovic has three career singles victories on the WTA Tour including a win at Berlin in May of this year. The 19 year old made her professional debut in 2003, and one year later had finished in the Top 100 in her first full season. She registered her career-first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at Canberra in 2005 and first Top 20 finish the same season. She also captured the singles championship in Montreal in 2006. This year marks the second time Ivanovic will compete in the East West Bank Classic at The Home Depot Center.

Now in its 38th year, the Carson based tournament is the oldest women's professional tennis tournament in North America. The singles tournament consists of a 56 player draw complimented with doubles tournament of 16 teams. No. 15 ranked Elena Dementieva, last year's winner, will attempt to win back-to-back titles at Carson for the first time since Serena Williams won two singles titles in a row in 1999 and 2000.

The tournament kicks off a week of great promotions starting with the East West Bank Legends Match on Monday, August 6 when Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Jim Courier face off on Center Court at 7:00 p.m. The first 2,500 fans will receive a complimentary draw string back pack.

For the fourth consecutive year, the tournament will feature a fireworks extravaganza on Saturday night, August 11. The annual fireworks show is one of the biggest and best fireworks shows in Southern California. The Saturday afternoon session is Universal Studios' Kid's Day, offering kids the chance to meet characters from Universal Studios. There is a special Kid's Day Package that is available for purchase, which includes two tickets and two Universal Studios passes for only $71. The offer can be redeemed by calling 1-877-AEG-TICKETS and mention the code: KIDS (offer limited to the first 100 callers that mention the code). Also on Saturday, the first 2,500 fans in attendance will also receive custom East West Bank Classic adjustable hats.

Other event promotions slated for this year's tournament include Breast Cancer Awareness Night on Tuesday, August 7, and includes a special silent auction benefiting the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. Breast Cancer Awareness Pink bracelets will also be available with donations. On Thursday, August 9, Bravabody.com presents a special fitness workout on Thursday morning for \"Fitness Day.\" This event also includes a ticket to Thursday's afternoon sessions. Later that night, Faith and Family Night is scheduled for Thursday evening, with a special center court concert by FISH artist Jessie Daniels sponsored by the KFSH (95.9) prior to evening matches. Thursday night is the only night that a Family Pack is being offered that includes four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas, for only $80.

The fan-favorite Jumbo Tennis Ball Giveaway returns on Friday, August 10. This promotion is open to the first 2,500 fans in attendance for the evening session. A debut show from young, advanced fashion designers from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM), will take place in the tennis village on Friday. Admission to the fashion show is free with any paid ticket to the Friday evening session. Over 80 creative fashion designs from nine student designers from FIDM will be seen in the show. Fashion ideas from cutting edge to drop-dead-glamour for the red carpet will be on the catwalk for the tennis crowd. Also on Friday night, Star 98.7 is sponsoring a \"Doubles Party\" where fans can meet their match as part of a singles party. There is a special ticket package offered for the singles nigh that includes a ticket to the party and a ticket to the tournament for only $40.

For wine lovers, Friday night, August 10, offers a special wine tasting event presented by WolfBlass Winery. Special tickets are available for the wine tasting with a WolfBlass sommelier, hors d'ouevrs and a lower box seat to Friday night's tennis sessions.

The East West Bank Classic offers several ticket packages for the week-long tournament, including the \"East West Bank Legends Match\" pack, which includes a ticket to Opening Night (Monday, August 6) featuring John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier, as well as tickets to the Thursday night session. Other packages include a VIP Party Package and tennis clinic that are available for purchase, which include a meet-and-greet with both McEnroe and Courier. All Session ticket packages, including all 12 sessions of play, start at just $235. In addition, weekend packages which include a total of five sessions played on Friday (two sessions), Saturday (two sessions) and the finals on Sunday, start at only $125. Tennis fans purchasing these packages can save up to $731 off the regular price of individual tickets!

For more information on all ticket packages and promotions, call 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (1-877-234-8425) or log on to www.eastwestbankclassic.com.

SAVE THE DATES

Saturday, August 4, 2:00 p.m.
EAST WEST BANK CLASSIC DRAW PARTY Top players will be on-hand as the Draw is set for the tournament.
Location:
Manhattan Beach Marriott
1400 Parkview Ave.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Monday, August 6, 2:00 p.m.
ALL ACCESS HOUR
Top eight seeds available for pre-Tournament interviews at The Home Depot Center

Please contact Charles Harris to RSVP for both events. Media advisories with more details to follow this week.

About the East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife
The East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife, at 38 years old, is one of the most historic events in women's tennis, and is being held for the fourth consecutive year at The Home Depot Center. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tier II event offers prize money of $600,000 to the 56-player singles and 16-team doubles draws. The distinguished tournament champions' list includes Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, all of whom have also been ranked No. 1 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour during their careers. For more information please visit www.eastwestbankclassic.com.

About East West Bank
East West Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: EWBC), parent company of East West Bank, is a publicly owned company, with $10.7 billion in assets, whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol \"EWBC.\" The company's wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the second largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles with 60 branch locations. East West Bank serves the community with 58 branch locations across Southern and Northern California and a branch location in Houston, Texas. East West Bank has two international locations in Greater China, including a full-service branch in Hong Kong and a Beijing Representative Office in China. For more information on East West Bancorp, visit the company's website at www.eastwestbank.com.

About The Home Depot Center
The Home Depot Center is southern California's home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes. The $150 million, privately financed facility was developed and is operated by AEG on a 125-acre site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) in Carson, California. The Home Depot Center features an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, rugby and other athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 10,000-seat facility for track & field and lacrosse, the ADT Event Center (a 2,450-seat indoor velodrome for cycling) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The Home Depot Center is home to three professional sports teams - Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA, and Major League Lacrosse's (MLL) Los Angeles Riptide. Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also home of the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) High Performance Training Center and is the national team training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). The David Beckham Academy for youth soccer, Andre Agassi's Safe Passage All-Stars at-risk youth tennis program and Athletes' Performance's training center for elite and professional athletes are all based at The Home Depot Center. The Home Depot Center has additionally been designated official training sites for USA Cycling and USA Track & Field. For more information, please visit www.homedepotcenter.com.

Contact:
Charles Harris
949-838-4214
harris2005@cox.net