Home Depot Center News

Shahar Peer, Sania Mirza and Vania King Also Commit to Play at The Home Depot Center

Friday, July 6, 2007 (Carson, CA) - Nicole Vaidisova, ranked No. 10 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, has confirmed her participation in the 2007 East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife, according to AEG Sports President Shawn Hunter.

Joining Vaidisova as new commitments for this summer's 56-player tennis classic are Shahar Peer, ranked No. 16, Sania Mirza, ranked No. 44 and Long Beach resident Vania King, ranked No. 74.

Vaidisova, 18, will be playing in her first East West Bank Classic. Seeded No. 14 at Wimbledon this month, she ousted defending champion and No. 4 seed Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-1. Vaidisova has notched six career singles titles to date, including a win over Shuai Peng in the Strasbourg final last year and now sports a 6-1 record lifetime in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles finals.

Peer, the top ranked player from Israel, is 30-12 overall in single play this year. She sports a 172-72 career record in singles including a 19-9 mark in Grand Slam Events since 2005. She established a career best No. 15 ranking in singles play in January of this year.

Mirza, a native from India, is looking for her second career singles title. She has reached two singles finals this year, the first at Hobart (Australia) in January and did again a month later at Pattaya City. She also won her fourth doubles title this year and first of the season with partner Vania King in Morocco. The 5'8\" right handed players owns a 161-73 career record in singles play.

King, 18, was born in Monterey Park and lives in Long Beach. She turned pro one year ago this week, on July 5, 2006. King captured first WTA singles championship at the PTT Bangkok Open on October 15, 2006 and her first doubles championship at the AIG Japan Open on October 8, 2006 with partner Jelena Kostanic. King ended singles play in 2006 at a career-high rank at No. 50.

King also trains at The Home Depot Center's USTA High Performance Training Center when not on the road.

The field for this summer's event now includes five of the world's Top 10 players. In addition to Vaidisova, the four other Top 10 players previously committed include No. 2 Maria Sharapova, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 8 Serena Williams and No. 9 Nadia Petrova.

Individual tickets for this year's tournament will go on-sale the same day Wimbledon will crown a new women's singles Champion - on Saturday, July 7 at 10:00 a.m. Individual tickets start as low as $19.50 per session and are available by calling Ticketmaster at 213-480-3232, visiting Ticketmaster.com or any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets are also available for the John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier East West Bank exhibition Legends Match, slated for opening night of the 2007 East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife.

The East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife is part of the prestigious US Open Series, which links 10 summer hard-court tournament to the famed US Open. This year's East West Bank Classic marks the fourth year players competing in the US Open Series tournaments will be vying for bonus prize money at the US Open. Players competing in the \"summer season\" of tennis at the participating Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments will receive US Open Series points, which will ultimately earn the series winner the opportunity to double her US Open prize purse.

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, please call 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (1-877-234-8425) or visit eastwestbankclassic.com.

Credential applications are now available online at www.eastwestbankclassic.com. Applications are due no later than Monday, July 23, 2007. For more information, please visit eastwestbankclassic.com.

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 number one on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour during their careers. For more information please visit eastwestbankclassic.com.

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