Home Depot Center News

Introductions: The 2007 LA Open presented by Herbalife will take place from August 6-12 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. This summer will be the 38th year the Los Angeles area will showcase the top professional women's tennis players with more than $600,000 in prize money to be awarded.

Players Committed: The 2007 LA Open has five of the world's top 10 women's tennis players committed for this summer's tournament. The following players have already committed to play at The Home Depot Center in August: No. 2 ranked Maria Sharapova, No. 3 ranked Jelena Jankovic, No. 8 ranked Serena Williams, No. 9 Nadia Petrova and No. 10 ranked Nicole Vaidisova.

Wimbledon Watch: Tennis returns to Wimbledon this week and Serena Williams, seeded seventh, is scheduled to play Lourdes Dominguez Lino from Spain in the first round. In other matches, Nicole Vaidsova will play against Karin Knapp while Nadia Petrova will take on Vania King. Maria Sharapova will face Yung-Jan Chan while Jelena Jankovic will square off against Anne Keothavong from Great Britain.

More on Jankovic: The Serbain-born Jankovic, who made it to the finals of the 2006 LA Open, recently captured the Birmingham Title in Great Britain this month by beating Maria Sharapova, 4-6 6-3 7-5. It was her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of 2007. \"When I started I was a bit slow and not feeling the ball well, but as the match went on I became the player I am, the one that gave me all these results this year,\" said Jankovic. \"I suddenly started fighting, got into the match and pulled through. I was losing the whole time, but I was just fighting point by point.\"

Scouting Serena: Serena Williams spoke with reporters at Wimbledon and said, \"I think I'm still the best player out there when I'm playing well. When I'm playing well, it's hard for anyone to beat me ... it's just a fact. I don't think that anybody who has to play me goes home and shouts for joy.\" Williams enjoyed last year's tournament at The Home Depot Center by upsetting No. 11 seed Maria Kirilenko and then no. 7 seed Daniela Hantuchova before losing to tournament runner-up Jankovic.

\"I'm always confident, but I'm feeling really confident this week,\" Williams added. \"The best Serena always shows up when I'm healthy and I'm feeling pretty healthy.\"

Exhibition Match, 2007 Style: Two of tennis' most legendary players, John McEnroe, winner of 77 career singles tennis titles, including seven Grand Slams, and Jim Courier, owner of 23 career singles titles, including four Grand Slams, will face each other in a special exhibition match, the East West Bank Legends Match, on Monday, August 6 at opening night of the 2007 LA Open presented by Herbalife. Last year Peter Sampras and Courier helped to kick off the 2006 tournament.

Ticket Information: The LA Open presented by Herbalife will offer a special ticket package for the McEnroe vs. Courier Legends Night, which starts at $48.50 and includes a ticket to Opening Night and the Thursday night session. Other ticket packages include a VIP Party Package and tennis clinic that are available for purchase. The VIP Party Package and tennis clinic also include a meet-and-greet with both legends. All Session ticket packages, including all 12 sessions of play, start at just $235.00. 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 $125.00. Tennis fans purchasing these packages can save up to $731.00 off the regular price of individual tickets! For more information on all ticket packages, call 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (1-877-234-8425) or visit www.la-open.com.

Contact
Charles Harris
harris2005@cox.net