Inside Tennis reported that the Bank of the West Classic will be leaving Stanford after the University made it known it doesn’t want to host a tournament with a commercial sponsor.
The tournament, which began in Oakland in 1971, has been played at the Taube Family Tennis Center the past 22 years and has helped advance the careers of several of the sports’ stars.
Serena Williams used the tournament as a first step in her comeback several years ago, winning it and then rising to the top of the rankings again.
Stanford grad Nicole Gibbs and Atherton resident C.C. Bellis used the tournament as a jumping point.
Inside Tennis reported Stanford tripled the rent on the event and Bank of the West still agreed to sponsor it.
Despite support from the Stanford tennis programs and the athletic department as a whole, the University ultimately decided it did not want a commercial entity to sponsor a campus event.
IMG owns the rights to the tournament but does not have a sponsor or a site. IMG has been in talks with several other sites.
The Classic is the first women’s event of the U.S. Open Series and is the longest continuous running women’s tournament in the world.
source http://hdsportsnews.com/stanford-policy-change-means-no-more-pro-tennis-at-taube/
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