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SAN DIEGO, CA, July 12, 2005 – Promotion Sports, Inc. today announced the player field for the 2005 Acura Classic. The tournament, to be held July 30th - August 7th at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, will showcase some of the most exciting competition in women’s tennis today, with many of the world’s most well-known Grand Slam champions, as well as the hottest up-and-coming teenage stars all vying for the quarter of a million dollar take including prize money and an Acura RL.
Among the veteran Grand Slam Champions scheduled to play at this year’s Acura Classic are defending San Diego Champion Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Mary Pierce and Conchita Martinez, as well as Grand Slam runners-up Elena Dementieva and Kim Clijsters.
Sharapova Leads the Teens…
Russian eighteen year old Maria Sharapova, last year’s Wimbledon champ, will lead the teen charge at La Costa this year. Like Sharapova, many of these young phenoms have already proven they have what it takes to beat the top players. Sixteen year old Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria, for instance, knocked Venus Williams out in the third round at this year’s French Open. And in Charleston this year, seventeen year old Tatiana Golovin of France, known for her on-court fashion sense, had back-to-back wins over Amy Frazier, Lisa Raymond, Venus Williams and Nadia Petrova. Marat Safin’s nineteen year old sister, Dinara Safina, has already won four singles WTA Tour singles titles in the last two years.
The veterans will also have to watch out for two hungry eighteen-year-old Russians, Anna Chakvetadze and Evgenia Linetskaya, who are making their way up the rankings on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
Other young guns just out of their teens scheduled to compete at La Costa this year include three 20-year olds: Jelena Jankovic, who beat Serena Williams in Dubai this year; Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who deprived Martina Navratilova of a nostalgic comeback twice last year by beating her in singles at the French Open and Wimbledon; and Karolina Sprem of Croatia, who won over Venus Williams in a controversial match at last year’s Wimbledon.
Other top 20 players entered in this year’s tournament include Russians Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva, Elena Bovina and Elena Likhovtseva, as well as Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and France’s Nathalie Dechy.
The Acura Classic, a Tier I tournament with a total purse of $1.3 million, is one of the ten largest professional women’s tennis tournaments in the world, outside of the grand slam events.
Tickets packages are currently available for purchase at the Acura Classic website www.acuraclassic.com. Free parking for attendees will be available for opening weekend on Saturday, July 30th and Sunday, July 31st. Ticket packages also on sale now include: Box Seats, Gold/Silver/Bronze Packages and Weekday/Weeknight Packages.
For more information and to purchase tickets for the Acura Classic, fans can call the Tournament Box Office at 760/ 438-5683, or visit www.acuraclassic.com.
Promotion Sports, Inc., which owns the Acura Classic and promotes a variety of professional tennis events, is a private corporation headquartered in Carlsbad, California. Founded in 1982 by Raquel Giscafré and Jane Stratton, former professional tennis players, the company is dedicated to promoting sports and women’s tennis worldwide.
The Acura Classic is sponsored by American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
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