Home Depot Center News

Tickets for the August Tournament at The Home Depot Center Start as Low as $10 Per Session With \"Buy One, Get One Free\" All-Week Passes, Plus Daily Promotions

CARSON, CA (Wednesday, July 8, 2009) - Individual tickets are on sale, beginning today, for the 2009 LA Women's Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife, played Aug. 3-9 on the hard courts of The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills. $25 individual tickets, All-Week Ticket Packages, including a VIP \"Meet the Players\" party, and other exclusive promotions are available now by calling 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (1-877-234-8425) or visiting www.latennischamps.com.

One of Southern California's most prestigious tennis traditions, the $700,000 LA Women's Tennis Championships enables tennis fans to enjoy a world-class Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles draw that will include Manhattan Beach resident Maria Sharapova and 2008 LA Women's Tennis Championships winner Dinara Safina. The event features a 56-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw.

Last week, Safina reached the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time, and she has maintained her No. 1 world ranking through the third Grand Slam of the year. On April 20, Safina became the 19th player and second Russian, after Sharapova, to claim the No. 1 ranking on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Safina leads 11 of the Top 15 players in the world in what is, arguably, the strongest LA Women's Tennis Championships field yet.

Among the tournament's early entries are Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova (No. 5), Vera Zvonareva (No. 7) and Nadia Petrova (No. 10), Belarus' Victoria Azarenka (No. 8), Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki (No. 9), Serbia's Ana Ivanovic (No. 11), the event's 2007 champion, Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova (No. 12), France's Marion Bartoli (No. 13), Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska (No. 14) and Italy's Flavia Pennetta (No. 15).

Five players who are committed to play in the LA Women's Tennis Championships reached last week's Wimbledon quarterfinals - Safina, Azarenka, Radwanska, No. 26 Sabine Lisicki and No. 28 Francesca Schiavone. Lisicki and Schiavone moved up 15 places in the world rankings following their impressive Wimbledon performance.

Individual tickets are on sale now for $25, or $10 per session, with the \"Buy One, Get One Free All-Week Pass\" special rate, including all 13 sessions of play. The All-Week Pass also include an exclusive VIP \"Meet the Players Party\" on Opening Night - Monday, August 3 at The Home Depot Center's Stadium Club restaurant. On Wednesday, August 5, fans can help their non-profit benefit from money raised through tournament ticket sales, silent auction and more with the Tennis Cares Night. Weekend Packages are also available, which include the final five sessions of the tournament played on Friday (two sessions), Saturday (two semifinal sessions) and the finals on Sunday. As always, Saturday's semifinals night features the annual Fireworks Celebration under the stars at The Home Depot Center.

Ticket discounts, great benefits, and the best seat locations are offered with each ticket plan. For more information on all ticket packages, VIP Hospitality Suites and Boxes, and sponsorship/exhibit opportunities, call 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (1-877-234-8425) or visit www.latennischamps.com. Tickets are also available at all Ticketmaster outlets, including www.Ticketmaster.com.

About the Tournament

The LA Women's Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife, in its 39th year, is one of the most historic events in women's tennis and is being held for the sixth consecutive year at The Home Depot Center. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Premier event offers prize money of $700,000 to the 56-player singles and 16-team doubles draws. The distinguished tournament champions list includes Dinara Safina, 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.

The LA Women's Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife is part of the prestigious Olympus US Open Series, which links nine summer hard-court tournaments to the famed US Open. This year's tournament marks the sixth 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 Olympus US Open Series points, which will ultimately earn the series winner the opportunity to double her US Open prize purse.

The tournament is currently seeking to assist with transportation, daily giveaways at the tournament and tennis clinics beginning July 29 and throughout the week of the tournament, as well . Try-outs for ball kids is on July 11 at The Home Depot Center. For more information on either of these opportunities, please visit www.latennischamps.com and visit the \"Ball Kids & Volunteer\" page.

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 (CSUDH) Hills in Carson, California. The Home Depot Center features a 13,000-seat tennis stadium, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, rugby, lacrosse and other athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 10,000-seat facility for track & field, The Home Depot Center Velodrome (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 2005 MLS and U.S. Open Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy; Club Deportivo (CD) Chivas USA; and Women's Professional Soccer's (WPS) Los Angeles Sol. Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also home of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) USA Tennis High Performance Training Center as well as 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 the nationally recognized Athletes' Performance 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, USA Track & Field and the USTA.