Home Depot Center News

CARSON, CA (Tuesday, July 28, 2009) - World No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova has withdrawn from the 2009 LA Women's Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife with a foot injury. Yet, the $700,000 event features one of its strongest draws in tournament history, showcasing 10 of the top 15 female players in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings.

One of Southern California's most prestigious tennis traditions, the LA Women's Tennis Championships will be played Aug. 3-9 on the hard courts of The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills.

An 11-time singles champion and 14-time doubles winner on the WTA Tour, Kuznetsova owns two singles titles this year, highlighted by her victory over Dinara Safina to win the French Open in June. It was her second Grand Slam singles title (also the 2004 U.S. Open) to go along with her women's doubles Grand Slam win at the 2005 Australian Open. She also won in Stuttgart earlier this year.

Kuznetsova, who has regularly represented Russia in the Olympics and the Fed Cup, reached the quarterfinals of the LA Women's Tennis Championships in 2003 and 2004.

The LA Women's Tennis Championships features a 56-player singles draw - led by Manhattan Beach resident Maria Sharapova, 2008 LA Women's Tennis Championships winner and World No. 1 Dinara Safina, Russia's Vera Zvonareva (No. 7), Belarus' Victoria Azarenka (No. 8), Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki (No. 9), Nadia Petrova (No. 10), Serbia's Ana Ivanovic (No. 11), the event's 2007 champion, Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova (No. 12), Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska (No. 13), France's Marion Bartoli (No. 14), and Italy's Flavia Pennetta (No. 15) - and a 16-team doubles draw.

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 U.S. Open. This year's tournament marks the sixth year players competing in the U.S. Open Series tournaments will be vying for bonus prize money at the U.S. Open. Players competing in the \"summer season\" of tennis at the participating Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments will receive Olympus U.S. Open Series points, which will ultimately earn the series winner the opportunity to double her U.S. Open prize purse.

More information, including ticket sales, discounts and promotions is available at www.latennischamps.com