Bank of the West Hit by Pullouts, But Serena Williams Commits

Written by: Staff on 9th July 2012

Bank of the West Hit by Pullouts, But Serena Williams Commits

epa03299436 Serena Williams of the US celebrates a point against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during the women's final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 07 July 2012. EPA/JONATHAN BRADY |

Wimbledon and the Olympic are two of tennis most high profile events, but a tournament being squeezed in between the two of them isn’t beneficial.

A rash of pre-tournament pullouts has hit Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic, which begins today and is a WTA Premier Level tournament.

While some of the 11 players who have pulled out are claiming injury, it’s obvious that a few of the Europeans who went deep at Wimbledon did not want to make the long trip so soon after London.

Fortunately, defending champion Serena Williams, who just won Wimbledon, is committed to playing and was scheduled to get on a plane to California today.

The list of pullouts include: Angelique Kerber (lower back), Sabine Lisicki (abdominal), Svetlana Kuznetsova (knee), Nadia Petrova (right wrist), Peng Shuai (left hand), Monica Niculescu (left hand), Christina McHale (illness), Simona Halep (left knee), Tamira Paszek (left thigh) and Varvara Lepchenko (left shoulder).

Andrea Hlavackova pulled out because she made the Wimbledon doubles final, but she also told Daily Tennis that she was shocked that she got into the Bank of the West draw as the 11th player out of 28 draw, the first time that has ever happened to her before.

Topics: Bank Of The West, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis News, Wimbledon 2012