A big women-only professional tennis tournament with the total prize money of as much as $710,000 is gaining momentum in Stanford, the United States.
       Best Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka (World No.10) was seeded fourth at the Bank of the West Classic to start her run from round two. Azarenka’s first rival will be World No.25 Venus Williams of the United States who took a solid win over Poland’s Paula Kania (181) 6-3, 6-2 in the opener.
The forthcoming meeting between the 24-year-old Belarusian and the 34-year-old American will be their fourth one, with Venus Williams keeping a 3-0 lead. Last time they played together was in Tokyo in 2013. The American won the match 6-2, 6-4 then.
      Williams’ sister, Serena (World No.1), will face World No.45 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.