Eighteen of top 22 (and all 48 initial entries)
compete in England before heading to California
Click here for credential application
CARSON, CA (June 22, 2004) – Virtually all of the leading players participating at Wimbledon have committed to the JPMorgan Chase Open, July 19-25, at The Home Depot Center in Carson. Eighteen of the top 22 players in the WTA rankings have committed to the JPMorgan Chase Open, led by Serena and Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati and Chanda Rubin. All but Rubin have been ranked No. 1 in the world.
Others among the top 22 playing at Wimbledon and just confirmed on the entry list for the JPMorgan Chase Open include: Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Paola Suarez, Ai Sugiyama, Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva, Maria Sharapova, Patty Schnyder, Francesca Schiavone, Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi, Silvia Farina Elia, Elena Bovina and Fabiola Zuluaga.
Serena Williams is the No. 1 seed at Wimbledon. Venus Williams is seeded No. 3, Davenport No. 5, Dementieva No. 6, Capriati No. 7 and Kuznetsova No. 8.
“The JPMorgan Chase Open is one of the highlights of the summer sports season for Southern California tennis fans,” said Bill Peterson, tournament director and managing director, The Home Depot Center. “With the rare appearance together of the Williams sisters, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati, along with most of the other leading players competing at Wimbledon, we have one of the strongest fields ever for our tournament. As one of the early events in the prestigious US Open Series, and with the enhancements made to The Home Depot Center’s tennis facilities, we are prepared to write yet another exciting chapter to the illustrious history of the JPMorgan Chase Open.”
The JPMorgan Chase Open will be a part of the inaugural US Open Series, a historic breakthrough for the sport that links 10 summer hard-court tournaments to the US Open. For the first time, 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 WTA tournaments will receive US Open Series points which will ultimately earn the winner of the series the opportunity to double her US Open prize money.
About the JPMorgan Chase Open
The JPMorgan Chase Open, at 34 years old one of the most historic events in women’s tennis, is being held for the second consecutive year at The Home Depot Center. The WTA Tour Tier II event offers prize money of $585,000 to the 48-player singles and 16-team doubles draws. The distinguished tournament champions’ list includes Clijsters, Serena Williams, Davenport, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.
About The Home Depot Center
The Home Depot Center is Southern California’s new 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 Dominguez Hills in Carson, California, The Home Depot Center features a 13,000 seat stadium for tennis, a 27,000 seat stadium for soccer, athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 20,000 seat facility for track & field, the ADT Event Center, a 3500-seat indoor velodrome (opening summer 2004) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also the national team training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation. The “complex,” which is also the home of the nationally-recognized Athletes Performance training center for elite and professional athletes has additionally been designated “official” training site for USA Cycling, United States Track & Field, the USTA and the AVP.
About JPMorgan Chase
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $801 billion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, investment management, private banking and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase is headquartered in New York and serves more than 30 million consumers nationwide, and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about JPMorgan Chase is available on the Internet at www.jpmorganchase.com.
About AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, the London Arena, The Forum (as exclusive booking agent for sports and entertainment programming), HealthSouth Training Center and NextStage at Grand Prairie and Kodak Theaters (as operators); sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), the Manchester Monarchs (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL), Los Angeles Galaxy, Chicago Fire, Metrostars, San Jose Earthquakes and DC United (MLS), five hockey franchises operated in Europe and management of shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA) owned by Philip Anschutz; AEG Marketing, a sponsorship, sales, naming rights and consulting company; AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company; AEG Creative, a full-service marketing and advertising agency and AEG LIVE, a collection of companies devoted to all aspects of live entertainment including: AEG TV (formerly Spring Communications) devoted to creation and marketing of live events for pay-per-view and other electronic media; Creative Battery, producers of live entertainment for a variety of media and venues; AEG Tours & Special Events and Golden Voice, live entertainment promotion and touring companies. AEG LIVE is currently producing Celine Dion A New Day…Presented By Chrysler, a spectacular theatrical production starring Dion and an international cast of 60 dancers, musicians and artists and directed by Franco Dragone now appearing at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.