Carlsbad, Calif. – It will be a morning filled with fun and activities on Opening Day of the Southern California Open as the tournament’s traditional Kids’ Day will take place from 9-10:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, at the La Costa Resort and Spa.
Kids will have the opportunity to play tennis, win prizes and meet several of the WTA players who will be competing in the Southern California Open. The day’s festivities are open to children 14 and under. Parents are welcome and admission and parking are free.
Following the conclusion of Kids’ Day, attendees will be invited to stay for the making of the tournament’s main singles draw on Stadium Court at 11 a.m. and then watch first-round singles qualifying action.
"The annual Kids’ Day has always been a well-attended event here at the La Costa Resort and Spa," said Tournament Director Alastair Garland. "The tournament has scheduled a Kids’ Day for many years now and we look forward to continuing the tradition this year and getting children involved in the sport of tennis."
The Southern California Open, a WTA Premier 700 tennis event, is a major stop on the Emirates Airline US Open Series calendar. Highlighting this year’s Southern California Open player field will be current No. 3 and 2013 Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and world No. 4 and 2011 tournament champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. Among the other entries are defending tournament champion and world No. 21 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia and last year’s finalist and defending Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli of France, currently ranked No. 7 in the world.
Other players who have committed to play in this summer’s tournament are World No. 8 Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, World No. 11 Roberta Vinci of Italy, No. 14 Jelena Jankovic and No. 17 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and 2010 Southern California Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, ranked No. 27 in the world.
The Southern California Open will be televised on ESPN2, Tennis Channel, and distributed internationally to more than 20 countries and regions around the world. Past champions of the event include Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova.