By Special to the Town Crier

Individual tickets went on sale May 13 for the 2002 Bank of the West Classic, to be played July 22-28 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium on the Stanford University campus.

The Bank of the West Classic is a Sanex WTA Tour Tier II event with a 28-player singles draw and 16 doubles teams. Prize money totals $585,000.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters, along with former champions Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles, have already made an early commitment to the event.

“The Bank of the West Classic is proving once again to be a hot ticket,” said tournament director Peter Tatum. “Our season ticket renewals have been outstanding, and we anticipate an equally strong response in our individual ticket sales.”

Individual tickets range in price from $10-$60 per session and are available through City Box Office at (415) 392-4400 or through Tickets.com at 478-2277.

Box seat and weekend packages range from $375-$1,900. Qualifying matches, held July 20-21, are free to the public.

Weekday matches begin at 11 a.m., July 22-25 and noon, July 26. Weeknight sessions begin at 7:30 p.m. Semifinal sessions July 27 start at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The July 28 final begins at 1:30 p.m.