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CHANDA RUBIN EARNS SINGLES SPOT IN BANK OF AMERICA WTA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY PORSCHE Rubin replaces injured Venus Williams in eight-player field at prestigious season-ending event at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles ST. PETERSBURG, FL (November 2, 2003) – World No. 10 Chanda Rubin will replace the injured Venus Williams in the Bank of America WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche, the WTA Tour announced today. Williams, ninth in the current Porsche Race to the Championships standings with 2,211 points, withdrew because of the abdominal strain that has sidelined her since Wimbledon, moving Rubin into the coveted eight-player singles field at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Nov. 5-10. Rubin is 11th in the standings with 2,116 points. Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport both qualified for the Championships, but withdrew because of injuries. With the addition of Rubin, the singles field at the Championships includes Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Jennifer Capriati, Amelie Mauresmo, Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina and Ai Sugiyama. This year’s WTA Tour Championships features a new format that involves eight players competing in a round-robin singles format that pays the winner a record-tying $1 million, equaling the largest winner’s check in women’s sports. The Bank of America WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche is the largest and most lucrative women-only sporting event in the world and dates back to 1972. It was held in New York’s Madison Square Garden 22 consecutive years from 1979-2000, before moving to Munich in 2001, then to STAPLES Center, Los Angeles in 2002. The top eight singles players and top four doubles teams in the Porsche Race to the Championships standings on Monday, November 3 will qualify for the season-ending tournament. Former champions include all-time greats Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams. The Porsche Race to the Championships standings are updated weekly and posted on the WTA Tour’s website, www.wtatour.com General tournament and ticket information is available on the Bank of America WTA Tour Championships web site at www.wtachamps.com or at 1-866-WTA-CHAMP (1-866-982-2426). Visit the Lina Krasnoroutskaya page here
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