Venus to play qualifier on Tuesday at Stanford

   Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams will face qualifier Paula Kania of Poland on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, tournament organizers announced Sunday.
   Williams is scheduled to appear in the tournament for the first time since losing to Marion Bartoli in the 2009 final. If Williams wins, she will meet fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who received a first-round bye, on Thursday in a matchup of former world No. 1s and ex-Bank of the West champions. Williams triumphed at Stanford in 2000 and 2002, and Azarenka in 2010.
   Williams, 34, and Azarenka, who will turn 25 on Thursday, also have battled health issues.
   Williams was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome, an energy-sapping disease, in 2011. The last of her seven Grand Slam singles titles came at Wimbledon in 2008. Azarenka has missed most of the year with a left foot injury.
   Dominika Cibulkova, a 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) veteran from Slovakia, will open the defense of her Bank of the West Classic title against rising star Garbine Muguruza, 20, on Tuesday not before 1 p.m. Muguruza, a 6-foot (1.82-meter) Venezuela native who plays for Spain, upset Serena Williams in the second round of the French Open this year en route to the quarterfinals.
   Following the Cibulkova-Muguruza match, No. 5 seed and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia will take on 2013 Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki of Germany. 
   Serena Williams, like her older sister, has won the Bank of the West twice (2011 and 2012). She will return Wednesday night, against either 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, after drawing a first-round bye and skipping last year's tournament.
   Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, will headline today's session when she takes on qualifier Naomi Osaka of Japan not before 1 p.m. Eighth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany will kick off the night session at 7 p.m. against Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia, followed by 2012 runner-up CoCo Vandeweghe against recent Stanford graduate Kristie Ahn in an All-American encounter.
   See below for today's full schedule.
   In the final round of qualifying on Sunday, sixth-seeded Sachia Vickery of Hollywood, Fla., ousted No. 1 seed Aleksandra Wozniak, the 2008 Bank of the West champion from Canada, 6-4, 6-1.
   Carol Zhao, a Stanford sophomore from Canada, advanced to the main draw with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory over ninth-seeded Marina Shamayko of Russia.
   To purchase tickets to the Bank of the West Classic, visit www.bankofthewestclassic.com or call 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497).

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC

At Stanford

Final-round qualifying

   Sachia Vickery (6), United States, def. Aleksandra Wozniak (1), Canada, 6-4, 6-1.
   Carol Zhao, Canada, def. Marina Shamayko (9), Russia, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.
   Paula Kania (5), Poland, def. Raquel Kops-Jones, United States, 6-4, 6-1.
   Naomi Osaka, Japan, def. Petra Martic (7), Croatia, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1.

Today's schedule

Stadium

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japan, vs. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic.
   Samantha Stosur, Australia, vs. Naomi Osaka, Japan.
   Caroline Garcia, France, vs. Varvara Lepchenko, United States.

(Not before 7 p.m.)

   Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia, vs. Andrea Petkovic (8), Germany.
   CoCo Vandeweghe, United States, vs. Kristie Ahn, United States.

Court 6

(Starting at noon)

   Eva Hrdinova, Czech Republic, and Andreja Klepac, Slovenia, vs. Garbine Muguruza, Spain and Carla Suarez Navarro (3), Spain.

(Not before 2 p.m.)

   Sachia Vickery, United States, vs. Shuai Zhang, China.

(Not before 3:30 p.m.)

   Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia, and Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic, vs. Darija Jurak, Croatia, and Megan Moulton-Levy, United States.