Serena to play in San Jose on July 31

Serena Williams is scheduled to play in the San Francisco Bay
Area for the first time in four years. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Serena Williams will play her opening-round match in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on Tuesday, July 31, at 7 p.m., tournament officials announced Thursday.
   Williams' opponent will be determined when the draw is held next Friday. The tournament, which replaces the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, is scheduled for July 30-Aug. 5 at San Jose State.
   Williams is scheduled to play in the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time since 2014, when she won the Bank of the West title for the third time.
   Bidding to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams lost to Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final last Saturday. It was Williams' fourth tournament since she had her first child last Sept. 1.
   The San Jose field also includes former Bank of the West champions Venus Williams (2000 and 2002), Victoria Azarenka (2010), Madison Keys (2017) and Johanna Konta (2016) and two-time runner-up CoCo Vandeweghe (2012 and 2017).
   Tickets are available at MubadalaSVC.com.