The Center has announced its partnership with Olivia Cruises & Resorts for an exclusive cocktail reception held in conjunction with the 2005 Acura Classic women’s professional tennis tournament in Carlsbad on Sunday, Aug. 6, at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $20. The event takes place at the La Costa Resort & Spa, located at 2100 Costa Del Mar Rd. in Carlsbad.

The Acura Classic is one of the premier events on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. It’s a Tier I tournament with a total purse of $1.3 million, and one of the 10 largest professional women’s tennis tournaments in the world, outside of the four grand-slam events – the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

This tournament features many of the top women’s tennis players in the world, such as the 2004 Acura Classic defending champion, world number-one and former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport. World number-two and 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia is also entered in the competitive field. Other top-10 stars include sixth-ranked and two-time U.S Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Serena Williams, as well as Russians Elena Dementieva (number five), Nadia Petrova (number eight) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (number four).

Former 2000 French Open champion and 2005 finalist Mary Pierce (number 13), Russia’s Vera Zvonareva (number 15), Belgium’s Kim Clijsters (number 14), France’s Tatiana Golovin (number 22), and Japan’s Ai Sugiyama (number 32) are also in the draw.

Other top 20 players entered in this year’s tournament include Russians Elena Bovina (number 17) and Elena Likhovtseva (number 16), Patty Schnyder (number 12) of Switzerland and France’s Nathalie Dechy (number 18).

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the world’s premier professional sport for women, with more than 1,100 players representing 71 nations competing for $58.7 million in prize money at the tour’s 62 events in 32 countries. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season concludes with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Nov. 9-14.

For tickets to the Acura Classic, call the box office at (760) 438-5683. The Acura Classic takes place Monday, Aug. 1 to Sunday, Aug. 7. For more information, visit this article online at www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the Olivia and Acura Classic Web sites.