Tennis-WTA moves San Jose tournament to Washington for combined event

PARIS (Reuters) - The governing body of women's tennis paved the way for the first combined WTA-ATP tournament at the 500 level on Thursday as it approved the move of its San Jose event to Washington this year.

San Jose's Silicon Valley Classic, founded in 1971 by American great Billie Jean King, has been held at venues across the west coast, including Stanford University and in Oakland, California.

It will shift to Washington and take place from July 29 to Aug. 6 alongside the men's event at the Rock Creek Tennis Center as a warm-up for the U.S. Open.

"The legacy of this much-loved event will live on in its new home," WTA chairman Steve Simon said.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris, editing by Pritha Sarkar)