Serena starts Bank of the West with win
Serena starts Bank of the West with win
STANFORD, Calif. — Serena Williams had to get her bearings after flying halfway around the world.
Once she got loose, she needed just over an hour to pick up another win.
Four days after capturing the singles’ title at Wimbledon, the fourth-ranked and top-seeded Williams beat reigning NCAA champion Nicole Gibbs 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the Bank of the West on Wednesday.
“I couldn’t quite believe I was playing today,” Williams said. “But I’m healthy, and I have a heartbeat so I didn’t have a reason not to. I could have felt better.”
Williams will meet sixth-seeded Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa in Friday’s quarterfinal. Scheepers advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over wild card Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal.
In another match, fifth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgian beat Heather Watson of Britain 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Top seed Isner rolls into QF at Newport
NEWPORT, R.I. — John Isner knows one thing: He won’t have to see Nicolas Mahut on grass again this year.
Top seed and defending champion Isner advanced to the quarterfinals at the Hall of Fame Tennis championships on Wednesday, beating France’s Mahut 6-2, 7-6 (2).
The win by Isner featured the two players that played the longest match in tennis history.
Two yea rs ago, the pair played 11 hours, 5 minutes at Wimbledon, with Isner finally getting a 70-68 fifth-set victory.
This one didn’t have nearly the drama with the 6-foot-9 Isner using his overpowering serve to take charge. It ended when Mahut double faulted, ending the match in 1 hour, 18 minutes.
Cilic beats Brands at Croatia Open
UMAG, Croatia —Marin Cilic defeated Daniel Brands of Germany 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Croatia Open on Wednesday.
The second-seeded Croat was in control throughout, hitting six aces and dropping serve only once. Brands wasted two break points for a 2-0 lead in the second set, and Cilic then won five games in a row.
“I played a very good match, I made almost no mistake at all,” Cilic said. “It was a bit easier that I had expected, since this was my first match on clay after a while. I felt I was in control the whole time.”
Cilic will face Wayne Odesnik after the American rallied to beat Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3). Kavcic wasted a 5-1 lead in the third set and was later two points away from closing out the match at 5-4.
Errani reaches Palermo quarters
PALERMO, Sicily —Top-seeded Sara Errani needed little more than an hour to defeat 108th-ranked Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday and reach the Italiacom Open quarterfinals.
Errani was the runner-up at the French Open last month and is ranked a career-high No. 9 this week. She won this clay tournament in 2008.
Meanwhile, 85th-ranked Alexandra Cadantu of Romania upset seventh-seeded Alize Cornet of France, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 and will next face Errani.
From wire sources