Serena charges through in Stanford
Serena charges through in Stanford
Serena
Williams made short work of Nicole Gibbs at the Stanford Classic WTA
tournament while Yanina Wickmayer rallied from a set down to end Heather
Watson's run.
Williams, fresh from her Wimbledon triumph, made short
work of US collegiate champion Gibbs, posting a 6-2 6-1 win to kick off
the defence of her title in entirely convincing fashion.
The American top seed next faces Chanelle Scheepers, the South African sixth seed, who beat Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round.Belgian fifth seed Wickmayer was made to work far harder as she dropped the opening set to Watson before fighting back to claim victory in three sets.
Defeat for Watson ended British interest in the Bank of the West Classic after Anne Keothavong failed to get past the first round.
At the WTA event in Palermo, number one seed Sara Errani registered a regulation victory over Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, the Italian winning 6-3 6-2 to reach the third round.
Seventh seed Alize Cornet was surprised by Alexandra Cadantu of Romania, the French woman dropping to a 6-3 5-7 6-2 defeat in their second round match.
Meanwhile, eighth seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic started her campaign with a 7-5 7-6(3) first-round win over Silvia Soler Espinosa of Spain.
