STANFORD, California – Wimbledon winner Serena Williams swept past tenacious teenager Nicole Gibbs 6-2, 6-1 Wednesday in her opening match at the WTA Stanford Classic. World No. 4 Williams was fighting off jet lag as well as reigning US college champion Gibbs, an American ranked 403rd in the world and a junior at Stanford University, host of the $740,000 hardcourt event. Williams will next play a Friday quarterfinal against South African sixth seed Chanelle Scheepers, who beat Portugal's Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-3, 6-4. American Coco Vandeweghe, ranked 120th in the world, produced the first big upset of the week with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic. Belgian fifth seed Yanina Wickmayer ended the British challenge for the week with her 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Heather Watson.
Isner in quarters Top seed and defending champion John Isner advanced to the quarterfinals at the Hall of Fame Tennis championships in Newport Wednesday with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) win over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. Second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan also advanced to the quarterfinals, outlasting Olivier Rochus from Belgium 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2, while Isreali Dudi Sela beat American Sam Querrey 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-2. Rajeev Ram, the 2009 Newport champion, beat fellow American Michael Russell 7-6 (8), 6-3 and Izak Van Der Merwe of South Africa beat American Jack Sock 6-4, 6-4. In the late match, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, playing on a wild card, beat American qualifier Tim Smyczek 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Verdasco advances Former champion Fernando Verdasco of Spain defeated Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the Croatia Open quarterfinals in Umag Thursday. Verdasco, the top seed and 2008 champ, converted five of 18 break points in the second-round victory. Gulbis served eight aces but could not overcome Verdasco, who picked up his game in the third set. Fifth-seeded Carlos Berlocq beat fellow Argentine Marco Trungelliti 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1. Berlocq converted eight of 16 break points, but his five double faults helped to keep Trungelliti in it.
Almagro, Ramos in quarters Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain rallied to overcome Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic 1-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open in Bastad. Almagro was broken three times in the first set on the red clay before recovering to secure the win in 1 hour, 55 minutes. Third-seeded Albert Ramos of Spain advanced more easily by beating Kazakhstan's Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-3, while sixth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria ousted Portugal's Federico Gil 6-3, 6-4. Another Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, beat Brazil's Alessandro Giannessi 6-4, 6-3.
Tomic, Haas beaten Australian third seed Bernard Tomic and German veteran Tommy Haas, the eighth seed, were both knocked out of the Stuttgart claycourt tournament at the second round stage on Thursday. Tomic went down to a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 defeat to Brazilian claycourt specialist Thomaz Bellucci while Slovak qualifier Pavol Cervenak, the world 206, saw off Haas 6-4, 6-4. Bellucci, the world 64, saved eight of the 10 break points he faced to claim victory in one hour and 47 minutes. In the quarter-finals Cervenak will tackle Argentine second seed Juan Monaco, who breezed past Germany's Tobias Kamke 6-2, 6-3. — Agencies
