NUREMBERG, Germany — German players Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki advanced to the second round of the Nuremberg Cup by winning their opening matches at the clay-court tournament Monday. The second-seeded Kerber defeated Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 7-5, 6-4 and the third-seeded Lisicki defeated Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 6-4, 7-5. Kerber next faces the Czech Republic's Klara Koukalova, who defeated Germany's Annika Beck 6-4, 7-6 (6), while Lisicki plays Hungary's Timea Babos or Spain's Lara Arruabarrena for a place in the quarterfinals. Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi upset the fifth-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1. Also, Anna-Lena Friedsam defeated fellow German Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-4, Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland defeated Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 and Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands beat Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1, 6-3. On Sunday, seeded Italians Roberta Vinci and Karin Knapp had little difficulty in advancing. The fourth-seeded Vinci defeated Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia 6-1, 6-1 and the sixth-seeded Knapp beat German wild-card entry Antonia Lottner 6-2, 7-5. Also Sunday, the seventh-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan defeated Polona Hercog of Slovenia 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, Evgeniya Rodina of Russia rallied to defeat Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and Zhang Shuai of China defeated Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-1, 7-5. Johnson, Sam Querrey advance In France, American players Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey each won in straight sets Monday to reach the second round of the Open de Nice clay-court tournament. Johnson had 11 aces and did not face a break point in a 7-5, 6-3 win over qualifier Michael Venus, while Querrey used seven aces and saved the only break point he faced in a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ruben Bemelmans. Johnson will next face second-seeded John Isner in an all-American matchup. Querrey will face eighth-seeded Juan Monaco. Also, 18-year-old Borna Coric of Croatia beat qualifier Sam Groth of Australia 7-5, 6-3, and Dominic Thiem of Austria defeated Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 7-6 (5), 6-2. Souza the loser against Sousa Pity umpire Manuel Messina in the day's opening match on Court Central at the Geneva Open Monday when Portugal's sixth seed Joao Sousa took on Brazil's Joao Souza. For the record, Sousa won the first meeting between the players with near identical names 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the claycourt tournament. To avoid confusion, though, Messina, from San Marino, was forced to state “Sousa Portugal” or “Souza Brazil” when calling the scores. The Geneva Open has been restored to the full ATP Tour for the first time since Thomas Muster won the 1991 title. Home favourite Stanislas Wawrinka is the top seed. Sharapova overtakes Halep Maria Sharapova of Russia jumped into second place in the Serena-Williams-dominated WTA rankings published Monday thanks to her third Italian Open crown. The double Roland Garros winner leapfrogs Romanian Simona Halep after her 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Sunday win over Spain's Carla Suarez, who jumped two places to sit on 8th. Williams, who sat the Rome Open out due to an elbow injury, continues to dominate the women's rankings while her sister Venus is 15th. Further down, Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Andrea Petkovic both dropped to ninth and tenth respectively. — Agencies
