Sharapova, Bartoli advance at Bank of the West Classic
Published: Jul 29, 2010 00:58 Updated: Jul 29, 2010 00:58
STANFORD, California: Maria Sharapova made a triumphant return to hardcourts, beating China’s Jie Zheng 6-4, 7-5, in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic on Tuesday.
Sharapova suffered a loss to Zheng the last time she played on hardcourts, at Indian Wells in March.
“That was a scratchy match,” said the fifth-seeded Russian. “I wasn’t feeling good and I didn’t want to remember it.”
The 15th-ranked Sharapova missed six weeks right after that loss because of an elbow injury and shoulder problems.
“After you don’t play for a while you have to be ready from the beginning,” said Sharapova. “I wanted to adapt as quickly as I could. She’s a competitor and a good player and I had to be ready.”
Sharapova will meet Olga Govortsova of Belarus in Thursday’s second round.
“I’m just trying to work myself toward the US Open,” Sharapova said. “I’m just happy to be back playing.”
Defending champion Marion Bartoli was another of the five seeds to advance, beating American Ashley Harkleroad 6-1, 6-4.
The fourth-seeded Frenchwoman, ranked 14th, was forced to work hard in the second set.
“For someone who hasn’t played that much lately, she was giving me a hard time out there,” Bartoli said.
Bartoli, who faces wild card and former world’s No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the second round, won 81 percent of her first serve points to overwhelm the American, who played her second match on the WTA Tour in two years.
“The matches Ana and I have had in the past have been really, really close,” Bartoli said. “This is great preparation for me if I want to do well at the US Open.”
In the final match of the night, American teenager Melanie Oudin recovered from a 5-1 deficit in the second set to beat Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-3 in a match that lasted 2 hours, 29 minutes.
Oudin, ranked 44th, gained attention with her run to the quarterfinals of last year’s US Open. Wozniak became the first Canadian in over 20 years to win a Tour singles title when she captured the crown at Stanford in 2009.
In other first-round matches, sixth-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel beat Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3; No. 7 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium downed Taipei’s Yung-Jan Chan, 6-3, 6-4; Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka, the eighth seed, topped Japan’s Ayumi Morita, 6-0, 6-2; qualifier Olga Savchuk of Ukraine knocked off American Jill Craybas, 6-3, 6-3; USA’s Christina McHale defeated Taipei’s Kai-Chen Chang, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, in a match featuring a pair of qualifiers; and Russian Maria Kirilenko beat qualifier Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, 6-1, 6-4.
Blake rolls past Mayer in LA
In Los Angeles, James Blake, still sharpening his game after missing over two months with a right knee injury, rolled to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Leonardo Mayer of Argentina on Tuesday in a first-round match at the Farmers Classic.
Blake, once No. 4 in the world and now No. 117 after a string of injuries, has reached two quarterfinals and has just a 9-10 match record this season, so he’s trying to take a low-key approach to the game for the time being.
“I’m really happy with the way I played,” he said before getting ready to team with Sam Querrey in a night doubles match.
“I went into the match with the goal of just controlling my side of the court and playing with the right kind of energy. I’m back to feeling healthy and I want to just play that way without the huge expectations or anything, just playing my game. I did it and it worked out well today.”
In other matches, Colombia’s Alejandro Falla beat Karol Beck of Slovakia 7-6 (3), 6-4, and Benjamin Becker of Germany needed four match points to turn back lucky loser Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador 7-5, 7-6 (6). Lapentti made the draw when American Mardy Fish — winner of his past two tournaments — withdrew because of fatigue.
Robby Ginepri beat Ilija Bozoljack of Serbia, 6-3, 6-4; and Ryan Sweeting outlasted Kristof Vliegen of Belgium, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the other day match, Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat Illya Marchenko of the Ukraine, 6-3, 6-2.
Somdev Devvarman of India won 6-4, 6-4 against American Steve Johnson, who was making his singles debut on the ATP Tour.
Montanes, Gasquet win at Swiss Open
In Gstaad, Switzerland, seeded players Albert Montanes and Richard Gasquet have each rallied from a set down to win at the Swiss Open and will meet in the quarterfinals.
Fourth-seeded Montanes from Spain, who is seeking a third title on outdoor clay courts this season, beat Austrian qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.
No. 7 Gasquet from France held serve throughout his second-round match on Wednesday to beat Daniel Brands of Germany 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0.
In a match between unseeded players, Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver had a 7-5, 6-4 win against Andreas Beck of Germany. Gimeno-Traver next faces Igor Andreev of Russia or Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli.
