SAN FRANCISCO: Dominika Cibulkova, who was playing her first match since reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, defeated Urszula Radwanska 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in her opening match at the WTA Stanford tournament on Thursday.
The second seeded Slovak was one of the last among the top seeds to begin play at the California hardcourt tournament.
Cibulkova jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set but Radwanska roared back to force the tiebreaker before Cibulkova prevailed in just over an hour.
The pair traded breaks in the second set before Cibulkova was able to clinch it in the ninth game.
In other matches, 17-year-old Catherine Bellis beat Sachia Vickery 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a battle between two players ranked 203rd and 204th in the world.
The American teen next faces 36-year-old top seed Venus Williams for a berth in the semifinals when the two duke it out on Friday night.
Bellis is no stranger to upset victories as she first burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old in the 2014 US Open when she stunned Cibulkova in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Six months later she reached the third round of the Miami event where she faced Serena Williams for the first time.
Friday’s contest will be her first time playing seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams.
Bellis was born five years after Venus played her first career WTA Tour match at this event in 1994.
Isner, Monfils cruise
In Washington, US top seed John Isner and French second seed Gael Monfils breezed into the ATP and WTA Washington Open quarter-finals Thursday with impressive serving performances in straight-set triumphs.
Isner blasted 15 aces in downing Cypriot 15th seed Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 while Monfils fired 12 aces and won 22 of 23 first-serve points in defeating Croatian teen 16th seed Borna Coric 6-2, 6-3. Neither winner faced a break point.
“When you win most of your points with the serve, you can focus on your shots and you feel less pressure,” Monfils said. “I’ve been serving much better this year. I’ve changed some motions with my legs.
“I serve a lot and it’s working so I enjoy it. I trust my serve and the court is fast so I can switch from my defense to attack.”
Monfils, the 2011 Washington runner-up, will next meet US eighth seed Sam Querrey, who ousted Ukraine 11th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Three-time Washington runner-up Isner next faces US fifth seed Steve Johnson, who ousted American qualifier Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4. Johnson won his first ATP crown last month at Nottingham.
Ball-bashing Ivo Karlovic, the 37-year-old Croatian who won last week at Newport to become the ATP’s oldest singles champion since 1979, smashed 21 aces in dumping Australian third seed Bernard Tomic 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
US sixth seed Jack Sock downed Britain’s Daniel Evans 6-1, 7-5, to book a last-eight date with Karlovic, the only men’s quarter-finalist not among the top eight seeds.
French fourth seed Benoit Paire outlasted Luxembourg’s 14th-seeded Gilles Muller 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4) and will play Germany’s Alexander Zverev for a semifinal spot.
Zverev, 19, matched his Washington run last year by beating Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Risa Ozaki, a 22-year-old from Japan who lost five of her prior six WTA matches before this week, outlasted Britain’s Naomi Broady 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, to reach her first tour quarter-final, where she will face Kazak sixth seed Yulia Putintseva.
Ozaki ousted defending champion and second seed Sloane Stephens in her opening match.
American Lauren Davis upset Puerto Rican third seed Monica Puig 6-4, 6-2 to reach a quarterfinal against Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who advanced by walkover when Austrian Tamira Paszek withdrew with an upper respiratory infection.
French fourth seed Kristina Mladenovic beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 6-3, and next plays Belgian seventh seed Yanina Wickmayer.
The second seeded Slovak was one of the last among the top seeds to begin play at the California hardcourt tournament.
Cibulkova jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set but Radwanska roared back to force the tiebreaker before Cibulkova prevailed in just over an hour.
The pair traded breaks in the second set before Cibulkova was able to clinch it in the ninth game.
In other matches, 17-year-old Catherine Bellis beat Sachia Vickery 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a battle between two players ranked 203rd and 204th in the world.
The American teen next faces 36-year-old top seed Venus Williams for a berth in the semifinals when the two duke it out on Friday night.
Bellis is no stranger to upset victories as she first burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old in the 2014 US Open when she stunned Cibulkova in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Six months later she reached the third round of the Miami event where she faced Serena Williams for the first time.
Friday’s contest will be her first time playing seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams.
Bellis was born five years after Venus played her first career WTA Tour match at this event in 1994.
Isner, Monfils cruise
In Washington, US top seed John Isner and French second seed Gael Monfils breezed into the ATP and WTA Washington Open quarter-finals Thursday with impressive serving performances in straight-set triumphs.
Isner blasted 15 aces in downing Cypriot 15th seed Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 while Monfils fired 12 aces and won 22 of 23 first-serve points in defeating Croatian teen 16th seed Borna Coric 6-2, 6-3. Neither winner faced a break point.
“When you win most of your points with the serve, you can focus on your shots and you feel less pressure,” Monfils said. “I’ve been serving much better this year. I’ve changed some motions with my legs.
“I serve a lot and it’s working so I enjoy it. I trust my serve and the court is fast so I can switch from my defense to attack.”
Monfils, the 2011 Washington runner-up, will next meet US eighth seed Sam Querrey, who ousted Ukraine 11th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Three-time Washington runner-up Isner next faces US fifth seed Steve Johnson, who ousted American qualifier Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4. Johnson won his first ATP crown last month at Nottingham.
Ball-bashing Ivo Karlovic, the 37-year-old Croatian who won last week at Newport to become the ATP’s oldest singles champion since 1979, smashed 21 aces in dumping Australian third seed Bernard Tomic 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
US sixth seed Jack Sock downed Britain’s Daniel Evans 6-1, 7-5, to book a last-eight date with Karlovic, the only men’s quarter-finalist not among the top eight seeds.
French fourth seed Benoit Paire outlasted Luxembourg’s 14th-seeded Gilles Muller 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4) and will play Germany’s Alexander Zverev for a semifinal spot.
Zverev, 19, matched his Washington run last year by beating Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Risa Ozaki, a 22-year-old from Japan who lost five of her prior six WTA matches before this week, outlasted Britain’s Naomi Broady 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, to reach her first tour quarter-final, where she will face Kazak sixth seed Yulia Putintseva.
Ozaki ousted defending champion and second seed Sloane Stephens in her opening match.
American Lauren Davis upset Puerto Rican third seed Monica Puig 6-4, 6-2 to reach a quarterfinal against Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who advanced by walkover when Austrian Tamira Paszek withdrew with an upper respiratory infection.
French fourth seed Kristina Mladenovic beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 6-3, and next plays Belgian seventh seed Yanina Wickmayer.
