Keys and Riske Win Bank of the West Openers
American Madison Keys cruised into the Bank of the West Classic second round on Monday, rolling past Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-0 in Stanford. The seventh-seed Keys broke four times in six chances and saved the only break point she faced.
“I think I played really well,” said Keys. “Once I got the lead I tried to keep the pressure on her. My first serve was definitely working for me and that’s something I want to keep up.”
Keys will play the winner of the match between Ajla Tomljanovic and Vitalia Diatchenko, who will face off this afternoon.
Keys’ compatriot, Alison Riske, held off Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 to advance on Monday.
Riske gave herself 19 break point opportunities, and converted on six of them, to win the three-set affair. Riske will meet Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro next.
Nicole Gibbs was the other American to come up victorious in Stanford on Monday, downing France’s Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-5 for her first WTA win since April.
“This was a big barrier for me to break through,” said Gibbs. “To do it in front of my home crowd was something special.”
Gibbs will await the winner of an all-Ukrainian battle, eighth-seed Elina Svitolina and Kateryna Bondarenko.
Sixteen-year-old CiCi Bellis was ousted by Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi, who beat the American 6-3, 7-6(3).
“I thought I played pretty well and gave her a good fight,” said Bellis, who burst onto the scene by beating 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova at last year’s US Open. “It’s good for me to play against players ranked so high.”
Germany’s Andrea Petkovic beat her compatriot Carina Witthoeft 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to advance on Monday as well.
