Seeded Players Advance During Opening-Round Action at Bank of the West Classic
Seeded players Yanina Wickmayer and Chanelle Scheepers both posted victories on Monday afternoon in opening round action at the 2012 Bank of the West Classic. In the evening session, Heather Watson pulled out a lengthy three-setter over Sloane Stephens, prevailing, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1. Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams will begin defense of her Bank of the West Classic title on Wednesday.
Wickmayer, the tournament’s number five seed, hung on for a 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 win over Kai-Chen Chang. Ranked 37th in the world and making her first appearance at the Bank of the West Classic since reaching the quarterfinals in 2010, Wickmayer closed out the first and third sets by winning back-to-back games.
The tournament’s number six seed, Scheepers, cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over qualifier Grace Min. The 42nd-ranked Scheepers picked up her first victory in three weeks, rallying in both sets after trailing 4-1 in the first and 4-3 in the second. Min was playing her third match in as many days after making it through qualifying.
In a match that lasted two hours and 15 minutes, Watson controlled the final set against Stephens in a battle of players making their tourney debuts. Tied at one set apiece, Watson coasted to an easy 6-1 triumph in the deciding set.
In addition to all the great women’s action, this year the Bank of the West Classic will also host a series of exhibition matches featuring tennis legends Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. The exhibition matches will take place on the evenings of July 11-13. Sampras will take on Chang the evening of Wednesday, July 11 (Session 6) and Courier the evening of Thursday, July 12 (Session 8). On Friday evening, July 13 (Session 10) Courier will take on Chang.
