Serena advances in Stanford

STANFORD: Sluggish SerenaWilliams struggled through her jet lag to complete a 6-2 6-1victory over collegiate champion Nicole Gibbs in the secondround of the Stanford Classic on Wednesday.

Williams, who picked up the Wimbledon singles and doublestitles at the weekend, was not at her best but served andreturned well enough to defeat the 19-year-old American.

"I couldn't quite believe I was playing today," Williamssaid. "But I'm healthy and I have a heartbeat so I didn't have areason not to.

"I definitely felt sluggish and it was good to get the winover with, I'm still waking up at 2 A.M."

Gibbs said she had been nervous playing against someone she
admired so much.

“She is such a hero to me and I had her so built up in mymind I thought she was going to do no wrong," Gibbs said. "Icollected a lot of experience points out there, if not physicalpoints."

Williams will meet sixth seed Channelle Scheepers in thequarter-finals after the South African earned a 6-3 6-4 victoryover Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal.

Former world number one Jelena Jankovic continued her subpar 2012 when she was defeated by Coco Vandeweghe 6-4 6-2. Itwas the Serb's third consecutive first round defeat.

The 20-year-old Vandeweghe scored her third win over a top20 player. She had lost to the Serbian four years ago, but feltmuch more comfortable on Wednesday.

“Her pace isn't as intimidating when I was a little slowand not making that many balls in the court," Vandeweghe said.

“Having that confidence against someone who moves as wellas she does and to keep going for my shots, I thought I didreally well today."

Fifth seed Yanina Wickmayer struggled to a 5-7 6-1 6-4 winover Britain's Heather Watson.

“It was long and really tough," Wickmayer said. “Shedidn't make a lot of mistakes. In the second set I told myself to be more aggressive.

"In the third set we were even and it was just a few pointsbetween us. Maybe it was experience and a little bit of luck."
(REUTERS)