Stanford product Nicole Gibbs, a two-time NCAA singles champion, beat Czech Republic’s Klara Koukalova, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, Monday to reach the second round of the Australian Open for the second straight year.
Gibbs, who won three matches during the qualifying tournament, plays 30th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic of France in Wednesday’s second round action.
Gibbs, currently ranked No. 106, and Mladenovic, born two months apart, know each other well.
“We grew up together and played a lot of juniors against each other,” Gibbs told WTA Insider. “That would be the match where I would be most comfortable in terms of knowing my opponent’s game style and knowing what my game plan would be.”
Mladenovic beat 2013 Bank of the West Classic champion Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3, 6-4, to advance.
Cardinal grad Kristie Ahn lost to France’s Virginie Razzano, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of qualifying.
Dmitry Tursunov, who attended Menlo School for a year, winning a Central Coast Section singles title, was scheduled to meet the fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Sweden in the first round of the men’s singles tournament Tuesday.
Tursunov will play also play doubles and is partnered with Ukraine’s Alexandr Dogopolov.
Stanford products Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, the winningest doubles team in professional tennis history, are seeded third.
Cardinal grad Scott Lipsky and American teammate Eric Butorac are also entered in men’s doubles.
Gibbs won all three of her qualifying matches in straight sets, though she needed a second-set tie-breaker to get past Croatia’s Jana Fett, 6-2, 7-6 (4), in the second round.
Gibbs, seeded second in qualifying, also beat Australian Olivia Tjandramulia, 6-2, 6-2, and Serbia’s Ivana Joroviv, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the main draw.
Gibbs opened the year by reaching the Round of 16 at Shenzhen, China. She had to go through qualifying there and then won a match before falling to Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports