Stanford graduate Granville reaches the third round Stanford graduate Granville reaches the third round (September 02, 2005)

by Rick Eymer

For former Stanford star Laura Granville, the seventh time was the charm.

Granville, a two-time NCAA singles champion, reached the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Nicole Pratt on Wednesday. It's Granville's first trip past the second round in her seventh trip to the tournament in New York.

Granville, ranked No. 71 in the world, beat Silvia Farina Elia, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round. She will meet ninth-seeded Nadia Petrova in the third round. It will be their first- ever meeting.

Granville improved to 2-0 against Pratt - also beating her in the first round of the 2002 Wimbledon - by taking advantage of even double faults. She had 45 winners.

Granville improved to 9-9 in WTA events this year, 28-15 overall. She reached the semifinals of the DFS Classic in June, her best finish of the season. She is looking for her first WTA tournament singles title. Granville owns five ITF titles.

Granville won 59 percent of her first serves against Pratt and was effective approaching the net. Her fastest serve was 106 MPH and she averaged 96 on her first serves.

Former Stanford players Marissa Irvin and Anne Kremer each lost in the first round.

Kim Clijsters has an extra incentive as she tries to win her first major tournament. The Belgium won the U.S. Open Series, which began with her winning the Bank of the West title at Stanford, and could win $2.2 million by capturing the U.S. Open crown.

On the men's side, former Menlo School player Dmitry Tursunov defeated Marko Baghdatis, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round and advances to meet 21st seed Fernando Gonzalez.

Stanford grad Paul Goldstein lost his first-round singles match to Gustavo Kuerten but he and partner (and former Stanford teammate) Jim Thomas advanced in doubles competition with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. Their second-round opponent has yet to be determined.

Former Stanford players Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, seeded second, also advanced with a 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 6-3 victory over Arnaud Clement and Sebastian Grosjean.

Stanford product Jared Palmer and partner Travis Parrott also advanced with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Lucas Arnold and Petr Pala. They will meet Thomas Johansson and Robbie Koening in the next round.

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