Saturday, March 26, 2016

Roundup: Miami, Bank of the West, World TeamTennis

Ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs, playing last week in the BNP Paribas
Open in Indian Wells, upset No. 27 Kristina Mladenovic on Friday
in the second round of the Miami Open. Photo by Paul Bauman
   Wild card Nicole Gibbs, who starred at Stanford, ousted No. 27 seed Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour, 19 minutes on Friday in the second round of the Miami Open.
   As a qualifier in the Australian Open in January, the 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs had lost to the 6-foot (1.86-meter) Mladenovic 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the second round in their only previous meeting.
   Gibbs, a 23-year-old resident of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area, reached the fourth round at Indian Wells last week as a qualifier. She will face another 22-year-old 6-footer, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, on Sunday.
   The fourth-seeded Muguruza, the runner-up to Serena Williams at Wimbledon last year, outlasted 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours, 46 minutes on Friday.
   Gibbs is 1-0 against Muguruza, who retired from their second-round qualifying match in New Haven in 2012 while trailing 6-2, 1-0.
   U.S. wild cards Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky, a 34-year-old former Stanford All-American, lost to Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., resident who plays for the Philippines, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of doubles.
   Bank of the West Classic -- Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska have entered the July 18-24 tournament at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   Williams has reached the Bank of the West final seven times, winning the title in 2000 and 2002. She is ranked 13th.
   Radwanska, the runner-up to Cibulkova in the 2013 Bank of the West Classic, is ranked second.
   Tickets to the Bank of the West Classic can be purchased online at bankofthewestclassic.com or by phone at (866) WTA-TIXS.
   World TeamTennis draft -- Three of the four members of the Orange County Breakers have strong Northern California ties.
   In addition to Gibbs and Lipsky, Orange County drafted Dennis Novikov of Milipitas in the San Francisco Bay Area. Novikov led UCLA to the NCAA final as a sophomore in 2013 before turning pro. The Breakers also picked Ally Kudryavtseva of Russia.
   Washington, meanwhile, appeared destined to win their sixth straight WTT title. Not only do the Kastles return International Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Hingis, future Hall of Famer Leander Paes, San Francisco native Sam Querrey, co-WTT Female MVP Anastasia Rodionova and Madison Brengle, they added ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan and recently retired Mardy Fish.

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