In Stanford, California, three of the top four seeds made their first appearances of the week on court, but only two of them survived their battles. It was Anna and Serena who made it through to the next round, but Daniela was the one who was sent flying home.
Anna Chakvetadze, seeded second, was the first of the trio to roam the courts at Stanford, and she managed to get past Shahar Peer in an easy two-setter, 64 63. Although Chakvetadze was broken twice, she broke back four times on the way to the win.
"Even though the score was 63 64, the match was pretty tough, especially in the second set," Chakvetadze said. "Shahar is a great fighter, but she sometimes plays a bit defensive and doesn't attack so much, so I had to take the opportunity to do that myself. I'm pleased with the match, my first on hardcourt for a while."
Anna hopes to repeat her hardcourt success this year just like last year, and after a third round loss in Wimbledon last year, she went on a twelve-match winning streak, winning in Cincinnati, and here, and then she won her first three matches in san diego before being defeated by Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. She is coming off another earlier-than-expected loss at Wimbledon - falling in the fourth round as the No.8 seed - so another good start to the summer could be on the horizon.
"I'm here to defend my title," Chakvetadze said. "The draw is much tougher this year but I'll try my best. My goal is to play as well as I did at this time last year."
Fourth seeded Hantuchova was the next of the trio to take the court, and she suffered a 63 61 loss to Ai Sugiyama. Hantuchova is playing just her second event of the year, after missing three months due to a right foot injury. She made a return at Wimbledon this year seeded tenth, but lost in the second round. The loss to Sugiyama may not have all been due to rustiness, however; the Japanese veteran has always done well against the Slovak, winning five of their previous eight meetings as well (and now six of nine).
Top seeded Serena Williams had a hard time on court when playing at night in Stanford. It wasn't an easy match, but Serena still won to the 15-year-old Michelle Larcher di Brito in a tight three-setter, 46 63 62. Larcher de Brito was fired up after winning the first set, making a 2-0 lead in the second, but Williams was the stronger and rallied back to win the three-setter.
"I never underestimate anyone, especially when they play me, because they'll always bring out their best game," Williams said. "In a way it was surprising, but you've just got to deal with it. I had a plan and I started playing better, and it's encouraging for me to bounce back after losing the first set."
"I started off really well; I slowed down a little bit, but overall I was playing well the whole match," Larcher de Brito said. "Obviously she played such a great game. She's Serena Williams. I didn't have anything to lose and I gave it my all." "I was getting close to an upset, but now I have a lot of things to work on, and a lot of years ahead of me."
Although Serena Williams is playing the Bank of the West Classic for the first time, the Williams brand has done very well at the Tier II stop in the past. Venus made the final in six of seven trips to Stanford, winning the title twice, in 2000 (beating Lindsay Davenport in the final) and 2002 (beating Kim Clijsters).
"I've never been able to make it here," Williams added. "I'm happy that I'm here. There's a nice atmosphere and it feels good to play in Stanford."
In the only other match of the day, Dominika Cibulkova followed up her first round upset over No.8 seed Nadia Petrova with a 62 63 second round win over Kateryna Bondarenko.
The other four second round matches will take place on Thursday. No.3 seed Vera Zvonareva faces lucky loser Samantha Stosur, No.5 seed Patty Schnyder faces Alisa Kleybanova, No.6 seed Marion Bartoli faces qualifier Anne Keothavong and Sybille Bammer faces another qualifier, Aleksandra Wozniak.
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