By Matt Cronin
STANFORD, California, July 13 (Reuters) – Serena Williams
has still not kicked post Wimbledon jet lag, but she still
managed to beat Chanelle Scheepers 6-4 6-0 in the quarter-finals
of the Stanford Classic on Friday.
Second seed Mario Bartoli and third seed Dominika Cibulkova,
however, did not fare as well with France’s Bartoli beaten by
Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 6-2, while Romania’s Sorana Cirstea beat
Slovakia’s Cibulkova 6-7 6-2 6-0.
Williams, who won her fifth Wimbledon singles title last
week, arrived in Northern California on Monday and had been
unable to get a good’s night sleep.
She woke up at 1 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Friday and stayed awake
for five hours watching the final season of the television show
Desperate Housewives.
“I was hoping to fall back asleep but I didn’t,” Williams
said. “I was crying as always. I love that show. I was wide wake
as if I was in Europe still.”
In her victory over the South African, Williams felt
sluggish but she woke up toward the end of the first set.
“I didn’t feel great going out, but I expected to stay
consistent till I started to feel better and then I started
moving well and that really helped a lot,” Williams said.
Wickmayer went into her match against Bartoli with an 0-3
record but out hit the world number 10 from inside the baseline
to reach her second semi-final of the year.
Continued…
