Gavrilova, Stosur advance at Charleston

Australia’s Daria Gavrilova and Samantha Stosur are in good form ahead of next weekend’s Fed Cup tie against the US, both winning through to the third round of the WTA event in South Carolina.

Gavrilova celebrated her selection for what would be a Fed Cup debut with a comfortable 6-4 6-0 win over China’s Zhang Shuai.

The world No.37, who is seeded No.12 in Charleston, won in just over an hour to move through to a third round meeting with American Sloane Stephens, who beat Danka Kovinic 6-4 6-3.

Stosur, who struggled with her serve in her first-round win, looked slightly better as she beat Slovakian Jana Cepelova 6-4 7-5 in an hour and 35 minutes.

While her she was still broken four times, Stosur committed only four double faults, compared to the 11 she served up on Tuesday.

The world No.26, who won at Charleston in 2010, will now face Italian Sara Errani in the third round, after she beat Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0 6-3.

Meanwhile, the United States’ only singles Fed Cup representative at the tournament, Madison Keys, was knocked out in the second round by German Laura Siegemund 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4.

Venus Williams, who will skip the Fed Cup tie in Brisbane and is seeking her 50th career WTA title in Charleston, powered past fellow American Alison Riske 6-4 6-2.

Fifth-seeded Sara Errani also moved through, but No.4 seed Lucie Safarova joined No.8 Keys in suffering upset losses.

AAP/AP sb/sj

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!