FP – Australian Jarmila Gajdosova has been knocked out of the WTA event in Stanford, California after falling to Michelle Larcher De Brito in three sets.
Gajdosova claimed the first set but crumbled 5-7 6-2 6-3 to bow out of the Bank of the West Classic in the first round.
The Portuguese wildcard advanced despite 10 double faults and facing 11 aces from the Australian.
Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium beat Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen 7-5 2-6 7-5 in other first-round action.
Wickmayer, who is ranked 37th in the world and reached the third round at Wimbledon, is looking for her first WTA title this year and the fourth of her career. She reached the quarter-finals at Stanford two years ago.
Chang played her first main-draw match in a month. She qualified for the Australian Open and won her first-round match before losing to Jelena Jankovic.
Sixth-seeded Chanelle Scheepers also beat qualifier Grace Min 6-4 6-4.
Serena Williams, fresh from her Wimbledon victory and 14th grand slam singles title, will launch her Stanford title defence on Wednesday.
She suffered through two foot surgeries and blood clots on her lungs in 2010-11 before returning to tennis just over a year ago.
And she seemed eager to ride the momentum of her Wimbledon triumph at the famed Californian university.
“Just let me do a little bit at a time,” she said. “I have never felt better.”
Williams, who has a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds, will face US wildcard Nicole Gibbs or Thai qualifier Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in her second-round opener.
The 30-year-old American, who has risen to No.4 in the world rankings, was booked for her first practice session early on Tuesday.
She will return to London for the Olympic tennis competition at Wimbledon starting on July 28 – one day after the Games’ opening ceremony.
Sandwiched this season between Wimbledon and the Summer Games, Stanford has suffered a rash of withdrawals.
France’s Marion Bartoli, the 2009 winner, is the second seed, followed by Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova and Serbian Jelena Jankovic.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Angelique Kerber pulled out with a lower back complaint and fellow German Sabine Lisicki – a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, withdrew citing an abdominal strain.
Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova with a knee injury and Nadia Petrova with a problematic right wrist also opted out.
China’s Peng Shuai, Romanian Monica Niculescu, Wimbledon semi-finalist Tamira Paszek and Americans Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko also pulled out citing injuries or illness.
