STANFORD, Calif. – Madison Keys coasted to a 6-2, 6-2 upset of No. 8 seed Magdalena Rybarikova in the opening round of the main draw, highlighting Monday’s competition at the Bank of the West Classic.

 

Enjoying a breakthrough season as the youngest player ranked among the Top 50, 18-year-old Keys continued her recent strong play to knock off Rybarikova, ranked No. 41 in the world. Trailing 2-0, Keys responded with six unanswered games to take the first set. Rybarikova went ahead 1-0 in the second frame but Keys bounced back to win four in a row and close out the final two games.

 

Keys’ victory to open the night session was followed by another relatively easy win, as wild card Nicole Gibbs cruised past Kiki Bertens, 6-4, 6-1. Gibbs, a three-time All-American from Stanford who elected to turn pro and forego her senior season, trailed 4-3 in the first frame and ripped off eight consecutive games spanning both sets. The contest was essentially a home match for Gibbs, who posted a 56-5 career record playing inside the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

 

Gibbs’ former teammate and fellow Stanford All-American Mallory Burdette was not as fortunate, falling to Francesca Schiavone in a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 defeat. In a battle of two powerful hitters, the 2010 French Open champion rallied from deficits of 4-2 in the first set and 3-2 in the second frame.

 

The only seeded player to advance on Monday was No. 5 Sorana Cirstea, who easily handled Ayumi Morita, 6-2, 6-2. Olga Govortsova and Stefanie Voegele also posted straight-set victories.

 

Qualifiers booking victories on Monday’s to earn spots in the main draw included Vera Dushevina, Michelle Larcher De Brito, Alla Kudryavtseva and Coco Vandeweghe.

 

ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is the longest-running women's-only professional tennis tournament in the world and is the first stop of the Emirates Airline US Open Series. Owned and operated by IMG, the WTA Premier event features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw, with total prize money of $795,000. Held on Stanford University’s campus at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.

 

ABOUT BANK OF THE WEST: Founded in 1874, $62 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com), member FDIC and equal housing lender, offers a full range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services. The bank operates more than 600 retail and commercial banking locations in 19 western and midwestern states. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which has a presence in 80 countries with nearly 200,000 employees.

 

ABOUT IMG: IMG Worldwide is a global sports, entertainment and media business, with nearly 3,000 employees operating in 30 countries around the globe. IMG’s areas of expertise are diverse and wide ranging: IMG College; IMG’s Joint Ventures in China, Brazil and India; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing. More information is available at www.imgworld.com.