Kvitova breezes past Bondarenko at Stanford

Los Angeles - Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko at the WTA Stanford tournament on Thursday, setting up a quarter-final clash with American teenager CiCi Bellis. 

The second-seeded wildcard entrant needed just 60 minutes on the court, finishing with 31 winners and 10 unforced errors, while Ukraine's Bondarenko had just 11 winners and 11 unforced errors. 

"I served very well, and I was just trying to play my game," Kvitova said. "Sometimes that works, sometimes not. Kateryna is a dangerous player. She can catch lots of balls and I knew that I had to be focused and just play aggressive." 

Bondarenko, who is ranked 111th in the world, was tied 2-2 in the first set, but Kvitova then grabbed control of the match. 

Asked about her chances going forward, Kvitova said, "Well, I don't really care about my chances. I'm glad that I got a wildcard, and to have more matches. I really didn't stay long in Wimbledon. That's why I decided to play. I wanted more tournaments before Toronto." 

Kvitova, 27, lost in the second round at Wimbledon last month. She next faces the 18-year-old Bellis, who got past Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 7-6 (7/3), 6-2. 

Eighth seed Bellis had trouble finishing Cepede Royq off in the opening set. Bellis took a 5-1 lead and had three set points at 5-2. But Cepede Royq rallied and had two set points herself with Bellis serving at 5-6 before the American took charge and dominated the rest of the way. 

Elsewhere, fourth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Alison Riske of the United States 6-4, 6-0. The American took a 3-2 lead but Pavlyuchenkova dominated thereafter.

Results on Thursday in the WTA hardcourt tournament at Stanford, California (x-denotes seeded player):


2nd rd

Catherine Bellis (USA x8) bt Veronica Cepede (PAR) 7-6 (7/3), 6-2

Petra Kvitova (CZE x2) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 6-2, 6-2

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x4) bt Alison Riske (USA) 6-4, 6-0

Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Nicole Gibbs (USA) 6-0, 6-2