Gibbs coasts into Carlsbad quarterfinals

No. 5 seed Nicole Gibbs defeated
Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay
6-3, 6-2 in the Carlsbad Classic.
 2014 photo by Paul Bauman   

   No. 5 seed Nicole Gibbs of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area defeated Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 6-3, 6-2 today to reach the quarterfinals of the $125,000 Carlsbad Classic in the San Diego region.
   Gibbs, a former two-time NCAA singles champion from Stanford, converted eight of 10 break points.
   She will play second-seeded Tatjana Maria of Germany on Friday. Maria beat Francoise Abanda, an 18-year-old qualifier from Canada, 6-4, 6-3.
   Gibbs' former Stanford teammate Kristie Ahn and 16-year-old CiCi Bellis of Atherton, located minutes from Stanford, are scheduled play their second-round matches on Thursday.
   Ahn will take on No. 1 seed Yanina Wickmayer, a Belgian who reached the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals.
   Bellis, playing in her first tournament in almost three months after recovering from shoulder bursitis, will meet Katerina Stewart, 18, of Miami.
   Gibbs is ranked No. 122 after climbing to a career-high No. 84 in March. She reached the third round of last year's U.S. Open as a wild card before losing to 11th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
   Pennetta won her first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in September and retired after the WTA Finals in late October at 33.