BIRMINGHAM, England (AP)—Former Wimbledon semifinalist Mirjana Lucic of Croatia advanced to the second round of the Aegon Classic grass-court tournament on Monday, defeating American qualifier Alexandra Stevenson 6-3, 7-6 (7).
The 29-year-old Lucic made the semis at Wimbledon in 1999 as a promising 17-year-old, but was absent from the WTA tour for much of the last decade because of personal problems. After spending several years on the lower-tier ITF circuit, she is back in the top 100 for the first time since 2000.
Another former Wimbledon semifinalist, Kimiko Date-Krumm, lost 6-4, 7-6 (3) to Sabine Lisicki of Germany.
Other winners included Alison Riske of the United States, who rallied past Urszula Radwanska of Poland 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 13th-seeded Rebecca Marino of Canada and No. 14 Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.