Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Bellis, 17, reaches third round of U.S. Open

CiCi Bellis of Atherton defeated 49th-ranked Shelby Rogers,
a French Open quarterfinalist in June, tonight in the U.S. Open.
Photo by Paul Bauman
   NEW YORK — Stanford women's coach Lele Forood shouldn't get too excited about CiCi Bellis' recent verbal commitment to enroll at the university in the fall of 2017.
   It appears more and more likely that the 17-year-old resident of nearby Atherton will turn pro before then.
   Bellis reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time tonight, upsetting Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in an all-American matchup at the U.S. Open.
   Bellis literally jumped for joy, while pumping her arms, after beating the 49th-ranked Rogers, a French Open quarterfinalist in June.
   "I can't believe it," Bellis, a qualifier, breathlessly told the crowd at the new, 8,125-seat Grandstand in an on-court interview. "I played Shelby a couple of months ago, and she was much better than me. I got the best of her tonight."
   Bellis was referring to Rogers' 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory on clay in the first round of a $75,000 tournament in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., in May. It was their only previous meeting.
   Bellis used her sensational groundstrokes to subdue Rogers -- who had upset 27th-seeded Sara Errani, a  French Open finalist and U.S. Open semifinalist in 2012 -- in the first round. The 5-foot-7 (1.68-meter), 110-pound (50-kilogram) Bellis' serve, however, hovered in the 90s.
   Rogers, a 23-year-old right-hander from Charleston, S.C., took a medical timeout to have her right bicep taped after she held serve at love for 1-4 in the second set.       
   Bellis recorded her fourth victory over a top-50 player. She knocked off No. 13 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the first round of the 2014 U.S. Open, No. 32 Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan in the second round in Miami last year and No. 38 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the opening round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in July.
   Now it really gets tough for Bellis, She will meet No. 2 seed and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber on Friday.
   Bellis has said she will turn pro if she cracks the top 100 in the world before she is scheduled to enroll at Stanford. Assuming she loses to Kerber, Bellis will jump from No. 158 to about No. 123.
   Third-round losers in singles at the U.S. Open receive $140,000, but Bellis can accept only expense money unless she changes her mind and suddenly turns pro.
Former Stanford stars Bob and Mike
Bryan, seeded third, celebrate their
first-round win with their trademark
chest bump. Photo by Paul Bauman
   Meanwhile, two high seeds, one men's and one women's, were upset today.
   Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia ousted third-seeded Garbine Muguruza, who won her first Grand Slam title in the French Open in June, 7-5, 6-4.
   Qualifier Ryan Harrison of Austin, Texas, eliminated fifth-seeded Milos Raonic, the runner-up to Andy Murray at Wimbledon last month, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1. Raonic, a three-time champion in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, began cramping in his arms and legs in the middle of the second set in the muggy 84-degree heat.
   The new $150 million retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium was closed for the first time when rain began to fall during fourth seed and two-time champion Rafael Nadal's 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Andreas Seppi of Italy in the featured night match. 
   In doubles, three former Stanford stars won their openers.
   Third-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan, the 1998 NCAA doubles champions for the Cardinal and five-time U.S. Open men's doubles champs, dominated Martin Klizan of Slovakia and Adil Shamasdin of Canada 6-1, 6-3.
   Nicole Gibbs, a 2012 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford, and Nao Hibino of Japan topped Mariana Duque-Marino of Colombia and Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Puig won the Olympic gold medal in singles this month in Rio de Janeiro, and Hibino took the singles crown in the inaugural $50,000.Stockton Challenger last year.
   Wild cards Mackenzie McDonald, who grew up in Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Martin Redlicki of Boca Raton, Fla., fell to top seeds and defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France 7-6 (8), 6-1.
   In mixed doubles, fourth-seeded Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones) of San Jose and Jean-Julien of the Netherlands lost to Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain 7-6 (4), 5-7 [10-4].

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Serb upsets giant killer Querrey in U.S. Open

Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia leaves the court at Louis Armstrong Stadium
after upsetting 29th-seeded Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, 7-6 (4),
6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the U.S. Open. Photo by Paul Bauman
   NEW YORK -- One day, you're the toast of the tennis world.
   In the next Grand Slam tournament, you're upset in the first round in your home country by a guy who has missed most of the past three years with injuries.
   Welcome to the unpredictable, cutthroat world of professional tennis.
   Two months after stunning top-ranked Novak Djokovic en route to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, 29th-seeded Sam Querrey lost to Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (4), 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-3 today in Louis Armstrong Stadium at the U.S. Open.
   Ironically, both Djokovic and Tipsarevic are from Serbia.
   It was the second consecutive first-round loss in the U.S. Open for Querrey, a 28-year-old San Francisco native now living in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica. He fell to Nicolas Mahut of France last year at Flushing Meadows.
   No. 19 seed Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area barely avoided an upset. Johnson, who won the $100,000 Aptos Challenger in Northern California in 2012, saved six match points in a 4-6, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-3 victory over Evgeny Donskoy of Russia in the new Grandstand.
   Qualifier Jared Donaldson, a 19-year-old Rhode Island native now living in Irvine in the Los Angeles region, made his first Grand Slam victory a big one. He shocked Belgium's David Goffin, the 12th seed and a French Open quarterfinalist in June, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-0.
   Donaldson has played extensively in Northern California, reaching the final of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger last October before losing to countryman Taylor Fritz.
   John Millman, who won 2010 Sacramento and 2015 Aptos Challengers, almost outdid Donaldson. The 27-year-old Australian battled eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria for 3 hours, 5 minutes before falling 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Millman had lost to Thiem 7-5, 6-1 two weeks ago in the second round in Cincinnati.
Ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs whipped qualifier Aleksandra Krunic
of Serbia 6-1, 6-0. Gibbs won the last 11 games. Photo by Paul Bauman
  On the women's side of the U.S. Open, former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs of Marina del Rey in the L.A. area crushed error-prone Aleksandra Krunic, a qualifier from Serbia, 6-1, 6-0 in 58 minutes.
   Gibbs reeled off the last 11 games in the first-time matchup of undersized 23-year-olds, both of whom have had their best Grand Slam results in the 2014 U.S. Open. Krunic, a 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter), 117-pound (63-kilogram) Moscow native who's 12 days younger than Gibbs, reached the fourth round, and Gibbs, 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), advanced to the third round.
   Gibbs, ranked No. 69, will play red-hot Laura Siegemund of Germany on Thursday. Siegemund, seeded 26th, defeated Patricia Maria Tig of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
   Since losing to ninth-seeded Madison Keys in the first round at Wimbledon, Siegemund has reached the semifinals on clay in Bucharest, won her first career WTA title on clay in Bastad and advanced to the Olympic quarterfinals on hardcourts in Rio de Janeiro. 
   Siegemund won her only previous match against Gibbs 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (3) on clay in the first round of a $25,000 tournament in Daytona Beach in 2014.
   Querrey, 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), blasted 18 aces but committed 15 double faults and 77 unforced errors against the 250th-ranked Tipsarevic. Despite standing only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters), Tipsarevic pounded 17 aces to go with 11 double faults.
   Tipsarevic, 32, was coming off the title in a $125,000 Challenger in Qingdao, China, as a qualifier. The former world No. 8 returned to competition in April after missing six months since last year's U.S. Open with right knee tendinitis.
   Tipsarevic also came back in April 2015 after sitting out for 18 months because of foot problems, including two surgeries to remove a benign tumor in his left heel.
   Tipsarevic, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist in 2011 and 2012, improved to 4-3 against Querrey in their first meeting since 2013. All of their matches except one have been in the United States; Tipsarevic won in four sets in the first round of the 2012 French Open.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Bellis breezes, McDonald blows big lead in Open

CiCi Bellis, a 17-year-old qualifier from Atherton, outclassed
Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of
the U.S. Open. Photo by Paul Bauman
   NEW YORK -- For a while today, it appeared two young San Francisco Bay Area products would reach the second round of the U.S. Open.
   Instead, only one advanced.
   CiCi Bellis, a 17-year-old qualifier from Atherton, outclassed Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour, 17 minutes in 91-degree (32.8 Celsius) heat for her second Grand Slam victory.
   Bellis shocked 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia as a wild card in the opening round of the 2014 U.S. Open to become the youngest player to win a main-draw match at Flushing Meadows since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   After Bellis dismissed Golubic in their first career meeting, Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old wild card who grew up in Piedmont on the other side of the bay, went up two sets to none against 26-year-old qualifier Jan Satral of the Czech Republic. Satral, however, prevailed 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 3 hours, 6 minutes. Both players made their Grand Slam main-draw debut.
   Satral won the last four games of the match. After pounding a service winner on his first match point, he raised his arms in triumph while McDonald slammed his racket on the court in disgust.
   The 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Satral finished with 12 aces and seven double faults. McDonald, 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters), had four of each.
Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old wild card who
grew up in Piedmont, lost to qualifier Jan Satral of
the Czech Republic 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Photo by
Paul Bauman
   Satral turned pro in 2010 and McDonald in June. Largely for that reason, Satral is ranked much higher (No. 226 to No. 406). As a UCLA junior in the spring, McDonald became the first man in 15 years to sweep the NCAA singles and doubles titles.   
   Golubic, a 23-year-old Zurich native, has a Serbian mother and Croatian father. One of the few women with a one-handed backhand, she is ranked a career-high No. 65 after winning her first career WTA title last month on clay in Gstaad, Switzerland.
   Neither Golubic nor Bellis, both 5-foot-7 (1.70 meters) and slender, hit an ace. Bellis had five double faults as she tightened up with big leads in each set and Golubic none. Bellis, though, was both more aggressive and consistent from the baseline than Golubic, who was broken six of eight times. Bellis' forehand, in particular, was devastating.
   Bellis, ranked No. 158, will face countrywoman Shelby Rogers, who's ranked a career-high No. 49, on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Rogers, a French Open quarterfinalist this past spring, upset 27th-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (3).
   Rogers defeated Bellis 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 on clay in the first round of a $75,000 tournament in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., in May in their only previous meeting.
   Bellis has verbally committed to Stanford, a five-minute drive from her home, for the fall of 2017 but has said she will turn pro instead if she cracks the top 100 in the world before then, a distinct possibility.      

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Querrey draws former top-10 player in U.S. Open

Sam Querrey, seeded 29th, will play Janko Tipsarevic
of Serbia in the first round of the U.S. Open.
2014 photo by Paul Bauman 
   Two months ago, Sam Querrey shocked top seed and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic en route to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
   It's Querrey's best result in a Grand Slam tournament. The 28-year-old San Francisco native will play another Serb, former top-10 player Janko Tipsarevic, in the first round of the U.S. Open.
   The draw for the year's last Grand Slam tournament was held Friday, and play will begin Monday in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Querrey, who lives in Santa Monica in the Los Angeles area, is ranked 31st and seeded 29th.
   Tipsarevic, 32, is coming off the title in a $125,000 Challenger in Qingdao, China, as a qualifier. The former world No. 8 returned to competition in April after missing six months since last year's U.S. Open with right knee tendinitis.
  Tipsarevic also came back in April 2015 after sitting out for 18 months because of foot problems, including two surgeries to remove a benign tumor in his left heel.
   Querrey, 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), is 3-3 against the 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Tipsarevic, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist in 2011 and 2012. But their last meeting was in 2013. All of their matches except one have been in the United States; Tipsarevic won in four sets in the first round of the 2012 French Open.
   Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old wild card who grew up in Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, will make his Grand Slam debut against qualifier Jan Satral of the Czech Republic.
   McDonald turned pro in June, forgoing his senior year at UCLA, after becoming the first man in 15 years to sweep the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
   On the women's side in the U.S. Open, ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs also will open against a qualifier and against a Serb, Moscow-born Aleksandra Krunic. Both are 23 and undersized, and both have had their best Grand Slam results in the 2014 U.S. Open. Krunic, 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters), reached the fourth round and Gibbs, 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), the third round.
   CiCi Bellis, a 17-year-old qualifier from Atherton in the Bay Area, will meet Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.
   Bellis will play in the main draw of a Slam for the first time since 2014, when she stunned 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round before losing to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan. Cibulkova had reached the Australian Open final that year, losing to since-retired Li Na of China.
   Bellis became the youngest player to win a main-draw match in the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   Gibbs and the Orange Country Breakers lost to the San Diego Aviators 25-14 on Friday in the World TeamTennis Finals at Forest Hills. After the regular season, Gibbs was named the WTT Female MVP.
   Also playing for Orange County were Scott Lipsky, a 35-year old former Stanford All-American, and Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the Bay Area.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Bellis, 17, returns to main draw of U.S. Open

CiCi Bellis, shown in last month's $50,000 Stockton Challenger,
upset seventh-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck in the final round of
qualifying for the U.S. Open. Bellis pulled off a stunning upset
at Flushing Meadows two years ago. Photo by Paul Bauman
   Two years after pulling off a spectacular upset in the U.S. Open, CiCi Bellis will return to the main draw at Flushing Meadows.
   The 17-year-old amateur from Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area upended seventh-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2 today in the final round of qualifying.
   Meanwhile, former Stanford All-American Kristie Ahn lost to another Belgian, 27th-seeded Elise Mertens, 6-1, 6-4.
   Bellis, ranked No. 158, defeated No. 112 Van Uytvanck for the first time in three career matches, all in the past six weeks.
   Van Uytvanck, 22, won in three sets in the Stockton (Calif.) semifinals en route to the title in mid-July and in the first round in Lexington (Kent.) two weeks later. Both tournaments were $50,000 Challengers.
   Van Uytvanck, a French Open quarterfinalist last year, is rebounding from ankle surgery.
   Bellis will meet 65th-ranked Viktorija Golubic, a 23-year-old Swiss, for the first time in the opening round on Monday or Tuesday. The winner will face either 27th-seeded Sara Errani of Italy or Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C.
   Bellis received an automatic wild card in the 2014 U.S. Open after winning the USTA girls 18 national title at age 15. She then stunned 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, who had reached the Australian Open final that year, to become the youngest player to win a main-draw match in the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996. Bellis then fell to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan in three sets.
   Bellis has not played in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament since then. She lost in the final round of U.S. Open qualifying last year to Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, the 2014 Wimbledon girls singles champion. Bellis returned the favor by shocking the sixth-seeded Ostapenko in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, a five-minute drive from Bellis' home, the week after Stockton en route to her first WTA quarterfinal.    
   Ahn, 24, was seeking her first main-draw berth in the U.S. Open in eight years. As a qualifier at 16 in 2008, she lost to Dinara Safina, ranked seventh at the time and No. 1 the following year, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. 

   Since then, the 5-foot-5 (1.66-meter) Ahn has suffered numerous injuries.

Bellis, 17, to face familiar foe for U.S. Open berth

CiCi Bellis, above, will meet Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium
for the third time in six weeks today. Photo by Paul Bauman
   CiCi Bellis and Alison Van Uytvanck will meet for the third time in six weeks today.
   This time, a U.S. Open berth will be at stake.
   Bellis continued to coast in qualifying in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., on Thursday. The 17-year-old resident of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area rolled past Grace Min of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-4, 6-0 after crushing Lina Gjorcheska of Macedonia 6-0, 6-2 on Wednesday in the opening round.
   Min won the 2011 U.S. Open girls singles title and reached the final of last month's $50,000 Sacramento Challenger, losing to 17-year-old Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla.
   Van Uytvanck, a 22-year-old Belgian seeded seventh, held off Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-5, 7-5. Hradecka has won three Grand Slam doubles titles -- two women's, including the 2013 U.S. Open, and one mixed.
   The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Van Uytvanck defeated Bellis, who's listed at 5-foot-7 (1.68 meters) and only 110 pounds (50 kilograms), in three sets in both of their previous matches. Van Uytvanck won in the Stockton semifinals en route to the title in mid-July and in the first round at Lexington two weeks later. Both were $50,000 tournaments.
   Bellis made international headlines as a wild card in the 2014 U.S. Open by stunning 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the first round of the main draw. Cibulkova had reached the Australian Open final that year, falling to Li Na of China.
   Bellis, then 15, became the youngest player to win a main-draw match in the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996. 

   Van Uytvanck, a French Open quarterfinalist last year, underwent ankle surgery this past spring.
   Kristie Ahn of Upper Saddle River, N.J., also will meet a Belgian, 27th-seeded Elise Mertens, in the final round of U.S. Open qualifying. Ahn, a former Stanford All-American, upset fifth-seeded Kai-Lin Zhang of China 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Ahn, 24, seeks her first main-draw berth in the U.S. Open in eight years. As a qualifier at 16 in 2008, she lost to Dinara Safina, ranked seventh at the time and No. 1 the following year, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. But the 5-foot-5 (1.66-meter) Ahn then suffered numerous injuries.
   On the men's side of U.S. Open qualifying, 13th-seeded Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the Bay Area lost to Pedja Krstic of Serbia 7-6 (0), 7-5. Novikov reached the second round at Wimbledon this summer as a qualifier.
   The men's and women's draws will be held today at 8:30 a.m. PDT.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Bellis advances in U.S. Open qualifying

   CiCi Bellis, 17, of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area routed Lina Gjorcheska of Macedonia 6-0, 6-2 today in the first round of qualifying for the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Bellis will play Grace Min, who upset 21st-seeded Julia Boserup 6-4, 6-2 in an all-American encounter. Boserup reached the third round at Wimbledon this summer. Min, 22, advanced to the final of the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger last month, losing to 17-year-old Sofia Kenin.  
   Min and Bellis -- ranked No. 145 and No. 158, respectively -- have met once. Min won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on clay in the quarterfinals of a $25,000 tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla., in January.
   Bellis made international headlines as a wild card in the 2014 U.S. Open by stunning 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the first round of the main draw. Cibulkova had reached the Australian Open final that year, falling to Li Na of China.
   Bellis, then 15, became the youngest player to win a main-draw match in the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   Former  Stanford star Kristie Ahn and men's No. 13 seed Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the Bay Area are scheduled to play their second-round qualifying matches on Thursday. Both survived three-setters on Tuesday.
   Ahn, 24, topped wild card Francesca Di Lorenzo, a 19-year-old American, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Novikov, 22, beat Federico Gaio of Italy 7-6 (8), 5-7, 6-2.
   Ahn will take on fifth-seeded Kai-Lin Zhang of China, and Novikov will meet Pedja Krstin of Serbia.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Rankings mover of the week: Mackenzie McDonald (up)

   Mackenzie McDonald soared 269 places to No. 482 in doubles in this week's ATP World Tour rankings.
   McDonald, a 21-year-old resident of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and former Cal star Ben McLachlan reached the final of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger in Aptos, Calif. They lost to South Africans Nicolaas Scholtz and Tucker Vorster 6-7 (5), 6-3 [10-8] in a battle of unseeded teams.
   McDonald turned pro in May, forgoing his senior year at UCLA, after becoming the first man in 15 years to sweep the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
WORLD RANKINGS
   Players with Northern California ties ranked in the top 1,000 in the world (change from last week in parentheses):
Men
   Bob Bryan, 38-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 5 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 38-year-old former NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 6 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   John Paul Fruttero, 35-year-old former Cal All-American -- No. 440 in doubles (-2).
   Ryan Haviland, 35-year-old former Stanford All-American -- No. 779 in singles (-6).
   John Lamble, 24-year-old Saratoga resident and former Santa Clara star -- No. 685 in doubles (+3), No. 818 in singles (+59). 
   Scott Lipsky, 35-year-old former Stanford All-American -- No. 41 in doubles (no change).
   Mackenzie McDonald, 21-year-old resident of Piedmont in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 416 in singles (+9), career-high No. 482 in doubles (+269).
   Dennis Novikov, 22-year-old resident of Milpitas in San Francisco Bay Area -- Career-high No. 119 in singles (+1), No. 209 in doubles (-1).
   Sam Querrey, 28-year-old San Francisco native -- No. 29 in singles (no change), No. 42 in doubles (no change).
   Matt Seeberger, 32-year-old San Francisco native and former NCAA Division III singles and doubles champion from UC Santa Cruz -- No. 439 in doubles (-2).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 33-year-old resident of Folsom in Sacramento area -- No. 418 in singles (-8), No. 267 in doubles (-2).
Women
   Kristie Ahn, 24-year-old former Stanford All-American -- No. 225 in singles (+1), No. 401 in doubles (+4).
   Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones), 33-year-old San Jose resident and 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 17 in doubles (no change).
   CiCi Bellis, 17-year-old resident of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 156 in singles (+2), career-high No. 248 in doubles (+2).
   Alexandra Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- No. 639 in doubles (+10). 
   Kat Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- No. 639 in doubles (+10).
   Nicole Gibbs, 23-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 71 in singles (+3), No. 127 in doubles (+2).
   Michaela Gordon, 17-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 606 in doubles (+4), No. 755 in singles (+4). 
   Maegan Manasse, 21-year-old Cal junior -- No. 597 in doubles (-45), No. 942 in singles (+2).
   Maria Sanchez, 26-year-old Modesto product -- Career-high No. 57 in doubles (no change), No. 276 in singles (+2).
   Sloane Stephens, 23-year-old Fresno product -- No. 26 in singles (+2), No. 878 in doubles (+4).
   Karina Vyrlan, 17-year-old Sacramentan -- No. 800 in doubles (-1).
   Carol Zhao, 21-year-old Stanford junior -- No. 261 in doubles (-85), No. 372 in singles (+1).

TV schedule, calendar

TV SCHEDULE 
(All times in California)
Friday  
   Cincinnati (men and women), quarterfinals, 8-10 a.m. (live), Tennis Channel. 
   Cincinnati (men and women), quarterfinals, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (live), ESPN2.
 Saturday 
   Cincinnati (men and women), semifinals, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (live), ESPN2. 
   Cincinnati (men and women), semifinals, 4-8 p.m. (live), ESPN2.
Sunday 
   Cincinnati (men and women), finals, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (live), ESPN2.
CALENDAR 
   AUG. 29-SEPT. 11 -- U.S. OPEN, Flushing Meadows, N.Y. 2015 champions: Novak Djokovic, Flavia Pennetta, Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut, Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis/Leander Paes.
   Sept. 26-Oct. 2 -- $100,000 Wells Fargo Tiburon Challenger (men), Tiburon Peninsula Club, Tiburon, Calif. Qualifying begins Sept. 24. Champions in 2015: Tim Smyczek, Johan Brunstrom-Frederik Nielsen. 
   Oct. 1 -- Exhibition (Mark Knowles, Rick Leach, Brian MacPhie, Jonathan Stark, Wayne Bryan), 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Antelope Community Tennis Center in Sacramento area. Pro-am 10 a.m.-noon, kids clinic noon-1 p.m., junior exhibition 2-3 p.m., pro players 4-6 p.m. ticketleap.com (SCTA Big Event), (916) 757-3739.
   Oct. 3-9 -- $100,000 Stockton Challenger (men), Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center, University of the Pacific. Qualifying begins Oct. 1. Champions in 2015 (Sacramento): Taylor Fritz, Blaz Kavcic-Grega Zemlja.
   Oct. 3-9 -- $25,000 Redding Challenger (women), Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. Qualifying begins Oct. 1. Champions in 2015: Heidi El Tabakh, Ashley Weinhold-Caitlin Whoriskey. 
   Oct. 10-16 -- $50,000 Fairfield Challenger (men), Solano College, Fairfield, Calif. Qualifying begins Oct. 8. Champions in 2015: Taylor Fritz, Johan Brunstrom-Frederik Nielsen.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Evans wins Aptos; Brooksby falls in USTA 16s final

   This time, Daniel Evans took the title.
   Three years after holding a championship point and losing in the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger, the top-seeded Evans defeated qualifier Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 today to win the tournament at the Seascape Sports Club.
   It was the first meeting between the British players.
   Evans, 26, jumped 20 places in the rankings to a career-high No. 60. He is second in Great Britain behind No. 2 Andy Murray. Both players helped their nation win its first Davis Cup title in 79 years in 2015.
   Norrie, a 20-year-old left-hander, soared 125 spots to No. 298. He reached the NCAA singles semifinals in Tulsa, Okla., in May as a Texas Christian sophomore.
   Evans lost to former Stanford star Bradley Klahn in the 2013 Aptos final after also losing a championship point the previous week in the $100,000 Vancouver Challenger.
   Klahn, a left-hander who will turn 26 on Saturday, has been sidelined for 18 months after undergoing his second operation for a herniated disc in his back.
   Evans won his third Challenger title of the year and fifth overall. He reached the third round at Wimbledon this summer, losing in straight sets to Roger Federer, but has yet to win an ATP World Tour title.
   Norrie, a native of Johannesburg, South Africa, was playing in his first Challenger final. He has won three Futures crowns, including Tulsa and Wichita back-to-back in late June and early July.
   South Africans Nicolaas Scholtz and Tucker Vorster won the Aptos doubles title, edging 21-year-old Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area and former Cal star Ben McLachlan of New Zealand 6-7 (5), 6-3 [10-8]. 
   USTA junior nationals --  No. 1 seed Lukas Greif of Evansville, Ind., routed No. 10 Jenson Brooksby, a 15-year-old resident of Carmichael in the Sacramento area, 6-0, 6-3 to win the boys 16 title in the USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.
   Greif also overwhelmed Brooksby 6-1, 6-1 in the final of last month’s USTA National Clay Court Championships in Delray Beach, Fla.
   Brooksby won the USTA National boys 12 title three years ago in Little Rock, Ark.

Brooksby reaches USTA national boys 16 final

   No. 10 seed Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael in the Sacramento area defeated No. 15 Robert Maciag of Sterling, Va., 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 Saturday in the boys 16 semifinals of the USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.
   In today’s final, the 15-year-old Brooksby will try to avenge a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Lukas Greif of Evansville, Ind., in the USTA Clay Court Championships last month in Delray Beach, Fla.
   Greif dominated unseeded Matthew Tsolakyan of Glendale in the Los Angeles region 6-1, 6-3 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
   Brooksby won the USTA National boys 12 title three years ago in Little Rock, Ark.
   Meanwhile, Andrew Ton of Milpitas in the Bay Area and Maximilian Wild of Murrieta, Calif., won the boys 16 doubles title in Kalamazoo. Seeded second, they beat No. 11 seeds Maciag and Jared Pratt of Daniel Island, S.C., 7-6 (5), 6-3.
   In the boys 18 doubles semifinals, No. 4 seeds John McNally and Jeffrey Wolf, both of Cincinnati, edged No. 10 Anudeep Kodali of Durham, N.C., and Sam Riffice, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, 7-5, 5-7 [10-8].
   McNally and Wolf went on the win the title.

Brits in Aptos final; Escobedo earns Open wild card

   It will be an all-British final instead of an all-American final in the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger.
   But Ernesto Escobedo of the United States isn’t complaining.
   No. 1 seed Daniel Evans and qualifier Cameron Norrie won Saturday in Aptos, Calif., clinching the U.S. Open Wild Card Challenge for Escobedo. He will receive a wild card into the main draw of the U.S. Open, Aug. 29-Sept. 11 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Evans dismissed No. 3 seed Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 6-3 at the Seascape Sports Club, and Norrie edged qualifier Eric Quigley 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
   Escobedo lost in the second round in Aptos but won the Wild Card Challenge on the strength of his title in the $50,000 Lexington (Ky.) Challenger. The American with the most points in two of three tournaments -- $50,000 Binghamton (N.Y.), Lexington and Aptos – earned the U.S. Open wild card.
   Evans, ranked No. 80 in the world and second in Great Britain behind No. 2 Andy Murray, and Norrie, ranked No. 423, will meet for the first time.
   The 26-year-old Evans, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters), reached the Aptos final for the second time in four years. He held a championship point before falling to former Stanford star Bradley Klahn in 2013.
   Norrie, 20, advanced to the NCAA singles semifinals in Tulsa, Okla., in May as a Texas Christian sophomore.  
   In today’s doubles final,, Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area and former Cal star Ben McLachlan of New Zealand will face South Africans Nicolaas Scholtz and Tucker Vorster in a matchup of unseeded teams.
   Here are the Aptos singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

NorCal's Volynets falls in girls 16 national semis

   No. 4 seed Nicole Mossmer of La Jolla defeated No. 6 Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek 6-4, 6-2 Friday in the girls 16 semifinals of the USTA National Championships in San Diego.
   Mossmer, 16, will play No. 17 Julia Haynes of San Diego today for the national title. Haynes beat No. 9 Hailey Baptiste of Washington, D.C., 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (0).
   Volynets is 14.
   In the boys 18 quarterfinals in Kalamazoo, Mich., Trent Bryde of Suwanee, Ga., eliminated Sam Riffice of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-4, 6-3. Riffice grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville.

No. 3 Fratangelo beats Matosevic in 100K Aptos

   Bjorn Fratangelo took a big step Friday in his quest to earn his first main-draw berth in the U.S. Open.
   The third-seeded Fratangelo, a Pittsburgh native based in Boca Raton, Fla., beat Marinko Matosevic of Australia 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club in Aptos, Calif.
   Matosevic, a former top-40 players, had lost only four games in two matches in the tournament.
   The American with the most points in two of three tournaments -- $50,000 Binghamton (N.Y.), $50,000 Lexington (Ky.) and Aptos – will win the U.S. Open Wild Card Challenge and earn a spot in the U.S. Open, Aug. 29-Sept. 11 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Ernesto Escobedo, who lost in the second round in Aptos, leads the standings. But Fratangelo or qualifier Eric Quigley can overtake Escobedo for the U.S. Open wild card by capturing the Aptos title. Quigley will face another qualifier, Cameron Norrie of Great Britain.
   Fratangelo, ranked No. 115, also is close to gaining direct entry into the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. He won the French Open Wild Card Challenge in the spring and advanced to the second round of a Slam for the first time at Roland Garros.
   Fratangelo, who was named after Bjorn Borg, has not lost a set in the Nordic Naturals Challenger. However, the 2011 French Open boys singles champion now faces an even tougher test against top-seeded Daniel Evans of Great Britain.
   Evans, ranked No. 80 in the world and second in his country behind No. 2 Andy Murray, dispatched James McGee of Ireland 6-3, 6-4. Evans, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) helped Great Britain win its first Davis Cup title in 79 years in 2015.
   Quigley, the 2012 NCAA runner-up to Steve Johnson, turned back qualifier Raymond Sarmiento of Los Angeles 7-5, 6-2. Norrie, an NCAA semifinalist in May as a Texas Christian sophomore, outlasted Evan King of Chicago 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
   Here are the Aptos singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Volynets, 14, tops Eason in national girls 16 quarters

   In an all-San Francisco Bay Area quarterfinal, No. 6 seed Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek beat No. 9 Rachel Eason of Union City 7-5, 6-1 today in the girls 16 quarterfinals of the USTA National Championships in San Diego.
   Volynets, 14, and Eason, 16, are products of Tompkins Tennis International, based in Fremont.
   Volynets will face No. 4 Nicole Mossmer of La Jolla in the San Diego area on Friday. Mossmer defeated No. 17 Emma Navarro of Charleston, S.C., 7-6 (5), 6-3.
   In the round of 16 of the girls 18s, top-seeded Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., outplayed No. 9 Michaela Gordon of Saratoga in the Bay Area 7-5, 6-1.
   Sofia Kenin, the reigning champion who won the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger last month as an amateur, withdrew before the USTA Nationals began. Kenin, 17, would have been seeded first.   
USTA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Northern California results)
Girls
In San Diego
18 singles
Round of 16
   Kayla Day (1), Santa Barbara, Calif., def. Michaela Gordon (9), Saratoga, Calif., 6-4, 6-3.
16 singles
Quarterfinals
   Katie Volynets (6), Walnut Creek, Calif., def. Rachel Eason (9), Union City, Calif., 7-5, 6-1.
Boys
In Kalamazoo, Mich.
18 singles
Quarterfinals
   Trent Bryde (8), Suwanee, Ga., def. Sam Riffice (4), Boca Raton, Fla./Roseville, Calif., 6-4, 6-3. 
18 Doubles
Semifinals
   John McNally and Jeffrey J. Wolf (4), Cincinnati, vs. Anudeep Kodali, Durham, N.C., and Sam Riffice (10), Boca Raton, Fla./Roseville, Calif., late.
16 singles
Quarterfinals
   Keenan Mayo (16), Roseville, Calif., vs. Matthew Tsolakyan, Glendale, Calif., late.
   Jenson Brooksby (10), Carmichael, Calif., vs. Trey Hilderbrand (13), San Antonio, late.
16 doubles
Quarterfinals
   Andrew Ton, Milpitas, Calif., and Maximilian Wild (2), Murrieta, Calif., def. Andrew Fenty, Washington, D.C., and Sangeet Sridhar (8), Glendale, Ariz., 6-4, 6-2.
In San Antonio
14 doubles
Final
   Ryan Fishback, Geneva, N.Y., and Billy Suarez (4), Huntington, N.Y., def. Alex Lee, Oak Brook, Ill., and Zachery Lim (1), Fairfield, Calif., 6-3 6-1.

Fratangelo stays alive in Aptos, Wild Card Challenge

   Bjorn Fratangelo won a wild-card challenge this past spring to earn a berth in the main draw of the French Open.
   The 23-year-old Pittsburgh product faces a tough road in his attempt to do the same for the U.S. Open.
   Fratangelo, seeded third, beat 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) countryman Clay Thompson 6-3, 7-5 today to reach the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger in Aptos, Calif. Thompson, a 24-year-old former UCLA All-American, received a wild card to play in Aptos.
   Fratangelo, the 2011 French Open junior champion, gained the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at Roland Garros in May. He is one of four remaining Americans in Aptos with a chance to overtake Ernesto Escobedo and win the U.S. Open Wild Card Challenge.
   To do so, Fratangelo, Evan King or qualifiers Raymond Sarmiento or Eric Quigley must win the Aptos title. The American with the most points in two of three tournaments -- $50,000 Binghamton, $50,000 Lexington, Ky., and Aptos -- will receive a wild card into the U.S. Open, Aug. 29-Sept. 11 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Fratangelo also is close to direct entry into the U.S. Open with a world ranking of No. 115. He will face unseeded Marinko Matosevic, who dismissed fellow Australian Benjamin Mitchell 6-2, 6-1.
   Matosevic, a former top-40 player and the 2010 Aptos champion, has lost only four games in his two singles matches in the tournament.
   The survivor will play either Daniel Evans, the top seed and 2013 Aptos runner-up, or James McGee of Ireland. Evans, ranked No. 80 in the world and second in Great Britain behind No. 2 Andy Murray, helped his country win its first Davis Cup title in 79 years in 2015.
   Evans, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) held a championship point against former Stanford star Bradley Klahn in the 2013 Aptos final. 
   Sarmiento and Quigley -- former All-Americans at USC and Kentucky, respectively -- will meet each other. King, a former Michigan All-American, will take on qualifier Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in the other quarterfinal. Norrie reached the NCAA semifinals in May as a Texas Christian sophomore. 
   Here are the Aptos singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Qualifier Sarmiento ousts No. 6 seed in 100K Aptos

   Two more seeds lost today in the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger in Aptos, Calif., putting a wild card into the U.S. Open up for grabs.
   Qualifier Raymond Sarmiento, ranked No. 516, stunned fellow American Ernesto Escobedo, seeded sixth, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Also, James McGee of Ireland dismantled No. 9 Mitchell Krueger of the United States 6-3, 6-1. Krueger, from Aledo, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was seeded after No. 8 Dennis Nguyen of the United States withdrew with a right shoulder injury before the tournament.
   Escobedo (80 points) and Krueger (63) lead the U.S. Open Wild Card Challenge, which ends with the Aptos Challenger. The American with the most points in two of three tournaments, which also include $50,000 Binghamton, N.Y., and $50,000 Lexington, Ky., will earn a wild card into the U.S. Open, Aug. 29-Sept. 11 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Escobedo will still receive the U.S. Open wild card unless one of the six Americans left in Aptos -- Sarmiento, No. 3 seed Bjorn Fratangelo, wild card Clay Thompson, qualifier Eric Quigley, Evan King or Sekou Bangoura -- wins the title. Then that player would get the wild card.
   Quigley eliminated Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old Aptos wild card from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
   With 1 1/2 rounds completed in Aptos, the only seeds left are No. 1 Daniel Evans of Great Britain and Fratangelo.
   Evans, the 2013 Aptos runner-up, will play McGee in Friday's quarterfinals. Evans held a championship point against former Stanford star Bradley Klahn in the 2013 final.
   Fratangelo will face the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Thompson today in the top half of the draw, when the remaining quarterfinal berths are determined. Sarmiento will play Quigley on Friday, ensuring that a qualifier will reach the semifinals. Qualifier Cameron Norrie of Great Britain also remains alive in the bottom half of the draw.
   Fratangelo, a 23-year-old former French Open junior champion, turned pro out of high school. Thompson (UCLA), Sarmiento (USC) , Quigley (Kentucky), King (Michigan) and Bangoura (Florida) are former All-Americans.
   Here are the singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule.        

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

No. 2 seed falls on day of upsets in 100K Aptos

   Evan King of Chicago led a parade of upset winners today in the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger in Aptos, Calif.
   King, a 24-year-old former University of Michigan All-American ranked No. 392, stunned No. 2 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-4, 7-5 in a first-round matchup of left-handers at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Nishioka, only 5-foot-7 (1.70 meters), reached his first ATP World Tour semifinal last week in Atlanta and advanced to the Aptos quarterfinals last year. He's ranked a career-high No. 85 overall and second in Japan behind No. 7 Kei Nishikori.
   Also falling today were No. 4 Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., No. 5 Ramkumar Ramanathan of India and No. 7 Farrukh Dustov of Uzbekistan.
   In the featured evening match, No. 3 Bjorn Fratangelo avoided the rash of upsets. The 23-year-old American topped 29-year-old countryman Alex Kuznetsov 6-2, 7-6 (4). Fratangelo reached last year’s semifinals, and Kuznetsov won the title 10 years ago.
   After the first round, the only remaining seed in the bottom half of the draw is No. 6 Ernesto Escobedo of the United States. He leads the U.S. Open Wild Card Challenge after two of three tournaments ($50,000 Binghamton, N.Y., $50,000 Lexington, Ky., and Aptos). The American who earns the most points in two of the tournaments will receive a wild card into the U.S. Open, Aug. 29-Sept. 11 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. 
   Kozlov, 18, lost to 21-year-old wild card Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, Calif., 6-1, 6-4. Piedmont is located in the San Francisco Bay Area about a 90-minute drive north of Aptos.    
   Kozlov, one of the United States’ top prospects, advanced to his first ATP quarterfinal at s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, in June.
   McDonald turned pro in May, forgoing his senior year at UCLA, after becoming the first man in 15 years to sweep the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
   Ramanathan lost to qualifier Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-3, 7-6 (8). Norrie attained the NCAA singles semifinals as a sophomore at Texas Christian University in the spring.
   Dustov, an Aptos semifinalist as a qualifier three years ago, bowed out to Australian veteran Marinko Matosevic, a former top-40 player and the 2010 Aptos champion, 6-1, 6-0.
   Wild card Clay Thompson, a former UCLA All-American, beat qualifier John Lamble of Saratoga in the Bay Area 6-3, 6-4.
   Here are the singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule.

Top seed Evans whips Stanford star in 100K Aptos

   No. 1 seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain dispatched wild card Tom Fawcett of Winnetka, Ill., 6-2, 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club in Aptos, Calif.
   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Fawcett, who will be a Stanford junior in the fall, is eight inches (20.3 centimeters) taller than Evans, the 2013 runner-up to former Stanford star Bradley Klahn in Aptos.
   Evans, ranked 80th in the world and second in Great Britain behind No. 2 Andy Murray, will play Emilio Gomez of Ecuador on Wednesday in the second round.
   Gomez defeated Matt Reid, the 2013 doubles runner-up in Aptos with fellow Australian Chris Guccione, 6-3, 6-4.
   Two all-American matches on Center Court headline today's schedule.
   In the featured evening match at 6, third-seeded Bjorn Fratangelo, 23, will face Alex Kuznetsov, 29. Fratangelo, a semifinalist last year in Aptos, leads Kuznetsov, who won the title 10 years ago, 4-2 in the head-to-head series.
   At about 3 p.m., fourth-seeded Stefan Kozlov, 18, will take on wild card Mackenzie McDonald, 21, of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time.
   Here are the singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Monday, August 8, 2016

NorCal's Lamble qualifies for 100K Aptos

   No. 6 qualifying seed John Lamble of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area routed No. 1 Tucker Vorster of South Africa 6-2, 6-0 Sunday to reach the main draw of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club in Aptos, Calif.
   Saratoga is a 40-minute drive north of Aptos, which is situated on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
   Lamble, a 24-year-old ex-Santa Clara University star, will play wild card Clay Thompson, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) former UCLA All-American, in the first round on Tuesday.    
   Also advancing to the main draw were No. 2 qualifying seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, and No. 3 Eric Quigley and No. 4 Raymond Sarmiento of the United States.
   Main-draw matches begin today at 11 a.m.  In the featured match at 6 p.m., top-seeded Daniel Evans of Great Britain will face 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) wild card Tom Fawcett, who will be a junior at Stanford in the fall.
   The Aptos tournament, in its 29th year, is the longest-running Challenger in the United States.  
   Here are the singles, doubles and qualifying draws and today's schedule.

L.A. players grab singles titles in 25K Moraga

   Two players from Los Angeles won the singles titles in the $25,000 Heritage Bank of Commerce Open Tennis Championships.
   No. 1 seed Karue Sell, who completed his eligibility at UCLA in May, defeated No. 2 Rudolf Siwy, a former Fresno State star from San Jose, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 for the men's crown on Sunday at the Moraga Country Club in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   No. 3 Zoe Katz, who will be a senior at USC in the fall, outlasted No. 1 Lauren Embree, a former University of Florida All-American from Marco Island, Fla., 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 for the women's title.
   Doubles champions were No. 1 seeds Tyler Browne of Walnut Creek and Nicholas Brunner of San Francisco (men), No. 2 Kaitlyn Christian of Rancho Cucamonga and Romana Tedjakusuma of Tracy (women) and No. 3 Joel Kielbowicz of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Katsiaryna Zheltova of Irvine (mixed).
   Here are the complete draws.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Top seed Evans to face Stanford star in 100K Aptos

Daniel Evans of Great Britain displays his runner-up check
in the 2013 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger. Evans held a cham-
pionship point against former Stanford star Bradley Klahn.
Photo by Paul Bauman
   Top-seeded Daniel Evans of Great Britain will play wild card Tom Fawcett, who finished his sophomore year at Stanford in May, on Monday or Tuesday in the first round of the Nordic Naturals Challenger in Aptos, Calif.
   The draw for the $100,000 tournament at the Seascape Sports Club, situated on the coast of the Pacific Ocean a one-hour drive south of Stanford, was held Saturday.
   The 26-year-old Evans, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters), helped Great Britain win its first Davis Cup title in 79 years in 2015 and reached the third round at Wimbledon this summer before falling to seven-time champion Roger Federer in straight sets.
   Evans, ranked No. 82, is no stranger to Aptos. He reached the final three years ago and held a championship point in a loss to former Stanford star Bradley Klahn.
   Second-seeded Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan will meet Evan King, a 24-year-old former University of Michigan All-American, in a first-round clash of left-handers.
   Nishioka, 20, reached his first semifinal on the ATP World Tour this week in Atlanta and advanced to the Aptos quarterfinals last year. He will improve from No. 97 to a career high of about No. 88 when the new rankings are released Monday.
   Third-seeded Bjorn Fratangelo drew fellow American Alex Kuznetsov, who won the Aptos title 10 years ago at 19.
   In an intriguing matchup, fourth-seeded Stefan Kozlov, 18, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., will take on Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old wild card from Piedmont, Calif., for the first time. Piedmont is located a 90-minute drive north from Aptos.
   Kozlov shocked Steve Johnson on grass at s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands in June to reach his first quarterfinal on the ATP World Tour. Johnson, then ranked No. 39 and now No. 22, won Aptos in 2012.
   Kozlov advanced to the final of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger at 16 in 2014, losing to former top-20 player Sam Querrey. Afterward, Querrey predicted that Kozlov eventually would crack the top 10. Kozlov has soared from No. 351 at the beginning of the year to No. 161.
   McDonald, playing for UCLA in May, became the first man to sweep the NCAA singles and doubles titles in 15 years. He then chose to skip his senior year and turn pro.
   In today's final round of qualifying, No. 6 seed John Lamble, a former Santa Clara University standout from nearby Saratoga, will face No. 1 Tucker Vorster of South Africa at 10 a.m.
   The Aptos tournament, in its 29th year, is the longest-running Challenger in the United States.
   Here are the singles main draw, qualifying draw and today's schedule.