Monday, July 16, 2018

Ex-Wimbledon semifinalist falls in Berkeley qualies

   Thirty-seven-year-old Alexandra Stevenson lost, but 15-year-old Connie Ma won today in the second round of qualifying for the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge.
   No. 8 seed Haruna Arakawa, 18, of Japan defeated Stevenson, the daughter of basketball legend Julius Erving, 3-6, 4-1, retired.
   In 1999, Stevenson became the first female qualifier to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. Ranked a career-high No. 18 in 2002 before shoulder surgery derailed her career, she has plunged to No. 840.
   Ma, from Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area, shocked fourth-seeded Anastasia Nefedova, 17, of the United States, 6-3, 6-1.
   Ma is scheduled to play another 17-year-old American, Alycia Parks, on Tuesday at noon for a berth in the main draw. Parks demolished Ashley Weinhold, a 29-year-old native of Tyler, Texas, 6-0, 6-2.
   Michaela Gordon, 18, of Saratoga in the Bay Area, beat No. 6 seed Tori Kinard, a 30-year-old American, 6-4, 6-4. Gordon, who played No. 1 singles and doubles as a freshman on Stanford's NCAA championship team in the spring, will face Pamela Montez, a 27-year-old former UCLA All-American, at noon.
   No. 2 seed Sabrina Santamaria, a 2013 NCAA doubles champion from USC, eliminated Sebastiani Leon, an ex-San Jose State star from San Diego, 6-1, 6-1.
   The Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge replaced the Sacramento Challenger, which lost its primary sponsor, on the calendar.
   Here are the Berkeley qualifying draw, singles main draw, doubles main draw and Tuesday's schedule

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