Thursday, September 30, 2021

After big upset, Kozyreva falls to fellow college qualifier

   Maria Kozyreva and Sachia Vickery couldn't back up their big victories in the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger.
   Emma Navarro of Charleston, S.C., eliminated Russia's Kozyreva 7-5, 6-3 today in a matchup of college qualifiers to reach the quarterfinals at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club.
   Kozyreva, a fifth-year student at Saint Mary's College in nearby Moraga, Calif., ranked No. 1,246, stunned top-seeded Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, on Wednesday. Navarro, a University of Virginia sophomore, won the NCAA singles title in May. 
   Meanwhile, Usue (pronounced EW-sway) Arconada of Naples, Fla., topped Sachia (pronounced SA-sha) Vickery of Miramar, Fla., 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in a battle of unseeded players.
   Vickery, who reached the singles semifinals and won the doubles title in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, ousted second-seeded Wang Xinyu, the runner-up in last week's $115,000 Columbus (Ohio) Challenger, on Wednesday. 
    Navarro is scheduled to play unseeded Marcela Zacarias of Mexico on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan against qualifier Sophie Chang, a native of Havre de Grace, Md.
    In Friday's other quarterfinals, seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan is set to meet unseeded Louisa Chirico, a former top-60 player from Westchester, N.Y., at 10 a.m., followed by Arconada versus eighth-seeded Liang En Shuo of Chinese Taipei. Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident, reached the 2019 Berkeley final, losing to Madison Brengle
   Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule.
   BNP Paribas Open — Rising star Jenson Brooksby, 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area and Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area received wild cards in the tournament, Monday through Oct. 17 in Indian Wells, Calif. Both will debut in the BNP Paribas Open.
   ATP Tour — Top-seeded Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski of Great Britain beat wild cards Brandon Nakashima of San Diego and Sem Verbeek (University of the Pacific, 2013-16) of the Netherlands 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the inaugural San Diego Open. 

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