Resurgent Anderson beats Brooksby for Newport title

Six-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Kevin Anderson of the host Sacramento Capitals
serves in a 2012 World TeamTennis match. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Welcome to the big time, Jenson.

   Kevin Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) South African, used his power, mental toughness and experience to subdue Jenson Brooksby, 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area 7-6 (8), 6-4 today in the final of the Hall of Fame Open on grass in Newport, R.I.

   The 35-year-old Anderson, a two-time Grand Slam finalist coming back from two knee surgeries, saved a pair of set points, both on his serve, in the tiebreaker and earned the only service break of the match in the opening game of the second set.

   Seeded eighth, Anderson blasted 16 aces overall, committed three double faults and won 81 percent of the points on his first serve (44 of 54).

   The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Brooksby, who was unseeded, finished with six aces and no double faults and won 77 percent of the points on his first delivery (40 of 52). 

   Anderson won his seventh ATP Tour singles title, first since January 2019 and first on a surface other than hardcourt.

   Brooksby, a human highlight reel, played in the first grass-court tournament of his life and in his first ATP Tour main draw. He fell to 32-7 since turning pro in late December,, including three titles in Challenger tournaments and a runner-up finish in another.

   Anderson reached the 2018 Wimbledon final, shocking top seed and defending champion Roger Federer in the semifinals, to climb to a career-high No. 5. He will soar 39 places to No. 74.

   Brooksby, ranked No. 310 at the beginning of the year, will jump 26 spots to a career-high No. 126.

   Anderson is practically American. He starred at the University of Illinois for three years (2005-07), met his U.S.-born wife there and lives in Gulf Stream, Fla., with Kelsey and their daughter Keira, who will turn 2 in September. 

   Anderson has a long history in Northern California. He won the 2006 NCAA doubles title at Stanford with Ryan Rowe and reached the singles final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in the Sacramento suburb of Loomis in 2007. In 2012, Anderson advanced to the singles quarterfinals and doubles final (with Frank Moser of Germany) in San Jose, Calif., on the ATP Tour and played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis. The San Jose tournament and Capitals folded after the 2013 season. 

   USTA National Clay Court Championships — In the boys 16 doubles final in Delray Beach, Fla., No. 10 seeds Caden Hasler of American Fork, Utah, and Dylan Tsoi of El Dorado Hills, Calif., in the Sacramento area defeated No. 1 seeds Stefan Regalia of Alexandria, Va., and Cooper Woestendick of Olathe, Kan., 4-6, 6-3 [10-2].

Federer beats Anderson; both advance in ATP Finals

Roger Federer, playing in a March exhibition in San Jose, reached the semifinals
of the ATP Finals for the 15th time. Photo by Mal Taam

   Roger Federer avenged a loss to Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon, defeating the 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) South African 6-4, 6-3 today in the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
   Both the second-seeded Federer, who made his Northern California debut in a March exhibition in San Jose, and the fourth-seeded Anderson, a quarterfinalist in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose in 2012, finished 2-1 in Group Lleyton Hewitt to reach Saturday's semifinals. Sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem and seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori were eliminated with 1-2 records.
   Federer, who has won a record six titles in the ATP Finals, advanced to the semis for the 15th time. Anderson, who rallied from two sets down and saved a match point to stun Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July, became the first South African to move into the semis of the elite tournament since it began in 1970.
   Federer will face the second-place finisher in Group Guga Kuerten, and Anderson will meet the group winner. In Friday's round-robin finales, third-seeded Alexander Zverev (1-1) is scheduled to meet eighth-seeded John Isner (0-2) not before 6 a.m. PST, and top-seeded Novak Djokovic (2-0) will play fifth-seeded Marin Cilic (1-1) not before noon.
   In a doubles round-robin finale, fifth-seeded Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) and Jack Sock (2-0) will meet eighth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut (1-1) not before 9:45 a.m.
   Tennis Channel will televise all four of Friday's matches live beginning at 4 a.m.

Ex-Wimbledon girls champ reaches Stockton semis

Third-seeded Sofya Zhuk, a Russian who won the Wimbledon girls
singles title three years ago at 15, overcame a big deficit to beat
unseeded American Robin Anderson today in the quarterfinals of
the Stockton (Calif.) Women's $60K. Photo by Paul Bauman

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   STOCKTON, Calif. — For Sofya Zhuk, winning the Wimbledon girls singles title three years ago at 15 was a bonus.
   "I was dreaming to go to the Wimbledon ball," Zhuk, a Russian based in Bradenton, Fla., who speaks English with no accent, said today. "After I won in the semifinals, I didn't care what's going to happen in the final. I knew I was already in the Wimbledon ball because both finalists go."
   The third-seeded Zhuk spoke after holding off unseeded American Robin Anderson 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours, 27 minutes in the quarterfinals of the Stockton Women's $60K at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   Zhuk trailed 0-3 in the second set. When asked how she won the match, the 137th-ranked Zhuk said: "That's a very good question. I really don't have an answer for that one."
   Actually, she did.
   "I knew I was really down, and I decided to just try to put every ball in the court," added Zhuk, who has punishing flat groundstrokes. "I didn't even count the score after that. ... I kind of slowed down the pace. I figured out after 0-3 that she didn't like it. That helped me a lot."
   Zhuyk bolted to a 4-0 lead in the third set as the 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) Anderson, ranked No. 336, hardly could put a ball in the court. But Anderson suddenly found her game again, and Zhuk admittedly got nervous.

Robin Anderson led Sofya Zhuk by a set and 3-0.
Anderson's rally in the third set fell short. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Anderson, a 25-year-old former UCLA star, broke serve for 4-5 but then netted a backhand for 30-40. Zhuk finally closed out the match with a backhand passing shot down the line.

   So how was the Wimbledon ball?
   "I almost fell asleep because it was kind of boring," Zhuk admitted.

   Still, she wasn't disappointed.
   "The food was really good, and I got to see Serena (Williams) and (Novak) Djokovic," crowed Zhuk, adding that she did not dance. "It was fun, but I was really tired. I left early because I had an early flight in the morning."
   Zhuk didn't have to buy a dress for the ball.
   "In the locker room, they bring so many new dresses, and you can choose, and they do makeup and hair," she noted. "I chose a black dress that was long in the back with a long cut on the side. Then I had some curls in the hair and the smoky eye makeup. I planned it all out."
   Maybe someday Zhuk will go to the Wimbledon ball as a women's finalist. She's off to a good start on the pro tour.
  Zhuk reached the final of a $140,000 tournament in Newport Beach, Calif., in January and the third round of the prestigious BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March. In the BNP, she defeated France's Alize Cornet, who beat Serena Williams three times in 2014 (including a third-round win at Wimbledon and a retirement), and Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year.
   Zhuk is scheduled to face top-seeded Madison Brengle, 28, for the first time on Saturday at 11 a.m. Brengle, ranked No. 95 after climbing to a career-high No. 35 in 2015, routed fellow American Ann Li, the Wimbledon girls runner-up last year, 6-2, 6-1 in 63 minutes.
   Also on Saturday at 11, second-seeded Jessica Pegula will play unseeded Danielle Lao in an all-American matchup.

Top-seeded Jordan Thompson of Australia beat another
former Wimbledon junior champion, sixth-seeded Noah
Rubin of Long Island, N.Y., 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3. Photo
by Paul Bauman

   Pegula, the 24-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, defeated qualifier Amra Sadikovic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-0.
   Lao, 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters) and slightly built, outclassed Whitney Osuigwe, a 16-year-old phenom from Bradenton, 6-2, 6-0 in 90 minutes. Osuigwe (pronounced (Oh-SIG-way) last year became the first American to win the French Open girls singles title since Jennifer Capriati in 1989.
   Pegula reached the final of the inaugural $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2012, before injuries derailed her career, and her first WTA final in Quebec City as a qualifier three weeks ago.
   Lao, a 27-year-old former USC All-American, has qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, losing in the first round each time.
   Pegula, who has played all week with left thigh wrapped, is 2-1 against Lao. They have not met in more than two years. In their first encounter, Lao won 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round of the inaugural Stockton Challenger in 2015.
   Another former Wimbledon junior champion, Noah Rubin of Long Island, N.Y., did not fare as well as Zhuk. Then again, the sixth-seeded Rubin faced the top seed in the $100,000 men's tournament. Jordan Thompson of Australia defeated the 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Rubin 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3 in 2 hours, 35 minutes.
   Thompson reached a career-high No. 63 in February 2017 and stunned top-ranked Andy Murray in the first round of a Wimbledon tune-up tournament in London last year. Thompson has dropped to No. 106 after having his tonsils removed late last year.
    Rubin, a product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, won the Wimbledon boys singles title in 2014 and advanced to the Stockton final two years ago.

Unseeded Maxime Janvier of France saved four match points in his
7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over Barbados' Darian King, last year's
runner-up in Stockton. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The 6-foot (1.83-meter) Thompson, 24, will face 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) South African Lloyd Harris, 21, for the first time at 11 a.m. Harris, seeded fourth and ranked No. 121, eliminated 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) Christopher Eubanks, an unseeded American, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3.
   Harris advanced to the final of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in August and won an ATP match for the first time last week. As a qualifier in Chengdu, China, Harris ousted 38th-ranked Gael Monfils, who attained a career high of No. 6 in November 2016, in the first round before losing to eventual champion Bernard Tomic of Australia in a third-set tiebreaker.
   In Saturday's second men's semifinal, eighth-seeded Marc Polmans of Australia will meet unseeded Maxime Janvier of France for the first time in a matchup of 21-year-olds.
   Polmans, ranked No. 161, topped Liam Broady of Great Britain 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Janvier, ranked No. 272, saved four match points in a 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over Barbados' Darian King, last year's runner-up in Stockton, in 2 hours, 38 minutes.
   "I'm very happy because I played very well at the end of the third set," said Janvier, who survived 32 aces by second-seeded Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) American, in the opening round.
   Janvier took a medical timeout at 3-3 in the second set for a left foot injury.
   Daily ticket prices are $25 for courtside/VIP, $20 for general admission and $10 for children 5-12.
   Here are the Stockton men's singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule, plus the women's singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule. The men's tournament is being streamed live.
   Here are the singles qualifying draw and Saturday's schedule in the $100,000 Northbay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship at Solano Community College in Fairfield, Calif.

Thiem upsets Anderson to reach U.S. Open quarters

Kevin Anderson of the host Sacramento Capitals serves in
a 2012 World TeamTennis match. Photo by Paul Bauman

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   Dominic Thiem's chances against Kevin Anderson didn't look good.
   Anderson was 6-1 against Thiem entering their fourth-round match today in the U.S. Open, with Thiem's victory coming on clay in their last meeting in May.
   The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson had reached last year's U.S. Open final, while the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Thiem had never advanced past the fourth round in Flushing Meadows.
   Anderson, 32, also had something of a home-court advantage. Although he's South African, he starred at the University of Illinois and lives in Florida with his American wife. Thiem, from Austria, has no such connections to the United States.
   None of it mattered, as the ninth-seeded Thiem beat the fifth-seeded Anderson 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (2) at Louis Armstrong Stadium. Thiem won 41 of 45 points (91 percent) on his first serve and 30 of 46 (65 percent) on his second serve, faced no break points, had 42 winners and only 13 unforced errors, and won 19 of 22 points (86 percent) at the net.
   "I served really, really well today," Thiem, who will turn 25 on Monday, told reporters. "Not the best percentage (49), but I almost made every point in the first-serve game. So I didn't face one break point, and I didn't feel so much pressure on service games.
   "So it was a little it easier to play the return games. I could change my return position, and this helped me a lot. And also the court, I think, made a big difference. It's a huge court. I could go very far back like I do on clay usually."
   Thiem is scheduled to play No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal on Tuesday in a rematch of this year's French Open final, won by the Spaniard 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal leads the head-to-head series, all on clay, 7-3.
   In the other quarterfinal in the top half of the draw, No. 3 seed Juan Martin del Potro will meet No. 11 John Isner. Del Potro, who has had four wrist operations since winning the 2009 U.S. Open, dismissed No. 20 Borna Coric of Croatia. Isner topped Milos Raonic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
   Del Potro, who will turn 30 on Sept. 23, is 7-4 against Isner, 33, but Isner has won four of the last seven meetings.
   In the women's quarterfinals in the top half of the draw, No. 17 seed Serena Williams will face No. 8 Karolina Pliskova, and No. 3 Sloane Stephens will play No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
   Williams, a six-time U.S. Open champion who has a residence in Silicon Valley, beat unseeded Kaia Kanepi of Latvia 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. Kanepi stunned No. 1 seed Simona Halep in the first round.
   Pliskova, the U.S. Open runner-up two years ago to Angelique Kerber, beat No. 18 Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-4, 6-4.
   Williams, who will turn 37 on Sept. 26, and Pliskova, 26, have split two career matches. Williams won 7-5, 6-2 in the second round at Stanford in 2014, and Pliskova triumphed 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the U.S. Open semifinals in 2016.
   Stephens, a 25-year-old Fresno product, outclassed No. 15 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 6-3. Sevastova, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist for the past two years, topped No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.
   Stephens is 2-1 against Sevastova, 28, winning 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) in last year's U.S. Open quarterfinals and 6-2, 6-2 last month in the Montreal quarters.
   In the third round of women's doubles today, No. 2 seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France defeated No. 14 Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of Sacramento and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-3, 6-4. Babos and Mladenovic won the Australian Open this year and reached the 2014 Wimbledon final.

Djokovic defeats Anderson for fourth Wimbledon title

Novak Djokovic poses with the Serbian flag after winning the 2015
BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Fittingly, the sun shone during the men's singles final today at Wimbledon.
   After a dark two years, bright days have returned for Novak Djokovic.
   Gone are the elbow problems and resulting doubts, loss of confidence and frustration.
   Back are the burning desire, phenomenal movement, incredible balance, lightning-fast reflexes on his return of serve, and punishing groundstrokes.
   Djokovic downed Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) today for his fourth Wimbledon singles crown and first major title since completing a career Grand Slam in the 2016 French Open. He improved to 4-1 in Wimbledon finals, losing in 2013 when Andy Murray became the first British champion in 77 years.
   "It's sacred," Djokovic, who saved four set points in the third set, told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi of his latest title. "The Centre Court, this trophy, is truly special. I've had the honor and privilege to compete in the Wimbledon final today for the fifth time. Every time I get to compete, it's truly special and different.
   "Today, obviously, my son (3-year-old Stefan) was in the stands together with my wife, and that was a very special moment. He wasn't a part of the match because we have to respect the rules here -- he's under 5 years old. But he was there to witness the trophy ceremony. I didn't want to talk about it, but that was definitely one of the biggest motivations I had the last couple of months.  I still can't wait for him to actually be there for one match. I think it might happen in U.S. Open."
   With his 13th Grand Slam singles title, the 31-year-old Djokovic broke a tie with Roy Emerson and moved within one of his idol, Pete Sampras, in third place. Roger Federer has won 20 and Rafael Nadal 17.

KEVIN ANDERSON

   The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, meanwhile, fell to 0-2 in major finals, losing all six sets. Of course, he has had the misfortune of facing Nadal in last year's U.S. Open and Djokovic.
   Anderson has played several times in Northern California, but Djokovic never has. Anderson won the 2006 NCAA doubles title at Stanford and reached the singles final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in the Sacramento suburb of Loomis in 2007. In 2012, he advanced to the singles quarterfinals of the SAP Open in San Jose and played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis. The SAP Open and Capitals folded after the 2013 season.
   Djokovic failed to reach a Grand Slam semifinal last year after advancing to three major finals in 2016 (also winning the Australian Open). He fired his longtime coach (Marian Vajda), fitness specialist and physiotherapist in April 2017, and rumors swirled that he was having marital troubles. Djokovic and his wife Jelena, who were high school sweethearts in Serbia, also have a 1-year-old daughter, Tara.
   ESPN analyst John McEnroe last year went so far as to compare Djokovic to Tiger Woods. Replied Djokovic: "He has the right to say the things he wants to say. I don't necessarily need to agree with that."
   At Wimbledon in 2017, Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal against Tomas Berdych with an elbow injury that he said had been bothering him for a year and a half. Djokovic sat out the rest of the season and returned for the Australian Open in January. After losing to South Korea's Hyeon Chung, then 21, in three close sets in the fourth round at Melbourne, Djokovic underwent surgery and missed six more weeks.
   Djokovic changed his service motion to reduce stress on his elbow, switched rackets and brought back Vajda. Djokovic failed to win a match at Indian Wells and Miami in his first two tournaments back but reached the semifinals of the Italian Open, losing to Nadal, and quarterfinals of the French Open, falling to unheralded Italian Marco Cecchinato.
   After the loss in Paris, a distraught Djokovic said he didn't know if he would play the grass-court season. But he took a wild card at Queen's Club in London and held a match point against Marin Cilic in the final before losing. 
   "After everything I've been through the last couple of years -- the injury; the moments of doubt and disappointment and frustration; not playing at (my accustomed) level; getting out of top 20; and having surgery -- I must admit there were several times when I thought I might not be able to get back to (this) level," Djokovic, who rose from No. 21 to No. 10 with the title, told Rinaldi. "I changed the racket and several different things -- I had to (revamp) the entire game -- and here I am today.
   "It's easy to talk now, but I'm truly grateful to God and to all the people that have been close to me -- my family, my friends, my team. It's been a roller coaster ride the last two years, but there's no better place to make a comeback."
   Djokovic's resurgence isn't surprising. After enduring Grand Slam title droughts, Federer and Nadal combined to win six straight majors until Djokovic ended the streak today.
   Both the 12th-seeded Djokovic and the eighth-seeded Anderson survived grueling semifinals. But Anderson's took a bigger toll, even though -- unlike Djokovic -- he had Saturday to rest.
   Anderson needed 6 hours, 36 minutes to vanquish 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner 26-24 in the fifth set on Friday in the fourth-longest match in tennis history. That followed Anderson's 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 win over Federer, the top seed and defending champion, that lasted a mere 4 hours, 14 minutes on Wednesday. Anderson saved a match point in the third set.
   Djokovic's 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 10-8 semifinal victory over Nadal in 5 hours, 15 minutes was suspended by curfew after three sets on Friday because of the length of the Anderson-Isner battle.
   In all, Anderson spent 21 hours on the court in six matches before the final.
   "I'm definitely not feeling as fresh now as I was coming into the week, but it's such an amazing tournament for all of us players," the 32-year-old South African, who committed 32 errors in the final to Djokovic's 13, told the BBC. "We dedicate our whole lives to trying to fight for a spot on this court. Over the last while, it's only been a few individuals who have made it out here, so that's what it took for me to get here. I would have given another 21 hours to have the opportunity to play out here. It really meant a lot to me."

Amazing shot helps Anderson top Isner in epic

Kevin Anderson of the host Sacramento Capitals serves in
a 2012 World TeamTennis match. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Occasionally, a professional player will hit a shot with his or her non-dominant hand out of desperation in a match.
   But never has it happened under such extraordinary circumstances as it did on Friday.
   At 24-24, 0-15 in the fifth set of a Wimbledon semifinal, 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner jammed 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Kevin Anderson with a booming serve. Anderson managed to return the ball with his two-handed backhand but fell on his back and dropped his racket.
   Isner responded with a deep, looping inside-out forehand that gave Anderson time to pick up his racket and get back on his feet. The right-hander's only play, however, was to hit a left-handed forehand, which he did with aplomb, the ball landing just inside the baseline. After an exchange of forehands, Isner slugged a cross-court forehand wide for 0-30.
   "That definitely brings a smile to my face," Anderson told the BBC about the left-handed shot after his 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-4, 26-24 triumph. "At that stage, you're just trying to fight every single moment. I was like, Just get up.
   "I've hit a lot of left-handed balls throughout my life. (I had) surgery when I was quite young. My dad, who coached me growing up and throughout my career, he was like, 'Let's play left-handed.' I didn't know that was going to come into play at this point in my career, at this stage, but that was obviously a vital point for me in the end."
   The stroke overshadowed another outstanding shot on the preceding point. Anderson lunged for a forehand volley and hit a sharply angled cross-court winner. He broke serve in the game on a cross-court backhand winner set up by a deep backhand return of serve.
   Serving at 15-15 in the next game, Anderson clubbed an ace and a service winner for his first match point. He then wrong-footed Isner, who pushed a runaround forehand wide to end the epic.
   At 6 hours, 36 minutes, Anderson's 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-4, 26-24 victory is the fourth-longest match in tennis history. First, of course, is Isner's 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 win over Nicolas Mahut of France in the first round at Wimbledon in 2010.  That marathon lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes over three days. Next are a 2013 Davis Cup doubles match between the Czech Republic and Switzerland  (7 hours, 2 minutes) and a 2015 Davis Cup singles match between Argentina and Brazil (6 hours, 43 minutes).
   "I don't know what got me through today's match other than just a will to try to succeed, keep pushing myself," said the eight-seeded Anderson, who became the first South Africa-born man to reach a Wimbledon final since Kevin Curren 33 years ago.

John Isner serves at Indian Wells in 2016.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Isner came within two points of victory at 6-5 in the fifth set and overcame 0-30 deficits on his serve six times in the set, which lasted 2 hours, 55 minutes, before the decisive break.
   "I feel pretty terrible (physically)," said the ninth-seeded Isner, who finished with 53 aces to Anderson's 49. "My left heel is killing me. I have an awful blister on my fight foot. I've felt better before. A few days' rest -- maybe more than that -- and I'll recoup and try to get all healed up again.
   "Hats off to Kevin. He stayed the course incredibly well, played very well. It was a good win for him. He earned it. He played pretty well, I think, in the fifth set. I didn't have many chances."
   The match left Anderson and ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe clamoring for Wimbledon to institute a fifth-set tiebreaker.
   Anderson, 32, improved to 4-8 against Isner, 33, as a professional. They began playing each other 14 years ago as college students at Illinois and Georgia, respectively.
   Anderson, who saved a match point in his quarterfinal victory over top seed and defending champion Roger Federer, reached his second Grand Slam final. He lost to Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in last year's U.S. Open title match.
   Isner, playing in his first Grand Slam semifinal, was trying to become the first American man to reach a major final since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer 16-14 in the fifth set in 2009. No U.S. man has won a Slam since Roddick in the 2003 U.S. Open.
   Both Anderson, who resides in Florida with his American wife, and Isner, a native of Greensboro, N.C., who lives in Dallas with his new wife, have played extensively in Northern California.
   Anderson won the 2006 NCAA doubles title at Stanford and reached the final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in the Sacramento suburb of Loomis in 2007. In 2012, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in San Jose and played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis. The SAP Open and Capitals folded after the 2013 season.
   Isner reached Futures finals in Chico in 2006 and Shingle Springs in the Sacramento area in 2007, winning his first title as a pro in the latter tournament. Ten years ago, Isner advanced to the quarterfinals of the SAP Open and gained the doubles final in the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger with countryman Rajeev Ram.
   It's uncertain how much physical and mental energy Anderson will have left for Sunday's final (6 a.m. California time on ESPN). On the other hand, at least he has today to rest. The length of his match against Isner prevented the second semifinal from being completed on Friday. Play will resume today at 5 a.m., also on ESPN, with 12th-seeded Novak Djokovic leading the second-seeded Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9). Djokovic, who's rebounding from elbow problems, has won three Wimbledon singles titles (2011, 2014 and 2015) and Nadal two (2008 and 2010).
   After the Djokovic-Nadal encounter, No. 25 seed Serena Williams will try to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles when she meets No. 11 Angelique Kerber. ESPN will televise the match live, and ABC will replay it at noon.
   Following the women's singles final, No. 7 seeds Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) and Jack Sock of the United States will play No. 13 Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand for the men's doubles title.

Anderson stuns Federer in Wimbledon marathon

Kevin Anderson of the host Sacramento Capitals serves
in a 2012 World TeamTennis match. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Eleven years ago, Kevin Anderson lost to fellow prospect Scoville Jenkins in two close sets in the final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in the Sacramento suburb of Loomis.
   Jenkins retired three years later at age 23. He is now the associate head coach at the University of Wisconsin.
   The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, meanwhile, has risen to No. 8 in the world.
   Anderson took another big step in his career today, shocking top seed and defending champion Roger Federer 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
   Anderson, seeded eighth, saved a match point while serving at 4-5 in the third set of the 4-hour, 14-minute battle.
   In another dramatic quarterfinal, second-seeded Rafael Nadal subdued fifth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro 7-5, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in 4 hours, 48 minutes.
   Although the 32-year-old Anderson is from South Africa, he is practically American. He starred at the University of Illinois, where he met his American wife, and lives in Gulf Stream, Fla.
   "I have already gotten tons of messages from support back home," Anderson, the first South African man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since Kevin Curren in 1983, told reporters. "Obviously at this sort of event, playing against an opponent like Roger is going to have a lot of coverage. Again, I really hope it's an example of sticking to your dreams and keep believing in yourself. ... It's not easy coming from South Africa; it's very far from the tennis scene. ... "
   The Loomis final is not Anderson's only tie to Northern California. He won the 2006 NCAA doubles title at Stanford and in 2012 reached the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in San Jose and played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis. The SAP Open and Capitals folded after the 2013 season.
   Against Federer, Anderson belted 28 aces and prevented the Swiss star from breaking his own record of 34 consecutive sets won at Wimbledon.
   "He's got a nice, big serve that he can rely heavily on," said Federer, who had never lost a set in four career matches against Anderson. "There's nothing really that shocked me because I've seen Kevin play many, many times in the past. Even if the matches have been maybe sometimes one-sided ... you always know he can pick it up, and all of a sudden you won't see breaks for some time."
   Anderson will face 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, seeded ninth, on Friday in a bid to reach his second Grand Slam final. Nadal drubbed Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the U.S. Open last September.
   Isner, 33, beat 13th-seeded Milos Raonic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first major semifinal.
   Like Anderson, Isner played in the final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in the Sacramento region in 2007. Isner won the title in Shingle Springs, his first as a professional.
   Raonic never lost a set in the SAP Open, winning the last three crowns.
   Isner is 8-3 against Anderson with victories in their last five matches. This will be their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament.
   Nadal will play resurgent Novak Djokovic, seeded 12th. Djokovic defeated 15th-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2016 U.S. Open.
   Djokovic has won Wimbledon three times (2011, 2014 and 2015), and Nadal has captured the title twice (2008 and 2010).
   You might say Djokovic, 31, and Nadal, 32, have a rivalry. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 26-25. Nadal has won the last two matches, which followed seven consecutive victories by Djokovic.
   This will be the pair's first Grand Slam encounter since Djokovic won in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the 2015 French Open and their first meeting at Wimbledon since Djokovic triumphed in four sets in the 2011 final.
   In today's women's doubles quarterfinals, unseeded Alicja Rosolska of Poland and Abigail Spears of Colorado Springs, Colo., ousted top-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-6 (4), 6-3.
   Babos and Mladenovic won this year's Australian Open for their first major title together. Mladenovic also won the French Open with compatriot Caroline Garcia in 2016.
   The women's singles semifinals are set for Thursday. No. 11 seed Angelique Kerber will meet No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko at 5 a.m. California time, followed by No. 13 Julia Goerges against No. 25 Serena Williams. ESPN will televise both matches.

Querrey falls in final; Stanford loses heartbreaker

Kevin Anderson of the Sacramento Capitals serves in a
2012 World TeamTennis match in the Sacramento area.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Talk about anticlimactic ...
   Today's final between top-seeded Kevin Anderson and second-seeded Sam Querrey, a 30-year-old San Francisco native, in the inaugural New York Open came down to a tiebreaker.
   But Anderson reeled off the first six points, leading the normally mild-mannered Querrey to slam his racket on the court, and then won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in Uniondale, N.Y.
   The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson slammed 16 aces in the match, and the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey had nine. Each player double-faulted once.
   Anderson won all four of his matches in three sets, three of them in third-set tiebreakers, after receiving a first-round bye. The 31-year-old South African, who lives in Florida with his American wife, won his fourth career title and first since 2015.
   Anderson had been 3-11 in ATP finals, including a loss to Gilles Simon of France in Pune, India, during the first week of this year.
   "I have been runner-up quite a few times in my career," Anderson, a former University of Illinois star (2005-07), lamented to reporters. "One of the big goals I had for this year was to try to be a bit more successful in that final stage. I fell a little short earlier this year in India, and it feels great to come through and get today's win. It gives me a lot of confidence for the year."
   Anderson, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open in nearby Flushing Meadows, N.Y., last September, will rise two places to a career-high No. 9 in Monday's rankings. He was ranked 10th for one week in 2015.
   Querrey, who was seeking his 11th ATP title, would have moved up one spot to a career-high No. 11 with a victory.
   Anderson improved to 8-9 against Querrey with four victories in their last five matches. They first met in the first round of the 2007 Sacramento Challenger, with Querrey winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
   Both Querrey and Anderson played part-time for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis in 2012, but not together.
   College men -- In a match that came down to a third-set tiebreaker, top-ranked Wake Forest beat No. 5 Stanford 4-3 in the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle.
   In the deciding match on Court 1, 100th-ranked Borna Gojo edged No. 33 Tom Fawcett 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The Cardinal (8-1) twice fought back to even the dual match.
   Wake Forest (8-0) will play No. 7 UCLA (11-1) for the title on Monday. The Bruins, with senior Logan Staggs of Tracy, defeated No. 6 Texas A&M 4-2. Staggs, ranked 58th, beat Valentin Vacherot, ranked 35th, 7-5, 7-5 on Court 4.

Querrey reaches N.Y. final; Stanford advances

   Even the pros forget the score occasionally.
   Second-seeded Sam Querrey, a 30-year-old San Francisco native, didn't realize the match had ended when he beat fourth-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 today in the semifinals of the inaugural New York Open in Uniondale, N.Y.
   Querrey thought he had one more game left after recording his second straight service break.
   "I broke, I kind of gave a fist pump, and I was walking to the bench, then the crowd was a little too loud for just a break of serve," Querrey told reporters. "I looked up and, Oh my gosh, I won."
   Querrey said he couldn't remember losing track of the score before on the ATP World Tour.
   "I think I was just so dialed in because I wanted to beat him so badly because I've never beaten him before," said Querrey, who was 0-3 against the 29-year-old left-hander.
   Querrey, ranked a career-high 12th, will face top-seeded Kevin Anderson, last year's U.S. Open runner-up from South Africa, on Sunday (12:30 p.m. PST on Tennis Channel). Anderson edged fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori, who won the title from 2013 to 2016 when the tournament was played in Memphis, Tenn., 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (4).
   Nishikori was playing in his first ATP tournament since hurting his right wrist in August.
   Anderson, ranked 11th, is guaranteed to return to the top 10 for the first time since October 2015. With his fourth career title, he would climb to a career-high No. 9. Querrey seeks his 11th crown.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey is 9-7 against the 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, but the 31-year-old Anderson has won three of their last four matches. Most recently, Anderson won 7-6 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the U.S. Open quarterfinals last year.
   Querrey and Anderson first met in the 2007 Sacramento Challenger, with Querrey prevailing 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round.  
   College men -- No. 5 Stanford defeated No. 4 Georgia 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Men's Indoor Championship in Seattle.
   Tom Fawcett, ranked 33rd, clinched the victory by beating Wayne Montgomery, ranked 17th, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 on Court 1.
   Stanford, off to its best start in 18 years at 8-0, will face No. 1 Wake Forest (7-0) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The Demon Deacons (7-0) beat No. 8 USC 4-1.

Nadal dominates Anderson for 16th major title

Rafael Nadal, playing at Indian Wells in March, beat Kevin Anderson
6-3, 6-3, 6-4 today for his third U.S. Open title. Photo by Mal Taam

   It had all the suspense of a trip to the dry cleaner.
   Top-ranked Rafael Nadal coasted past 28th-seeded Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 today in the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., for his second Grand Slam singles title of the year and 16th overall. Nadal, 31, ranks second behind 36-year-old Roger Federer, who has 19 Slams.
   It was Nadal's third U.S. Open title and first since 2013. Because of injuries, he failed to advance past the quarterfinals of 10 consecutive majors from Wimbledon in 2014 through last year's U.S. Open.
   "Of course, after a couple of years without competing at this very high, high level," Nadal told reporters, "very happy to be back."
   Anderson, a 31-year-old South African, capitalized on a depleted draw to become the tallest Grand Slam finalist in history at 6-foot-8 (2.03 meters. The top five players in the 2006 year-end rankings -- Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori -- missed the tournament with injuries.
   At No. 32, Anderson was the lowest-ranked U.S. Open men's finalist since the ATP computer rankings began in 1973.
   Anderson has played extensively in Northern California, beginning with his NCAA doubles title in the 2006 tournament at Stanford as an Illinois junior. The following year, he reached the final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in Loomis in the Sacramento area, losing to since-retired American Scoville Jenkins.
   In 2012, Anderson advanced to the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in his only appearance in San Jose and played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis. The SAP Open and Capitals folded after the 2013 season.
   Junior girls -- Not only did the United States sweep the women's semifinal berths, two Americans met in the girls singles final.
   Fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova overpowered unseeded Cori Gauff 6-0, 6-2 in a matchup of 16- and 13-year-old potential superstars, respectively.
   Anisimova, 5-foot-10 (1.83 meters), won the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger in July for her first professional title. She turned pro last September shortly after turning 15.
   Anisimova was born in Freehold Township, N.J., to Russians Konstantin Anisimov and Olga Anisimova. Amanda speaks Russian at home in Aventura, Fla., but has never been to her parents' homeland.
   Junior boys -- No. 2 Yibing Wu of China beat No. 1 Axel Geller, a Stanford freshman from Argentina, 6-4, 6-4 for the title. Geller also was the runner-up at Wimbledon in July.

Anderson, with NorCal ties, to face Nadal in final

Rafael Nadal, right, shakes hands after losing to Roger Federer in the fourth
round at Indian Wells in March. Photo by Mal Taam 

   Alexis Castorri, a Florida sports psychologist, has helped Kevin Anderson become more positive on the court.

   But what's she going to tell him about facing Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open final?
   Good luck? Pray a lot? You're on your own, buddy?
   Nadal is heavily favored to beat Anderson, who has played extensively in Northern California, when they meet on Sunday. ESPN will televise the match beginning at 1 p.m. PDT.
   In Friday's semifinals, a revitalized Nadal dismantled 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, and Anderson defeated Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
   Nadal and Anderson are both 31 (Anderson is two weeks older), but that's where the similarity ends.
   Nadal is a 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) left-hander from Spain. Anderson is a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) right-hander from South Africa, making him the tallest Grand Slam finalist in history.
   Nadal is seeded first and Anderson 28th. That makes Anderson the lowest-seeded U.S. Open finalist since the ATP's computer rankings began in 1973.
   Nadal has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles, second in history behind Roger Federer's 19. Anderson will play in his first major final, thanks largely to the injury absences of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
   "It's nice that some of them gave us a bit of a shot to make a run at this tournament," Anderson quipped to reporters.  
   Anderson is 0-4 against Nadal but does have one advantage. The pressure will be on Nadal. Anderson, with nothing to lose, can hit out on his shots.
   Anderson won the NCAA doubles title in the 2006 tournament at Stanford as an Illinois junior. The following year, he reached the final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in Loomis in the Sacramento area, losing to since-retired American Scoville Jenkins.

   In 2012, Anderson advanced to the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in his only appearance in San Jose and played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis. The SAP Open and Capitals folded after the 2013 season.

   Girls singles -- Cori Gauff, a 13-year-old phenom from Atlanta, defeated Katie Volynets, 15, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-3, 6-2 in a quarterfinal matchup of unseeded players.
   In the semifinals, Gauff will meet unseeded Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina, and fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova of Hallandale Beach, Fla., will play unseeded Emiliana Arango of Colombia.
   Anisimova, 16, won the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger in July for her first professional title.
   Men's Collegiate Invitational  -- Tom Fawcett, a Stanford senior, routed Alfredo Perez, a Florida junior, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the final of the eight-player event.
   Fawcett will face Michael Redlicki, who completed his eligibility at Arkansas in the spring. Redlicki topped Brandon Holt, a USC sophomore and the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.

Fresno product Stephens reaches U.S. Open semis

   There's more to U.S. women's tennis than the Williams sisters.
   Sloane Stephens reached her first Grand Slam semifinal in four years today, edging 16th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) in the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Stephens, a 24-year-old Fresno product, rallied twice from a break down in the final set to become the first American woman other than the Williams sisters in the U.S. Open semis since Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport in 2004.
   Both Stephens and Sevastova have rebounded after extended injury layoffs.
   Stephens, 24, had foot surgery in January and returned to competition in July after missing 11 months.
   "I'm getting teary-eyed," Stephens said afterward in an on-court interview. "This is incredible. When I started my comeback before Wimbledon, I could have never even dreamed of having these results in my home Slam, at my favorite tournament. It's indescribable."
   Sevastova, 27, retired in 2013 for two years because of back problems. She was playing in her second consecutive U.S. Open quarterfinal after sitting out of every Grand Slam tournament for four years (2012-15).
   Stephens, who stunned Serena Williams to reach the 2013 Australian Open semifinals, will face No. 9 seed Venus Williams, a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) winner over No. 13 Petra Kvitova.
   Stephens defeated Venus 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the first round of the 2015 French Open in their only meeting to date.
   It's unlikely, but the United States could monopolize the women's semifinals. In the top half of the draw on Wednesday, No. 20 seed CoCo Vandeweghe will take on No. 1 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, and No. 15 Madison Keys will meet qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
   Meanwhile, the last U.S. hope in men's singles lost. No. 28 seed Kevin Anderson subdued No. 17 Sam Querrey, a 29-year-old San Francisco native, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-3, 7-6 (7) in a 3-hour, 26-minute battle that ended at 1:50 a.m. EDT.
   It was the tallest quarterfinal matchup in a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era, which began in 1968. Anderson is 6-foot-8 (2.03 meters), and Querrey is 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters).
   Anderson will play No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain on Friday in the first major semifinal for both. Carreno Busta, who had surgery for a herniated disc in 2012, dismissed No. 29 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Anderson, 31, is 2-0 against Carreno Busta, 26.
   Fifth-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) advanced to the men's doubles semifinals with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The 39-year-old Bryans will face 11th-seeded Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation) of Spain.
   In junior singles, two players from Northern California moved into the third round.
   Sam Riffice, who was born in Sacramento and lived in nearby Roseville until age 15, dominated Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-0.
   The 18-year-old Riffice, now based at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., has not lost more than three games in a set in the tournament. He will meet Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland for a quarterfinal berth.
   Ruusuvuori upset No. 13 seed Sebastian Korda of Bradenton, Fla., 6-3, 6-3. Korda is the son of Czechs Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion, and Regina Rajchrtova, who lost in the first round of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
   Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area defeated Natasha Subhash of Fairfax, Va., in the Washington, D.C., area 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
   Volynets, a 15-year-old Walnut Creek native whose parents are from Ukraine, will play Anastasia Kharitonova of Russia. Kharitonova ousted top seed and reigning French Open junior champion Whitney Osuigwe of Bradenton 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

High hopes: Querrey, Anderson to meet in U.S. Open

    Ten years ago, two towering prospects met for the first time in the opening round of the $75,000 Sacramento Challenger at the venerable Sutter Lawn Tennis Club.
   On Tuesday, Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson will square off for a berth in the U.S. Open semifinals.
   The 17th-seeded Querrey, a San Francisco native, dismantled 23rd-seeded Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour, 16 minutes in Sunday's late match at 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Zverev, the older brother of sixth-ranked Alexander Zverev, stunned then-No. 1 Andy Murray to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January.
   South Africa's Anderson, seeded 28th, defeated Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4 during the day session in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey ripped 55 winners, including 18 aces, and committed just eight unforced errors in the fastest men's match of the tournament.
   "I really couldn't have done anything better out there tonight," Querrey, 29, crowed in his on-court interview. "It was my first time playing out here at night, so I wanted to make the most of it.
   "I was a little nervous at first, but I came out playing hot. Tennis is a game of momentum, and once I broke early, I felt like I was off to the races. I felt comfortable three minutes into the match, and that was the key."
   With the win, Querrey will become the No. 1 American for the first time since July 2013. He currently is third at No. 21 behind John Isner (No. 15) and Jack Sock (No. 16).
   On the women's side, Fresno product Sloane Stephens also reached the quarterfinals by beating a seeded German. Stephens, who had foot surgery in January, topped No. 30 Julia Goerges 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
  Stephens, who ousted Serena Williams to advance to the Australian Open semifinals in 2013, will face 16th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia for the first time.
   Sevastova defeated wild card Maria Sharapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to move into the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
   Querrey is the first American man to gain the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick and Isner in 2011 and the only one remaining in singles this year.
   The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, though, might as well be American. A 31-year-old veteran, he starred at the University of Illinois (2005-07), has an American wife and lives in Gulf Stream, Fla.
   Both Querrey and Anderson played part-time for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis in 2012, but not together.
   Querrey is 9-6 against the 32nd-ranked Anderson, beginning with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory in Sacramento. They have split two matches this year, Querrey prevailing in five sets in the fourth round at Wimbledon in July and Anderson winning 6-4, 6-1 in the third round in Montreal last month.
   Their half of the draw will produce a first-time Grand Slam finalist, and the stars seem aligned for Querrey.
   Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are in the other half of the draw. The highest seed in Querrey and Anderson's half is No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain. Murray, Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori -- the top five players, in order, in the 2016 year-end rankings -- missed the tournament with injuries.
   Also, Querrey is riding a wave of confidence after advancing to his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon and winning Los Cabos last month to give him a "Sombrero Double" with the Acapulco title in March.
   Last but not least, Querrey will have the support of the boisterous New York crowd.
   Anderson, meanwhile, will play in his second major quarterfinal. He lost to Wawrinka at that stage two years ago in the U.S. Open after upsetting Murray in the round of 16.
   In the first round of the junior tournaments at Flushing Meadows, two players from Northern California beat seeds in singles.
   Sam Riffice, an 18-year-old Sacramento native now based in Orlando, Fla., knocked off No. 4 Yuta Shimizu of Japan 6-3, 6-2. And Katie Volynets, 15, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, took out No. 13 Emily Appleton of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4.

DOUBLES RESULTS
(Matches involving players with Northern California connections)

Women's doubles

Second round

   Timea Babos, Hungary, and Andrea Hlavackova (5), Czech Republic, def. Raquel Atawo (Fresno native; Cal, 2001-04; San Jose resident), United States, and Sabine Lisicki, Germany, 6-3, 6-4. 
   Kiki Bertens, Netherlands, and Johanna Larsson (11), Sweden, def. Julia Boserup and Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13), United States, 6-2, 6-3.

Mixed doubles

Second round

   Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic, and Marcin Matkowski (8), Poland, def. Raquel Atawo (Fresno native; Cal, 2001-04; San Jose resident), United States, and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistan, 3-6, 6-3 [10-4].

Querrey (singles), Bellis (doubles) reach quarters

Sam Querrey, right, plays doubles with Gilles Muller of Luxembourg at Indian Wells
in March. Both players today reached the Wimbledon singles quarterfinals. Muller
ousted two-time champion Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13
in 4 hours, 48 minutes. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Two San Francisco natives today reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, one in singles and one in doubles.
   And another Northern California product scored an upset in the first round of boys singles.
   No. 24 seed Sam Querrey, 29, outlasted Kevin Anderson of South Africa 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (11), 6-3 to advance to the Wimbledon quarters for the second consecutive year. Both players were trying to reach their second Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   Meanwhile, CiCi Bellis teamed with fellow 18-year-old Marketa Vondrousova, from the Czech Republic, to defeat Ukrainians Lyudmyla Kichenok and Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-2.
   Also, Sam Riffice, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, topped fourth-seeded Yu Hsiou Hsu of Taiwan 6-4, 7-5.
   Querrey now lives in Santa Monica in the Los Angeles area. Bellis recently bought a house in Orlando, Fla., the home of the USTA National Campus.
   Anderson saved four match points in the fourth-set tiebreaker and one at 2-5 in the fifth set.
   Both Querrey, 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), and Anderson, 6-foot-8 (2.03 meters), hammered 31 aces in the 3-hour, 7-minute battle. Querrey committed only one double fault to Anderson's five. Querrey had 59 winners and only 18 unforced errors versus Anderson's 66 and 28.
   Querrey, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon last year, now must overcome a huge obstacle to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal. He is scheduled to face top seed and defending champion Andy Murray, a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 winner over volatile Frenchman Benoit Paire, on Wednesday.
   "This match was by far the best, the cleanest, I have hit the ball here," Murray, who advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the 10th consecutive year, crowed to reporters. "I has happy about that. Last couple of days, practice has been really good as well. I didn't feel great during my last match. I didn't feel like I played so well, not loads of rhythm in the first two matches. I definitely felt better today."
   Murray, a 30-year-old Scot, withdrew from two exhibitions before Wimbledon with a sore hip and hobbled between points against Paire.
   "I said at the beginning of the tournament, I'll be able to get through seven matches, if that's what I have to do," Murray said. "Obviously I want to try to get to the final. And, yeah, I've done a good job so far here."
   Murray is 7-1 against Querrey. They have met only once since 2014, with Murray winning 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round of this year's Australian Open. They also faced each other in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2010, with Murray triumphing 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
   "He makes a ton of balls," Querrey said. "He plays great defense. ... Hopefully I can make that extra ball or close out a little harder at the net, try not to let him dictate with his defense.
   "It's going to be tough. I've played him in the past, like in Australia, many times before that. He's playing at a high level. He's the defending champion, No. 1 in the world. He loves playing here. The crowd is going to be behind him. But sometimes it's fun to go out there and play where the crowd is behind the other player 100 percent. I'm going to try to play aggressive, hopefully play well, and sneak out a win."
   Bellis and Vondrousova, the girls runners-up in the 2014 French Open, are set to take on ninth-seeded Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Monica Niculescu of Romania on Wednesday. Chan and Niculescu held off Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and Ana Konjuh of Croatia 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4.
   Riffice is scheduled to face Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine of France on Tuesday. Bittoun Kouzmine defeated Anton Matusevich of Great Britain 6-3, 3-0, retired.

Querrey upsets Tsonga to reach Wimbledon last 16

   Sam Querrey needed only one game today to pull off a big upset in the third round at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year.
   The 24th-seeded Querrey broke 12th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's serve to win 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-5 in the completion of a match that had been suspended by darkness on Friday night.
   Querrey, a 29-year-old San Francisco native, avenged a marathon loss to Tsonga, a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, three years ago at the All England Club and improved his career record against the 32-year-old Frenchman to 2-4. Tsonga won 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 14-12 in the second round at Wimbledon in 2014.
   Querrey stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon last year en route to the quarterfinals. Djokovic was ranked No. 1 at the time and had won the past two Wimbledon titles.
   Another San Francisco native, 18-year-old CiCi Bellis, reached the round of 16 in women's doubles. But the Grand Slam drought of former Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan continued in men's doubles.
   Querrey now lives in Santa Monica in the Los Angeles area, and Bellis is based in Orlando, Fla.
   Querrey, ranked No. 28, will try to return to the quarterfinals when he meets Kevin Anderson, unseeded at No. 42, on Monday. The winner will play either top seed and defending champion Andy Murray or Benoit Paire of France.
   Anderson, a 31-year-old South African and former NCAA doubles champion at Illinois, eliminated qualifier Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Friday. Bemelmans, a 29-year-old left-hander, won the $25,000 Burlingame (Calif.) Futures title last October.
   Querrey and Anderson have much in common and know each other well on the court. Both:
   --Are tall. Anderson is 6-foot-8 (2.03 meters), and Querrey is 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters).
   --Are former top-20 players who have fought back from injuries. Their career highs are No. 10 (Anderson in 2015) and No. 17 (Querrey in 2011).

   --Have reached one Grand Slam quarterfinal. Anderson advanced to the quarters in the 2015 U.S. Open, ending Murray's streak of reaching at least the last eight in 18 straight Slams.

   --Played part-time for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis, Querrey in 2012 and 2013 and Anderson in 2012.
   Querrey leads the head-to-head series 8-5, but Anderson has won four of the past six matches. Their last meeting came more than two years ago, a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory by Anderson in the second round at Miami in 2015.
   The players have met once on grass, a 7-5, 6-3 win by Querrey in the second round at Queen's Club in London in 2009. Their first meeting occurred 10 years ago in the opening round of the Sacramento Challenger as Querrey prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
   In women's doubles today, Bellis and Marketa Vondrousova, an 18-year-old Czech, defeated Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-2, 6-4.
   Bellis and Vondrousova, the girls doubles runners-up in the 2014 French Open, will play Ukrainians Lyudmyla Kichenok and Lesia Tsurenko on Monday.
   Kichenok and Tsurenko received a walkover against top-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic following Mattek-Sands' gruesome knee injury in singles.
   The fifth-seeded Bryan twins, 39, lost to Marcin Matkowski of Poland and Max Mirnyi, 40, of Belarus 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round. It was the Bryans' second consecutive loss in the second round of a Slam after their runner-up finish in the Australian Open. They won the last of their record 16 major men's doubles titles in the 2014 U.S. Open.

Bellis, 16, loses to Anderson in 100K Midland

Robin Anderson, 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters), beat CiCi
Bellis, 16, of Atherton 7-5, 6-3 in the second round
in Midland, Mich. 2013 photo by Paul Bauman

   CiCi Bellis could not back up her big win in the $100,000 Dow Corning Tennis Classic.

   The 16-year-old amateur from Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area lost to wild card Robin Anderson of Matawan, N.J., 7-5, 6-3 today in the second round in Midland, Mich.

   Bellis, the world's top junior at 15 in 2014, had ousted No. 2 seed and defending champion Tatjana Maria of Germany in the first round.

   The 22-year-old Anderson, only 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters), will play another U.S. teenager, qualifier Alexandra Sanford, in Friday's quarterfinals.

   The 17-year-old Sanford, who plans to attend the University of North Carolina in the fall, eliminated American Alexa Glatch 6-4, retired.

   In tonight's last match, third-seeded Nicole Gibbs of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles region and Taylor Townsend of Atlanta beat Anderson and Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
   Gibbs won the 2012 NCAA doubles title with Stanford teammate Mallory Burdette.
   Townsend in 2012 became the first U.S. girl to hold the year-end No. 1 junior ranking since Gretchen Rush in 1982. The following year, Townsend played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis. 

   Gibbs and Townsend will play the winner of Friday's match between top-seeded Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez, a Modesto product, and wild cards Bellis and Ingrid Neel, 17, of Rochester, Minn. 

   Muhammad and Sanchez won the Maui doubles title last week.

Anderson shocks Murray to reach U.S. Open quarters

Kevin Anderson of the Sacramento Capitals serves in a
2012 World TeamTennis match in the Sacramento suburb
of Citrus Heights. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Andy Murray had reached at least the quarterfinals in 18 straight Grand Slam tournaments.
   Kevin Anderson had been 0-7 in the fourth round of Slams.
   Both streaks ended on Monday as the 15th-seeded Anderson stunned the third-seeded Murray 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (0) at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   "Disappointing to lose because of that," Murray, 28, said of his success in majors. "Obviously, that's many years' work that's gone into building that sort of consistency."
   The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson blasted 25 aces and had 81 winners against Murray, who won the 2012 U.S. Open in addition to Wimbledon the following year.
   "I'm a little lost for words right now," the 29-year-old South African, who has an American wife and a home in Delray Beach, Fla., said after the tournament's longest match at 4 hours, 18 minutes. "I just managed to keep my composure throughout."
   Unlike against Novak Djokovic in the fourth round at Wimbledon two months ago. Anderson lost after leading two sets to none. 
   But now Anderson has a good chance to reach the U.S. Open semifinals, even though he will face another two-time Grand Slam champion, fifth-seeded Stan Wawrinka, in the quarters. Anderson has beaten Wawrinka, who defeated American Donald Young in four sets, four straight times after losing their first three matches.

Andy Murray, shown at Indian Wells in March,
had reached at least the quarterfinals in 18 straight
Grand Slam tournaments. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In a night match, second-seeded Roger Federer beat hard-serving John Isner, seeded 13th, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6), 7-5. The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner had never been shut out in 428 tour-level tiebreakers, according to the ATP.
   With Isner and Young eliminated, there are no U.S. men in the quarterfinals for the 16th straight Grand Slam tournament. Isner was the last to get that far, in the 2011 U.S. Open. That's the only time an active American has accomplished the feat. Robby Ginepri, a U.S. Open semifinalist 10 years ago, retired on Aug. 27 at 32.
    Federer, a five-time U.S. Open champion (2004-08), will face 12th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France in the quarters. Gasquet beat sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
   The last two women's quarterfinals also were set. No. 2 Simona Halep of Romania will meet No. 20 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and No. 5 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic will play No. 26 Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
   Halep had her left thigh wrapped and rewrapped several times in her draining 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-2 victory over No. 24 Sabine Lisicki of Germany.
   Pennetta, 33, defeated No. 22 Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion from Australia, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the sixth time in eight years.
   Northern California connection -- Murray went 10-0 in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, winning title in 2006 at 18 years old and in 2007. He also won the Aptos Challenger in 2005.
   Anderson, a former All-American at Illinois, reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles final (with Frank Moser of Germany) in the 2012 SAP Open. Later that year, Anderson played part-time for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis.
   Anderson also won the doubles title (with since-retired Scott Oudsema of the United States) in the 2006 Rocklin Futures and was the singles runner-up to since-retired Scoville Jenkins of the U.S. in the 2007 Loomis Futures. Rocklin and Loomis are suburbs of Sacramento.
   Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native and former part-time Sacramento Capital, advanced to the men's doubles quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over wild cards Young and Michael Russell in an all-American matchup.
   The win sent Russell into retirement at 37. Russell compensated for his small size (5-foot-8 or 1.73 meters) with fierce determination. Ranked a career-high No. 60 in 2007, he held a match point against top-ranked and eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten before losing in five sets in the fourth round of the 2001 French Open.
   Also in the third round of men's doubles, Americans Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky lost to third seeds and reigning Wimbledon champions Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania 7-6 (3), 7-5. Lipsky starred at Stanford from 1999 to 2003.

Wimbledon Day 8 recap: Serena rallies again

Serena Williams defeated CoCo Vandeweghe to win
the 2012 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. Will-
iams reached the Wimbledon semifinals, but Vande-
weghe lost to Maria Sharapova. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Match of the day -- Serena Williams pulled off yet another comeback to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since winning the last of her five titles at the All England Club in 2012. The top-ranked Williams defeated former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, seeded 23rd as she rebounds from injuries last year, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Williams, facing a break point at 2-2 in the second set,  Williams reeled off seven straight games to lead 3-0 in the third set.  
   Notable -- No. 20 seed Garbine Muguruza "Bader Ginsburg," 21, of Spain advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over No. 15 Timea "Ted" Bacsinszky of Switzerland.
   No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic, the defending and two-time champion, beat No. 14 Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-7 (6), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. The match had been suspended by darkness on Monday at two sets apiece. In the fifth set, Djokovic saved two break points at 1-2, broke Anderson at 5-5 with the help of two straight double faults and held serve from 0-30 for the win.  
   Women's semifinal matchups -- Williams (1) vs. "Ave" Maria Sharapova (4). Williams leads the head-to-head series 17-2 with 16 straight victories. Williams won the last meeting 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the Australian Open final in January.
   Agnieszka "Moorehead" Radwanska (13) vs. Muguruza (20). The head-to-head series is tied 2-2, all on hardcourts. Muguruza has won the last two meetings, both this year.
   Men's quarterfinal matchups -- Djokovic (1) vs. "Cheech" Marin Cilic (9), Stan "The Man" Wawrinka (4) vs. Richard "Don't Blow A" Gasquet (21), Andy "Bill" Murray (3) vs. Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil, Roger Federer "Express" (2) vs. Gilles Simon "de Beauvoir" (12).
   Stars and stripes -- Two Americans lost in the women's quarterfinals. No. 21 Madison "Where The Hell Are My" Keys fell to Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up to Williams, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3. And unseeded CoCo "Chanel" Vandeweghe succumbed to Sharapova, the 2004 champion, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2.
   No. 1 seeds and three-time men's doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan lost to No. 9 Rohan Bopanna of India and Florin Mergea of Romania 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5) in the quarterfinals.
   The Bryans are 0-3 against Mergea this year, falling to the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) veteran and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain in the round of 16 at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals in Dubai.
   Fast fact --The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson blasted 40 aces in his loss to Djokovic.
   Northern California connection -- The Bryan twins played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, leading the Cardinal to the NCAA team title both years. They are scheduled to play in three of the Sacramento-based California Dream's 14 regular-season matches in World TeamTennis late this month.
   In the second round of girls singles, Michaela Gordon of Saratoga dismissed 15th-seeded Pranjala Yadlapalli of India 6-2, 6-3.
   Quote -- Azarenka: "We just saw today why Serena is No. 1. I haven't seen her play like this, honestly, even the last matches before that."
   Wednesday on TV -- Centre Court (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN): Murray (3) vs. Pospisil, Djokovic (1) vs. Cilic (9).
   Court 1 (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN2): Federer (2) vs. Simon (12), Warwrinka (4) vs. Gasquet (21).

Schnack gives up promising pro career

Yasmin Schnack, shown in last summer's $50,000 FSP Gold River
Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area, lost in the second
round of singles but won the doubles title with Sacramento
Capitals teammate Asia Muhammad. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Yasmin Schnack was on her way in professional tennis.
   After 2 1/2 years on the circuit, the former UCLA All-American was headed toward the top 100 in the world in doubles. She played doubles at Wimbledon with her best friend, Vania King, and helped her hometown Sacramento Capitals come within two points of winning the World TeamTennis title.
   King, a two-time Grand Slam women's doubles champion with career highs of No. 3 in doubles and No. 50 in singles, said Monday that Schnack "is more talented than I am."
   None of it was enough. Weighed down by loneliness, financial considerations and family issues, Schnack retired from pro tennis last November at age 24.
   "I'd be going out (on the minor-league tour) for three, four, five weeks at a time, and I'd be meeting up with friends and players at tournaments, but as far as having someone there with me, my parents weren't there, I didn't have a trainer, I didn't have a coach or hitting partner," Schnack said earlier this month in Sacramento during the $2,000 Rio Del Oro Open, in which she won a three-team round robin in women's doubles with roommate and former Sacramento State standout Clarisse Baca. "After a while, it took a toll on me. I felt burned out and kind of lost that passion and competitiveness to be out there.
   "That was a big factor, and financially it's difficult. Your income is based solely on how you're doing. Some weeks I had great tournaments, and then for a few weeks there was nothing. You're paying for all your expenses -- air fare, hotel, food, equipment, stringing ... Everything just kind of adds up."
   Schnack also feels she needs to be at home.
   "My dad's 82, and his health is deteriorating, so my mom's at home taking care of him," said Schnack, whose Filipina mother, Candida, is almost 30 years younger than her father. "My sister is mentally handicapped, so my mom is really busy taking care of the family. ... My family is so important to me."
   Schnack's father, a retired physician named William, has Parkinson's disease.
   "It's still in the early stages, but I can really see differences with his health," she said. "Every minute I can be at home around him, it makes me feel better, and I know he appreciates me being at home and spending time with him."  
   Schnack, 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters), reached career highs of No. 140 in doubles and No. 371 in singles. She won 11 doubles titles and two singles crowns in tennis' minor leagues.
   In Schnack's Wimbledon main-draw debut last summer, she and King lost to eighth-seeded Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, both of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round. King won the 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open women's doubles titles with Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.
   Schnack played full-time for the Capitals the last two years, along with King for 10 of 14 regular-season matches in 2011 and two during last year's march to the WTT Finals.
   King, also 24, has known Schnack since they were juniors.
   "I've always thought she had amazing potential from when we were little," the 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) King said by telephone. "She never had proper coaching or support. She's more talented than I am.
   "She has the potential to be top 100 in singles and doubles, but things don't always work out the way everyone expects. 'Potential' is a very vague word. A lot of other things come into it."
   But gifted?
   "She has very clean strokes," King said. "She has a great body, great physical ability and an all-court game. She has all the tools. The game came naturally to her."
   Maria Sanchez -- a 23-year-old rising pro from Modesto, 77 miles (124 kilometers) south of Sacramento -- has known Schnack since they were in high school. They were cross-town rivals in college -- Sanchez was an All-American at USC -- and played doubles with and against each other in the pros.
   "She's a great player, so it's sad to see her go, and she's also a good friend of mine," Sanchez said last week after winning her singles main-draw debut in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. "But you have to do what makes you happy."
   Even if you're approaching the top 100 in doubles.
   "Everyone was saying, 'Your ranking is steadily going up. Why are you stopping?' " Schnack said. "I guess I really didn't think about my ranking so much as how I was feeling. Did I feel good on the court? Was I having fun? Was I enjoying it? Was I competing?
   "Most of the time, I was just fighting myself. Tennis is so mental. You're putting yourself at a disadvantage if you're fighting yourself and not playing against your opponent."
   Schnack's case is reminiscent of Sam Warburg's. Also citing loneliness and financial struggles, the Sacramento product retired from professional tennis at 26 in 2009 after 4 1/2 years on the circuit.
   Warburg approached the top 100 not only in doubles with a career high of No. 117, but in singles, peaking at No. 132. He played five seasons for the Capitals, helping them win the last of their record six WTT titles in 2007.
   Both Warburg and Schnack won NCAA titles at Pacific-10 Conference schools and graduated. Warburg captured the 2004 doubles title with Stanford teammate KC Corkery, and Schnack helped UCLA earn its only women's team title, in 2008. Warburg graduated in communications, Schnack in sociology.
   Warburg, 29, works as a venture capitalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Schnack plans to attend nursing school in the fall or next January.
   The biggest difference between Warburg and Schnack, who do not know each other well, is that Warburg vowed never to return to pro tennis. Schnack already is having second thoughts.
   "I'm sad to be gone from it," she admitted. "I really do miss it, which is why I've been playing these little opens, so I still can use the competitiveness that I have in me and go out and play and have fun."
   Schnack left the door open to returning to the tour.
   "I'm young enough and still have the time to go out and give it a little while, but I'm happy with where things are in my life, and I like the direction it's heading," she said. "I wonder if I do go back and play if it's going to be an emotional roller coaster again. Of course I'll have the highs and feel great and love that I'm back playing, but then there are going to be the lows, and I'll think, Why am I wasting my time?
   "You know that cycle. I've gone through that with tennis my entire life. I think it's nice to have consistency and routine and not this up-and-down struggle."
   BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells -- Kevin Anderson and Mardy Fish, two part-time Capitals in 2012 who are coming back from health problems, won Monday.
   Anderson, playing in his second tournament after undergoing right elbow surgery, routed 31-year-old Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 6-1 in the third round. Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) right-hander from South Africa, will face 13th-seeded Gilles Simon of France on Wednesday.  
   Fish is competing in his first tournament in six months after battling an irregular heartbeat. The wild-card team of Fish and fellow American James Blake reached the doubles quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Feliciano Lopez of Spain and Milos Raonic of Canada.
   Fish, seeded 32nd in singles, will meet eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France today in the third round.
   In a second-round doubles match consisting of the entire U.S. Davis Cup team that beat Brazil last month, top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan dismissed 6-foot-9 (2.06-meter) John Isner and 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-3. Querrey also played part-time for the Capitals last year.
   The 34-year-old Bryan twins, who grew up about a two-hour drive west in the Los Angeles area, seek their first Indian Wells title. 

COLLEGE SCORE

Men

   Pacific def. Texas-Arlington 4-0 in Stockton. No. 1 singles: Sem Verbeek (P) led Yauheni Yakauleu 7-6 (2), 1-0 (did not finish).