McDonald falls short vs. Isner; Stephens stumbles again

John Isner fired 15 aces in his three-set win
over Mackenzie McDonald, a San Francisco
Bay Area native, in the second round of the
Miami Open. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 18 seed John Isner, a Greensboro, N.C., native now living in Dallas, outlasted qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, a San Francisco Bay Area native now based in Orlando, Fla., 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 tonight in the second round of the Miami Open.

   Isner, who had 15 aces and only one double fault, won the title in 2018 and lost to Roger Federer in the 2019 final. The tournament was not played last year because of the pandemic.

   Isner, at 35 years old and 6-foot-10 (2.08 meters), is 10 years older and one foot (30.5 centimeters) taller than McDonald. 

   McDonald became the only American man to reach the fourth round of last month's Australian Open. Isner skipped the tournament to stay home with his wife and two young children.

   In the first round of men's doubles, wild cards Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, and Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach, Calif., in the Los Angeles region lost to second-seeded Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia 7-6 (2), 6-4. 

   In the second round of women's singles, 28th-seeded Amanda Anisimova, 19, dominated fellow Floridian Sloane "Ranger" Stephens, the 2018 champion who grew up in Fresno, Calif., 6-3, 6-3. 

   Anisimova won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger at 15 and reached the semifinals of the 2019 French Open at 17. 

   Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, fell to 1-5 this year. She has tumbled from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 49.

   College women — Julia Rosenqvist beat Sarah-Maude Fortin 7-5, 6-3 on Court 2 to give No. 25 California (11-3, 4-1 Pacific-12 Conference) a 4-3 victory over No. 49 Washington (9-5, 1-4) in Berkeley, Calif.

   No. 35 Stanford (8-0, 4-0) routed No. 47 Washington State (10-6, 2-2) 6-1 at Stanford. 

   College men — No. 5 Texas Christian defeated host Stanford 4-1 to improve to 11-5. The Cardinal fell to 2-3.

   Juniors — Top-seeded Alexandra Yepifanova, a Stanford signee from Lake Worth, Fla., and wild card Ethan Quinn of Fresno reached 18-and-under singles finals in the ITF Grade 1 International Open of Southern California in San Diego.

   Yepifanova routed qualifier Elisabeth Jones of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., 6-2, 6-1 to set up a match against 10th-seeded Reese Brantmeier of Whitewater, Wis.

   Quinn, who beat unseeded Braden Shick of Greensboro, N.C., 6-4, 6-1, will face eighth-seeded Samir Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J.

   In the boy doubles final, Nathan Cox of Lake Charles, La., and Sebastian Gorzny of Fountain Valley, Calif., outplayed Nicholas Godsick of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and Quinn 6-4, 6-3. Both teams were unseeded.

   Godsick's mother, Mary Joe Fernandez, climbed to the top five in singles and doubles as a professional. Fernandez now works as a tennis commentator for ESPN. Godsick's father, Tony Godsick, is Roger Federer's agent. 

Gibbs defeats Aussie in return to Grand Slam play

Ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs, playing in Berkeley
last year, won today in the first round of qualifying
at the U.S. Open after undergoing cancer surgery
in May. Photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 24 seed Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) returned to Grand Slam competition today with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Kaylah McPhee of Australia in the first round of qualifying at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   It was Gibbs' first appearance in a major tournament since she fell in the last round of qualifying at the Australian Open in January. She underwent surgery for a rare cancer in the roof of her mouth on May 17 at UCLA.
   Gibbs has played in the main draw of the U.S. Open for the past seven years, reaching the third round in 2014.
   Gibbs is playing in her fourth tournament since the surgery. After advancing to the final of a $60,000 ITF tournament in Honolulu, Gibbs lost in the opening round of qualifying in Toronto on the WTA tour and to a qualifier in the first round of a $100,000 tournament in Vancouver.
   "I've had a tough last couple of competitive weeks, so I think that today was a tough one to get through for me in terms of my confidence," Gibbs, a resident of Venice in the Los Angeles area, said on usopen.org. "Being on the other side of it feels really good, and I think I'll have a lot to build on now."
   Gibbs, 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), is scheduled to meet former Pacific-12 Conference rival Robin Anderson, a 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) native of Long Branch, N.J., who starred at UCLA, in a matchup of 26-year-olds on Thursday.
   Anderson, ranked No. 165, is 2-1 against Gibbs, ranked No. 135 after climbing to a career-high No. 68 in 2016, in professional tournaments. This will be their third meeting of the year after they split matches in $100,000 U.S. clay-court tournaments in consecutive weeks last spring.
   Also today, Jovana Jaksic, a 25-year-old Serb living in Sacramento, beat Julia Grabher of Austria 6-2, 6-4.
   Jaksic has tumbled from a career-high No. 102 in 2014 to No. 244 because of injuries. She is set to play fifth-seeded Kirsten Flipkens, 33, of Belgium for the first time on Thursday. Flipkens, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2013, eliminated Irina Bara of Romania 6-3, 6-4.
   Anisimova withdraws – Amanda Anisimova, a 17-year-old American ranked No. 24, withdrew from the U.S. Open after the death of her father and coach, Konstantin Anisimov.
   In June, Anisimova shocked defending champion Simona Halep to become the youngest American to reach the French Open semifinals since 14-year-old Jennifer Capriati in 1990.
   At 15 in 2017, Anisimova claimed her first professional title in a $60,000 tournament in Sacramento and won the U.S. Open girls singles crown.

Sakkari stages stunning comeback, ousts top seed in S.J.

Maria Sakkari, playing in the final of last year's inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley
Classic in San Jose, rallied from a big deficit and saved four match points to stun
top-seeded Elina Svitolina in Friday's quarterfinals. Photo by Mal Taam

   Maria Sakkari made a dramatic comeback on Friday to stun top-seeded Elina Svitolina in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.
   After trailing 6-1, 5-2, the seventh-seeded Sakkari saved four match points in a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals of the second annual tournament at San Jose State.
   The 30th-ranked Sakkari, last year's runner-up in San Jose, also lost her serve in the first game of the third set but immediately broke back. She broke again to lead 4-2.
   "My coach came in, and he said, 'If you did it once in Rabat (where she beat Johanna Konta from a set and a break down in the final on clay in early May), you can do it again,' " Sakkari, 24, of Greece said on wtatennis.com.
   Svitolina, ranked seventh, last month became the first Ukrainian woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals, her best performance in a Grand Slam tournament.
   Sakkari is scheduled to play unseeded Zheng Saisai of China today at 2 p.m. (Tennis Channel). Zheng, ranked No. 55, surprised fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova, 17, of Aventura, Fla., 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 in 2 hours, 52 minutes on Friday night to reach the biggest semifinal of her career.
   Anisimova won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger and in June stunned defending champion Simona Halep to become the youngest American woman to reach the French Open semifinals since 14-year-old Jennifer Capriati in 1990.
   Sakkari and Zheng, 25, have split two matches, both in 2016.
   In the other semifinal, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will face fifth-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia at 7 p.m. (Tennis Channel).
   Sabalenka, 21, outlasted sixth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 during the day session.
   Sabalenka is coached by former top-20 player Dmitry Tursunov, a Moscow native who moved alone to the San Francisco Bay Area at 12 to train and was based in the Sacramento area for most of his professional career.
   Suarez Navarro won the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at nearby Stanford with countrywoman Garbine Muguruza, who last week withdrew from the Silicon Valley Classic for the second consecutive year because of an injury.
   Vekic, 23, eliminated U.S. qualifier Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, 7-5, 6-0. Ahn ousted third-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium in the second round for her first victory over a top-20 player.
   The 26th-ranked Vekic is 3-0 against the 10th-ranked Sabalenka, all on hardcourts. They last met in 2017.
   In the doubles quarterfinals, unseeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan beat third-seeded Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok, 27-year-old twins from Ukraine and last year's runners-up, 6-1, 6-4.
   Shibahara, a 21-year-old native of Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles area who starred at UCLA, won the Stockton (Calif.) doubles title with Haley Carter last October.
   After tonight's singles match, International Tennis Hall of Famers Andy Roddick and Michael Chang and former top-10 players James Blake and Mark Philippoussis will compete in a one-night, single-elimination tournament. Each match will be one set.
   Here are the San Jose singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Barty, Vondrousova to meet for French Open crown

Amanda Anisimov, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacra-
mento Challenger, lost to Ashleigh Barty 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 today in the French
Open semifinals. 2018 photo courtesy of JFS Communications

   Amanda Anisimova led Ashleigh Barty by a set and 3-0 today in the French Open semifinals.
   But Anisimova's first Grand Slam final must wait.
   Barty, an Australian seeded eighth, rallied in the second and third sets to defeat the unseeded Anisimova, a 17-year-old American who ousted third seed and defending champion Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 on a windy, rainy day in Paris.
   "She just outplayed me, basically," Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, told reporters.
   In a matchup of first-time Grand Slam singles finalists, the 23-year-old Barty is scheduled to play unseeded Marketa Vondrousova, a Czech left-hander who will turn 20 on June 28, on Saturday at 6 a.m. PDT (NBC).
   Vondrousova, has not lost a set in the tournament, beat 26th-seeded Johanna Konta, the champion of the 2016 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, 7-5, 7-6 (2). Vondrousova can become the first teenager to win the French Open since Iva Majoli of Croatia in 1997.
   Vondrousova reached the girls doubles final in the 2014 French Open with CiCi Bellis, who grew up in Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bellis, the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017, is hitting after undergoing four operations on her right wrist, arm and elbow in the past year.
   Barty, ranked eighth, has not dropped a set in two career matches against Vondrousova, ranked 38th. This will be their first meeting of the year and first on clay.
   Second-seeded Rafael Nadal will play either top-seeded Novak Djokovic or fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem for the men's title on Sunday at 6 a.m. (NBC).
   Nadal, seeking his 12th French Open singles crown, dispatched third-seeded Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to improve to 24-15 overall and 6-0 in the French Open in their storied rivalry.
   Federer, 37, has won a record 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles, and Nadal, 32, ranks second with 17.
   Thiem leads Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 3-1 in a match suspended by rain. Play will resume on Saturday at 3 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). The forecast calls for partly cloudy weather on Saturday and rain on Sunday.
   Barty won the Wimbledon girls singles title at 15 in 2011 and reached three Grand Slam women's doubles finals in 2013. But it was too much success too soon, and Barty left tennis in 2014 for nearly two years to play professional cricket.
   Barty won 17 of the first 18 points against the 51st-ranked Anisimova, who was born in New Jersey to Russian parents and moved to Florida at 3, to lead 5-0. After losing the set, Barty dropped the first 12 points of the second set to trail 3-0 but managed to pull it out. She then overcame an early break in the third set and converted her sixth match point.
   "I played some really good tennis. I played some pretty awful tennis," Barty said. "I'm just proud of myself for the way I was able to fight ands scrap and hang in there and find a way when I kind of threw away that first set."

Anisimova, 17, stuns Halep to reach French Open semis

Amanda Anisimova, shown en route to the title in the $60,000 Sacramento
Challenger at 15 in 2017, shocked defending champion Simona Halep 6-2,
6-4 today to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal. Photo by Rob Vomund

   It might be Saturday, later this year or beyond.
   But Amanda Anisimova appears destined to win a Grand Slam singles title, probably sooner rather than later.
   Only 17, the unseeded Anisimova toppled third seed and defending champion Simona Halep 6-2, 6-4 today in the French Open in Paris to reach her first major semifinal.
   Anisimova, who hasn't lost a set in the tournament, became the youngest French Open semifinalist since 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova in 2006 and the youngest American in the semis at Roland Garros since 14-year-old Jennifer Capriati in 1990.
   "I just played the best tennis of my life," Anisimova, who was born in New Jersey to Russian parents and moved to Florida when she was 3, said after facing Halep for the first time. "I don't know how; it just happened."
   The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Anisimova, with nothing to lose, was more relaxed than Halep.
   "She was pretty calm," said Halep, who admitted she felt pressure defending her title. "She showed that she's able to do good things and big things."
   Anisimova won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger and her maiden WTA crown on clay in Bogota in April. She plans to play in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, July 29-Aug. 4 at San Jose State, for the second consecutive year.
   Anisimova qualified for last year's inaugural Silicon Valley Classic and extended eventual champion Mihaela Buzarnescu, a Romanian like Halep, to three sets in the second round before falling.
   Anisimova or Marketa Vondrousova, a Czech left-hander who will turn 20 on June 28, could become the first teenager to win the French Open since Iva Majoli of Croatia in 1997.
   None of the four women's semifinalists have reached a Grand Slam singles final, although Ashleigh Barty of Australia won last year's U.S. Open doubles title with CoCo Vandeweghe after losing in the doubles final once in all four majors.
   Both Vaidisova (2004-06) and Vandeweghe (2009, 2012) played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis.
   On Friday at 2 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel), Anisimova is scheduled to face the eighth-seeded Barty for the first time, and 26th-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain will meet Vondrousova. However, the Paris weather forecast calls for rain in the morning and perhaps afternoon, then wind.
   Barty, only 5-foot-5 (1.66 meters), eliminated 14th-seeded Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5.
   Konta won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2016, and Keys won the final edition of the tournament in 2017.
   Konta is 1-1 against Vondrousova. Their last meeting occurred only three weeks ago, with Konta winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the Italian Open quarterfinals.
   The men's semifinals are scheduled to begin Friday at 3:50 a.m. (Tennis Channel). Second-seeded Rafael Nadal and third-seeded Roger Federer will renew their storied rivalry, followed by top-seeded Novak Djokovic against fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem.
   Nadal leads Federer 23-15 overall and 13-2 on clay. Djokovic is 6-2 (3-2 on clay) against Thiem. However, Thiem won 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-0 in the French Open quarterfinals during Djokovic's 2017 slump.

Anisimova, 17, reaches first Grand Slam quarterfinal

Amanda Anisimova slugs a forehand en route to her first
professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger.
Photo by Rob Vomund

   Amanda Anisimova today became the youngest player to reach the French Open quarterfinals since Nicole Vaidisova 13 years ago.
   Both players have a Sacramento connection.
   Anisimova, 17, of Aventura, Fla., dispatched 21-year-old qualifier Aliona Bolsova, a Spanish citizen from Moldova, 6-3, 6-0 in 69 minutes in Paris to set up a first-time meeting with Simona Halep.
   Halep, the third seed and defending champion, crushed 18-year-old Iga Swiatek, last year's Wimbledon girls singles titlist from Poland, 6-1, 6-0 in 45 minutes.
   Anisimova, who was born to Russian parents in Freehold, N.J., won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger. She has not lost a set en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   Anisimova also became the youngest American to reach the last eight at Roland Garros since Jennifer Capriati in 1993.
   Vaidisova, a Czech, played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis from age 15 to 17 (2004-06). She climbed to a career-high No. 7 in 2007 but retired at 20 in 2010 because of burnout. Vaidisova returned in 2014 but retired again at 27 in 2016 because of injuries.
   Also in the top half of the French Open draw today, two women coming off big upsets lost.
   Sofia Kenin, a 20-year-old American who ousted 10th seed and three-time French Open champion Serena Williams, fell to eighth-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Kenin won Northern California Challenger singles titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
   Katerina Siniakova, who knocked out top-ranked Naomi Osaka, succumbed to 14th-seeded Madison Keys, the champion in the final edition of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2017, 6-2, 6-4.
   In the quarterfinals in the top half of the French Open men's draw, top-seeded Novak Djokovic will face fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany, and fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria will meet 10th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia.
   Djokovic, who won the 2016 French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, has not lost more than four games in a set in this year's tournament. Thiem reached last year's final, losing to Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Young U.S. women advance; Serena, Osaka fall

Sofia Kenin, shown en route to the title in the Berkeley Challenger
last July, shocked Serena Williams 6-2, 7-5 today in the third round
 of the French Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sofia Kenin and Amanda Anisimova combined to win four Challenger singles titles in Northern California in three years.
   Both young Americans today reached the fourth round of the French Open, but top-ranked Naomi Osaka's Grand Slam title streak ended at two.
   The unseeded Kenin, 20, beat a rusty Serena Williams, seeded 10th, 6-2, 7-5 in Paris to reach the fourth round of a major for the first time. Kenin sobbed afterward.
   "I think this is such a great win for me," said Kenin, who won NorCal Challenger singles titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018. "I don't normally cry after a match. I had so many emotions playing on Chatrier. I have always imagined playing there and winning a match. I went there today with the mentality to go and win."
   Williams, who had played only one match since March because of a knee injury entering the French Open, pounded 10 aces to none for Kenin but committed 34 unforced errors to Kenin's 17.
   "I'm just pretty far away (from optimal conditioning)," Williams said, "but the optimistic part is I haven't been able to be on the court as much as I would have. That's OK. At least I can start trying to put the time in now."
   Williams, 37, has not won a tournament since giving birth to her first child on Sept. 1, 2017. The three-time French Open champion (2002, 2013 and 2015) needs one more Grand Slam singles crown to tie Margaret Court's record of 24.

Amanda Anisimova, winning her first professional title in
the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, overcame a viral illness
to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for
the second consecutive time. Photo by Rob Vomund

   The unseeded Anisimova, 17, topped Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 7-6 (6), 6-4 to gain the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the second consecutive time. Before this year, she had not won a main-draw match in a major.
   Anisimova withdrew from her doubles match on Friday because of a viral illness.
   "Today, I didn't feel well at all," admitted Anisimova, who won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger. "It was just super tough the whole match, and even my warmup. It was just a really big struggle getting through the match today, and I'm just really proud I could take this win today."
   Osaka lost to unseeded Czech Katerina Siniakova, the top-ranked doubles player in the world, 6-4, 6-2. Barbora Krejcikova and Siniakova, the defending doubles champions, fell in the first round to Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine and Abigail Spears of Colorado Springs, Colo.
   Siniakova and Paula Kania of Poland advanced to the doubles final in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Osaka has failed to reach the fourth round of the French Open in four career attempts.
   Anisimova, if healthy, has a much better chance of reaching her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal than Kenin or Siniakova. Anisimova, ranked No. 51, is scheduled to play qualifier Aliona Bolsova, a Moldova native who plays for Spain and is ranked No. 137, on Monday.
   Kenin will take on eighth-seeded Ashleigh Barty, who reached her first major quarterfinal in the Australian Open in her home country in January and won the biggest title of her career in the Miami Open in March. Barty is 2-0 against Kenin, including a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the first round at Charleston on clay last year.
   Siniakova will face 14th-seeded Madison Keys, who won the final edition of the Bank of the West Classic in 2017.
   In the third round of men's doubles, 10th-seeded Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania beat seventh-seeded Bob Bryan of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 6-3, 7-6 (7).
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) were seeking their third French Open title. Bob Bryan underwent hip replacement surgery last Aug. 2 and returned to competition in January.

Anisimova, 17, ousts No. 11 seed in French Open

Amanda Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in Sacramento,
beat 11th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 today in the second round
of the French Open. 2018 photo courtesy of JFS Communications

   Amanda Anisimova today became the youngest American woman to reach the third round of the French Open since Serena Williams in 1998.
   And Anisimova has a good chance to gain her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   The 17-year-old from Aventura, Fla., who won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, ousted 11th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 in Paris.
   Anisimova, who will turn 18 on Aug. 31, also beat Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
   Sabalenka is coached by Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who trained in Northern California as a junior and professional.
   Anisimova, at No. 51, is the highest-ranked player remaining in her eighth of the draw. She will play No. 116 Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania on Saturday. It will be their first meeting.
   The winner of that match will meet No. 58 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia or No. 137 Aliona Bolsova of Spain. Looming in the quarterfinals is third seed and defending champion Simona Halep.
   Williams, a three-time French Open champion (2002, 2013 and 2015) and part-time Silicon Valley resident, dismissed qualifier Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-3, 6-2.
   Williams will play 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin for the first time. Kenin -- who won Northern California Challenger singles titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018 -- advanced when 22nd-seeded Bianca Andreescu of Canada withdrew because of a shoulder injury.
   In an all-brothers doubles match, seventh-seeded Bob Bryan of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., topped Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski of Great Britain 7-5, 7-6 (6) in the second round.
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) won the French Open in 2003 and 2013.

Anisimova, 17, tops Aussie for first WTA title

Amanda Anisimova, shown en route to the Sacramento Challenger title
in 2017, defeated Astra Sharma 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Sunday's Bogota final
on the WTA tour. Photo by Rob Vomund

   In 2017, Amanda Anisimova won her first professional singles title in the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger at 15.
   On Sunday, the 17-year-old American earned her first WTA singles crown.
   The sixth-seeded Anisimova, considered a future Grand Slam champion, beat unseeded Astra Sharma of Australia 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on clay in the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogota.
   Sharma, a 23-year-old former Vanderbilt star, led by a service break at 3-2 in the second set. However, Anisimova broke right back with the help of three double faults.
   "I think this was a pretty big goal because I overcame so many challenges this week," Anisimova, who reached her first WTA singles final last year in Hiroshima (losing to Hsieh Su-wei), told wtatennis.com. "I'm really happy and proud of myself for how I got through them, and winning my first WTA title means so much."
   Four of Anisimova's five matches, including her last three, went to three sets in Bogota's altitude of 8,660 feet (2,640 meters).
   Anisimova soared 22 places to a career-high No. 54. She is the youngest player in the top 100, exactly three months younger than Iga Swiatek. The 17-year-old Pole jumped to No. 88 after losing to Polona Hercog of Slovenia in the Lugano final on Sunday.
   Sharma, who played No. 1 singles and doubles on the Vanderbilt team that lost to Stanford 4-3 in last year's NCAA final, catapulted 36 spots to No. 102 after her first WTA final.
   Sharma did win a title Sunday, though, as she and compatriot Zoe Hives teamed for their first WTA crown.
   College -- William Genesen defeated Jack Molloy 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Court 2 to give No. 12 Stanford (14-5, 3-3 Pacific-12 Conference) a 4-3 victory over No. 41 Cal (11-10, 3-3) on Saturday in Berkeley.
   The Cardinal played without its star, 13th-ranked Axel Geller, for the second consecutive match. Stanford did not disclose the reason.

Roundup: Silicon Valley Classic, Indian Wells, Gould

Garbine Muguruza is scheduled to play in the Mubadala
Silicon Valley Classic, July 29-Aug. 4 at San Jose State.
2017 photo by Mal Taam

   Former world No. 1s Garbine Muguruza and Victoria Azarenka and American phenom Amanda Anisimova have entered the second annual Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, tournament officials announced Wednesday.

   The tournament, which replaced the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, is scheduled for July 29-Aug. 4 at San Jose State. 

   Muguruza, who won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017, has slumped to No. 20. The 25-year-old Spaniard won the Stanford doubles title with compatriot Carla Suarez Navarro in 2014.
   Muguruza withdrew from last year's tournament with a right arm injury hours before she was scheduled to play Azarenka in the second round. Muguruza had received a first-round bye. 

   Azarenka, the Australian Open champion in 2012 and 2013, has climbed to No. 48 after ending 2017 at No. 208 because of the birth of her first child and subsequent custody battle. The 29-year-old Belarusian captured the Stanford singles championship in 2010 and doubles title (with Maria Kirilenko) in 2011.

   Anisimova, ranked No. 67, is the youngest player in the top 100 at 17 years old. She won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger.
   In last year's Silicon Valley Classic finals, Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania routed Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-0, and Latisha Chan of Chinese Taipei and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic defeated twins Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1.
   BNP Paribas Open -- Azarenka dispatched countrywoman Vera Lapko 6-2, 6-3 in the first round to set up a rematch of the 2016 final against 10th-seeded Serena Williams.
   Azarenka beat Williams 6-4, 6-4 for the 2016 title in their last meeting, but Williams leads the head-to-head series 17-4.
   Azarenka also won the Indian Wells crown in 2012, defeating Maria Sharapova. Williams captured the title in 1999 and 2001, then boycotted the tournament for 13 years because of a racially charged incident.
   In the first round of women's doubles, Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and Johanna Larsson of Sweden dominated wild cards Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, 6-1, 6-2.
   College men -- Stanford coaching legend Dick Gould and 11 others will be inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor on March 15 in Las Vegas.
   Gould led Stanford to a 776-148 (.840) record and 17 NCAA team titles in 38 years as the coach (1967-2004). He was enshrined in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2006.
   Joining Gould in the Pac-12 Hall of Honor will be Meg Ritchie-Stone (Arizona track and field), Frank Kush (Arizona State football), Ann Meyers Drysdale (UCLA basketball), Natalie Coughlin (California swimming), Ronnie Lott (USC football), Lisa Van Goor (Colorado basketball), Steve Smith Sr. (Utah football), Bev Smith (Oregon basketball), Patricia "Trish" Bostrom (Washington tennis), Dick Fosbury (Oregon State track and field) and John Olerud (Washington State baseball).

Collins crushes Kerber; Federer, Stephens fall

Danielle Collins, playing at Indian Wells last March, demolished second-seeded
Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-2 today in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Danielle Collins didn't just beat Angelique Kerber.
   She crushed her.
   Collins, a 25-year-old American, dismissed the second-seeded Kerber 6-0, 6-2 in 56 minutes today in the Australian Open in Melbourne to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   Collins overwhelmed Kerber, who won the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and 2016 Australian Open for the first of her three major singles titles, with blistering groundstrokes.
   Collins slugged 29 winners to Kerber's six. Both players committed 17 unforced errors.
   "I had a solid warmup, and I was feeling great," Collins, from Tampa, Fla., said in an on-court interview. "My coaches gave me a great game plan, and I executed it well.
   "They said, 'You're physically stronger than her, and you can rally with her. It's up to you.' I was feeling my shots today, so I decided to put the pedal to the metal and put pressure on her."
   Collins, a two-time NCAA singles champion from the University of Virginia, had never won a main-draw match in a Grand Slam tournament until this week. She reached the semifinals in last year's inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose and the quarterfinals in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger.
   Collins will take on resurgent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. The unseeded Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at 15, beat fifth-seeded Sloane Stephens, a 25-year-old Fresno product, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3.
   Another former Australian Open champion, Maria Sharapova, also lost. Ashleigh Barty, seeded 15th, eliminated Sharapova, the 30th seed and 2008 titlist, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to become the first Australian to reach the quarters in Melbourne since Jelena Dokic in 2009.
   Sharapova was coming off a three-set victory over defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.
   Barty will play Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion who breezed past 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-1 in 59 minutes. Anisimova won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger at 15.
   On the men's side, 14th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, ousted third seed and two-time defending champion Roger Federer 6-7 (11), 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (5) to become the first Greek to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. Tsitsipas saved four set points in the second set.
   Federer, who has won a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, failed to reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Slam and the semifinals for the fourth major in a row.
   Unseeded American Frances Tiafoe, playing on his 21st birthday, beat 20th seed and friend Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-5, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 7-5 to gain his first major quarterfinal.
   Tiafoe, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, celebrated by taking off his shirt, slapping his right biceps again, getting down on his knees, lowering his head and slapping the court. He had to compose himself before speaking in an on-court interview.
   "I told my parents 10 years ago that I was going to be a pro to change their lives and my life," said Tiafoe, who will earn at least $330,000 (U.S.). "Now I'm in the quarters of a Slam. It's unbelievable."
   Tiafoe, who won the $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger in 2016 and ousted fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson in the second round of the Australian Open, will take on Rafael Nadal, the second seed and 2009 Australian Open champion who outclassed unseeded Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
   In doubles, fourth-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan and ninth-seeded Raquel Atawo and Katarina Srebotnik advanced to the men's and women's quarterfinals, respectively.
   The 40-year-old Bryans (Stanford, 1997-98) defeated Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (4).
   Atawo (Cal, 2001-04), a 36-year-old Sacramento resident, and Srebotnik, a 37-year-old Slovenian, topped Romanians Irina Bara and Monica Niculescu 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Anisimova, 17, routs No. 11 seed; Stephens, Tiafoe win

Amanda Anisimova displays her credential at the Indian
Wells Challenger last February. Photo courtesy of JFS
Communications

   Amanda Anisimova, a 17-year-old American, dismantled No. 11 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-2 in 65 minutes on Thursday (California time) to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Sabalenka, 20, is coached by former Northern California resident Dmitry Tursunov.
   Anisimova, who won her maiden professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger at 15, has advanced to the second week of a major for the first time.
   Anisimova will meet No. 8 seed Petra Kvitova, who beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-1, 6-4. Anisimova defeated Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon singles champion, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round at Indian Wells last March in their only previous meeting.
   Meanwhile, No. 30 seed and 2008 Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova eliminated No. 3 seed and defending champ Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
   No. 5 seed Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, topped No. 31 seed Petra Martic of Croatia 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). Stephens will play Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who dismissed Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-0, 6-3 in 60 minutes. Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 15 in 2006.
   On the men's side, 20-year-old Frances Tiafoe of Orlando, Fla., outlasted Andreas Seppi, a 34-year-old Italian, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Tiafoe, who won the 2016 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger at 18, is the last remaining U.S. man in singles. He will face No. 20 seed Grigor Dimitrov, a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 winner over Thomas Fabbiano of Italy and a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist.
   Fabbiano, only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters), reached the semifinals of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger last August as the top seed.
   No. 3 seed Roger Federer, seeking his third consecutive Australian Open title and seventh overall, dismantled Taylor Fritz, a 21-year-old American, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. Fritz won the $100,000 Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back-to-back in 2015 at 17.
   In the second round of men's doubles, No. 4 seeds and ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan beat Adrian Mannarino of France and Andreas Mies of Germany 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
   Like Federer, the 40-year-old Bryans seek their seventh Australian Open title. The difference is that the Bryans' last one came in 2013. They are playing in their first major since Bob underwent hip surgery in August.
   Ryan Harrison of Austin, Texas, and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, beat Austin Krajicek of Bryan, Texas, and Artem Sitak, a Russia native who plays for New Zealand, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
   In the first round, Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin of France defeated Mackenzie McDonald, from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., 6-4, 6-4.

Young Americans Tiafoe, Fritz, Anisimova upset seeds

Frances Tiafoe, right, poses with his trophy after beating fellow
American Noah Rubin to win the $100,000 Stockton (Calif.)
Challenger at age 18 in 2016. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The United States' youth brigade is beginning to make a big impact in Grand Slam tournaments.
   For the second time in three days, a U.S. male prospect ousted a top-10 seed in the Australian Open. Also, 21-year-old Taylor Fritz and 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova knocked off low seeds.
   Frances Tiafoe, who will turn 21 on Sunday, stunned 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Kevin Anderson, the fifth seed in Melbourne and runner-up in two of the last five majors, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 today in the second round.
   Anderson led 6-4, 3-0 before Tiafoe "just went to a different place," he told reporters. "I dug insanely deep. ... It's all about competing. Guys are so good, it's just how bad do you really want it? I wanted it real bad."
   Afterward, Tiafoe repeatedly slapped his right biceps and yelled in exultation.
   Anderson, 32, received treatment on his right elbow after the third set.
   On Sunday (California time), 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka, 21, eliminated 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, seeded ninth, in the first round.
   Thomas Fabbiano of Italy beat Opelka 6-7 (17-15), 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-5) in a late second-round match. Opelka pounded 67 aces, the fifth-highest match total ever.
   Fabbiano, only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters), reached the semifinals of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger last August as the top seed.
   Opelka lost in the first round of back-to-back $100,000 Challengers in Northern California last October as the second seed in Stockton and fourth seed in Fairfield.
   Tiafoe, who won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016 at 18, reached the third round of a major for the second time. He will face 34-year-old Italian Andreas Seppi, who shocked Roger Federer to reach the fourth round of the 2015 Australian Open.
   Fritz, who won the $100,000 Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back-to-back at 17 in 2015, topped 30th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in 3 hours, 24 minutes.
   "Tiafoe, Opelka and Fritz are the new Big 3," trumpeted ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert, who could have included extremely athletic Michael Mmoh in a Big 4. "That's the future of American men's tennis."
   Fritz will take on the third-seeded Federer, 37, for the second time. Federer, who seeks his third consecutive Australian Open title and seventh overall, beat 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Briton Daniel Evans, the Aptos champion in 2016 and runner-up to Stanford graduate Bradley Klahn in 2013, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Evans returned from 10-month cocaine suspension last April.
   Federer edged Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the second round at Stuttgart on grass in 2016.
   Anisimova, who won her first professional title in the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2017 at 15, crushed 24th-seeded Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes. Tsurenko advanced to the U.S. Open quarterfinals last September before losing to eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
   Anisimova will play 11th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a 20-year-old Belarusian coached by former Northern California resident Dmitry Tursunov of Russia.
   Meanwhile, fifth seed and Fresno product Sloane Stephens dispatched Timea Babos of Hungary 6-3, 6-1. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, will meet 31st-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia.
   Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 15 in 2006, took out ninth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
   Sixth-seeded Marin Cilic, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Croat, beat 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 7-5, 6-7 (11-9), 6-4, 6-4. McDonald reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last July.
   In the first round of men's doubles, fourth seeds and ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan beat Australian wild cards Alex Bolt and Marc Polmans 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1).
   The 40-year-old Bryans seek their seventh Australian Open men's doubles title but first since 2013. Bolt and Polmans reached the singles final in Fairfield and Stockton, respectively, last October.
   Americans Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, downed 16th-seeded Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
   Sixth-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand eliminated Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Los Angeles, and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Kukushkin lost to Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up to Federer, in the 2014 Aptos final.

Bhakta, Nguyen claim National Winter singles titles

   Ninth-seeded Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area crushed fifth-seeded Kinaa Graham of Austin, Texas, 6-0, 6-0 today to win the girls 14 title in the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Bhakta lost an average of only 1.4 games per set in her seven tournament matches. Her closest match came in the fourth round, a 6-3, 6-4 victory over sixth-seeded Sia Chaudry of Midlothian, Va.
   Ninth-seeded Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento area captured the boys 12 title in Tucson, beating fourth-seeded Maxwell Exsted of Savage, Minn., 6-4, 7-5.
   Nguyen was not tested until the semifinals, in which he ousted third-seeded Santiago Muhala of Katy, Texas, 6-4, 7-5. Nguyen also toppled second-seeded Cooper Woestendick of Olathe, Kan., 6-2, 6-0 in the fourth round.
   In Orlando, Fla., India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon in the Bay Area and Luke Casper of Santa Cruz knocked off the top seed in the girls 18 and boys 16 quarterfinals, respectively.
   Houghton, the runner-up in the Orange Bowl 16s last month, took out Anessa Lee of San Marino in the Los Angeles region 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2.
   Advancing in the other half of the draw was fourth-seeded Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the Bay Area. Ma, who also reached the doubles semifinals with Anna Campana of Hillsborough, helped the United States win the Junior Fed Cup in Budapest, Hungary, in September.
   Casper surprised Jack Anthrop of Orlando 6-3, 6-4. In the other half of the draw, 17th-seeded John Kim of Sunnyvale beat unseeded Carter Morgan of Jacksonville, Fla., 6-2, 6-4.
   In the boys 18 quarterfinals, ninth-seeded Zachery Lim of Fairfield topped 17th-seeded Joshua Raab of Woodstock, Ga., 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2. Lim will face 14th-seeded Daniel Milavsky, a resident of Needham, Mass., who downed 10th-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
   Also in the boys 18s, fourth-seeded Logan Zapp of Fleming Island, Fla., beat unseeded Karl Lee of Sacramento 6-4, 6-3.
   Anisimova scores upset -- Amanda Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, surprised fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova, a 32-year-old Czech ranked 33rd, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   Anisimova, a 17-year-old wide card from Aventura, Fla., ranked 90th, will play Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia. Kuzmova beat Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a matchup of 20-year-olds. Kenin won a Northern California Challenger for the third consecutive year in Berkeley in July.
   Strycova outlasted Kenin 6-4 in the third set to help the Czech Republic defeat the United States 3-0 in the Fed Cup final in Prague in November. Kenin played in the international team competition for the first time and Strycova for the last.

U.S. rally falls short; Sanchez wins WTA doubles title

Sam Querrey, a late pick by U.S. captain Jim Courier, upset
Marin Cilic of host Croatia today in the Davis Cup semi-
finals. Croatia, however, defeated the United States 3-2.
File photo by Paul Bauman

   The United States, receiving an unexpected boost from Sam Querrey, almost pulled off an amazing comeback today in the Davis Cup semifinals.

   The U.S. came within one set of stunning host Croatia after trailing 2-0 on outdoor clay in Zadar on the Adriatic Sea. However, Borna Coric defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (0), 6-1, 6-7 (11), 6-1, 6-3 in 4 hours, 6 minutes to give Croatia a 3-2 victory. 

   Tiafoe, ranked No. 40, trailed 4-0 and 5-1 in the third set. against Coric, ranked No. 18.

   Coric, 21, was playing in his 16th Davis Cup singles match and Tiafoe, 20, his second after debuting on Friday with a loss to 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Marin Cilic. Coric shocked Roger Federer to win Halle (Germany) on grass in June.

   U.S. captain Jim Courier chose Querrey, a 30-year-old San Francisco native who has struggled this year, over Steve Johnson at the last minute to face Marin Cilic in today's first singles match. Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion and a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, was 6-0 against Querrey and 5-0 against Johnson.

   Querrey, who has plummeted from a career-high No. 11 in February to No. 61, responded with a 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 victory. He trailed 6-1 in the second-set tiebreaker.
   The United States was missing its top two players. Six-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, ranked No. 10, is awaiting the birth of his first child. Jack Sock, ranked No. 17 in singles and No. 2 in doubles, withdrew with a hip injury after winning his second consecutive Grand Slam men's doubles title with Mike Bryan in the U.S. Open.
   Bryan and Ryan Harrison began the United States' comeback on Saturday by edging Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 7-5, 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5) in 4 hours, 41 minutes. Bryan and Harrison came within two points of losing at 5-6 in the fifth set.
   Croatia, slightly smaller than West Virginia with a population (4.2 million) comparable to metropolitan Detroit's, improved to 5-0 against the United States. In the teams' previous meeting, Croatia stunned the U.S. 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in Portland, Ore., in the 2006 quarterfinals.

   Only once in the 118-year history of the Davis Cup has the United States overcome a 2-0 deficit, accomplishing the feat in 1934 against Australia in London. 

   The U.S. has failed to reach the Davis Cup final since winning its record 32nd Davis Cup championship in 2007. Australia is next with 28.
   Croatia, which won its only Davis Cup title in 2005, reached the final for the second time in three years. It will play at defending champion France on Nov. 23-25 in a rematch of the World Cup soccer final in July won by France in Moscow.  

Asia Muhammad, left, and Maria Sanchez won
the doubles title in Quebec City on the WTA
tour. File photo by Paul Bauman

   WTA tour -- Unseeded Americans Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez, a 28-year-old product of Modesto, Calif., surprised second-seeded Darija Jurak of Croatia and Xenia Knoll of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3 to win the doubles title in Quebec City. It was Muhammad's third WTA doubles crown and Sanchez's second.
   Sanchez claimed the singles title in the inaugural Sacramento Challenger in 2012. Muhammad won the doubles crown in Sacramento in 2012 with local product Yasmin Schnack, who retired the following year at 25, and in Berkeley in July with former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs.
   Also today, two U.S. qualifiers who excelled in Sacramento singles lost in their first career WTA finals to 32-year-olds.
   Amanda Anisimova, 17, fell to second-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-2 in Hiroshima. Anisimova, who won her first professional title in last year's Sacramento Challenger at 15 before the tournament moved to Berkeley, became the first player born in 2001 to crack the top 100. She zoomed 39 places to No. 95.
   Jessica Pegula, 24, lost to eighth-seeded Pauline Parmentier of France 7-5, 6-2 in Quebec City. Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, fell to Sanchez in the 2012 Sacramento final.
   Pegula soared 86 spots to No. 141, 18 notches below her career high of No. 123 in 2013 before injuries derailed her career.

U.S. barely survives; Anisimova, 17, gains first WTA final

Ryan Harrison, playing in Sacramento in 2014, and Mike Bryan
won a fifth-set tiebreaker today to keep the United States alive
at Croatia in the Davis Cup semifinals. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The United States still has a chance.

   Not much of one, but a chance nonetheless.

   The U.S. barely avoided elimination today as Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) and Ryan Harrison edged Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic of host Croatia 7-5, 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5) in 4 hours, 41 minutes in the Davis Cup semifinals. Bryan has won a record 18 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and the other three players have earned one each. 

   Croatia leads the best-of-five series, on outdoor clay in Zadar on the Adriatic Sea, 2-1. The winner will face defending champion France on Nov. 23-25 at a site to be determined.
   In Sunday's reverse singles matches, No. 6-ranked Marin Cilic of Croatia will face No. 30 Steve Johnson, and No. 18 Borna Coric of Croatia will meet No. 40 Frances Tiafoe.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Cilic, who will turn 30 on Sept. 28, won the 2014 U.S. Open and reached the final of Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open this year. Coric, 21, shocked Roger Federer to win Halle (Germany) on grass in June.
   Johnson, 28, is 1-3 in Davis Cup singles. Tiafoe, who won the 2016 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, made his Davis Cup debut at age 20 on Friday and lost to Cilic 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
   The United States is missing its top two players, not that they necessarily would make a difference. Six-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, ranked No. 10, is awaiting the birth of his first child. Jack Sock, ranked No. 17 in singles and No. 2 in doubles, has a hip injury after winning his second consecutive Grand Slam men's doubles title with Bryan in the U.S. Open.
   The United States has failed to reach the Davis Cup final since winning the 2007 championship in Portland, Ore. Croatia, which won its only Davis Cup title in 2005, is trying to advance to the final for the second time in three years. The team lost to Argentina 3-2 in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2016.
   Croatia, slightly smaller than West Virginia with a population (4.2 million) comparable to metropolitan Detroit's, is 4-0 against the United States in the Davis Cup. In the most recent meeting, Croatia stunned the U.S. 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in Portland in the 2016 quarterfinals.
   WTA tour -- Two U.S. qualifiers who excelled in the now-defunct Sacramento Challenger reached their first WTA finals today. Both will play 32-year-olds.
   Amanda Anisimova, who won her first professional title last year in Sacramento at 15 years old, knocked off top-seeded Zhang Shuai of China 7-6 (4), 7-5 in Hiroshima.
   Jessica Pegula, the runner-up to Modesto product Maria Sanchez in the inaugural Sacramento Challenger six years ago, outlasted 19-year-old compatriot Sofia Kenin 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in Quebec City.
   Kenin has won Northern California Challengers in each of the past three years (Sacramento in 2016, Stockton last year and Berkeley in July). The Sacramento tournament lost its primary sponsor and moved to Berkeley this year.
   Anisimova, who turned 17 two weeks ago, became the youngest player to reach a WTA final since Donna Vekic of Croatia lost in Tashkent in 2012 and Birmingham in 2013 as a 16-year-old. Anisimova, ranked No. 134, also will become the first player born in 2001 to crack the top 100 on Monday.
   A potential star, Anisimova improved to 12-3 since returning from a four-month injury layoff in San Jose in July and 24-6 overall this season, including 11-4 in WTA main draws. She broke a foot in Miami in March.
   Anisimova is scheduled to face second-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei on Sunday. The 40th-ranked Hsieh, playing her second match of the day, beat Wang Qiang of China 6-4, 6-4.
   Earlier, Hsieh topped fifth-seeded Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in a rain-postponed quarterfinal. Tomljanovic, a Croatia native, withdrew from the final of the 2017 Sacramento Challenger with a shoulder injury.
   Hsieh upset top-ranked Simona Halep in the third round at Wimbledon in July before losing to Dominika Cibulkova.
  Pegula, the 24-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, has been plagued by injuries during her career. Ranked No. 227, she will meet eighth-seeded Pauline Parmentier of France. Parmentier, ranked No. 69, nipped Heather Watson of Great Britain 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
   In the Quebec City doubles semifinals, unseeded Asia Muhammad and Sanchez topped third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk and Giuliana Olmos 3-6, 6-3 [10-7] in an all-American encounter.
   Krawczyk and Olmos, who's from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area, won last year's Sacramento Challenger.
   Muhammad took the Sacramento crown in 2012 with local product Yasmin Schnack, who retired the following year at 25, and in Berkeley in July with former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs.
   Muhammad and Sanchez, who reached the second round of the 2015 U.S. Open together, will play second-seeded Darija Jurak of Croatia and Xenia Knoll of Switzerland for the title.
   Muhammad seeks her third career WTA doubles title and Sanchez her second.

Querrey advances, teen Anisimova loses in BNP

   No. 18 seed Sam Querrey, a 30-year-old San Francisco native, outlasted qualifier Yuki Bhambri of India 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 today in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey hammered 17 aces and won 83 percent of the points on his first serve (40 of 48) in the 2-hour, 22-minute match.
   Querrey equaled his best result at Indian Wells in his 13th appearance. He also reached the fourth round in 2011 and 2013.
   Querrey is scheduled to play No. 28 seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain for a quarterfinal berth on Wednesday not before 6 p.m. PDT (Tennis Channel) in 8,000-seat Stadium 2.
   Lopez, a 36-year-old left-hander, held off No. 8 Jack Sock of Kansas City, Kan., 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4 in a 2-hour, 25-minute night match in Stadium 1.
   Lopez leads Querrey 6-4 in their head-to-head series, but Querrey won the last meeting 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open in January.
   In the women's fourth round at Indian Wells, fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic downed 16-year-old U.S. phenom Amanda Anisimova 6-1, 7-6 (2).
   Anisimova, who won the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger last July, had beaten No. 9 seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round. Anisimova ended Kvitova's winning streak at 14 matches.
   No. 7 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, former Stanford stars and two-time Indian Wells champions, dismissed Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and David Marrero 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.
   Obituary -- Ken Flach, who ascended to No. 1 in the world in doubles in 1985, died from complications of pneumonia on Monday in San Francisco at age 54.
   Flach, a St. Louis native who lived in Mill Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area, won six Grand Slam titles (four in men's doubles and two in mixed doubles) and claimed the men's doubles gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul with longtime partner Robert Seguso.

Anisimova, 16, shocks Kvitova at Indian Wells

Amanda Anisimova, playing in the Sacramento Challenger
last July, became the first 16-year-old to reach the fourth
round at Indian Wells since Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine
in 2005. Photo by Rob Vomund

   Wild card Amanada Anisimova, who won the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger at 15 last July, ousted ninth-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-4 today in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
   Anisimova, from Aventura, Fla., became the first 16-year-old to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells since wild card Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine in 2005.
   Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, had her winning streak ended at 14 matches. After receiving a first-round bye, the 28-year-old Czech left-hander outlasted Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in 3 hours, 17 minutes, the longest match on the WTA tour this year.
   Anisimova became the third young American woman to pull off a big upset at Indian Wells this year. In the second round, 22-year-old qualifier Sachia Vickery knocked off third-seeded Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam champion, and 24-year-old wild card Danielle Collins eliminated 15th-seeded Madison Keys, last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Sloane Stephens and Bank of the West Classic champion at Stanford.
   Caroline Dolehide, 19, almost joined the list, falling to top seed and 2015 BNP champion Simona Halep 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
   Stephens, a Fresno product seeded 13th, beat wild card Victoria Azarenka, the 2012 and 2016 BNP champion, 6-1, 7-5 in a second-round match that had been postponed by rain. Azarenka, who remains alive in doubles, had not played a tournament since Wimbledon last July because of a custody battle over her 1-year-old son, Leo.
   On the men's side, qualifier Taro Daniel of Japan ousted 10th seed and five-time champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1 in the second round. Djokovic had minor surgery on his right elbow after losing to 21-year-old Hyeon Chung of South Korea in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
   No. 18 seed Sam Querrey, a 30-year-old San Francisco native, topped Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-4, 7-5. After two rounds, Querrey, No. 8 Jack Sock and 20-year-old Taylor Fritz are the only remaining Americans in men's singles.
   Anisimova, who won the U.S. Open girls singles title last September, is scheduled to play fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday for a quarterfinal berth.
   Anisimova was born in Freehold Township, N.J., to Russians Konstantin Anisimov and Olga Anisimova. Amanda speaks Russian at home but as of last fall had never been to her parents' homeland.

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.

Rare walkover gives Anisimova, 15, her first pro title

Amanda Anisimova, a potential superstar from Hallandale Beach, Fla., won her
first professional title when Ajla Tomljanovic withdrew from the final of the
$60,000 Sacramento Challenger with a shoulder injury. Photo by Rob Vomund

   GOLD RIVER, Calif. -- Yes, it was anticlimactic.
   Still, it could be historic.
   Fifteen-year-old Amanda Anisimova, a potential superstar from Hallandale Beach, Fla., won her first professional title on Sunday when Croatia's Ajla Tomljanovic (pronounced Eye-la Tom-yawn-o-vich) withdrew from the final of the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger with a right shoulder injury.
   Anisimova had been 0-3 in finals, all on clay this year. She said the title at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area "means a lot. I was in two different (U.S.) finals before, $80,000 and $60,000. I was pretty unhappy that I lost both of those, but I came in here wanting to get my first title. I'm just really happy I finally got it. Maybe this will give me some more confidence and I can win next week, too."
   Anisimova, who will head to Lexington, Ky., for the $60,000 Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships, admitted that the walkover made the title less satisfying.
   "Yeah, I guess a little bit because I didn't earn it and we didn't have the match," she said. "At the same time, I had a couple tough matches. I played some really good players, so it feels pretty good that I got past that."
   Anisimova won three-setters against qualifier Chanel Simmonds, a left-hander from South Africa, in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Kristie Ahn, a former Stanford star based in Orlando, Fla., in the semifinals.
   Anisimova turned pro last September shortly after turning 15 and made her Grand Slam main-draw debut in May at the French Open. She became the youngest player to compete at Roland Garros since France's Alize Cornet also was 15 in 2005. Anisimova, who was profiled in The New York Times before the tournament, lost in the opening round to Kurumi Nara of Japan 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
   The right-handed Tomljanovic, a former top-50 player, underwent surgery on her right shoulder in February 2016 and missed the rest of the year. She had treatment on the shoulder twice during her 6-4, 6-0 victory over eighth seed and defending champion Sofia Kenin, 18, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., in the semifinals on Saturday night. Kenin took a medical timeout for a left calf injury after Tomljanovic held serve for 2-0 in the second set.
   The final was going to be an enticing first-time meeting between tall power players. The 24-year-old Tomljanovic is 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters), one inch (2.54 centimeters) taller than Anisimova. Both were unseeded.
   Missy Malool said the walkover is only the second she has experienced in a final in her 21 years as a USTA on-site supervisor. Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia pulled out against Laura Granville, another ex-Stanford star, in a $50,000 clay-court tournament in Charlottesville, Va., in 2006 with a leg injury.
    "Right before the singles final, she came to me in tears and said she couldn't play," Malool recalled. "She walked out and spoke to the crowd, and everybody understood."
   Cibulkova, now 28, is ranked No. 11 after reaching a career-high No. 4 in March.
    Anisimova learned of Tomljanovic's withdrawal at about noon but stayed at the club until after the 5 p.m. doubles final to receive her trophy. Helping her celebrate were her Russian parents, Konstantin Anisimov and Olga, and her new coach, Henner Nehles, a German-born former UNLV star.
   Anisimova, a native of Freehold Township, N.J., speaks Russian at home but has never been to her parents' homeland.
   She soared from No. 250 in the world to No. 188 to become the youngest woman by far in the top 200. Next are three 17-year-olds: No. 129 Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., No. 147 Sofya Zhuk of Russia, No. 153 Destanee Aiava of Australia and No. 167 Bianca Andreescu of Canada.
   Anisimova beat Day 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Gold River Challenger.
   Grace Kim remains the youngest player to win a tournament on the USTA Pro Circuit. She was 13 years, 8 months and 16 days when she triumphed in Flemington, N.J., in 1982.
   Tomljanovic jumped from No. 270 to No. 228. She left the Gold River Racquet Club early to begin treatment at Stanford, the site of this week's Bank of the West Classic in the major leagues of women's tennis.
   A quarterfinalist at Stanford two years ago, Tomljanovic is scheduled to play 2012 runner-up CoCo Vandeweghe, seeded sixth and ranked 24th, in the first round on Tuesday or Wednesday.
   Anisimova took home $9,119, but that's likely pocket change for her. When asked if she has endorsement contracts, Anisimova said, "Um, I'm sponsored by Nike and Babolat, but I'd rather not say ... for personal reasons."
   Tomljanovic collected $4,863.

Giuliana Olmos, left, from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Desirae
Krawczyk won the doubles title. Photo by Rob Vomund

   In the doubles final, second-seeded Desirae Krawczyk from Palm Desert, Calif., and Giuliana Olmos from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area routed top-seeded Jovana Jaksic of Serbia and Vera Lapko of Belarus 6-1, 6-2.
   It was the fifth and biggest ITF (minor-league) title for Krawczyk and Olmos together, all this year. Olmos, a 24-year-old former USC All-American, plays for Mexico. Krawczyk, a 23-year-old left-hander, starred at Arizona State.
   Serbian Vlade Divac, the general manager of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, attended the doubles final.
   Here are the complete Sacramento singles and doubles draws.