McDonald dismisses Duckworth, braces for Medvedev

Mackenzie McDonald, a San Francisco Bay Area product,
 hugs his father, Michael, after his first-round victory today
in Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — After an impressive victory today, Mackenzie McDonald faces a huge challenge.

   The 26-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product is scheduled to meet reigning U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev, seeded first and ranked second, on Saturday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

   The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) McDonald, who was born in Berkeley and grew up in neighboring Piedmont, has lost all 11 sets in five career matches against the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Medvedev. They will meet for the third time this year and second time in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

   "It's going to take something special," McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., said in an on-court interview after dispatching James Duckworth of Australia 6-3, 6-3 in 75 minutes today. "This guy has really owned me. I have to start with winning one set.

   "This guy is a hell of a player. I've been watching him for a while. He's kicked my ass plenty of times, so hopefully I can take it to him next time."

   McDonald will have plenty of fan support, not only as an American but as a former NCAA singles and doubles champion at UCLA, a two-hour drive west of Indian Wells.

   McDonald and Duckworth are ranked a career-high No. 57 and No. 55, respectively.

   McDonald, who reached his first ATP final in August in Washington, D.C., played for the first time since straining a foot in his five-set loss to his idol, Kei Nishikori, in the second round of the U.S. Open last month.

   Duckworth had played in three tournaments since the U.S. Open, winning the $52,080 Istanbul Challenger and reaching the final in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, and the quarterfinals in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the ATP Tour.

   "I thought I played really well today," McDonald said. "I'm happy to put on a good performance here in California."

   Another Bay Area native, Sam Querrey, lost handily on his 34th birthday. Querrey, who was born in San Francisco and now lives in Agoura Hills in the Los Angeles area, fell to Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-2, 6-4 in 62 minutes in 16,100-seat Stadium 1, the second-largest tennis facility in the world behind 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, a BNP quarterfinalist in 2018, is winless in six tournaments since losing in the second round at Wimbledon in early July. Ranked a career-high No. 11 in 2018, he has plunged to No 89. Altmaier, 23, reached the round of 16 in last year's French Open as a qualifier.

   In the first round of women's doubles, No. 3 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan edged Sania Mirza of India and Zhang Shuai of China 4-6, 6-3 [15-13].

   The 33-year-old Aoyama, who's only 5-foot-1 (1.54 meters) and uses two hands on both sides, and Shibahara, a 23-year-old native of Mountain View in the Bay Area and former UCLA star, saved three match points.

   Mirza, a former world No. 1 and two-time BNP champion in doubles, and Zhang, who won her second Grand Slam doubles title (both with Samantha Stosur of Australia) last month in the U.S. Open, survived two match points.

   During the night session, U.S. qualifier Usue Arconada's winning streak ended with a thud at seven matches, 6-0, 6-2 against hard-hitting Ajla Tomljanovic, a Croatia-born Australian. Tomljanovic (pronounced Tom-yon-o-vich), 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters), improved to 1-1 against Arconada, 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters). 

   Tomljanovic reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon in July and the final of the last (2017) Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger. Arconada won last week's $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger. 

   Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16), a 25-year-old Egyptian making her BNP debut, dominated Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-1, 6-3. 

   USTA Pro Circuit — No. 2 seed Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden, No. 3 Katie Swan of Great Britain, No. 4 Lu Jia-Jing of China and No. 6 Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia reached the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Team Ascension Women's Pro Open in Redding, Calif.

   Pranjala Yadlapalli routed qualifier Maria Kozyreva, a Russian fifth-year student at Saint Mary's College in the Bay Area, 6-1, 6-3. Kozyreva stunned No. 1 seed Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, in the opening round in Berkeley.

   Catherine Harrison, a former UCLA star from Germantown, Tenn., eliminated Connie Ma, an 18-year-old wild card from Dublin in the Bay Area, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. 

   College — Carolyn Campana (Hillsborough in the Bay Area) of Wake Forest outclassed Rebeka Mertena of Tennessee 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the ITA Women's All-American Championships in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

    In the second round of the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., No. 9-16 seed Ronnie Hohmann of LSU beat Arthur Fery of Stanford 6-3, 7-6 (5).

   Qualifiers Fery and Alexandre Rotsaert lost in the second round of doubles, as did Andres Martin and Marcus McDaniel (Vacaville, Calif.) of Georgia Tech.

Arconada extends streak to reach BNP main draw

Usue Arconada won 12 of the last 13 games against Beatriz Haddad Maia
of Brazil today in Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Nobody is saying that Usue Arconada is going to win a Grand Slam tournament anytime soon, if ever.

   But Arconada is reminiscent of Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion now ranked No. 8.

   Both are 22-year-old Americans born 17 days apart (Arconada is older) in other countries (Arconada in Argentina, Kenin in Russia).

   Both have tremendous groundstrokes and fighting spirit.

   And both won the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger, Kenin three years ago and Arconada last week.

   Kenin, however, is three inches (7.6 centimeters) taller at 5-foot-7 (1.70 meters) in an era of power.

   Arconada, a qualifying wild card playing in the BNP Paribas Open for the first time, surprised ninth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 today in 91-degree (33 Celsius) heat to reach the main draw of the tournament, considered the "fifth Grand Slam.'

   "It means a lot," Arconada, ranked No. 182, said in an on-court interview after her seventh consecutive victory. "I had a quick turnaround from my last tournament. I just left it out there every match and did everything I could. I told myself, no matter what, you've got to keep fighting."

   It didn't hurt that the first serve of Haddad Maia, a 6-foot (1.85-meter) left-hander, dropped from over 120 mph (193 kph) in the first set to under 100 mph (161 kph).

   Arconada, who has a Basque first name (pronounced EW-sway) because her father's side of the family is from Spain, double-faulted to trail 1-2 in the second set after "Game, Haddad Maia" was erroneously announced following Arconada's first serve. Haddad Maia, ranked No. 115 after reaching a career-high No. 58 in 2017, won one game the rest of the match. 

   "I was just kind of looking at my brother (Jordi, a former Texas A&M player), and he was giving me a lot of confidence and cheering me on," Arconada said. "It helped me be strong, and I was able to turn it up."

   Arconada is scheduled to play Ajla Tomljanovic, a 28-year-old Australia citizen from Croatia, on Thursday in the first round. The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Tomljanovic (pronounced Tom-yon-o-vich), ranked No. 47, reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon in July and the final of the 2017 (last) Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger.

   Arconada defeated Tomljanovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of a $100,000 hardcourt tournament in Tampico, Mexico in 2017 in their only previous meeting.

   The winner will face fifth-seeded Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion and two-time BNP quarterfinalist. All 32 seeds in each the women's and men's draws receive first-round byes.

   Liang En-Shuo, 21, of Chinese Taipei also advanced to the main draw in her first BNP Paribas Open. Liang, who lost to Arconada in the Berkeley quarterfinals and reached the doubles final with Lu Jia-Jing of China, beat American Caroline Dolehide, a two-time Grand Slam doubles semifinalist, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

   Liang is set to play Alison Riske of Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, with the survivor taking on 16th-seeded Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 BNP and U.S. Open champion. 

   ITF Pro Circuit — No. 10 seed Maria Kozyreva of Russia and Saint Mary's College in the San Francisco Bay Area edged No. 7 seed Vivian Wolff, a former UCLA star from Germany, 3-6, 6-4 [11-9] in the second (final) round of qualifying for the $25,000 Pro Women's Open in Redding, Calif.

   No. 13 seed Hind Abdelouahid, an ex-Saint Mary's standout from Manteca, Calif., advanced with a 6-1, 6-7 (2) [10-2] victory over No. 5 seed Bianca Jolie Fernandez of Canada.

   College — Tristan Boyer of Stanford and Eric Hadigian (Sacramento) of Pepperdine each won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw of the ITA Men's All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

   Falling were Yuta Kikuchi of the University of California, Berkeley and Max Basing of Stanford in the third (final) round of qualifying and No. 17-32 seed Alexandre Rotsaert of Stanford and Carl Emil Overbeck of Cal in the second round.

Berkeley champion breezes in BNP qualifying

Usue Arconada, shown Sunday in the final of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Chal-
lenger, lost only three games in her BNP Paribas Open debut. Photo by Mal Taam

   A short turnaround didn't hurt Usue Arconada. 

   One day after winning the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger, the 22-year-old American romped in her BNP Paribas Open debut.

   Arconada, a wild card ranked No. 188, whipped Australia's Arina Rodionova, seeded 18th and ranked No. 154, 6-3, 6-0 in 66 minutes on Monday in the first round of qualifying in Indian Wells.

   The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Arconada, who has lost a total of only seven games in her last two matches, is scheduled to play ninth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil on Tuesday for a main-draw berth in the tournament, considered the "fifth Grand Slam." Haddad Maia, a 6-foot (1.85-meter) left-hander, outclassed Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 6-4, 6-1.

   Meanwhile, Berkeley semifinalists Kurumi Nara and Mayo Hibi of Japan lost to seeds. Sixth-seeded Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan beat Nara 6-4, 6-3, and 13th-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus beat Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

   Chinese Taipei's Liang En-Shuo, the doubles runner-up in Berkeley with Lu Jia-Jing of China, advanced with a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 victory over 10th-seeded Wang Xinyu, who lost in the first round of singles in Berkeley as the second seed. 

   College — Stanford's Alexandre Rotsaert, Tristan Boyer and Max Basing won their first-round qualifying matches in the ITA Men's All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

   Also advancing were Yuta Kikuchi of the University of California, Berkeley and Eric Hadigian (Sacramento, Calif.) of Pepperdine. Falling were Timothy Sah of Stanford and Luke Casper (Santa Cruz, Calif.) of Texas A&M.

    Meanwhile, Cal's Jessica Alsola (Fresno, Calif.), Valentina Ivanov and Hannah Viller Moeller lost in the second round of qualifying for the ITA Women's All-American Championship in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

   Main-draw play in both tournaments is set to begin Wednesday.

Arconada routs Zacarias for $60K Berkeley crown

Usue Arconada, a 22-year-old American, matched her biggest career title.
Photo by Mal Taam 

   BERKELEY, Calif. — Usue Arconada got her career back on track today with a stellar performance.

   The 22-year-old American routed Marcela Zacarias of Mexico 6-1, 6-3 in matchup of diminutive, unseeded players to win the $60,000 Berkeley Challenger at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club.

   "It means a lot," said Arconada, who matched her biggest career title. "I've had a tough year. This has been the culmination of all the hard work I've put in."

   Arconada, an Argentina native with a Basque first name (pronounced EW-sway), had tumbled from a career-high No. 130 in February 2020 to No. 238 entering this week. By winning the title, she soared 50 places to No. 188. 

   Arconada, who earned $9,142, showed no ill effects from her 3-hour, 10-minute victory over seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan on Saturday.

   "I did a really good job recovering yesterday, and I woke up today feeling a little tired but not sore," said Arconada, who's based in Orlando, Fla. "As the day went on, I was feeling a bit better. I didn't have a problem physically." 

Marcela Zacarias, 27, of Mexico played in her biggest career final by far.
Photo by Mal Taam

   The 27-year-old Zacarias (pronounced Za-ca-REE-us) did in the 81-degree (27 Celsius) heat. Her first three matches in the tournament averaged 2:55 in length, and she lost a tough first set against fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan on Saturday before Nara retired at 0-3 in the second set with a groin injury.

   "(Arconada) was really tough today, and it was not my best day," Zacarias lamented after her biggest career final by far. "She didn't miss, and I missed really easy (shots) on the important points when I was up in the games. I was a little bit low of energy, and it took me a long time to start playing better. (Then) it was too late."

   Zacarias, who climbed to a career-high No. 181 in 2015, jumped 45 spots to No. 261 and collected $4,886 as the runner-up.

   "It was a pretty good week," said Zacarias, who pondered retirement after a discouraging first-round loss in Fort Worth, Texas, last week. "I was not even going to come, so I'm really excited that I came and played my best tennis in a few years." 

Usue Arconada celebrates after winning
championship point today at the Berkeley
Tennis Club. Photo by Paul Bauman

   After Zacarias held serve in the opening game of the final, Arconada reeled off seven consecutive games, overcoming a 0-40 deficit in her first service game.

   Arconada led 4-1 in the second set but double-faulted on break point for 4-3. She broke right back on a deep forehand winner and held serve at 15 for the championship.

   "I thought I did really well today focusing on the little things and taking it a point at a time," Arconada said. "I was real engaged with everything I was doing, and I was trying not to give any free points away."

   Arconada has little time to celebrate and rest. She received a wild card in qualifying for the prestigious BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and is scheduled to play No. 18 seed Arina Rodionova, an Australian veteran who reached the Berkeley quarterfinals in 2019, on Monday afternoon. 

   Unseeded Sophie Chang, 24, of Havre de Grace, Md., and Angela Kulikov, 23, of Sun Valley in the Los Angeles area won the doubles title in their first tournament together. Combining power (Chang) and athleticism (Kulikov), they defeated No. 4 seeds Liang En Shuo of Chinese Taipei and Lu Jia-Jing of China 6-4, 6-3.

   "I reached out to Sophie on Instagram a few weeks ago," Kulikov, a former USC All-American, said during the awards ceremony. "I said, 'I heard you have a pretty good serve. Wanna carry me in the tournament?' "

   Here are the complete Berkeley singles and doubles draws.

Clones Arconada, Zacarias to meet in Berkeley final

Unseeded Usue Arconada topped seventh-seeded
 Mayo Hibi in 3 hours, 10 minutes. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. — Fans at the Berkeley Tennis Club on Sunday might have trouble telling the singles finalists apart.

   Usue Arconada and Marcela Zacarias look and play alike. Both are small, aggressive yet steady baseliners with Hispanic backgrounds. Both are unseeded. Both even wear shorts rather than skirts. 

   "Yes, I think we are (similar players)," Zacarias allowed with a laugh. "Totally."

   The biggest difference between Arconada and Zacarias (pronounced Za-ca-REE-us) is age. Zacarias is five years older at 27.

   Arconada — a 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter), 125-pound (57-kilogram) Argentina native who represents the United States — and Zacarias — a 5-foot-3 (1.59-meter), 110-pound (50-kilogram) Mexican — advanced in contrasting fashion today.

   Arconada, who's based in Orlando, Fla., outdueled seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident who plays for her native Japan, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in a grueling baseline battle that lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes.

   Zacarias trailed fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan 5-7, 3-0 when the 29-year-old Nara, ranked No. 178 after reaching a career-high No. 32 in 2014, retired with a right groin injury after 1:24. Nara's first-round and quarterfinal victories each spanned more than three hours.

   Arconada reached her first final since losing to then-No. 84 Anna Blinkova of Russia in the $162,480 Oracle Challenger in New Haven, Conn., in September 2019. Two months earlier, Arconada won the $60,000 Honolulu Challenger for the biggest title of her career.

 

Unseeded Marcela Zacarias serves during her victory over fourth-seeded
Kurumi Nara, who retired while leading 7-5, 0-3. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Arconada's first name (pronounced EW-sway) is Basque because her father's side of the family is from Spain. She lived in Argentina for seven or eight years before moving to Puerto Rico for two years and then to Florida to train for tennis.

   Zacarias advanced to her first final since winning a $15,000 hardcourt tournament in Cancun in December 2019. Earlier that year, she won four consecutive $15,000 hardcourt tourneys in Mexico. Zacarias has never played in the final of a tourney above $25,000. 

   Arconada, ranked No. 238, and Zacarias, ranked No. 306, are scheduled to meet for the first time, although they have practiced with each other frequently, on Sunday after the 11 a.m. doubles final. Both matches will be broadcast on RadioTennis.com.  

   The Arconada-Hibi match was filled with deuces, service breaks and clutch shots in 81-degree (27 Celsius) heat. It was exhausting just to watch.

Mayo Hibi prepares to hit her trademark backhand
slice. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Hibi, the runner-up in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, has an old-school game that her father, Soichi, taught her. She relies on consistency and finesse in an era of power, has a one-handed backhand that she usually slices, isn't afraid to come to the net and shows no emotion on the court. 

   Arconada, meanwhile, is exceptionally fast and shows her frustration under duress. She flung her racket after blowing a high volley on break point for 0-2 in the second set and hit a ball against the back fence after getting broken while serving for the match at 6-5 in the set. 

   Arconada basically willed herself to victory. After dropping the second-set tiebreaker, she trailed 1-3 in the third set but reeled off the next four games to serve for the match again. Arconada was called for a foot fault on her first serve at 15-40, was broken two points later and broke back at 15 for the match.

   "It was definitely tough after being up 6-5 in the second (set) and not being able to close it out," Arconada said. "She played a good tiebreaker, and I was kind of rushing my game a little bit. 

   "I started the (third) set a little slowly with my physicality, but I tried to push myself. I told myself I can stay out there all day, as long as I need to, to bring it, and I'm not leaving without a fight. That really helped me and pumped me up. I started taking it point by point and not concentrating so much on the end goal, just competing."

Kurumi Nara has reached the third round of the U.S. Open twice and
of the Australian Open once. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Nara's retirement was welcome for Zacarias, whose three previous matches this week, all three-setters, averaged 2:55 in length. 

   "I'm really sorry for her," Zacarias lamented. "She was in pain; she couldn't run. But yes, it's nice to finish earlier. I was not going to go until I won, so that would have been three hours," she quipped.

   Nara, who reached the third round of the U.S. Open in 2013 and 2017 and of the Australian Open in 2014, bolted to a 4-1 lead with one service break. After Zacarias won the next two games, Nara took a medical timeout to have her upper right thigh taped. Zacarias saved a set point while serving at 4-5, but Nara eventually broke for the set.

   Zacarias changed her racket and strategy after the first set and was a new player.

   "I thought my (strings were) loose," she said. "I started the second set more confident, and I had to come in (to the net). I was really far behind (the court) and waiting for her to come in. I need to change something, (so I said) I'm going to be aggressive. That's what I did, and it worked." 
   Zacarias rolled her right ankle at 5-5 in the first set but quickly recovered. 

   "It was painful but all good," she said.

   Here are the updated Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Sunday's schedule.

Mexican sobs after another three-set win in Berkeley

Marcela Zacarias, shown today, pondered retirement after a discouraging
loss last week. Photo by Mal Taam

   BERKELEY, Calif. — After Marcela Zacarias' victory today, she put her head in her hands, found a chair in a shady corner of the court, sat down and sobbed.

   That type of reaction normally is reserved for winning a Slam. But the 27-year-old Mexican had just beaten a qualifier in the quarterfinals of a $60,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament.

   What gives?

   Seeded fifth in last week's $25,000 tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, Zacarias lost 6-0 in the third set in the first round.

   "It's not really what I do, so I was really surprised," the unseeded Zacarias explained after topping Emma Navarro, a University of Virginia sophomore who won the NCAA singles title in May, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in 2 hours, 47 minutes today on a hot, sunny day at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club. "I told myself, I think I'm done with tennis. Maybe I will play a few more (tournaments) and retire next year.

   "I can't believe how after last week and all the thoughts, I trust in myself again this week, and this is what I can do. I was just really happy that I came. I was brave to come again, and I was really proud of myself."

Emma Navarro, the reigning NCAA singles champion, lost
to Marcela Zacarias in three sets. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Zacarias' expectations entering this week were rather low.

   "The first round, I won in three sets, and the only thing I was thinking was, I just want to win one game," she said. "I don't want to lose 6-0. After that, I played good, and I was mentally really strong, and that helped me in every match."

   Zacarias' three victories this week, all three-setters, have averaged 2:55 in length. Her 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Katie Volynets, 19, of nearby Walnut Creek in the opening round lasted 3:38. The first set was a match in itself, spanning 1:41. 

   Zacarias, only 5-foot-3 (1.59 meters) and 110 pounds (50 kilograms), attributes her endurance to a heavy dose of Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) tournaments in the United States. The events feature a round-robin format until the quarterfinals, guaranteeing all players at least three matches, but no ranking points.

   "It's amazing how many matches I've played," said Zacarias, ranked No. 306 in the world and No. 4 in Mexico. "It's like six matches every week, and I've been playing UTRs back-to-back, so I've played maybe 12 matches in two weeks. Sometimes in ITFs, you lose in the first round and don't do anything for a week. That helped me keep my fitness really good."

   The UTRs also have helped Zacarias mentally.

   "It's been rough," Zacarias admitted of life on the circuit. "I don't have any sponsors, it's been really difficult with COVID, and I didn't have any money to travel. So it's like, I'm going to play some UTRs, and actually I've won seven UTRs this year. I've made good money, I've played good matches, and it gave me confidence. I'm more relaxed about the money and traveling. I think that also helped me. It took off some pressure about ITFs." 

Kurumi Nara, only 5-foot-1 (1.55 meters), of Japan reached a career-
high No. 32 in 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Serving at 5-4 in the second set against Navarro, Zacarias made a sensational backhand get to give her a match point but squandered it by slugging a short forehand long.

   "It was actually a really easy forehand," Zacarias said. "I just got a little emotional instead of just hitting another ball. When I went to the restroom (after the second set), I just told myself I needed to forget about the match point. I've been playing better and winning, so if I keep doing my thing and forget about the match point, I was going to be OK."

   Navarro, who lost to Leylah Fernandez in the 2019 French Open girls singles final and won the doubles crown with Chloe Beck, made Zacarias' job easier by committing 10 double faults in the match. 

   Zacarias is scheduled to meet fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara, 29, of Japan for the first time on Saturday at about 3 p.m. (RadioTennis.com). The 5-foot-1 (1.55-meter) Nara, ranked No. 178 after reaching a career-high No. 32 in 2014, outlasted qualifier Sophie Chang, a 24-year-old native of Havre de Grace, Md., 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 in 3:12. 

   Nara, who has reached the third round of the U.S. Open twice and of the Australian Open once, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set. Chang, tall and powerful but erratic, had 12 aces and a whopping 21 double faults.

Unseeded Usue Arconada serves during her 6-3, 6-1 victory over eighth-
seeded Liang En Shuo. Arconada lost the first three games of the match
and won the next 11. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In Saturday's first semifinal, seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan is set to play unseeded Usue (pronounced EW-sway) Arconada of Orlando, Fla., after a 10 a.m. doubles semi. 

   Hibi, the runner-up in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, eliminated unseeded Louisa Chirico, a former top-60 player from Westchester, N.Y., 6-2, 6-3.

   "I feel like my slice works really well on this court and she couldn't really adapt to it," said Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident who has not lost a set this week. "She hit a lot of unforced errors off of it."

   Hibi, ranked No. 207, led 4-1 in the second set, but Chirico won the next two games.

   "I was a bit shaky at the end of the second set," Hibi conceded. "I'm happy I was able to finish it off because yesterday I had five match points at 5-4 (in the second set against wild card Victoria Duval) and couldn't finish it off. I had to go to a tiebreak and didn't want to do that again. I'm happy I finished it in straight sets."

   Arconada, ranked No. 238, dispatched Liang En Shuo, seeded eighth and ranked No. 228, of Chinese Taipei 6-3, 6-1. Arconada, only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters) and 125 pounds (57 kilograms), lost the first three games of the match and won the next 11.

   "I just started finding my groundstrokes and took it a point at a time," Arconada said. "I was just trying to be consistent and pushing her back. After that, it was just staying in the moment, staying mentally strong and taking care of every game."  

   Arconada defeated Hibi 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 Honolulu Challenger in 2019 en route to the title in their only previous meeting.

   Here are the updated Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule.

After big upset, Kozyreva falls to fellow college qualifier

   Maria Kozyreva and Sachia Vickery couldn't back up their big victories in the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger.

   Emma Navarro of Charleston, S.C., eliminated Russia's Kozyreva 7-5, 6-3 today in a matchup of college qualifiers to reach the quarterfinals at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club.

   Kozyreva, a fifth-year student at Saint Mary's College in nearby Moraga, Calif., ranked No. 1,246, stunned top-seeded Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, on Wednesday. Navarro, a University of Virginia sophomore, won the NCAA singles title in May. 

   Meanwhile, Usue (pronounced EW-sway) Arconada of Naples, Fla., topped Sachia (pronounced SA-sha) Vickery of Miramar, Fla., 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in a battle of unseeded players.

   Vickery, who reached the singles semifinals and won the doubles title in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, ousted second-seeded Wang Xinyu, the runner-up in last week's $115,000 Columbus (Ohio) Challenger, on Wednesday. 

    Navarro is scheduled to play unseeded Marcela Zacarias of Mexico on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan against qualifier Sophie Chang, a native of Havre de Grace, Md.

    In Friday's other quarterfinals, seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan is set to meet unseeded Louisa Chirico, a former top-60 player from Westchester, N.Y., at 10 a.m., followed by Arconada versus eighth-seeded Liang En Shuo of Chinese Taipei. Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident, reached the 2019 Berkeley final, losing to Madison Brengle. 

   Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule.

   BNP Paribas Open — Rising star Jenson Brooksby, 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area and Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area received wild cards in the tournament, Monday through Oct. 17 in Indian Wells, Calif. Both will debut in the BNP Paribas Open.

   ATP Tour — Top-seeded Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski of Great Britain beat wild cards Brandon Nakashima of San Diego and Sem Verbeek (University of the Pacific, 2013-16) of the Netherlands 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the inaugural San Diego Open. 

Bay Area's Volynets loses marathon in $25K Boca Raton

Katie Volynets talks with reporter Tony Acosta during the 2018 Stockton (Calif.)
Challenger. In the background is Volynets' father, Andrey. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The first match between Americans Katie Volynets and Usue (pronounced OO-sway) Maitane Arconada was a doozy.

   The third-seeded Arconada, 22, outlasted Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in 3 hours, 26 minutes today in the second round of a $25,000 hardcourt tournament in Boca Raton, Fla.

    The match was not the longest of the tournament, however. Top-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus edged qualifier Maria Mateas, a 21-year-old American born in Romania,  4-6, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (3) in 4:07, virtually unheard of for a best-of-three-set match, in the first round. 

   Govortsova, a quarterfinalist at Stanford on the WTA Tour in 2007 and 2013, then lost to Tereza Mrdeza of Croatia 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a mere 2:31.

   Arconada captured the doubles title in the 2017 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger with Sofia Kenin. Volynets won the singles crown in the USTA 18 National Championships in August 2019 and turned pro that December.

   ITF Men's Tour — Second-seeded Alejandro Gomez of Colombia and Israel Alexander Ore of the United States beat alternates Strong Kirchheimer of Cary, N.C., and Dennis Novikov, 27, of San Jose, Calif., 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of a $25,000 clay-court tournament in Naples, Fla.

Top seed Brengle rallies to beat qualifier in Berkeley

Madison Brengle has altered her serve because of what she
says is incurable hand and arm pain caused by a reaction to
an anti-doping blood test at the 2016 U.S. Open. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. – Madison Brengle had a simple explanation for how she beat the French Open runner-up at Wimbledon two weeks ago and almost lost to a qualifier ranked No. 526 today.
   "Everybody's good," Brengle observed. "That's all there is to it."
   After ousting 16th-seeded Marketa Vondrousova in the first round at Wimbledon two weeks ago, the top-seeded Brengle gutted out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over 18-year-old fellow American Alycia Parks in the second round of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Women's Challenge.
   Serving at 0-2 in the second set, Brengle saved eight break points and held.
   "'Concerned' is the wrong word," Brengle, ranked No. 83 after reaching a career-high No. 35 in 2015, said after her second consecutive match against a U.S. teenage qualifier. "I will go out and compete and give it my best, and whatever happens happens. This is not the be all, end all."
   Why so many break points? That, too, is simple. Brengle, 29, has altered her serve because of what she says is incurable hand and arm pain caused by a reaction to an anti-doping blood test at the 2016 U.S. Open. She sued the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation in April 2018. The WTA and ITF have not publicly commented on the case.
   Throughout today's match, the explosive Parks jumped all over Brengle's soft, stiff-armed deliveries and rifled returns. Ultimately, though, unforced errors doomed Parks.
   "I kind of lost focus, I guess," said Parks, who easily got discouraged and continually asked her father, Michael Parks, sitting at one end of the court not to comment during the match. "If I (had) stayed focused, I would have (gotten) through that match, for sure."

Alycia Parks, 18, has often been compared to the Williams sisters.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Alycia Parks took the loss philosophically.
   "I'm not disappointed," she insisted. "I never lose; I learn."
   Parks turned pro at 16. In a Palm Beach (Fla.) Post story last December, Michael Parks said his daughter's game was "too good for college. She's a freak-of-nature athlete."
   Parks has often been compared to Venus and Serena Williams. Like the Williams sisters, Parks is an African-American who skipped the juniors to let her body develop. Like Venus, she's tall (5-foot-11 or 1.80 meters) and slender. They even look alike facially. Like Serena, Parks has a booming serve.
   "Serena called me when I was 7 or 8," Alycia Parks recalled in the Palm Beach Post story. "She was saying positive things and telling me to stick with it. Now that I'm here, I'm sure she's proud. ... "
   Brengle suffered a toe injury during the match but said it didn't bother her.
   "I think I just lost a toenail, but that's fine," she said. "Who needs 'em, right? Just paint them and make believe."
   Brengle is scheduled to play unseeded American Gail Brodsky, a 28-year-old mother of two who quit tennis in 2012 and returned early last year, on Friday at noon. They have split four matches, the last one in 2012.
   Also in the top half of the draw, sixth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., will face unseeded Arina Rodionova, a 29-year-old Australian from Russia, for the first time at about 2 p.m. Both players qualified for Wimbledon this month and lost in the first round.

Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, serves during
her 7-5, 6-2 victory over Usue Arconada, whose winning
streak ended at 11 matches. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Ahn, ranked No. 180, ended Usue (pronounced OO-sway) Arconada's winning streak at 11 matches, beating the 20-year-old American 7-5, 6-2 to reach the Berkeley quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
   Ahn, a 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) right-hander, played with her right arm heavily taped to protect a hyperextended elbow. The arm, she said, is "much better than it looks."
   Rodionova, ranked No. 206, outlasted Jovana Jaksic, a 25-year-old Serb living in Sacramento, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3 in 2 hours, 56 minutes despite committing 10 double faults.
   In the bottom half of the draw, second-seeded Sachia (pronounced Sa-sha) Vickery will play unseeded but powerful fellow American Caroline Dolehide for the first time at about noon.
   Also, fifth-seeded Na-Lae Han of South Korea will take on unseeded Mayo Hibi, who grew up in Irvine in the Los Angeles region but plays for her native Japan, at 10 a.m. Hibi, who also advanced to the Berkeley quarterfinals for the second straight year, is 3-1 against Han.
   Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule. Live streaming is available. 

Ex-Stanford stars Gibbs, Klahn advance to singles finals

Nicole Gibbs, playing in Berkeley last July, is
competing in her first tournament since having
cancer surgery in May. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Nicole Gibbs and Bradley Klahn have much in common.
   Both are from Southern California. Both won NCAA singles titles at Stanford. Both have had major surgeries. And both reached singles finals on the USTA Pro Circuit today.
   The second-seeded Gibbs, playing her first tournament since having surgery for a rare cancer in the roof of her mouth in May, outlasted unseeded American Caroline Dolehide 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4 in the $60,000 Tennis Championships of Honolulu. The match lasted 2 hours, 41 minutes in 86-degree (30 Celsius) heat and 56 percent humidity.
   In the January/February issue of Tennis Magazine, International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin wrote of the 20-year-old Dolehide: "Her kick serve is already one of the best on tour. She's got so much power but also has all-court abilities, including net coverage. She's still maturing."
   The top-seeded Klahn, who underwent operations for a herniated disc in his back in 2011 and 2015, dispatched fourth-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-3 in the $54,160 Nielsen Pro Tennis Championship in Winnetka, Ill.
   Istomin reached the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Open, stunning six-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round. Istomin also reached the final of the 2012 SAP Open in San Jose, falling to Milos Raonic, and climbed to a career-high No. 33 later that year.

Bradley Klahn, playing in San Francisco early last year,
reached the singles final and won the doubles title in Win-
netka, Ill. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Klahn and JC Aragone won the Winnetka doubles crown, beating Christopher Eubanks and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski 7-5, 6-4 in a matchup of unseeded American teams. Aragone and Kwiatkowski helped Virginia with three consecutive NCAA titles (2015-17).
   The 26-year-old Gibbs, ranked No. 129, is scheduled to play fifth-seeded Usue (pronounced OO-sway) Arconada, 20, of Naples, Fla., for the first time on Sunday.
   Arconada, ranked No. 214, beat unseeded Jamie Loeb, a 24-year-old product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, 6-2, 6-4.
   Gibbs reached the final of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July, losing to Sofia Kenin. Arconada teamed with Kenin to win the doubles title in the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger in 2017.
   Klahn, a 28-year-old left-hander ranked No. 87, is set to play 12th-seeded Jason Kubler of Australia on Sunday at noon (Tennis Channel). Kubler, ranked No. 188, beat 13th-seeded Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia by walkover.
   Klahn won his only previous match against Kubler 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of the $75,000 Gatineau (Canada) Challenger last July en route to the title.
   Gibbs captured two NCAA titles in singles (2012 and 2013) and one in doubles (2012) before giving up her senior year and turning pro. Klahn won the 2010 NCAA singles crown as a sophomore and graduated in 2012.

Top seed, defending champ to meet in 60K Sacramento

   In a dream quarterfinal, top-seeded Jennifer Brady will face defending champion Sofia Kenin in the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   The Floridians will meet tonight after a 6:30 doubles semifinal at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   Kenin, from Pembroke Pines, beat Usue (pronounced OOO-sway) Maitane Arconado, a Puerto Rico product, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1 in a meeting of 18-year-olds in Thursday's featured night match.
   Kenin extended her winning streak to seven matches. She swept the singles and doubles titles in last week's $60,000 Stockton Challenger.
   Kenin played with Arconada in Stockton, but neither entered doubles in Sacramento.
   Brady, a 22-year-old former UCLA star based in Orlando, defeated U.S. qualifier Ena Shibahara, who completed her freshman season at UCLA in May, 6-2, 6-4.
   Brady, who reached the round of 16 in the Australian Open in January as a qualifier, is the only top-100 player in the draw at No. 77. Kenin is No. 165.
   Ajla Tomljanovic (pronounced Eye-la Tom-lee-on-o-vich), a 24-year-old Croatian based in Boca Raton, Fla., will meet Irina Falconi, 27, of Orlando in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive week. That will follow the noon match between No. 2 seed Kristie Ahn of Orlando and No. 7 Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla.
  Tomljanovic outslugged Falconi 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 in Stockton. Both are former top-100 players rebounding from surgery.
   Both Ahn and Collins are college graduates, a rarity in professional tennis. Ahn, along with Nicole Gibbs, led Stanford to the NCAA team title in 2013. Collins won the NCAA singles crown in 2014 and 2016 while playing for Virginia.
   After the Tomljanovic-Falconi showdown, 15-year-old U.S. sensation Amanda Anisimova will play qualifier Chanel Simmonds, a 24-year-old left-hander from South Africa.
   Here are the Sacramento singles and doubles draws and today's schedule. Live streaming is available.

No. 1 Ahn, three other seeds fall in 60K Stockton

   STOCKTON, Calif. -- Top-seeded Kristie Ahn lost today in the $60,000 University of the Pacific Stockton Challenger, but the former Stanford star shouldn't feel too bad.
   For one thing, Ahn fell to a WTA veteran who reached a career-high No. 63 in May 2016.
   For another, Ahn had plenty of company.
   Irina Falconi dismissed friend and fellow Orlando, Fla., resident Ahn 6-4, 6-0 in the second round at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center. Also eliminated were No. 3 seed Danielle Collins, No. 6 Grace Min and No. 7 Usue Maitane Arconada. Only two seeds, No. 2 Jamie Loeb and No. 4 Sofia Kenin, reached the quarterfinals.
   Falconi, only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters), reached the third round of the 2011 U.S. Open and 2015 French Open. The Ecuador native won her only WTA title in April 2016 on clay in Bogota but had surgery on her right big toe after the U.S. Open and returned to the tour at the beginning of January.
   Now ranked No. 247, the 27-year-old Falconi said the key to beating Ahn was making sure she did "something as simple as looking at the ball on every single point. There were a few times where I corrected myself and said, 'Look at the ball.' Once I won the first set, continuing with that fire and intensity helped me in the second."
   The 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Ahn, 25, had no aces and six double faults. She won only 43.3 percent of the points on her first serve (13 of 30) and 39.1 percent (9 of 23) on her second delivery.
   "I didn't serve very well," acknowledged Ahn, ranked No. 117. "I tried to do the right thing and come forward a couple times and made too many errors. It was partly due to her great defense. I definitely overplayed a couple times.
   "Overall it was not my best, but I do think we had a couple good points, and there were some positives I could take away from today. I came forward more today than I did the other day, and I'm trying to incorporate that more into my game."
   Falconi is scheduled to play Croatia's Ajla Tomljanovic, a former top-50 player rebounding from shoulder surgery, Friday not before 10:30 a.m. on Court 2 in the quarterfinals.
   The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Tomljanovic (pronounced Tom-lee-an-o-vich), who reached the fourth round of the 2014 French Open, defeated Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, 18, of France 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.
   Falconi has a 4-2 record with a three-match winning streak against Tomljanovic. Falconi won the last meeting 6-1, 6-2 in the second round of qualifying in the 2015 Canadian Open.
   Also today, 19-year-old Xu Shilin of China dispatched third-seeded Danielle Rose Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., 6-3, 6-3.
   Xu, who lived in Florida from age 8 to 14 and speaks fluent English, uses two hands on her forehand and backhand. Collins won the 2014 and 2016 NCAA singles titles while playing for Virginia.
   Xu will play wild card Ashley Kratzer, an 18-year-old left-hander from Newport Beach in Southern California, not before 10:30 a.m. on the Stadium Court. Kratzer beat naturalized U.S. citizen Anna Tatishvili, a former top-50 player, 6-4, 7-5.
   Amanda Anisimova, a 15-year-old phenom from Hallandale Beach, Fla., dominated sixth-seeded Grace Min of Atlanta and Orlando 6-1, 6-2. The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Anisimova, who has lost only four games in two Stockton matches, will take on Loeb of Ossining, N.Y., at 9 a.m. on the Stadium Court.
   Loeb, a singles quarterfinalist in Stockton last year and doubles champion in the 2015 (inaugural) tournament, outclassed 18-year-old Caroline Dolehide of Hinsdale, Ill., 6-3, 6-2. Loeb, the 2015 NCAA singles champion at North Carolina, has not lost more than three games in a set in her two matches.
   Also, Francesca Di Lorenzo held off seventh-seeded Usue Maitane Arconada 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a hard-hitting battle of U.S. teenagers. Arconada, who was born in Argentina and grew up in Puerto Rico, led 4-1 in the tiebreaker.
   Di Lorenzo, a 19-year-old left-hander, won the NCAA doubles title as an Ohio State sophomore in May and lost in the first round of singles as the top seed. She will face Kenin, 18, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., at 9 a.m. on Court 2.
   Kenin, who won last year's Sacramento Challenger, beat Robin Anderson, a 24-year-old former UCLA star, 6-4, 6-3.
   Here are the Stockton singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule. Live streaming is available.