Ex-NorCal star Norrie, Badosa earn unlikely titles in BNP

 No. 21 seed Cameron Norrie beat No. 29 seed Nikoloz
Basilashvili in three sets to win the BNP Paribas Open
in Indian Wells. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman 

   Even without many of the world's top players in the tournament, few, if any, observers could have foreseen Cameron Norrie and Paula Badosa winning the BNP Paribas Open.

   Both Norrie, a 26-year-old British left-hander, and Badosa, a 23-year-old Spaniard, were seeded No. 21. Neither had won a match in Indian Wells before this year. Badosa, in fact, played in the main draw for the first time.

   But Norrie defeated No. 29 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 today after Badosa edged No. 27 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) in 3 hours, 4 minutes.

   All except Azarenka, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, were playing in the biggest match of their lives. Azarenka was bidding to become the first woman to win the tournament three times. 

   Absent from the BNP Paribas Open, normally held in March, were Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem — who had combined to win 14 of the previous 16 titles — the top two-ranked women (Ashleigh Barty and Aryna Sabalenka) and 2018 champion Naomi Osaka.

   Badosa, a quarterfinalist in this year's French Open and Tokyo Olympics, was two points from losing with Azarenka serving at 5-4, 30-0 in the third set. Azarenka then committed four consecutive errors, leveling the set at 5-5. After both players held serve, Badosa bolted to leads of 3-0 and 5-1 in the tiebreaker and held on from there.

   Badosa, a New York native, defeated four top-20 players in a row to reach the final.

   "The first thing that I've learned this week is that nothing is impossible," Badosa, who has spoken openly about experiencing depression. "If you fight, if you work, after all these years, you can achieve anything. ... 

   "I have been through tough moments. I never stopped dreaming. That's what kept me working hard and believing until the last moment."

   Norrie was born in South Africa, grew up in New Zealand, starred at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, and lives in London. He defeated one top-20 player, No. 15 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, en route to the title.

   "If you'd have told me I'd have won before the tournament, I wouldn't have believed you, so it's amazing," Norrie, who won back-to-back Northern California Challengers in Tiburon and Stockton in 2017, said in an on-court interview.

  Badosa and Norrie will rise to career highs of No. 11 and No. 16 (No. 1 in Great Britain), respectively, on Monday. They pocketed $1,209,730 each.

   ATP Tour — No. 1 seed Jenson Brooksby, 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area beat wild card Michael Geerts of Belgium 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of qualifying for the European Open, an ATP 250 tournament in Antwerp, Belgium.

   Brooksby, ranked a career-high No. 70, is scheduled to play Slovakia's Norbert Gombos, ranked No. 115 and seeded No. 8, on Monday for a main-draw berth. Gombos, 31, dispatched Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain 6-3, 6-2.

Fritz saves two match points, upsets Zverev in BNP

Taylor Fritz, shown in his second-round victory
over Brandon Nakashima, reached his first ATP
Masters 1000 semifinal. Photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 31 seed Taylor Fritz, playing in his native Southern California, survived two match points and stunned No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) today in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

   Fritz, who won the Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers in Northern California back-to-back at 17 in 2015, overcame a 2-5 deficit in the third set to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. 

   "I was really down and out, but I found a way to put myself into it," Fritz, who was born in Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area and lives in Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles region, said in an on-court interview. "I really wanted to make him have to close me out, and I was able to get back into the match. Normally, you would be so nervous in those situations and in the third-set tiebreak, but I felt so confident being aggressive, going after my game. It feels really great to play well with the pressure on."

   Fritz is scheduled to face No. 29 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia on Saturday after the 1:30 p.m. semifinal between No. 21 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain and No. 23 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria (Tennis Channel). Basilashvili surprised No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal.

   Norrie won the Tiburon and Stockton Challengers in NorCal back-to-back in 2017.

   In Sunday's women's final, No. 27 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus is set to meet No. 21 seed Paula Badosa of Spain. 

   Azarenka, who won Indian Wells in 2012 and 2016 and the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2010, outlasted No. 24 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a matchup of Grand Slam champions.

   Badosa, a quarterfinalist in this year's French Open and Tokyo Olympics, outclassed No. 12 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-3, 6-3 to gain the biggest final of her career.

   USTA Pro Circuit — Unseeded Maria Mateas of Chapel Hill, N.C., beat No. 3 seed Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Florence (S.C.) Open on hardcourts. 

Serena withdraws because of Achilles injury

   One player's quest to tie a record for career Grand Slam singles titles ended for the year while another's continued.

   Sixth-seeded Serena Williams withdrew from the French Open today with an Achilles tendon injury suffered in her semifinal loss to Victoria Azarenka in the recent U.S. Open.

   Williams, who turned 39 on Saturday, had been scheduled to play Tsvetana Pironkova, a 33-year-old Bulgarian, in a second-round matchup of mothers.

   Williams has been stuck on 23 Grand Slam singles crowns, one short of Margaret Court's record, for the past three seasons. The three-time French Open and Stanford champion did not reach a major final this year.

   This is the second time in the last three seasons that Williams has withdrawn from Roland Garros because of injury. In her first Grand Slam tournament since giving birth, she pulled out before her scheduled match against Maria Sharapova with a chest muscle problem in the fourth round in 2018.

   Williams said doctors advised her to rest for four to six weeks, adding that she "more than likely" will not play the rest of the year. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, almost every scheduled tournament has been canceled until 2021.  

   Also today, second-seeded Rafael Nadal dismissed Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 in 1 hour, 40 minutes.

   Nadal, seeking his fourth consecutive French Open crown and 13th overall, never faced a break point. He can tie Roger Federer's mark of 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

   Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia ousted Azarenka, the 10th seed and U.S. Open runner-up, 6-2, 6-2 for her second consecutive victory over a Grand Slam champion. Schmiedlova, 26, eliminated 40-year-old Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round.

   Schmiedlova, who has plunged from a career-high No. 26 in 2015 to No. 161, came to Paris with a 12-match losing streak in Grand Slam main draws dating back five years. 

   Qualifier Martina Trevisan, a 5-foot-3 (1.60-meter) left-hander from Italy, surprised 16-year-old Coco Gauff of Delray Beach, Fla., 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the third round of a major for the first time.

   Gauff, the French Open girls singles champion at 14 in 2018, committed 19 double faults, including four straight at one point.

   Fifth-seeded Kiki Bertens, a French Open semifinalist in 2016, saved a match point and overcame cramps in her 7-6 (5), 3-6, 9-7 victory over 33-year-old Italian qualifier Sara Errani, the 2012 runner-up to Sharapova at Roland Garros, in 3 hours, 11 minutes.

   Bertens, who had been 0-5 against Errani, left the court in a wheelchair. Errani committed 14 double faults.

   Top-seeded Simona Halep, who won the 2018 French Open for the first of her two Grand Slam singles titles, beat fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-4 to set up a rematch against 25th-seeded Amanda Anisimova, a 19-year-old American. 

   Anisimova, who won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger at 15, stunned Halep 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of last year's French Open. 

   In the first round of men's doubles:

   —Third-seeded Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat French wild cards Gregoire Barrere and Quentin Halys 6-4, 7-6 (1). 

   Halys reached the singles final of the 2016 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger.

   —Second-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina edged California natives Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, who was born in San Francisco, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

   In Northern California Challenger singles, Granollers advanced to the 2018 final in Tiburon, Johnson won the Aptos crown in 2012 and 2019, and Querrey swept the three-week swing in 2014.

   —Ninth-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia downed Luke Bambridge of Great Britain and former Cal star Ben McLachlan, a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

   Koolhof and Mektic reached the U.S. Open final, losing to Mate Pavic of Croatia and Bruno Soares of Brazil.

Azarenka annihilates Kenin 6-0, 6-0 in Italian Open

Victoria Azarenka crushed third-seeded Sofia Kenin 6-0, 6-0
in 61 minutes today in the second round of the Italian Open
in Rome. 2018 photo by Mal Taam

   With the French Open 10 days away, Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin are heading in opposite directions.

   In a clash of past or present Australian Open champions, the unseeded Azarenka blitzed the third-seeded Kenin 6-0, 6-0 in 61 minutes today in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome.

   Azarenka, the Australian Open champion in 2012 and 2013, did not face a break point. Kenin, who stormed to her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne early this year, still seeks her first WTA quarterfinal on clay.

   Azarenka has won 14 of her last 15 matches, losing to Naomi Osaka in the U.S. Open final, after going 0-3 since August 2019.

   Kenin, who received a first-round bye, suffered her second consecutive one-sided loss. Seeded second in the U.S. Open, the 21-year-old American fell to 16th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round. 

   The week before the U.S. Open, Kenin lost her opener in the Western & Southern Open at the same site in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., to then-No. 60 Alize Cornet of France.

   Azarenka, 31, of Belarus and Kenin have had great success in Northern California at different levels.

   In the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on the WTA Tour, Azarenka won the 2010 singles title and the 2011 doubles crown with Maria Kirilenko of Russia. Azarenka also reached the doubles final at Stanford in 2007 with Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.

   Kenin captured NorCal Challengers in 2016 at 17, 2017 and 2018.

   Azarenka is scheduled to play qualifier Daria Kasatkina of Russia on Friday for a quarterfinal berth. Kasatkina, who has slumped from a career-high No. 10 in 2018 to No. 74, dispatched Katerina Siniakova, formerly ranked No. 1 in doubles, 6-2, 6-3.

   Kasatkina, 23, also coasted past compatriot Vera Zvonareva, a 36-year-old wild card who climbed as high as No. 2 in 2010, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round.

   Also falling today were fifth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, eighth-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia and 14th-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia. 

   Polona Hercog of Slovenia topped Bertens, an Italian Open semifinalist last year and in 2017, 6-4, 6-4. Bertens played her first official match since February after skipping the U.S. Open because of coronavirus concerns.

   Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist, outlasted Martic 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 35-year-old Russian and two-time Italian Open runner-up, stopped Kontaveit 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. 

   Ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza, a Rome semifinalist in 2016 and 2017, eliminated 16-year-old U.S. sensation Coco Gauff 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3.

   Four seeds also lost on the men's side: No. 5 Gael Monfils of France, No. 7 Fabio Fognini of Italy, No. No. 9 Andrey Rublev of Russia and No. 13 Milos Raonic of Canada.

   German qualifier Dominik Koepfer, the runner-up in last year's Aptos, Calif., Challenger, downed Monfils, playing his first match since February, 6-2, 6-4. Koepfer, a 26-year-old left-hander, will meet 18-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti, guaranteeing that a qualifier will reach the quarterfinals.

   Musetti, who stunned three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in the first round, beat Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3, 6-4. Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up to Marin Cilic, had right elbow surgery last October. 

   Ugo Humbert, a 22-year-old left-hander from France, knocked off Fognini, who had arthroscopic surgery on both ankles on May 30,  7-5, 7-6 (4).

   Hubert Hurkacz, 23, of Poland took out Rublev, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-2, and Dusan Lajovic of Serbia beat Raonic, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Western & Southern Open, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2.

   In the second round of men's doubles, 40-year-old Rohan Bopanna of India and Denis Shapovalov of Canada ousted top seeds and two-time defending champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia 6-3, 3-6 [10-5]. Bopanna reached the 2013 Italian Open final with countryman Mahesh Bhupathi.

Another Italian teenager scores big upset in Rome

Third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece lost to 19-year-old wild card Jannik
Sinner of Italy in three sets today in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome.
2019 photo by Mal Taam

   An Italian teenage man pulled off a major upset in the Italian Open for the second consecutive day today.

   One day after 18-year-old qualifier Lorenzo Musetti stunned 10th-seeded Stan Wawrinka, 19-year-old wild card Jannik Sinner ousted third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-1, 6-7 (9), 6-2 in the second round in Rome. 

   Sinner, ranked No. 81, led 6-1, 5-2, but the 22-year-old Tsitsipas, ranked sixth, won four straight games to serve for the second set and saved two match points in the tiebreaker.

   Sinner recorded his second victory over a top-10 player. He knocked off No. 10 David Goffin in the second round in Rotterdam in February.

   Sinner, who reached the second round of last year's Aptos, Calif., Challenger one week after winning the Lexington, Ky., title, is set to face 15th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria on Friday for a quarterfinal berth.

   Dimitrov, a 2014 Rome semifinalist who climbed as high as No. 3 in 2017, demolished Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes. Dimitrov won 24 of 25 points on his first serve.

   Another Italian wild card, 28-year-old Stefano Travaglia, surprised unseeded Borna Coric, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last week, 7-6 (2), 7-5. Travaglia, ranked No. 84, is scheduled to take on countryman Matteo Berrettini, seeded fourth, on Friday.

   Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, playing his first match since getting defaulted from the U.S. Open on Sept. 6, outclassed Italian wild card Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-2.

   Djokovic, a four-time Italian Open champion, next will meet fellow Serb Filip Krajinovic, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Italian qualifier Marco Cecchinato.

   Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, playing his first official match since winning Acapulco in February, overwhelmed Spanish countryman Pablo Carreno Busta, a U.S. Open semifinalist, 6-1, 6-1 in 73 minutes. 

   Nadal, seeking his third consecutive Rome title and 10th overall, will play the winner of Thursday's match between 13th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada and Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.

   Both sixth seeds lost today. Marin Cilic, an Italian Open semifinalist in 2018 and a two-time Rome quarterfinalist, routed Goffin 6-2, 6-2. Qualifier Danka Kovinic of Montenegro dominated Belinda Bencic, playing her first match since February, 6-3, 6-1.

   Top-seeded Simona Halep, a two-time Italian Open runner-up, beat Italian wild card Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-4 for her 10th straight victory and 15th in her last 16 matches.

   In a matchup of former world No. 1s and Bank of the West Classic champions at Stanford, Victoria Azarenka eliminated 40-year-old Venus Williams 7-6 (7), 6-2.

   Azarenka has won 13 of her last 14 matches, losing to Naomi Osaka in the U.S. Open final, after going 0-3 since August 2019.

   Williams lost in the first round for the third consecutive tournament and fell to 1-7 this year. Her only victory is over Azarenka in the opening round in Lexington last month.

Osaka overcomes poor start, vanquishes Vika for title

Naomi Osaka, shown at 16 in 2014, became the first
woman to win the U.S. Open after dropping the open-
ing set since 1994. Photo by Paul Bauman

   This time, there was no controversy, crying or crowd.

   There was, however, a comeback.

   In a matchup of former world No. 1s and two-time Grand Slam singles champions, Naomi Osaka overcame a terrible start to defeat resurgent Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in today's U.S. Open final in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   Osaka, 22, became the first woman to win the tournament after dropping the opening set since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Steffi Graf 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in 1994. It was Osaka's second U.S. Open title in three years and third major crown overall.

   Two years ago, Osaka defeated heavily favored Serena Williams in a tumultuous final at Flushing Meadows for her first Grand Slam title. Williams was assessed a game penalty late in the match for her third code violation. During the awards ceremony, tears rolled down Osaka's cheeks as the pro-Williams crowd booed. 

   With no fans allowed at 23,770-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fourth-seeded Osaka trailed the unseeded Azarenka 0-2 in the second set before finding the range on her powerful serve and groundstrokes. After hitting only five winners and committing 13 unforced errors in the opening set, Osaka had 29 and 13, respectively, the rest of the way. 

   "I thought it would be very embarrassing to lose this in under an hour, so I just (told myself I) have to try as hard as I can and stop having a really bad attitude," Osaka, who made her WTA main-draw debut at 16 in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, said during the awards ceremony.

   Osaka led 4-1 in the third set, but Azarenka won the next two games to get back on serve. Osaka broke right back and held serve for the match, converting her second championship point when Azarenka netted a backhand after another in a long line of furious rallies.

   Osaka improved to 3-0 in Grand Slam finals after failing to reach the quarterfinals in four consecutive majors. She also ended Azarenka's winning streak at 12 matches, including a walkover against Osaka in the final of the Western & Southern Open two weeks ago in Flushing Meadows.

Victoria Azarenka played in her first major singles
final in seven years. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Azarenka, 31, played in her first major singles final since losing to Williams in three sets in the U.S. Open title match for the second consecutive time in 2013.

   "I thought third time was the charm, but I guess I'll have to try again," the two-time Australian Open champion, who ousted six-time U.S. Open winner Williams in the semifinals (by the same score as in the final), said during the awards ceremony.

   After 2013, Azarenka struggled with injuries and depression. She played only two tournaments between May 2016 and March 2018 because of pregnancy and a subsequent child custody dispute that ultimately was ruled in her favor, plummeting to No. 978 in May 2017. Azarenka then went 0-3 from August 2019 until last month's Western & Southern Open.

   Osaka, who will vault six places in the world rankings to No. 3 on Monday, collected $3 million for winning the title. Forbes magazine reported in May that the Japanese icon is the highest-paid female athlete ever with $37.4 million in endorsements and prize money in the preceding 12 months.

   Azarenka, who will jump 13 spots to No. 14, pocketed $1.5 million as the runner-up.  

   Both finalists played with social or political issues in the back of their minds. 

   Osaka — who has a Haitian father, was born in her mother's native Japan and grew up in Florida — has been a prominent supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. She wore a mask showing the name of a different victim of racial violence for each of her post-match interviews during the U.S. Open. Osaka also sparked a one-day postponement of the Western & Southern Open to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. 

   "I just want people to have more knowledge," Osaka said on time.com. "I feel like the platform that I have right now is something that I used to take for granted, and I just feel like I should be using it for something."

   Azarenka's native Belarus, meanwhile, has been rocked by mass protests against autocratic President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994. He has brutally suppressed demonstrations since claiming a landslide victory in the Aug. 9 election, The New York Times reported.

   "That's breaking my heart to see what's happening, because not being able to be there and understand the whole situation, it's really sad," Azarenka, who lives in Manhattan Beach in the Los Angeles area, reportedly said last month. "I can't even speak without tears in my eyes when I think about it."

   Serena out of Italian Open — Williams withdrew from next week's Italian Open in Rome, citing a strained Achilles tendon. She suffered the injury early in the third set of her loss to Azarenka on Thursday.

   The French Open is scheduled for Sept. 27 to Oct. 11 in Paris. Williams — the Roland Garros champion in 2002, 2013 and 2015 — remains one Grand Slam singles title short of Margaret Court's record of 24.

After big comeback, Zverev will take on Thiem for title

Alexander Zverev won for the first time after trailing two sets
to none. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Alexander Zverev's demons were returning.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) German climbed to No. 3 at age 20 in 2017 but, feeling the pressure of great expectations, underachieved in Grand Slam tournaments until this year.

   He came out flat today in his second consecutive major semifinal and quickly trailed two sets to none in the U.S. Open.

   Suddenly, the fifth-seeded Zverev found his explosive game and topped 20th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first Grand Slam final. Zverev will play second-seeded Dominic Thiem on Sunday at 1 p.m. PDT (ESPN). 

   Zverev, now ranked seventh, scored the only break of the fifth set in the opening game to become the first German man to reach the U.S. Open final since Michael Stich lost to Andre Agassi in 1994.

   "I was actually looking at the scoreboard when I was down to sets to love," the 23-year-old Zverev, who have never come back from that deficit, said in an on-court interview. "I was like, I can't believe it. I'm playing in a (Grand Slam) semifinal where I'm supposed to be the favorite, and I'm down two sets to love, and I have no chance. I'm playing that bad. I knew I had to come up with better tennis and be more stable.

   "The conditions today were completely different. ... The ball wasn't as fast, so my serve wasn't as effective. But I'm through to my first Grand Slam final, and that's all that matters."

   Zverev still blasted 24 aces, 20 more than the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Carreno Busta, in the 3-hour, 23-minute match.

   Carreno Busta, who also was seeking his first Grand Slam final, took a medical timeout for a hip problem after the fourth set but didn't appear inhibited. He had advanced to the quarterfinals when top-ranked Novak Djokovic was defaulted for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball.

   Thiem overcame an Achilles tendon injury to beat third-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-2, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5). Medvedev, last year's runner-up to Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic, was rattled by a non-call in the first set and led by a service break in the second and third sets.

   Thiem is 0-3 in Grand Slam finals, having lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2018 and 2019 French Open and Djokovic in this year's Australian Open.

   Thiem, a 27-year-old Austrian, leads Zverev 7-2 (3-1 on hardcourts) in the head-to-head series. Thiem won the last meeting 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) in the Australian Open semifinals in January.

   Women's singles final — Fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka, 22, of Japan will meet unseeded Victoria Azarenka, 31, of Belarus on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT (ESPN) in a matchup of former world No. 1s and two-time Grand Slam singles champions.

   Osaka, who made her WTA main-draw debut in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, is 2-1 against Azarenka, who won the Stanford title 10 years ago. But both of Osaka's victories came on clay. Azarenka routed Osaka 6-1, 6-1 in the third round of the 2016 Australian Open in their first meeting, but Osaka was only 18 at the time.

   Osaka won consecutive Grand Slam titles in the 2018 U.S. Open, shocking Serena Williams in a tumultuous final, and 2019 Australian Open.

   Azarenka will play in her first major final since winning her second straight Australian Open title in 2013. She extended her winning streak to 12 matches, including a walkover against Osaka in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows, after going 0-3 since August 2019. 

   Azarenka played only two tournaments between May 2016 and March 2018 because of pregnancy and a subsequent child custody dispute, plummeting to No. 978 in May 2017.

   Women's doubles final — Playing in their first tournament together, unseeded Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia beat third-seeded Nicole Melichar of the United States and Yifan Xu of China 6-4, 6-4.

   Siegemund, 32, and Zvonareva, a 36-year-old mother, also knocked off seventh-seeded Azarenka and Sofia Kenin in the second round and second-seeded Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champions, in the quarterfinals.

   Melichar, 27, and Xu, a 32-year-old left-hander, did not play a seeded team in the tournament.

   Zvonareva earned her third major women's doubles crown and first since the 2012 Australian Open with compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova. Zvonareva, a two-time runner-up in women's doubles at Stanford (2005 and 2008), also won the 2006 U.S. Open with Nathalie Dechy of France.

   Zvonareva, formerly ranked No. 2 in singles, also owns two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, including the 2004 U.S. Open with ex-Stanford All-American Bob Bryan.

   Siegemund played in her first major women's doubles final but won the U.S. Open mixed doubles crown of Mate Pavic of Croatia in 2016. Pavic captured the men's doubles title at Flushing Meadows with Bruno Soares of Brazil on Thursday.

   Melichar and Xu each fell to 0-2 in Grand Slam women's doubles finals. They were the Wimbledon runners-up in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with other partners. 

   Xu and Melichar won the doubles title at Stanford in 2015 and San Jose, Calif., last year, respectively, with other partners.

   Siegemund and Zvonareva split $400,000 for today's victory, and Melichar and Xu shared $240,000.

Vika shocks Serena, will face Osaka in U.S. Open final

Victoria Azarenka reached her first Grand Slam singles final
since winning her second consecutive Australian Open title
seven years ago. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   Victoria Azarenka continued her stunning comeback in stunning fashion tonight.

   In a loud, hard-hitting battle of mothers in their 30s and former world No. 1s, the unseeded Azarenka subdued third-seeded Serena Williams 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   Williams strained an Achilles tendon in the second game of the third set and took a medical timeout, but she seemed fine after that.

   Azarenka raced to a 3-0 lead in the third set of the shriek-fest, and both players held serve the rest of the way in a rematch of the 2012 and 2013 U.S. Open finals, both of which Williams won in three sets.

   "We both know the match is never over (until the last point)," Azarenka said in an on-court interview regarding her turnaround after the first set. "I knew it's not going to be over at 5-3 (in the third set) either. I've been there before. Today was going to be different."

   Not only is Azarenka eight years younger than Williams, who will turn 39 on Sept. 26, the Belarusian was fresher. Williams played in her fourth consecutive three-set match, including one on Wednesday (players normally have a day off between singles matches in Grand Slam tournaments). Azarenka, meanwhile, annihilated 16th-seeded Elise Mertens 6-1, 6-0 in 73 minutes on Wednesday.

   Azarenka, who had been 0-10 against Williams in Grand Slam tournaments, reached her first major singles final since the 2013 U.S. Open. The two-time Australian Open champion will meet fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT (ESPN). 

   Osaka outslugged 28th-seeded Jennifer Brady of Orlando, Fla., 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3 to reach her second U.S. Open final in three years. At age 20, Osaka shocked Williams in straight sets in a chaotic match for the first of her two Grand Slam titles.

   Azarenka extended her winning streak to 12 matches, including a walkover against Osaka in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows, after going 0-3 since August 2019. She will climb at least 13 spots to No. 14 in the world rankings on Monday.

   Azarenka won the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford 10 years ago and ascended to No. 1 in 2012 after capturing the first of her two consecutive Australian Open crowns. She played only two tournaments between May 2016 and March 2018 because of her pregnancy and a subsequent child custody dispute, plummeting to No. 978 in May 2017.

   Williams, who claimed the last of her three Bank of the West Classic titles in 2014, again fell short in her quest to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

   Williams has failed to win any of the nine majors in which she has played since capturing the 2017 Australian Open title — losing four finals, all in straight sets — or to reach a final in her last four tournaments. She had a daughter on Sept. 1, 2017, and suffered life-threatening complications.

   Osaka, who made her WTA main-draw debut in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic, is 2-1 against Azarenka, but both victories came on clay.

   Azarenka drubbed Osaka 6-1, 6-1 in the third round of the 2016 Australian Open in their first meeting, but Osaka was only 18 at the time.

   Men's singles semifinals — Fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany will meet 20th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain on Friday at 1 p.m. PDT (ESPN), followed by second-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia versus third-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria.

    Either Zverev, the 23-year-old son of former Russian pro Alexander Zverev Sr., or Carreno Busta, 29, will play in his first Grand Slam final.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev defeated Carreno Busta 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the 2018 Miami semis in their only previous meeting.

   Carreno Busta advanced to the quarterfinals when top-ranked Novak Djokovic was defaulted for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball. Carreno Busta had just broken serve to lead 6-5.

   The 24-year-old Medvedev, last year's runner-up to Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic, is the only men's semifinalist who has not lost a set in the tournament.

   Thiem, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, is 2-1 against Medvedev. However, the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Russian won the last meeting 6-3, 6-1 in the Montreal quarters last year.

   Men's doubles final — Unseeded Mate Pavic of Croatia and Bruno Soares of Brazil won their first Grand Slam title together, defeating eighth-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia 7-5, 6-3.

   Soares, 38, claimed his third major men's doubles crown and Pavic, a 27-year-old left-hander, his second. They split $400,000.

   In the first round, Pavic and Soares trailed by a service break in the third set against fifth seeds and 2019 U.S. Open runners-up Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina. In the second round, Americans Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow served for the match against the eventual champions.

   Koolhof and Mektic, both 31, were playing in their first Grand Slam men's doubles final. They shared $240,000. 

In matchup of moms, Serena rallies to beat Pironkova

Serena Williams played her third consecutive three-set match
and eighth in 10 matches since the women's tour resumed.
2018 photo by Mal Taam

   Serena Williams survived another three-set match today to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

   Overcoming a sluggish start, the third-seeded Williams beat unranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., in the first major quarterfinal between mothers.

   Pironkova, a Bulgarian who will turn 33 on Sunday, was playing in her first tournament since Wimbledon in 2017 after starting a family.

   Williams, who will turn 39 on Sept. 26, slugged 20 aces, her most in a match in eight years, and committed only one double fault. She twice returned a serve left-handed, winning each point, as she improved to 5-0 against Pironkova in their first meeting in five years.

   It was Williams' third consecutive three-set match and eighth in 10 matches since the women's tour resumed after a five-month hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. She turned the match around after losing her serve in the opening game of the second set.

   "I was definitely feeling it a little in my legs," the former world No. 1 said in an on-court interview. "For whatever reason, an hour in, I get more energy. ... In the beginning, I was a little fatigued. Obviously, I can't do that if I want to keep winning, so I'm going to try to figure that out."

   Added ESPN commentator Chris Evert, a six-time U.S. Open champion: "Serena did not play her best, but she got herself out of trouble. She has to raise her level if she wants to win this tournament."

   Williams is 0-8 in attempts to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles crowns since her daughter, Olympia, was born on Sept. 1, 2017. Williams won the last of her six U.S. Open singles titles in 2014, losing the last two finals to upstarts Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu. 

   Williams — the champion of the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014 —  is scheduled to play unseeded Victoria Azarenka on Thursday after the first semifinal between the fourth-seeded Osaka and 28th-seeded Jennifer Brady (4 p.m. PDT on ESPN).

   Azarenka, a 31-year-old mother, demolished 16th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-1, 6-0 in 73 minutes to extend her winning streak to 11 matches, including a walkover against Osaka in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows, after going 0-3 since August 2019. She won the Bank of the West Classic 10 years ago and ascended to No. 1 in 2012 after winning the first of her two consecutive Australian Open crowns.

   Mertens, a semifinalist in the Australian Open and inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., in 2018, had not lost a set in four tournament matches. She was coming off a 6-3, 6-3 victory over second-seeded Sofia Kenin, the reigning Australian Open champion.

   Williams leads Azarenka 18-4 overall and 10-0 in majors, including three-set victories in the 2012 and 2013 U.S. Open finals, in the head-to-head series. 

   In the first all-Russian men's quarterfinal in a major, third-seeded Daniil Medvedev downed 10th-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-6 (6), 6-3, 7-6 (5). The volatile Rublev led 5-1 and 6-3 in the first-set tiebreaker. 

   Medvedev, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) right-hander, took a medical timeout at 4-5 in the third set for apparent cramps in his legs and for treatment on his right arm.

   The 24-year-old Medvedev, last year's runner-up to Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic, has not lost a set in this year's tournament.

   Rublev, 22, was playing in his second U.S. Open quarterfinal. He reached the last eight at Flushing Meadows in 2017 before missing three months in 2018 with a lower-back stress fracture and six weeks in 2019 with a wrist injury.

   Medvedev will face second-seeded Dominic Thiem, 27, of Austria on Friday. Thiem, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, dismantled 21st-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. De Minaur, 21, was playing in his first major quarterfinal.

   Thiem is 2-1 against Medvedev, but the Russian won the last meeting 6-3, 6-1 in the Montreal quarterfinals last year on a hardcourt. 

Mamma mia: Serena, Pironkova, Vika reach quarters

Serena Williams avenged a loss to Maria Sakkari two weeks ago
in the Western & Southern Open. File photo by Paul Bauman 

   Two mothers in their 30s will meet in the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Wednesday.

   One of them was expected, the other far from it. 

   Third-seeded Serena Williams, who will turn 39 on Sept. 26, defeated 15th-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 today in the fourth round in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   Tsvetana Pironkova, a 32-year-old Bulgarian, beat Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in a matchup of unseeded players. Pironkova is playing in her first tournament since Wimbledon in 2017 after starting a family.

   A third mother in her 30s, unseeded Victoria Azarenka, topped 20th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. Muchova, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year, appeared on the verge of retiring with a hamstring injury early in the third set.

   It's the first time that three mothers have advanced to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

   Williams overcame a 0-2 deficit in the third set to even her record against Sakkari at 1-1. Sakkari beat Williams 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the third round of the Western & Southern Open two weeks ago in Flushing Meadows.

   Williams won the last of her six U.S. Open singles titles in 2014. She has reached the last two U.S. Open finals, losing to upstarts Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu in straight sets in an attempt to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. That quest continues.

   Sakkari, the runner-up in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., in 2018, was trying to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

   Williams — who won the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014 — is 4-0 against Pironkova. Williams won the last encounter 7-5, 6-3 in the second round in Cincinnati in 2015. Three weeks later, the top-ranked Williams lost to No. 43 Roberta Vinci of Italy in one of the biggest upsets in sports history while trying to complete the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988. 

   Azarenka, 31, extended her winning streak to 10 matches, including a walkover in the final of the Western & Southern Open, after going 0-3 since August 2019. She won the Bank of the West Classic 10 years ago and ascended to No. 1 in 2012.

   Azarenka will face 16th-seeded Elise Mertens, 24, of Belgium for the first time in the quarters. Mertens, a semifinalist in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, dominated second-seeded Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-3, 6-3.

   Kenin won Northern California Challengers in 2016 at 17, 2017 and 2018 and stormed to her first Grand Slam title in the Australian Open in January.

   In the men's draw, second-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria eliminated 15th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 20-year-old Canadian, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1.

   Thiem, a three-time runner-up in Grand Slam tournaments, is set to play 21st-seeded Alex de Minaur on Wednesday. The 21-year-old Australian beat unseeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2 to reach his first major quarterfinal.

   Pospisil won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2014 with American Jack Sock, advanced to the singles final in the 2017 San Francisco Challenger and underwent back surgery in January 2019.

   Thiem, 26, is 2-0 against de Minaur, including a straight-set victory in the first round of the 2017 U.S. Open.

   The other quarterfinal in the bottom half of the draw will be an all-Russian affair. 

   Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev, last year's runner-up to Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic, dismissed the last remaining U.S. man, unseeded Frances Tiafoe, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0. The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Medvedev, 24, has not lost more than four games in a set in four tournament matches.

   Tiafoe won the 2016 Stockton, Calif., Challenger at 18 years old to crack the top 100 and climbed to a career-high No. 29 in February 2019. He will rise 16 places to No. 66 after the U.S. Open.

   Tenth-seeded Andrey Rublev outplayed sixth-seeded Matteo Berrettini, a semifinalist in last year's U.S. Open, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

   Rublev, 22, avenged a straight-set loss to the 24-year-old Italian in the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows in 2019 and reached his second Grand Slam quarterfinal. He also advanced to the Elite Eight in the 2017 U.S. Open at 19 before missing three months in 2018 with a lower-back stress fracture and six weeks in 2019 with a wrist injury.

   Medvedev has not lost a set in three career matches against Rublev.

   Barty out of French Open — Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty announced on Instagram that she will not defend her French Open title.

   The 24-year-old Australian cited coronavirus concerns and inadequate preparation. The French Open, normally held in late May and early June, was moved to Sept. 27-Oct. 11 because of the pandemic.

   "It has been a difficult decision to make but unfortunately I will not be competing in Europe this year," Barty wrote. "Last year's French Open was the most special tournament of my career so this is not a decision I have made lightly. There are two reasons for my decision. The first is the health risks that still exist with Covid. The second is my preparation, which has not been ideal without my coach being able to train with me due to the state border closures in Australia."

   Barty, who also skipped the U.S. Open, said she will not play again this year.

Osaka pulls out of final with injury; Djokovic takes title

Victoria Azarenka won her first singles title since
2016 and 21st overall. File photo by Paul Bauman

Naomi Osaka withdrew from today's final against Victoria Azarenka in the Western & Southern Open with a hamstring injury.

The fourth-seeded Osaka defeated 14th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 7-6 (5) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., on Friday.

"I'm sorry to have to withdraw today with an injury," Osaka, 22, of Japan said on wtatennis.com. "I pulled my left hamstring yesterday in the second-set tiebreak, and it has not recovered overnight as I had hoped. This has been an emotional week, and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support."

The semifinal against Mertens was scheduled for Thursday, but Osaka, who's Black with a Haitian father and Japanese mother, staged a one-day boycott to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, an African-American, by police in Kenosha, Wis. All of Thursday's matches then were postponed until Friday.

Osaka is scheduled to play countrywoman Misaki Doi on Monday night (ESPN2) in the first round of the U.S. Open at the National Tennis Center. Osaka won the first of her two Grand Slam singles titles in the 2018 U.S. Open, stunning Serena Williams in a tumultuous final.

Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2014, stunning 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur. 

The unseeded Azarenka, a 31-year-old mother and two-time Australian Open champion, claimed her first singles title since Miami in April 2016 and 21st overall. The former world No. 1 played only two tournaments between May of that year and March 2018 because of her pregnancy and a subsequent child custody dispute, plummeting to No. 978 in May 2017. 

Azarenka will soar 32 places to No. 27 in Monday's world rankings. Osaka, also formerly ranked No. 1, will rise one notch to No. 9. 

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat unseeded Milos Raonic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 for his second Western & Southern title, tying Rafael Nadal's record of 35 Masters 1000 crowns. The only player to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, Djokovic now has claimed them all twice. He improved to 23-0 this year, 26-0 dating to last November and 11-0 against the hard-serving Raonic.

Djokovic, 33, was coming off a grueling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0) victory in 3 hours over eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain on Saturday. 

Djokovic was treated for a neck problem twice during the second set and in his second-round victory over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania. Late in Friday's match, Djokovic held his stomach, panted between points and bent over in apparent exhaustion.

As if all that isn't enough, Djokovic and former top-30 player Vasek Pospisil of Canada are trying to form a new group to represent men's professional players.

If healthy, Djokovic is strongly favored to win his fourth U.S. Open singles title. He is scheduled to open against No. 107 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday at 4 p.m. PDT (ESPN2), followed by Osaka against Doi.

Nadal, who won his fourth U.S. Open title last year, is skipping this year's tournament because of coronavirus concerns. Roger Federer, who captured his five Flushing Meadows titles consecutively (2004-08), will miss the rest of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee for the second time this year.

Raonic, who played in his first final since losing to Roger Federer on grass in Stuttgart in June 2018, will rise 12 spots to No. 18 on Monday. He has been plagued by injuries since reaching the 2016 Wimbledon final, losing to Andy Murray, and ascending to a career-high No. 3 that November.

Raonic won three of his eight career ATP singles titles in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, Calif. He never lost a set in the tournament, winning the last three titles (2011, 2012 and 2013).

Resurgent Raonic, Azarenka in finals; Djokovic survives

Unseeded Victoria Azarenka topped eighth-seeded Johanna Konta 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the
semifinals of the Western & Southern Open. They won the Bank of the West Classic
at Stanford in 2010 and 2016, respectively. 2018 photo by Mal Taam

Tuning up for the U.S. Open, two resurgent players reached finals in the Western & Southern Open.

Unseeded Milos Raonic, a 29-year-old Canadian, beat fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-6 (5), 6-3 today at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. 

The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Raonic, who saved a set point serving at 5-6 in the first set, advanced to his first final since losing to Roger Federer on grass in Stuttgart in June 2018.

Earlier today, unseeded Victoria Azarenka, a 31-year-old mother from Belarus, topped eighth-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to reach her first final since retiring against Garbine Muguruza in Monterrey in April 2019. 

Azarenka and Konta won the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2010 and 2016, respectively. 

The U.S. Open begins Monday at the National Tennis Center.

Unseeded Milos Raonic beat fourth-seeded
Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (5), 6-3. Raonic won
three of his eight career ATP singles titles
in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose,
Calif. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman 

In Saturday's finals (ESPN2), Azarenka will face fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan at 8 a.m. (PDT), followed by Raonic against top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the 2018 Western & Southern Open champion in Cincinnati.

An ailing Djokovic literally gutted out a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0) victory over eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut to improve to 22-0 this year and end a three-match losing streak to the Spaniard on hardcourts. The grueling baseline battle lasted 3 hours.

Osaka beat 14th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 7-6 (5) one day after declining to play in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an African-American, in Kenosha, Wis. 

"During the quarantine, I was seeing a lot of (protests) happening, and I always thought it would be nice if someone started something in tennis," the 22-year-old Osaka, who's Black and Japanese, said on ESPN2. "Honestly, I'm more of a follower than a leader. I was just waiting and waiting, but then I realized that maybe I would have to be the one to take the first step."

Djokovic, 33, is 10-0 against Raonic. Osaka leads Azarenka 2-1, but Osaka's victories came on clay, and Azarenka's 6-1, 6-1 win in the third round of the Australian Open came in January 2016, when Osaka was only 18.

Both Osaka and Azarenka have won two Grand Slam singles titles, including the Australian Open, and been ranked No. 1. 

Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut in the Bank of the West Classic at 16 in 2014, stunning 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur.

Raonic will jump at least 12 places to No. 18 on Monday. He has been plagued by injuries since reaching the 2016 Wimbledon final, losing to Andy Murray, and ascending to a career-high No. 3 that November.

Raonic won three of his eight career ATP singles titles in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, Calif. He never lost a set in the tournament, winning the last three titles (2011, 2012 and 2013).

Azarenka will soar at least 24 spots to No. 35. She played only two tournaments between May 2016 and March 2018 because of her pregnancy and a subsequent child custody dispute, plummeting to No. 978 in May 2017.

Djokovic was treated for a neck problem twice during the second set. Late in the match, he held his stomach, breathed heavily between points and bent over in apparent exhaustion. 

Osaka, struggling with her toss, converted only 50 percent of her first serves. Mertens, meanwhile, capitalized on only three of 21 break-point opportunities. At 4-4 in the second set, Osaka held serve after 10 deuces.

Osaka declines to play; W&S matches postponed

After Naomi Osaka said today that she would not play Thursday in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, tournament officials postponed all matches until Friday.

"As a sport, tennis is collectively taking a stance against racial inequality and social injustice that once again has been thrust to the forefront in the United States," the USTA, ATP and WTA said in a statement. "The USTA, ATP Tour and WTA have decided to recognize this moment in time by pausing play at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday, August 27. Play will resume on Friday, August 28."

It's unclear if Osaka will play Friday. 

All three NBA playoff games and three major-league baseball games today also were postponed in the aftermath of the shooting. 

Osaka, 22, was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother and grew up in Florida. Although based in Los Angeles, the two-time Grand Slam singles champion plays for Japan. 

"Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman," she tweeted tonight. "And as a black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis. I don't expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction."

Blake, a 29-year-old African-American man, was shot in the back seven times by police in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. He is in intensive care in a Milwaukee hospital and paralyzed from the waist down, his father, Jacob Sr., told CNN. Jacob Sr. said he wasn't sure if the condition is permanent.

"Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach," Osaka wrote. "I'm exhausted of having a new hashtag pop up every few days and I'm extremely tired of having this same conversation over and over again. When will it ever be enough?"

Earlier today, the fourth-seeded Osaka outlasted eighth-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Osaka is scheduled to play 14th-seeded Elise Mertens, a Belgian who dismissed qualifier Jessica Pegula, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., 6-1, 6-3 in 64 minutes.

Osaka and Mertens, 24, have split two career matches. Osaka won the last meeting 6-4, 6-1 in the Osaka semifinals en route to the title last September. 

Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford at 16 in 2014, stunning 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur. 

Mertens reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., in 2018. The tournament replaced the Bank of the West Classic.

In Friday's other women's semifinal, eighth-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain will play unseeded Victoria Azarenka, the 2013 champion in the tournament's traditional home of Cincinnati. 

Konta beat 13th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-3, and Azarenka downed unseeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 7-6 (9), 6-2. Neither Konta, who received a first-round bye, nor Azarenka has lost a set in the tournament.

Azarenka, a 31-year-old mother, is ranked No. 59 after spending most of 2012 at No. 1. Entering the Western & Southern Open, she was 0-3 since last year's tournament.

Azarenka and Konta won the Bank of the West Classic in 2010 and 2016, respectively.

In Friday's men's semifinals, top-ranked Novak Djokovic will face eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, and fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will take on unseeded Milos Raonic of Canada.

Neither Djokovic nor Tsitsipas has lost a set in three matches each this week.

Djokovic improved to 21-0 this year with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in 62 minutes. Bautista Agut eliminated Russia's Daniil Medvedev, the third seed and defending champion, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Djokovic, 33, is 8-3 against Bautista Agut, 32. Djokovic won the last meeting 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in last year's Wimbledon semifinals, but Bautista Agut has won the last three encounters on hardcourts.

Tsitsipas beat unseeded Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) American, 5-6 retired (knee). Raonic saved a match point in a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5 victory over unseeded Filip Krajinovic of Serbia. 

Krajinovic routed second-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-1 in 61 minutes in the second round.

Raonic defeated the Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the third round of the Australian Open in January in their only previous meeting.

Raonic never lost a set in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles before the tournament was replaced on the calendar by Rio de Janeiro after 125 years in Northern California. 

Sakkari stops Gauff, 16, in Western & Southern Open

Maria Sakkari, playing in San Jose, Calif., last year, dismissed
Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the Western & South-
ern Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Photo by Paul Bauman 

Maria Sakkari did Coco Gauff a big favor by withdrawing from the WTA tournament in Linz, Austria, last October. 

That allowed Gauff to advance to the main draw as a lucky loser, and she went on to win her first WTA title at age 15. 

Gauff was not as fortunate today. Now 16, she lost to the 25-year-old Greek 6-1, 6-3 in 65 minutes in the first round of the Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The tournament, normally held in the Cincinnati area, is being played at the site of the U.S. Open with no fans in attendance because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sakkari, seeded 13th at No. 21, won 84 percent of the points on her first serve (21 of 25) and saved the only break point against her.

It was Sakkari's second match since the WTA tour resumed after a hiatus of almost five months. She fell to 69th-ranked Kristyna Pliskova, the twin sister of No. 3 Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4 on clay in the first round in Palermo two weeks ago.

"I think I really played a good match," Sakkari, the runner-up in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., in 2018, said on-court after the match. "I played a match in Palermo, but for me, it doesn't count. It wasn't even a match (there), the way I played. Coming back the way I did, it's really important, and (I take) a lot of confidence from this." 

Sakkari is scheduled to play either No. 33 Yulia Putintseva or No. 36 Zhang Shuai on Monday. 

Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford 10 years ago, dispatched 15th-seeded Donna Vekic, a semifinalist in San Jose last year, 6-2, 6-3. 

Azarenka, the Australian Open champion in 2012 and 2013, will face either wild card Sloane Stephens, a Fresno, Calif., product who won the 2017 U.S. Open, or Carolina Garcia of France. 

Amanda Anisimova, 18, ousted 11th-seeded Alison Riske 6-3, 6-3 in an all-American encounter. 

Anisimova, who won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento, Calif., Challenger at 15 and reached the French Open semifinals last year, will face another American in the second round on Monday. She will take on either Jennifer Brady, coming off her first WTA title last week in Lexington, Ky., or qualifier Jessica Pegula, the runner-up in the 2012 Sacramento Challenger at 18.

No. 16 seed Dayana Yastremska, ranked 25th at age 20, eliminated 40-year-old Venus Williams, who has won seven Grand Slam and two Bank of the West singles titles, 7-5, 2-6, 7-5.

On the first day of ATP Tour matches since March, winners included wild card Andy Murray and Milos Raonic, who combined to go 23-0 and win five singles titles in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose.

Murray, 33, defeated American wild card Frances Tiafoe, who won the 2016 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-1. 

Murray, who captured the first of his three Grand Slam singles title in the 2012 U.S. Open, is playing in his first tournament of the year as he continues his comeback from hip operations in 2018 and 2019. He is set to play fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany on Monday.

The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Raonic, who has struggled with injuries since reaching the 2016 Wimbledon final, hammered 19 aces in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Sam Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native.

It's Ahn to the San Jose quarterfinals after big upset

Stanford graduate Kristie Ahn, playing in Berkeley two weeks ago,
stunned third-seeded Elise Mertens to reach the quarterfinals of a
WTA tournament for the second time. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Kristie Ahn almost cracked the top 100 in early 2018.
   It could happen this year.
   Ahn, a qualifier from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., stunned third-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 today to reach the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State.
   The 20th-ranked Mertens, a semifinalist in last year's inaugural tournament in San Jose, committed 10 double faults to none for the 178th-ranked Ahn.
   Ahn, a 27-year-old graduate of nearby Stanford from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., earned her first victory over a top-20 player and advanced to the quarters of a WTA tournament for the second time. She will soar to at least No. 137, 32 spots below her career high, on Monday.
   Ahn, only 5-foot-5 (1.65 meters), shocked 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round on clay in Bogota in April and earned her first Wimbledon main-draw berth last month.
   In her last tournament, Ahn became so frustrated in a semifinal loss to Madison Brengle in the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge that she flung her racket into the crowd. No one was hurt.

   Ahn is scheduled to play fifth-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia for the first time on Friday not before 4 p.m. Vekic, ranked No. 25, beat former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who won the 2010 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, 6-4, 6-3.
   In Friday night's featured match at 7, fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova, 17, of Aventura, Fla., will play unseeded Zheng Saisai of China.

Donna Vekic of Croatia celebrates during her 6-4, 6-3
victory over former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Anisimova, ranked No. 23 after reaching the French Open semifinals in June, overpowered Brengle, the Berkeley champion, 6-2, 6-2 in 54 minutes. Zheng, ranked No. 55, whipped eighth-seeded Danielle Collins, an American who reached the San Jose semifinals last year, 6-2, 6-0 in 61 minutes.
   Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, overwhelmed Zheng 6-1, 6-1 in the second round at Hiroshima last September en route to her first WTA final, in which she lost to crafty veteran Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan.
   In Friday's other quarterfinals, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will meet sixth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain at noon, followed by top-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine against seventh seed and 2018 runner-up Maria Sakkari of Greece.
   The 5-foot-11 (1.82-meter) Sabalenka, 21, is 2-0 against the 5-foot-4 (1.62-meter) Suarez Navarro, 30, including a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the New Haven final last August.
   Suarez Navarro won the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic with countrywoman Garbine Muguruza, who last week withdrew from the Silicon Valley Classic for the second consecutive year with an injury.
   Svitolina, a semifinalist in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic in her only other San Francisco Bay Area appearance, defeated Sakkari 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-2 in the third round at Wimbledon last month in their only career meeting. Svitolina, 24, went on to become the first Ukrainian woman to reach the semifinals at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, her best Grand Slam result.
   Here are the San Jose singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule.

Svitolina, Sabalenka top San Jose acceptance list

Elina Svitolina, shown en route to the semifinals in the 2015 Bank of the
West Classic at Stanford, has reached four Grand Slam quarterfinals,
including the past two Australian Opens. Photo by Mal Taam 

   The field for the second Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose features two top-10 players, two former world No. 1s, three Grand Slam singles champions and both of last year's finalists.
   No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and No. 10 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus top the acceptance list, announced Wednesday, for the July 29-Aug. 4 tournament at San Jose State.
   Svitolina has reached four Grand Slam quarterfinals, including the past two Australian Opens. Sabalenka, coached by former longtime Northern California resident Dmitry Tursunov, advanced to the fourth round of last year's U.S. Open.
   Also entered in San Jose are former world No. 1s and two-time Grand Slam singles champions Garbine Muguruza and Victoria Azarenka. Both won titles in the Bank of the West Classic, which ended a 21-year run at Stanford in 2017. Muguruza took the doubles crown with fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in 2014, and Azarenka captured the singles title in 2010.
   In addition, Jelena Ostapenko plans to play in San Jose. The Latvian won the 2017 French Open two days after turning 20.
   In the final of last year's Silicon Valley Classic, depleted by injuries and upsets, Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania crushed Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-0.
   Amanda Anisimova, a 17-year-old sensation, heads the U.S. contingent in San Jose. Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, toppled defending champion Simona Halep two weeks ago to become the youngest American in the French Open semifinals since 14-year-old Jennifer Capriati in 1990.
   Neither Serena nor Venus Williams, who combined to win five Bank of the West singles titles, is entered in San Jose, but four wild cards will be announced in the next few weeks. The four players who emerge from the July 27-28 qualifying event will round out the 28-player singles draw.
   International Tennis Hall of Famers Andy Roddick and Michael Chang and former top-10 players James Blake and Mark Philippoussis will play a one-night tournament as part of the Invesco Series on Saturday, Aug. 3.

Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic Acceptance List

(With world ranking)

Elina Svitolina, Ukraine, 7
Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus, 10
Qiang Wang, China, 15
Elise Mertens, Belgium, 21
Donna Vekic, Croatia, 22
Petra Martic, Croatia, 25
Garbine Muguruza, Spain, 26
Amanda Anisimova, United States, 27
Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain, 31,
Maria Sakkari, Greece, 33
Danielle Collins, United States, 34
Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, 37
Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 41
Mihaela Buzarnescu, Romania, 42
Saisai Zheng, China, 44
Ajla Tomljanovic, Australia, 47
Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia, 50
Shuai Zhang, China, 52
Andrea Petkovic, Germany, 71
Magda Linette, Poland, 75