Barty voted Player of Year; Stanford commit ousted

Ashleigh Barty won Wimbledon and, for the third consecutive season, ended the
year at No. 1 . 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   International journalists voted Ashleigh Barty as the WTA Player of the Year for the second time, the organization announced Monday.

   Barty, a 25-year-old Australian, won her second Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, led all players with five singles titles and ended the year at No. 1 for the third consecutive season.

   Also winning awards were Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (Doubles Team of the Year), Krejcikova (Most Improved Player), Emma Raducanu (Newcomer of the Year) and Carla Suarez Navarro (Comeback Player of the Year). 

   Krejcikova and Siniakova, Czechs who also were voted as the Doubles Team of the Year in 2018, won their third Grand Slam crown in the French Open and triumphed in the WTA Finals. Siniakova finished the year at No. 1.

   Krejcikova won the first three singles titles of her career, including the French Open, and soared from No. 65 to No. 5 in the year-end rankings.

   Raducanu, now 19, of Great Britain became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam tournament in the U.S. Open. She did not drop a set in her 10 matches.

   Raducanu, ranked No. 343 at the beginning of 2021, ended the year at No. 19. She lost in the first round in San Jose after, at age 18, becoming the youngest British woman to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.

   Suarez Navarro, from Spain, overcame Hodgkin's lymphoma to play in five tournaments before retiring at 33. She won only one match, against current No. 10 Ons Jabeur in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics, but extended Sloane Stephens and Barty to three sets at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively.

   Suarez Navarro captured the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford with compatriot Garbiñe Muguruza.

   ATP Tour — Northern California products Mackenzie McDonald and Jenson Brooksby were nominated for Comeback Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, respectively. Results of the playing voting will be announced this month.

   Both players skyrocketed to the top 60 in the rankings, reached their first ATP final and advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament. McDonald underwent hamstring surgery in June 2019.

   Juniors — No. 1 seed Samir Banerjee, a Stanford commit from Basking Ridge, N.J., and No. 14 seed Ethan Quinn, a Georgia signee from Fresno, Calif., lost in the first round of the Orange Bowl boys 18-and-unders on clay in Plantation, Fla.

   Switzerland's Kilian Feldbausch, the runner-up in last week's Eddie Herr International Championships in Bradenton, Fla., ousted Banerjee, the reigning Wimbledon boys singles champion, 6-3, 6-2. Henrique Rocha of Portugal edged Quinn 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4).

   Michael Zheng, a Stanford commit from Montville, N.J., advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alvaro Guillen Meza of Ecuador. Zheng reached the Eddie Herr doubles final with Benjamin Kittay of Potomac, Md.

   In other opening-round matches:

   —Rebecca Munk Mortensen of Denmark topped No. 16 seed Alexis Blokhina, a Stanford signee from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the girls 18s. 

   —No. 15 seed George Lazarov of Bulgaria defeated wild card Rudy Quan of Sacramento, Calif., 7-5, 6-3 in the boys 16s. Quan won the Eddie Herr 16s.

   —Adhithya Ganesan of Clarksburg, Md., and Quan beat Gevorg Mnatsakanyan of Gaithersburg, Md., and Jonathan Soeth of Great Britain 6-2, 6-2 in the boys 16s.

Let the Barty party begin: Aussie wins Wimbledon

Ashleigh Barty defeated Karolina Pliskova in three sets today for her second
Grand Slam singles title. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

  Barty is back.

  In a matchup of current and former world No. 1s, Ashleigh Barty defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 today at Wimbledon for her second Grand Slam singles title.

   Aside from the Australian Open in her home country, Barty hadn't reached a major quarterfinal since winning the 2019 French Open. After advancing to the Melbourne semifinals last year, she skipped the other three majors because of travel concerns during the pandemic.

   Barty walked away from tennis in 2014 for almost two years because of depression and retired from her second-round match in the French Open last month because of a hip injury. 

   "It's been a perfect journey," the gracious Barty said in a postmatch interview after improving to 6-2 against Pliskova. "I wouldn't change a thing. I've been through so much in my career."

   Both Barty and Pliskova played in their second major final and first at Wimbledon. Ultimately, Barty handled the occasion better, winning the first 14 — yes, 14 — points of the match and recovering mentally after getting broken while serving for the championship in the second set. 

   The top-ranked Barty, 25, became the first Australian woman to take the crown since Evonne Goolagong in 1980 and the first women's No. 1 seed to do so since Serena Williams five years ago.

   Barty, the girls champion at the All England Club 10 years ago, wore a dress with a scalloped hem like the one Goolagong wore while winning her first Wimbledon title 50 years ago. Barty's father, like Goolagong, is an Indigenous Australian. After the final, Barty climbed to the players' box to celebrate, as Australian Pat Cash first did in 1987.

   The eighth-seeded Pliskova, 29, fell to 0-2 in major finals. She lost to Angelique Kerber 6-4 in the third set in the 2016 U.S. Open and in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

   Neither Barty nor Pliskova, who climbed to No. 1 in 2017, had advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon until this year. Pliskova now has reached the semifinals or better at every Grand Slam tournament. 

   "It's not that I didn't like Wimbledon, but it was never my favorite place," Pliskova told reporters. "I never played well here. I never felt so good here.

   "But this time, I think it changed a bit the feeling about this tournament, the feeling about the people. The atmosphere there was just incredible today. Also in the matches which I played the last two, three days."

   Barty has yet to advance to the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

   In the third set today, Barty broke for 2-0 on Pliskova's netted putaway forehand volley and held for 3-0. Serving for the championship for the second time at 5-3, Barty saved a break point and triumphed when  Pliskova netted a backhand.

   Barty bolted to a 4-0 lead in the first set and later held at love for the set. She broke at love to lead 2-1 in the second set, but Pliskova returned the favor for 3-3. Barty broke for 6-5 as Pliskova blew a 40-0 lead with a flurry of unforced errors.

   Serving for the championship, Barty flinched herself and was broken at 15. Pliskova led 6-2 in the tiebreaker, but Barty rallied for 4-6 before double-faulting on set point.

   Showing the heart of a champion, Barty quickly put the second set out of her mind and soon was holding the Venus Rosewater Dish. 

   Men's singles final — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic will attempt to tie Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with a record 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles when he faces seventh-seeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy on Sunday at 6 a.m. PDT (ESPN). The hard-serving Berrettini, 25, will play in his first major final. 

   Djokovic is 2-0 against Berrettini, including a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 decision in the French Open quarterfinals last month. They will meet on grass for the first time.

   Women's doubles final — No. 3 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Elise Mertens of Belgium saved two championship points in a 3-6, 7-5, 9-7 victory over unseeded Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina of Russia. 

   Kudermetova and Vesnina, who ended a three-year maternity leave in March, served for the title once in the second set and once in the third set. Hsieh and Mertens saved the championship points in the second set.

   Hsieh won her third Wimbledon women's doubles title and Mertens her first.

   Mertens and Kudermetova are entered in singles in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, Aug. 2-8 at San Jose State University. Mertens reached the singles semifinals of the inaugural (2018) Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

   Men's doubles final — No. 1 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia beat No. 4 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-4, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5. 

   Pavic, 28, earned his third Grand Slam men's doubles title (but first at Wimbledon) and Mektic, 32, his first. The 35-year-old Granollers, a singles finalist in the 2018 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger, fell to 0-4 in major men's doubles finals. 

Barty, Pliskova gain final after years of Wimbledon woes

Ashleigh Barty defeated 2018 champion Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-6 (3) today
at Wimbledon. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

Karolina Pliskova faced only one break point in her 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory over
Aryna Sabalenka. 2015 photo by Mal Taam 

   For all their success in other Grand Slam tournaments, neither Ashleigh Barty nor Karolina Pliskova had advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon before this week.

   So much for that gap in their résumés, as the current and former world No. 1s today advanced to Saturday's final (6 a.m. PDT on ESPN).

   The top-ranked Barty outplayed No. 25 seed Angelique Kerber, the champion at Wimbledon in 2018 and Stanford in 2015, 6-3, 7-6 (3) to end the German's winning streak at 10 matches. 

   The eighth-seeded Pliskova, who climbed to No. 1 in 2017, topped second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 for her first victory in three meetings.

   Both Pliskova, a 29-year-old Czech, and Sabalenka, 23, of Belarus have reached the final of San Francisco Bay Area tournaments. Kerber outlasted Pliskova at Stanford, and Zheng Saisai upset Sabalenka in San Jose in 2019.

   Barty, 25, became the first Australian woman to reach the Wimbledon singles final since Evonne Goolagong won the 1980 title. Barty wore a dress with a scalloped hem like the one Goolagong wore while earning her first Wimbledon title 50 years ago.

   Both Barty, who still hasn't advanced past the fourth round of the U.S. Open, and Pliskova, who hadn't gone past the round of 16 in a major since the 2019 Australian Open, will play in their second Grand Slam final. Barty routed Marketa Vondrousova, a 19-year-old Czech, in the 2019 French Open. Pliskova again lost to Kerber 6-4 in the third set in the 2016 U.S. Open.

   Barty is 5-2 with a three-match winning streak against Pliskova, but they are 1-1 on grass. Their last grass-court meeting game five years ago in the Nottingham quarterfinals, with Pliskova prevailing 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7).

   Second-ranked Naomi Osaka (personal time) and third-ranked Simona Halep (calf injury), the reigning Wimbledon champion, withdrew from this year's tournament. Osaka has never advanced past the third round at the All England Club.

   In today's first semifinal, Barty trailed 0-3 (one service break) and 3-5 in the second set but then reeled off 11 consecutive points. Only 5-foot-5 (1.65 meters), she belted eight aces in the match to none for Kerber, a 33-year-old left-hander, and won 88 percent of the points on her first serve (36 of 42).

   The 13th-ranked Pliskova double-faulted facing set point in the first set, the only break point against her in the match. She broke serve in the opening game of the third set and held on for the victory. The 6-foot (1.83-meter) Sabalenka blasted 18 aces, and the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Pliskova had 14.

   In the men's doubles semifinals, No. 1 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia defeated No. 6 seeds Rajeev Ram, a 37-year-old volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).

   Mektic and Pavic, who improved to 4-0 against Ram and Salisbury this year, are set to meet No. 4 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina on Saturday.

   Granollers, the singles runner-up in the 2018 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger, and Zeballos beat unseeded Simone Bolelli of Italy and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

   Granollers, 35, is 0-3 in Grand Slam men's doubles finals. This is the first time he has advanced past the doubles quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

   In the second-round junior matches:

   —Unseeded Linda Klimovicova of the Czech Republic surprised No. 7 seed Alexandra Yepifanova, an incoming freshman at Stanford from Lake Worth, Fla., 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

   —Victor Lilov of Raleigh, N.C., and Peter Benjamin Privara of Slovakia ousted No. 6 seeds Bruno Kuzuhara of Coconut Creek, Fla., and Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Ex-Stanford finalists advance to Wimbledon semis

Former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber extended her win-
ning streak to 10 matches today. 2015 photo by Mal Taam

   Six years ago, Angelique Kerber edged Karolina Pliskova to win the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

   Both former world No. 1s reached the Wimbledon semifinals today. So did Aryna Sabalenka, the runner-up in the 2019 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University, a half-hour drive from  Stanford.

   Kerber, the No. 25 seed and 2018 Wimbledon champion, dismissed No. 19 seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 to extend her winning streak to 10 matches. Kerber, a 33-year-old left-hander, won the Bad Homburg Open on home soil in Germany the week before Wimbledon.

   Pliskova, seeded No. 8, beat unseeded Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-2. Pliskova, 29, now has reached the semis or better in every Grand Slam tournament. She advanced to the final of the 2016 U.S. Open, losing to Kerber 6-4 in the third set.

   Sabalenka, seeded No. 2, overpowered Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, seeded No. 21, 6-4, 6-3. The 23-year-old Sabalenka, formerly coached by Dmitry Tursunov, had never reached a major quarterfinal until this week.

Karolina Pliskova, also a former world No. 1, now has
reached the semifinals or better in every Grand Slam
tournament. 2015 photo by Mal Taam

   In Saturday's semifinals, Sabalenka will face Pliskova, and Kerber will take on top-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia. Barty, 25, dispatched unseeded compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic, a finalist in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, 6-1, 6-3.

   Kerber, who seeks her fourth Grand Slam singles title, is 2-2 against Barty, the 2019 French Open champion. This will be their first meeting on grass and in a major. 

   Sabalenka leads Pliskova 2-0 in their head-to-head series. Both matches occurred in 2018, and both were close. Sabalenka prevailed 7-6 in the third set on grass in the Eastbourne quarterfinals and 7-5 in the third set in the second round on hardcourts in Cincinnati.

   Also today, No. 14 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland defeated No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia 2-6, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the completion of a fourth-round match. Entering Wimbledon, the 24-year-old Hurkacz had never advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.

   Most other matches were postponed by rain.

Barty quits with injury; Stephens bounces Czech

Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, had a strong
clay-court season. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali  

   No. 1 seed and 2019 champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia retired because of a left hip injury with Magda Linette of Poland leading 6-1, 2-2 today in the second round of the French Open in Paris.

   After her three-set victory over American Bernarda Pera on Tuesday in the first round, the top-ranked Barty revealed that she had suffered an "acute episode" with her left hip over the weekend. She played that match with her left thigh wrapped and took a medical timeout between the second and third sets.

   Barty bypassed the U.S. Open and French Open last year because of travel concerns during the pandemic and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in February. She won the titles in Miami (hardcourts) and Stuttgart (clay) in April and advanced to the final in Madrid (clay) last month.

   Also exiting today was No. 9 seed and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, who fell to Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, 7-5, 6-1.

   Pliskova reached the final of the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and the semifinals of the 2017 French Open.

   Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif., now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has plunged from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 59. She lost her first four matches of the year.

   "I had COVID," Stephens told reporters in Charleston in April. "I lost three people that were very close to me. I'm in Australia, I literally had to go to my grandparents' funeral on Zoom, and I just was not ready to play."

   Stephens is set to face another Czech, No. 18 seed Karolina Muchova, on Saturday. Muchova, an Australian Open semifinalist in February and Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2019, defeated U.S. qualifier Varvara Lepchenko, a 35-year-old left-hander originally from Uzbekistan, 6-3, 6-4. 

   Stephens and Muchova have never met.

   In doubles:

   —Mel Purcell and Luke Saville of Australia surprised No. 15 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round.

   —No. 4 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan edged Paula Badosa and Aliona Bolsova of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1) in the first round. Shibahara was born in Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and starred at UCLA.

   —No. 3 seeds Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at Cal from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain defeated Salvatore Caruso of Italy and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round.

   —French wild cards Arthur Cazaux and Hugo Gaston beat Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1 in the first round.

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the opening round of doubles in the $52,080 Little Rock (Ark.) Open, No. 2 seeds Dennis Novikov of San Jose, Calif., and Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal defeated alternates Tristan Schoolkate and Dane Sweeny of Australia 6-4, 7-5.

Barty blows big lead; Nadal stunned; Gibbs retires at 27

Ashleigh Barty of Australia fell to 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech
Republic in the Australian Open quarterfinals. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   The home-country drought in the Australian Open will continue for at least another year.

   Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia blew a big lead today and lost to 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals in Melbourne.

   Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, bolted to a 5-0 advantage in the first set while dropping only six points. She led 2-0 in the second set, and Muchova took a medical timeout after winning the next game. 

   "I was a bit lost on the court, and my head was spinning, so I took a break," the 24-year-old Muchova, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal, said in a post-match interview. "And it helped me."

  No Aussie man or woman has won the singles title in the Australian Open since Chris O'Neil on the women's side 43 years ago.

   Muchova is scheduled to meet 22nd-seeded Jennifer Brady of Boca Raton, Fla., on Wednesday (PST) after the 7 p.m. semifinal between third-seeded Naomi Osaka and 10th-seeded Serena Williams (ESPN2). 

   Fans will be allowed to return to the tournament Thursday, ending the five-day COVID-19 lockdown in the state of Victoria.

   Brady, 25, eliminated compatriot and close friend Jessica Pegula, who was unseeded, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to reach her second Grand Slam semifinal. A first-time major finalist is guaranteed.

   Both Brady, a former UCLA All-American, and Pegula, who skipped college, starred in Northern California Challengers. 

   Brady swept the singles and doubles titles in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and advanced to the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to defending champion Sofia Kenin.

   Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, reached the Sacramento final in 2012 at 18 and the Stockton semifinals in 2018.

   Muchova edged Brady 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) in the second round on clay at Prague in 2019 in their only previous meeting. 

   Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev advanced to the men's semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow Russian Andrey Rublev, seeded seventh. 

   Medvedev, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 U.S. Open, will play seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, who stunned the second-seeded Nadal 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-5 in 4 hours, 5 minutes. 

   Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion, had lost only once in a Grand Slam match after winning the first two sets. That occurred in the third round of the 2015 U.S. Open against Fabio Fognini. 

   Nadal and Roger Federer remain tied with a record 20 major singles titles.

   Medvedev is 5-1 against Tsitsipas.

   Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, advanced to the semifinals in men's doubles and mixed doubles.

   Defending champions Ram and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat unseeded Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Philipp Oswald of Austria 7-6 (6), 6-2. Daniell, 31, announced last month that he will donate 10 percent of his prize money for the rest of his career to charity.

   Ram and Salisbury are set to face sixth-seeded Jamie Murray, Andy's older brother from Great Britain, and Bruno Soares of Brazil. Murray and Soares won the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2016.

   Both Ram and Murray won a doubles title in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., Ram in 2011 with former Stanford All-American Scott Lipsky and Murray in 2007 with Eric Butorac.

   In mixed doubles, sixth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Ram downed third-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Mate Pavic of Croatia 7-6 (3), 6-3.

   Krejcikova seeks her third consecutive Australian Open mixed doubles crown after triumphing with Ram in 2019 and Nikola Mektic of Croatia last year.

   Kenin undergoes appendectomy — Kenin, last year's Australian Open champion, underwent an emergency appendectomy this week in Melbourne. 

   Kenin, who also won NorCal Challengers in 2017 and 2018, lost to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia last week in the second round of the Australian Open. 

   Gibbs retires — Former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs announced her retirement on Monday at 27. 

   Gibbs, a petite 5-foot-6 (1.54 meters), is ranked No. 172 after climbing to a career-high No. 68 in 2016. She reached the third round of the 2014 U.S. Open and 2017 Australian Open and the final of the 2018 Berkeley Challenger, losing to Kenin in the latter match.

   Gibbs went public with her battle against depression in early 2018 and overcame oral cancer in 2019.

   The personification of feistiness, Gibbs once stomped on her racket face during a match because she didn't like the string tension, and she likely had the most menacing stare in pro tennis.

   Win or lose, Gibbs answered reporters' questions thoughtfully. Whether she was asked about her depression or engagement to her now-husband, no subject was off-limits.

   Gibbs won three NCAA titles, two in singles and one in doubles, in her three years at Stanford.

   A strong social critic on Twitter, Gibbs plans to enroll in law school this fall and eventually work in public service.

Barty to skip U.S. Open; WTT playoffs set

Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty said she will bypass the U.S. Open because
of coronavirus concerns. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty announced today that she will skip the U.S. Open because of the coronavirus pandemic.

   "My team and I have decided that we won't be traveling to the U.S. for the Western and Southern Open and the U.S. Open this year," the 24-year-old Australian said in a statement. "I love both events, so it was a difficult decision, but there are still significant risks involved due to COVID-19, and I don't feel comfortable putting my team and (myself) in that position. I wish the USTA all the best for the tournaments and look forward to being back in the U.S. next year."

   The U.S. Open is scheduled to be played Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 without fans in attendance at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. The French Open is set for Sept. 27 to Oct. 11 at 50 to 60 percent of spectator capacity.

   "I will make my decision on the French Open and the surrounding WTA European tournaments in the coming weeks," said Barty, whose only Grand Slam singles title came last year at Roland Garros.

   Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka will play in the U.S. Open, the 2018 champion's management team told Reuters.

   WTT playoffs – The schedule for this weekend's World TeamTennis playoffs is set.

   In Saturday's semifinals on CBS Sports Network, the top-seeded Philadelphia Freedoms (12-2) will meet the fourth-seeded New York Empire (7-7) at 11 a.m. PDT, and the second-seeded Orlando Storm (10-4) will play the third-seeded Chicago Smash (9-5) at 2 p.m.

   The winners will meet for the King Trophy on Sunday at 9 a.m. on CBS.

   The teams feature reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin (Philadelphia), International Tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters (New York), two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist Tennys Sandgren (Orlando) and 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens (Chicago). Stephens grew up in Fresno, Calif., before moving to Florida.

Kenin upsets No. 1 Barty to reach first Grand Slam final

Sofia Kenin chats with her father and coach, Alex, after winning in the quarter-
finals of the 2018 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger. Kenin went on to capture the title.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Only 18 months after winning the Berkeley (Calif.) title in her last Challenger, Sofia Kenin reached her first Grand Slam final.
   The 14th-seeded Kenin, a Moscow-born American, eliminated top-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia 7-6 (6), 7-5 tonight in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Kenin won the last four points of the tiebreaker, saving two set points, and the last three games of the second set, breaking serve twice and erasing two more set points, as the temperature topped 100 degrees (38 Celsius).
   Kenin won NorCal Challenger singles titles in three consecutive years – Sacramento in 2016 at age 17, Stockton and Berkeley.
   Kenin pocketed $9,199 for winning the Berkeley title. The Australian Open champion will collect $2,853,100, and the runner-up will take home $1,430,012. Regardless of the outcome, the 21-year-old Kenin will crack the top 10 for the first time in Monday's rankings.
   Barty was trying to become the first Aussie, male or female, to win the Australian Open since Chris O'Neil captured the women's title in 1978.
   Kenin, the youngest Australian Open finalist since 20-year-old Maria Sharapova in 2008, will play unseeded Garbine Muguruza. ESPN will televise Saturday's match live at 12:30 a.m. California time and taped at 2 p.m.
   Muguruza, 26, topped fourth-seeded Simona Halep 7-6 (8), 7-5 in a spectacular baseline battle. Muguruza survived four set points in the first set en route to her first Grand Slam final since she won Wimbledon in 2017. Both Muguruza and Halep have won two major singles titles – Wimbledon and the French Open.
   Kenin is 1-0 against Muguruza, winning 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 in the first round at Beijing last September. Even with a loss in the final, Kenin will rise six spots to No. 9.
   In the men's semifinals, second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic will face third-seeded Roger Federer on Thursday at 12:30 a.m., and fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem will play seventh-seeded Alexander Zverev on Friday at 12:30 a.m. ESPN will televise both matches.

Kenin, closing in on top 10, to face No. 1 Barty in semis

Sofia Kenin, shown in the semifinals of the 2018 Berkeley
(Calif.) Challenger en route to the title, has reached her
first Grand Slam semifinal. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sofia Kenin, who starred in Northern California Challengers, is on the verge of cracking the top 10 after reaching the Australian Open semifinals.
   The 21-year-old American, seeded 14th, beat unseeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-4, 6-4 today in Melbourne. Both players were competing in their first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   Kenin, who was born in Moscow but moved to the United States as a young child, will rise at least four spots to No. 11.  She won NorCal Challenger singles titles in three consecutive years – Sacramento in 2016 at age 17, Stockton and Berkeley.
   Kenin hasn't played a seed in the tournament, but now she faces a huge challenge against top-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia. Barty, who won the French Open last year for her only Grand Slam singles title, beat seventh-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (6), 6-2.
   Kvitova, a 29-year-old left-hander, won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014 and reached last year's Australian Open final, losing to Naomi Osaka. That was Kvitova's first major final since she suffered career-threatening cuts to her left hand in a December 2016 home invasion.
   Barty, 23, is 4-1 against Kenin, including 3-1 last year and 2-1 on hardcourts. However, most of the pressure will be on Barty as the favorite trying to become the first Australian woman to win in Melbourne since Chris O'Neil in 1978. Kenin, meanwhile, seeks her first Grand Slam final.
   In the second round of Australian Open boys singles, it was Mayot against Mayo. Top-seeded Harold Mayot of France dismissed Aidan Mayo, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, 6-2, 6-3 in 64 minutes.

American Kenin voted WTA Most Improved Player

Sofia Kenin, shown en route to the 2018 Berkeley (Calif.) title,
  ended this year at No. 14 in the world. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Sofia Kenin, who starred in Northern California Challengers, was voted the Most Improved Player of the Year, the WTA announced on Wednesday.
   The 21-year-old American jumped from No. 52 to No. 14 in the year-end rankings. She peaked at No. 12 on Oct. 21.
   The Moscow native won her first three WTA singles titles (Hobart, Mallorca and Guangzhao) and reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, stunning Serena Williams in the third round of the French Open.
   Kenin also beat reigning No. 1 players in back-to-back weeks, ousting Ashleigh Barty in Toronto and Naomi Osaka in Cincinnati.
   Kenin won NorCal Challenger singles titles in three consecutive years – Sacramento in 2016 at age 17, Stockton and Berkeley.
   Other award winners, as voted on by international journalists, were Barty (Player of the Year), Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic (Doubles Team of the Year), Bianca Andreescu (Newcomer of the Year) and Belinda Bencic (Comeback Player of the Year).
   Barty, a 23-year-old Australian, claimed her first Grand Slam singles title in the French Open, also won the WTA Finals and ended the year at No. 1 for the first time.
   Babos and Mladenovic – 26-year-olds from Hungary and France, respectively – took the French Open crown and won the WTA Finals for the second straight year.
   Andreescu, 19, soared from No. 178 to No. 5 in the year-end rankings. She became the first Canadian, male or female, to win a major singles title, shocking Williams in the U.S. Open final.
   Bencic, a right-hander who underwent left wrist surgery in the spring of 2017 and plunged as low as No. 318, ended the year in the top 10 for the first time at No. 8. The 22-year-old Swiss matched her career high of No. 7 after winning the Moscow title in October.

Djokovic quits with injury; Wawrinka reaches quarters

Stan Wawrinka led 6-4, 7-5, 2-1 when
Novak Djokovic quit with a left-shoulder
injury in the U.S. Open round of 16.
 File photo by Paul Bauman

   Stan Wawrinka is regaining the form that carried him to three Grand Slam singles titles.

   Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, is hurting. 

   Wawrinka, seeded 23rd, led 6-4, 7-5, 2-1 when the top-ranked Djokovic retired with a left-shoulder injury in the U.S. Open round of 16 on Sunday in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   On the women's side, 18th-seeded Qiang Wang of China ousted second-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-2, 6-4, and eighth-seeded Serena Williams rolled her right ankle in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Petra Martic of Croatia.   

   Wawrinka, 34, had two operations on his left knee in August 2017, returned too soon and sat out again from February to May last year.

   Djokovic, 32, won his third U.S. Open singles title last year. On Sunday, he was seeking his third Grand Slam singles title of 2019 and 17th of his career, which would have pulled him within one of second-place Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer has 20.

   Wawrinka, the 2016 U.S. Open champion, is scheduled to play fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Tuesday. Medvedev, 23, eliminated qualifier Dominik Koepfer, the runner-up in the Aptos (Calif.) Challenger three weeks ago, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (2).
   Medvedev beat Wawrinka in four sets in the first round at Wimbledon in 2017 in their only previous meeting.

   Wawrinka's Swiss countryman, the third-seeded Federer, thrashed 15th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 in 79 minutes. The 38-year-old Federer, who won the last of his five (consecutive) U.S. Open crowns in 2008, will meet resurgent Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

   Dimitrov, known as "Baby Fed" because his playing style is similar to Federer's, beat Alex De Minaur of Australia 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

   Federer is 7-0 against Dimitrov, who has tumbled from a career-high No. 3 in November 2017 to No. 78.
   Barty also lost in the round of 16 at Wimbledon after winning her first Grand Slam singles title in the French Open. The 37-year-old Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, will face Wang for the first time. 

   In the other quarterfinal in the bottom half of the women's draw, fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine is set to play 16th-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain.

   Svitolina, coming off her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, beat Madison Keys, who won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and reached the U.S. Open final in 2017, 7-5, 6-4.

   Konta took out third-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-7 (1), 6-3, 7-5. In 2016, Konta won the Bank of the West Classic, and Pliskova advanced to the U.S. Open final.

   Svitolina, 24, is 4-0 against Konta, 28.

Barty, Pliskova, Gauff lose in fourth round at Wimbledon

Alison Riske, playing in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at
Stanford, shocked top-ranked Ashleigh Barty 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to-
day at Wimbledon to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Two of the top three women's seeds lost today at Wimbledon.
   That leaves No. 7 Simona Halep, who ended 15-year-old Coco Gauff's impressive run, as the highest seed in the quarterfinals. No. 11, however, is seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.
   Unseeded American Alison Riske shocked top-ranked Ashleigh Barty 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   Also, unseeded Karolina Muchova, making her Wimbledon main-draw debut this year at 22, outlasted third seed and fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova, the runner-up at the U.S. Open in 2016 and the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, 4-6, 7-5, 13-11 in 3 hours, 17 minutes. And Halep dispatched Gauff 6-3, 6-3.
   Riske, who won a Wimbledon tuneup tournament last month in s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, for her second WTA singles title, has needed three sets to prevail in all four of her matches at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. She also has eliminated 13th-seeded Belinda Bencic and 22nd-seeded Donna Vekic.
   "I'm so thrilled," the 55th-ranked Riske, who reached the Stanford semifinals in 2016 and quarterfinals in 2015, told reporters. "I think honestly the biggest key for me has just been to battle from start to finish of every match that I've been part of. Judging by the scoreline, they haven't all gone perfect.
   "I feel like I've been there in every moment, looking to impose myself. I'm really most proud about that. I think just being tough has been the key."
   Riske snapped Barty's winning streak at 15 matches, including titles in the French Open and on grass in Birmingham, England.
   "I think I started well," Barty said. "I was sticking to how I wanted to play. Then in the second set, I think my serve let me down. I let Alison get back into the match too many times, having looks at second serves.
   "Overall, I didn't play a poor match. When I needed to, when the big moments were there, Alison played better today. Tough one to swallow, but I lost to a better player."
   Riske, 29, is scheduled to play Williams, 37, for the first time on Tuesday at 5 a.m. PDT (ESPN). Williams routed 30th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes.
   Williams – the Stanford champion in 2011, 2012 and 2014 – has never lost more than three games in a set in seven career matches against the 5-foot-4 (1.62-meter) Suarez Navarro, who won the Stanford doubles title in 2014 with fellow Spaniard Garbine Muguruza. In fact, Williams demolished Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S. Open.
   In the other Wimbledon women's quarterfinals, Halep will face unseeded Zhang Shuai, eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina will meet Muchova, and 19th-seeded Johanna Konta will face unseeded Barbora Strycova, a 33-year-old Czech.
   Konta, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals and won the Stanford title in 2017, outlasted No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova, the champion in 2011 and 2014 at the All England Club, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
   Whereas four unseeded women advanced to the quarterfinals, only one unseeded man did. Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, topped Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) to reach the quarters or better at Wimbledon for the third time in four years.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, now based in Las Vegas, pounded 25 aces in the first match between U.S. men in the second week of a Grand Slam tournament since 2007 and the first at Wimbledon since 2000.
   No. 26 seed Guido Pella, a 29-year-old left-hander from Argentina, subdued No. 15 seed Milos Raonic, the Wimbledon runner-up to Andy Murray in 2016, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 8-6 in 3 hours, 42 minutes. The 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters) Raonic fired 33 aces.
   Raonic never lost a set in three appearances in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the title in 2011, 2012 and 2013 before the tournament moved to Rio de Janeiro.
   The top three Wimbledon men's seeds – No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 3 Rafael Nadal – coasted in straight sets.
   The matchups in Wednesday's men's quarterfinals are Djokovic against 21st-seeded David Goffin, Pella vs. 23rd-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, Nadal against Querrey, and Federer vs. eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori.
   Nadal is 4-1 against Querrey. They will meet on grass for the first time.
   In the third round of men's doubles, 11th-seeded Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France beat seventh-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 7-6 (3), 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) were seeking their fourth Wimbledon title and first major crown together since the 2014 U.S. Open.
   Mike Bryan won last year's Wimbledon title with Jack Sock while Bob Bryan was sidelined with a hip injury that required replacement surgery.

Nadal, Barty head French Open honor roll

   Results of all French Open finals:
   Men's singles -- Rafael Nadal (2), Spain, def. Dominic Thiem (4), Austria, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
   Women's singles -- Ashleigh Barty (8), Australia, def. Marketa Vondrousova, Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-3.
   Men's doubles -- Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, Germany, def. Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin, France, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
   Women's doubles -- Timea Babos, Hungary, and Kristina Mladenovic (2), France, def. Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai, China, 6-2, 6-3.
   Mixed doubles -- Latisha Chan, Chinese Taipei, and Ivan Dodig, Croatia, def. Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and Mate Pavic (2), Croatia, 6-1, 7-6 (5).
   Boys singles -- Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune (7), Denmark, def. Toby Kodat, Bradenton, Fla., 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-0.
   Girls singles -- Leylah Annie Fernandez (1), Canada, def. Emma Navarro (8), Charleston, S.C., 6-3, 6-2.
   Boys doubles -- Matheus Pucinelli De Almeida, Brazil, and Thiago Augustin Tirante (5), Argentina, def. Flavio Cobilli, Italy, and Dominic Stephan Stricker, Switzerland, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
   Girls doubles -- Chloe Beck, Watkinsville, Ga., and Emma Navarro, Charleston, S.C., def. Alina Charaeva and Anastasia Tikhonova (4), Russia, 6-1, 6-2.

Barty beats Vondrousova for first major singles title

Ashleigh Barty, playing at Indian Wells in March, became the first Australian
to win the French Open since Margaret Court in 1973. Photo by Harjanto Sumali 

   Greatness has long been predicted for Ashleigh Barty.
   And that was the problem.
   Unable to cope with the pressure of expectations after winning the Wimbledon girls singles title at 15 in 2011, Barty walked away from tennis in 2014 for almost two years to play professional cricket.
   Barty capped her comeback today with her first Grand Slam singles title. Seeded eighth, the 23-year-old Australian dominated unseeded Marketa Vondrousova, a Czech left-hander who will turn 20 in 20 days, 6-1, 6-3 in 70 minutes in the French Open in Paris.
   "It's unbelievable," Barty, who will rise to a career-high No. 2 on Monday, said in an on-court interview. "I'm a little bit speechless. It's incredible. I played the perfect match today. I'm so proud of myself and my team. It's just been a crazy two weeks."
   Barty became the first Australian to win the French Open since Margaret Court in 1973 and the first Aussie to capture a Grand Slam singles title since Samantha Stosur in the 2011 U.S. Open.
   Both Barty and Vondrousova were playing in their first major singles final. However, Barty has reached the doubles final in all four majors, winning last year's U.S. Open with CoCo Vandeweghe.
   Neither Barty nor Vondrousova has played in a WTA tournament in Northern California. Vondrousova, though, does have a NorCal connection. She advanced to the girls doubles final in the 2014 French Open with CiCi Bellis, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Atherton.
   Bellis, the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017, is hitting after undergoing four operations on her right wrist, arm and elbow in the past year.
   Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal is heavily favored to win his 12th French Open singles crown. Seeded second, the 33-year-old Spaniard will face fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem in the final for the second consecutive year on Sunday at 6 a.m. PDT (NBC).
   Thiem, a 25-year-old Austrian, outlasted top-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 in a match that had been suspended in the third set by rain Friday. Djokovic's Grand Slam title streak ended at three.
   Nadal, who had today off, leads the head-to-head series against Thiem 8-4 overall and 7-4 on clay. Nadal won 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in last year's French Open final, but Thiem won their latest meeting 6-4, 6-4 in the Barcelona semifinals on clay en route to the title in April.

Barty, Vondrousova to meet for French Open crown

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

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

Fed Cup woes, Novikov doubles title, Stanford thriller

Danielle Collins, shown in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, and Nicole Melichar
of the United States lost to Ashleigh Barty and Priscilla Hon of Australia 6-4, 7-5
today in the deciding match in the first round of the Fed Cup in Asheville, N.C.
Australia won 3-2. Photo by Rob Vomund

   Wondering why the International Tennis Federation changed the Davis Cup format, beginning this year, from four weekends throughout the year to one week in November?
   Look no further than the first round of the Fed Cup. Only three of the top-10 singles players in the world competed this weekend.
   Romania had No. 3 Simona Halep, while the Czech Republic, the defending champion, was missing No. 2 Petra Kvitova. Guess which team won 3-2 on the road. Correct, Romania.
   Belarus had No. 9 Aryna Sabalenka, while Germany was missing No. 6 Angelique Kerber. Guess which team won 4-0 on the road. Right, Belarus.
   Australia does not have a top-10 singles player. But Ashleigh Barty -- the nation's top singles and doubles player at No. 13 and No. 6, respectively -- played against the United States, last year's runner-up. The U.S., meanwhile, was missing its top two singles players, No. 4 Sloane Stephens and No. 11 Serena Williams. Guess which team won 3-2 on the road. Yes, Australia.
   By the way, Halep, Sabalenka and Barty went a combined 7-0 in their matches.
   Halep dominated Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-0 and pulled out a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory over No. 5 Karolina Pliskova in 2 hours, 37 minutes.
   Sabalenka, coached by former Northern California resident Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, lost five games total in her two singles matches.
   Barty did not lose a set in her three matches (two singles and one doubles).
   In the April 20-21 semifinals, France will host Romania, and Australia will host Belarus. The United States will face an opponent to be determined on the same weekend for the right to play in the World Group next year.
   The ITF has no plans to change the Fed Cup format -- yet.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- One former UCLA star from NorCal won a title in the $135,400 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas, at least.
   Wild cards and ex-Bruins teammates Marcos Giron and Dennis Novikov, a 25-year-old San Jose product, defeated unseeded Ante Pavic of Croatia and Ruan Roelofse of South Africa 6-4, 7-6 (3).
   It was Novikov's fifth Challenger doubles title and first since 2016.
   In the singles final, 14th-seeded Mitchell Krueger, playing in his hometown, beat top-seeded Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
    McDonald, who swept the NCAA singles and doubles titles as a UCLA junior in 2016, had been 4-1 against Krueger, 25. But Krueger, in addition to having the home-court advantage, was more rested physically and mentally than McDonald.
   Krueger advanced by walkover in Saturday's semifinals, while the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) McDonald beat 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka, seeded third, 6-4, 7-6 (13) in a night match. McDonald converted his fourth match point and saved four set points in the tiebreaker.
   ITA National Women's Team Indoors -- No. 14 Emily Arbuthnott defeated Fernanda Labrana 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 on Court 4 to give top-ranked Stanford, the defending NCAA champion, a 4-3 victory over No. 6 Texas in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle.
   No. 23 Michaela Gordon, a Stanford sophomore from Saratoga in the Bay Area, defeated Bianca Turati 6-4, 6-3 on Court 1. No. 13 Arbuthnott and Gordon were tied 5-5 with twins Anna and Bianca Turati when their match was abandoned.
   No. 13 Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe, a Cardinal freshman from Sunnyvale in the Bay Area, topped Katie Poluta and Tijana Spasojevic 7-5 on Court 3 to clinch the doubles point for Stanford.
   The Cardinal (5-0) will face No. 5 Georgia (5-0), which edged No. 2 Vanderbilt 4-3.

Fed Cup, Dallas Challenger, college women's tourney

Madison Keys, shown in 2017, beat Kimberly Birrell
6-2, 6-2 today in Asheville, N.C., to even the United
States' series against Australia at 1-1 in the first round
of the Fed Cup. Photo by Mal Taam

   The first day of the Fed Cup tie between the United States and Australia went according to form.
   Ashleigh Barty, ranked 13th, held off 37th-ranked Sofia Kenin, 6-1, 7-6 (2) in 79 minutes today to give Australia a 1-0 lead in the first round of the best-of-five-match competition on an indoor hard court in Asheville, N.C.
   Madison Keys, ranked 17th, pulled the United States even with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Kimberly Birrell, ranked 157th, in 63 minutes.
   Absent from the tie are the United States' top two singles players, No. 4 Sloane Stephens and No. 11 Serena Williams, and Australia's second-highest-ranked singles competitor, No. 41 Ajla Tomljanovic.
   The United States leads all nations with 18 Fed Cup titles. The Czech Republic is second with 11, followed by Australia with seven.
   The U.S. has reached the last two Fed Cup finals, beating host Belarus in 2017 and losing at the Czech Republic last November. Australia seeks its first title since 1974 and first berth in the finals since 1993.
   The 5-foot-5 (1.66-meter) Barty, a quarterfinalist in last month's Australian Open, pounded 10 aces to Kenin's one and won 91 percent of the points on her first serve (29 of 32).
   With Barty serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, Kenin saved two match points and broke on a double fault.
   Kenin, a Moscow native who moved to Florida as a young child, has excelled in Northern California Challengers, winning titles in 2016 (Sacramento), 2017 (Stockton) and last year (Berkeley).
   Kenin won her first WTA title in Hobart in early January and lost to then-No. 1 Simona Halep in the second round of the Australian Open after leading 4-2 in the third set.
   Keys, who won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2017, never faced a break point against Burrell, who underwent elbow surgery in 2016 and lost in the first round of the Berkeley Challenger last July to Modesto product Maria Sanchez.
   Kenin and Birrell, both 20, were chosen over higher-ranked, older players.
   Danielle Collins, an Australian Open singles semifinalist ranked 23rd at age 25, is scheduled to play doubles only for the United States on Sunday in her Fed Cup debut. Kenin fell to 0-3 in the Fed Cup, including two close singles losses in last year's final.
   Birrell stunned then-No. 10 Daria Kasatkina in the first round in Brisbane in the first week of January and reached the third round of the Australian Open. Meanwhile, 47th-ranked Daria Gavrilova is 0-4 this year.
   Gavrilova, a 24-year-old Moscow native, won the doubles title in the 2014 Sacramento Challenger with compatriot Storm Sanders. It was Gavrilova's first tournament since undergoing surgery for a torn ACL only eight months beforehand.
   In Sunday's reverse singles, Keys is scheduled to face Barty at 10 a.m. PST (Tennis Channel), followed by Kenin against Birrell.
   Keys defeated Barty 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the 2017 French Open in their only career meeting. Kenin and Birrell have not played each other.
   In the fifth rubber, Collins and Nicole Melichar are set to take on Barty and Gavrilova.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- No. 14 seed Mitchell Krueger, playing in his hometown, reached the final of the $135,400 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas when No. 6 seed Bjorn Fratangelo of Orlando, Fla., withdrew because of a quadriceps injury.
   Fratangelo won the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger last October.
   Krueger, 25, will face top-seeded Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   McDonald, who's featured in Tennis Channel's "My Tennis Life" this year, beat third-seeded Reilly Opelka, 21, of Palm Coast, Fla., 6-4, 7-6 (13) in a late match. McDonald converted his fourth match point and saved four set points in the tiebreaker.
   At 6-foot-11 (2.11 meters), Opelka towers over the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) McDonald, a former UCLA star who won the 2017 Fairfield Challenger.
   McDonald, ranked No. 91, is 4-1 against Krueger, ranked No. 209. They met two weeks ago in the second round of the $162,480 Newport Beach Challenger, with McDonald winning 6-3, 6-4.
   In the doubles semifinals, U.S. wild cards and former UCLA teammates Marcos Giron and Dennis Novikov nipped second-seeded Romain Arneodo of Monaco and Andrei Vasilevski of Belarus 6-7 (4), 6-4 [11-9].
   Giron and Novikov, a 25-year-old San Jose product, will meet unseeded Ante Pavic of Croatia and Ruan Roelofse of South Africa. They edged unseeded Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines and Alex Lawson of Tempe, Ariz., 6-4, 5-7 [10-8].
   McDonald and Giron won three NCAA individual championships combined. McDonald swept the singles and doubles titles in 2016, and Giron took the singles crown in 2014.
   ITA National Women's Team Indoors -- Today's quarterfinals in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle were postponed because of dangerous road conditions. The Seattle area received more than six inches of snow on Friday.
   Top-ranked Stanford (4-0), the defending NCAA champion, is scheduled to play No. 6 Texas (4-1) on Sunday at 10 a.m. The Cardinal routed No. 18 LSU 4-0 on Friday in the opening round.

Djokovic ties Sampras with 14th major singles title

Novak Djokovic, playing at Indian Wells last year, defeated Juan Martin del
Potro in straight sets today for his third U.S. Open title. Photo by Mal Taam

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   For Juan Martin del Potro, reaching the U.S. Open final was a tremendous victory in itself.
   But for Novak Djokovic, all that matters is Grand Slam titles.
   The sixth-seeded Djokovic beat the third-seeded del Potro 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 today in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., for his second consecutive major crown and 14th overall, tying Pete Sampras for third place all-time. They trail Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (17).
   It was Djokovic's third U.S. Open title in his record-tying eighth final at Flushing Meadows.
   Djokovic, a 31-year-old Serb, improved to 15-4 against del Potro, an Argentine who will turn 30 on Sept. 23. Djokovic has won the last four meetings and seven of the last eight. At 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters), he moves better than the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) del Potro.
   Del Potro was playing in his second Grand Slam final. He shocked Nadal and Federer in the last two rounds of the 2009 U.S. Open.
   A right-hander with a two-handed backhand, del Potro considered retirement after undergoing four wrist operations (one right and three left) between 2010 and 2015.
   Djokovic has had his own injury issues. The right-hander missed last year's U.S. Open with a right elbow problem that subsequently required surgery.
   Williams fined -- Serena Williams was fined $17,000 for committing three code violations during her loss to Naomi Osaka, 20, in Saturday's women's final.
   Williams -- who has residences in Florida, Southern California and Silicon Valley -- was assessed $10,000 for verbal abuse of chair umpire Carlos Ramos, $4,000 for being coached and $3,000 for smashing her racket in anger.
   Williams won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in (2011, 2012 and 2014). The tournament moved to San Jose this year under a new sponsor, Mubadala.
   Women's doubles final -- No. 13 seeds Ashleigh Barty of Australia and CoCo Vandeweghe of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area saved three match points in a 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) victory over No. 2 seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France.
   Vandeweghe reached two Bank of the West singles finals (2012 and 2017) and won the doubles title at Stanford last year with countrywoman Abigail Spears.