Game, set, match: Czar says so long after 10 1/2 years

Australian Christopher O'Connell and his coach, David Moore, encountered a wall
of flames 200 yards (183 meters) ahead while evacuating during qualifying for the
2017 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger. They quickly turned around and were shaken but
unharmed. Photo courtesy of Christopher O'Connell

   After 10 1/2 years, this is my 3,324th and last post. That's almost one a day, mostly while working full-time. But who's counting?

   At 66 (ugh), I'm ready to move on. I will, however, keep this website active in case anyone wants to peruse past articles.

   I've seen a lot of great tennis in the past 10 1/2 years, but I will most remember the friendly players from around the world and the revealing interviews. Here are some highlights of the past decade-plus:

Dmitry Tursunov, a former top-20 player, detailed
his rigid upbringing in a four-hour interview in 2011.
2017 photo by Paul Bauman

   —Former top-20 player Dmitry Tursunov, a Moscow native who trained in Northern California as a junior and professional, spilling his guts about his rigid upbringing during a four-hour interview in 2011. As Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair) says in the hilarious 2001 movie "Legally Blonde," "Four hours."

   —Australian John Millman, like Tursunov one of the true nice guys in sports, candidly recalling the low point of his career in a 90-minute interview.

   —Millman becoming the first No. 1 seed in the 28-year history of the Aptos (Calif.) Challenger to win the title and shocking Roger Federer to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

   —Strolling on the beach in Aptos as the sun sets on the Pacific Ocean.  

   —Santiago Giraldo, a former top-30 player from Colombia, looking at a ball with a smiley face on it during changeovers in the 2016 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger to remind himself how lucky he was to be playing professional tennis. Giraldo won the title and retired four years later at 32. 

   —Belgium's An-Sophie Mestach, the world's top junior in 2011, hurting her wrist twirling her racket while bouncing the ball 25 times — yes, 25 times — before each serve.

   —Christopher O'Connell of Australia recounting his harrowing evacuation from Northern California wildfires during qualifying for the 2017 Fairfield Challenger. O'Connell won the title two years later.

Santiago Giraldo displays the smiley-face ball
he looked at during changeovers in the 2016
Fairfield Challenger "to remember how lucky
I am." Photo by Paul Bauman

   —Attending the Australian Open in 2012 — has it really been 10 years? — the U.S. Open in 2015 and 2016, and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., annually.

   —Sorry to name-drop, but interviewing International Tennis Hall of Famers Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Pam Shriver and Nick Bollettieri. All were gems.

   —The inimitable Wayne Bryan, tennis ambassador, father of Bob and Mike Bryan, and former longtime coach of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis. Wayne Bryan is smart, funny, exuberant and down-to-earth. Not a bad combination.

   —Serena Williams winning the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

   —Naomi Osaka stunning 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in the first round at Stanford in 2014 as a 16-year-old qualifier playing her first main-draw match on the WTA Tour.

   —Germany's Sabine Lisicki breaking the record for the fastest women's serve (131 mph or 210.8 kph) in a first-round loss at Stanford in 2014.

   —Milos Raonic winning his third consecutive SAP Open title in 2013 in San Jose, Calif. The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Canadian with a pulverizing serve never lost a set in 13 matches in the indoor tournament, which folded in 2014 after 125 years in one form or another.

   —Covering the 100th-anniversary celebration of the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club in Sacramento, Calif. Shriver moderated a poignant question-and-answer session with fellow Hall of Famers Dennis Ralston, Rosemary Casals and Charlie Pasarell. Beforehand, I sat at a dinner table with Ralston, who died 14 months later at 78.

Serena Williams poses after winning the Bank of the West Classic
at Stanford for the third and final time in 2014. Tri Nguyen/
TriNguyenPhotography.com

   —Interviewing San Francisco Bay Area product Brad Gilbert after the renowned coach, author and commentator and former top-five player addressed 125 juniors and parents at the beautiful, stately Olympic Club in San Francisco in 2013. 

   —Sofia Kenin winning a Northern California Challenger for three consecutive years as a teenager, triumphing in Sacramento, Stockton and Berkeley. Eighteen months after the latter tournament, she stormed to the Australian Open title.

   —Sam Querrey, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) San Francisco native, sweeping the three-week NorCal Challenger swing through Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon in 2014. Querrey had decided to stay on familiar ground rather than try to qualify in Asia on the elite ATP World Tour.

   —Cameron Norrie of Great Britain winning back-to-back NorCal Challengers in Tiburon and Stockton at 22 in 2017 and Taylor Fritz of the United States doing likewise in Sacramento and Fairfield at 17 in 2015. They are now ranked No. 1 in their countries at No. 12 and No. 22 in the world, respectively.

John McEnroe spoke to reporters before a 2014
legends match in Sacramento, Calif. Photo by
Paul Bauman 

   —The spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge across San Francisco Bay from the town of Tiburon ("shark" in Spanish).   

   —American Bjorn Fratangelo — yes, he was named after Bjorn Borg — winning the 2018 Fairfield Challenger after almost quitting tennis.

   —American Stefan Kozlov — yes, he was named after Stefan Edberg — reaching the final of the 2014 Sacramento Challenger at 16.

   —Interviewing Jenson Brooksby at 12, CiCi Bellis at 13, Katie Volynets at 15 and Sam Riffice at 15.

   Brooksby and Bellis were voted the Newcomer of the Year on the ATP Tour last year and WTA Tour in 2017, respectively. Bellis, who underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow in 2018-19, has not played in 14 months.

   Volynets, who turned 20 on Dec. 31, has climbed to No. 178 in the world. Riffice helped Florida win the NCAA team championship last May, then added the singles title.

   Brooksby and Riffice were born in Sacramento, Bellis in San Francisco and Volynets in Walnut Creek in the Bay Area.

   —Interviewing Stanford alumni Bob and Mike Bryan, Bradley Klahn, Nicole Gibbs and Kristie Ahn. All bias aside, fellow alums are the classiest, most articulate, most introspective athletes I've encountered in 47 years covering tennis. Granted, the tightly wound McEnroe wasn't exactly classy on the court, but he has always been refreshingly candid. Plus, he attended Stanford for only one year.

   Gibbs discussed her battle with depression. Others would have said, "Tennis questions only, please."

At 16, Naomi Osaka stunned Samantha Stosur in the first
round at Stanford in 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   True, Ahn flung her racket high into the crowd — accidentally, she said — during the semifinals of the 2019 Berkeley Challenger. But she patiently discussed the incident with a reporter afterward. Others would have hid in the locker room.

   —Nice guys Tommy Haas, Mardy Fish, Tim Smyczek, Denis Kudla, Noah Rubin, Liam Broady and Marc Polmans.

   —The sensational final between Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) and Kudla, close friends and training partners, in the 2015 Tiburon Challenger. Smyczek saved four match points and Kudla one in Smyczek's 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory.

   —Nice gals Venus Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Zheng Saisai, Kimiko Date (pronounced DAH-tay), Mayo Hibi, Sachia Vickery and Grace Min.

   —Date, a former top-five player from Japan who retired at 26 for 12 years, reaching the semifinals of the Stockton Challenger at 44 in 2015 and losing in the final round of Stockton qualifying at 46. Date was Tom Brady before Tom Brady.

   —The "Gentle Giant," 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Ivo Karlovic.

   —The "Little Giant," 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter), 120-pound (54-kilogram) Danielle Lao.

The drive to the Tiburon Men's Challenger offers a spectacular view of the
Golden Gate Bridge from the town of Tiburon. 2017 photo by Paul Bauman 

   —Jan Tiilikainen, after winning the national men's 30 indoor title for the fifth time in 2014 in the Sacramento area, recalling his grueling workouts as a teenager in Finland.

   —Interviewing Wayne Thiebaud, a world-renowned artist who played tennis until the day after he turned 100 in November 2020, on the phone. The gracious, humble Thiebaud (pronounced TEE-bow) died this past Christmas.

   —The "cookie lady."

   —Speaking of sweets ... buying heavenly brownies and chocolate croissants at Fournée Bakery in Berkeley, taking them across the street to the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club and munching them while watching world-class tennis courtside in beautiful weather. It doesn't get any better than that.

Bellis battles elbow problem; return date uncertain

 

CiCi Bellis was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017 but
missed 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing four operations on
her right arm. 2018 photo by Mal Taam

  CiCi Bellis remains out indefinitely with a right elbow injury, her agent said today.

   "She's trying to do her best to come back," Marijn Bal said, adding that Bellis is hitting balls. "It's a week-by-week situation."

   Bellis, a 22-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton, has not played on the WTA or ITF circuit since November. She missed 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow. 

   Bellis, now based at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., reached a career-high No. 35 in the world at age 18 in 2017 and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year. She has tumbled to No. 140.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Jenson Brooksby, 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area is scheduled to play 17-year-old wild card Martin Damm, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) left-hander from Bradenton, Fla., for the first time on Tuesday at about 11 a.m. PDT in the first round of the clay-court $52,080 Tallahassee (Fla.) Tennis Challenger. The match will be streamed live.

   Brooksby, who turned pro in December, won his second Challenger singles title of the year on Sunday in a $52,080 hardcourt tournament in Orlando. He also reached the final of last month's $52,080 Cleveland Challenger.

   Damm's Czech father, also named Martin, won the 2006 U.S. Open men's doubles title with Leander Paes of India and peaked at No. 5 in the world in doubles in 2007.

   Brooksby, ranked a career-high No. 194, or Damm, ranked No. 699, will face Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild, seeded first at No. 124. Seyboth Wild, 21, dismissed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 6-3, 6-1.

   Seyboth Wild won the Santiago title on clay early last year as a 19-year-old wild card ranked No. 182, becoming the first ATP Tour champion born in the 2000s and the youngest Brazilian champion in the Open Era (since 1968). He earned the 2018 U.S. Open boys singles crown, outlasting Italian sensation Lorenzo Musetti.

Former Fresno St. star advances in singles, doubles

   Maiar Sherif Ahmed Abdelaziz, a former Fresno State All-American, today advanced to the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals in the $100,000 LTP Tennis on clay in Charleston, S.C.

   The 24-year-old qualifier from Egypt defeated Caroline Dolehide, a 22-year-old native of Hinsdale, Ill., 7-5, 7-6 (6) in singles. Dolehide crushed sixth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, 6-1, 6-0 in 47 minutes in the first round on Wednesday.

   Abdelaziz also paired with Astra Sharma of Australia to edge Kateryna Bondarenko, a 34-year-old mother of two from Ukraine, and Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-1, 3-6 [10-6] in a matchup of unseeded teams.

   Abdelaziz made her Grand Slam main-draw debut in September, qualifying for the French Open in September and extending second-seeded Karolina Pliskova to 6-4 in the third set in the opening round of singles. 

   Abdelaziz reached the NCAA doubles quarterfinals in 2016 as a Fresno State sophomore with her sister Rana before transferring to Pepperdine and advancing to the NCAA singles semifinals in 2018 as a senior.

   Ranked No. 164 in singles, Abdelaziz is scheduled to meet Romanian qualifier Gabriela Talaba, ranked No. 217, for the first time on Friday.

   Talaba, a 25-year-old left-hander who won the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger last fall, beat top-seeded Shelby Rogers of Charleston by walkover. The reason for Rogers' withdrawal was not available.

   Rogers, 28, nipped qualifier Kyoka Okamura of Japan 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the opening round after serving for the match twice in the third set and trailing 2-5 in the tiebreaker. 

   Rogers stunned Serena Williams in the quarterfinals at Lexington, Ky., in August and reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal in September in the U.S. Open.

   Meanwhile, two former top-35 players lost today.

   Renata Zarazua, a 5-foot-3 (1.60-meter) Mexican who advanced to the second round of the French Open as a qualifier, dismissed third-seeded Madison Brengle, 30, of Bradenton, Fla., 6-2, 6-1. Brengle won Northern California Challengers in 2018 and 2019.

   Katarzyna Kawa, 27, of Poland eliminated CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old wild card who was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

   Both Brengle and Bellis have been slowed by injuries since achieving career highs of No. 35. They climbed that high at age 25 in 2015 and 18 in 2017, respectively.

   Second-seeded Lauren Davis, ranked No. 73, dominated Hailey Baptiste, a 19-year-old qualifier, 6-2, 6-1 in an all-American encounter. 

   The 5-foot-2 (1.57-meter) Davis reached a career-high No. 26 in 2017. Baptiste shocked second-seeded Madison Keys, the U.S. Open runner-up in 2017, in the opening round in Baptiste's native Washington, D.C., last year. 

   Fourth-seeded Misaki Doi, a 5-foot-3 (1.59-meter) left-hander from Japan, advanced by walkover against Sara Errani, a 34-year-old Italian formerly ranked No. 5.

   On Center Court on Friday, Davis is scheduled to face Kawa at 7 a.m. PST, followed by Doi against eighth-seeded Ann Li, a 20-year-old American who won an $80,000 hardcourt tournament in Tyler, Texas, last week. Both matches will be streamed live.

   Abdelaziz and Sharma, a 25-year-old former Vanderbilt All-American, are set to play wild cards Allura and Maribella Zamarripa, 18-year-old identical twins from St. Helena in the Napa Valley. 

   The Zamarripas, who saved two championship points and won the Tyler title last week as alternates, beat Dolehide and Rogers by walkover.  

Top seed Rogers averts early upset; Bellis stays hot

   Top-seeded Shelby Rogers came within two points of losing early today to a qualifier for the second consecutive week, this time in her hometown.

   Rogers, 28, edged Kyoka Okamura, 25, of Japan 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the $100,000 LTP Tennis on clay in Charleston, S.C.

   Rogers, who fell to 17-year-old phenom Clara Tauson of Denmark in the second round of an $80,000 hardcourt tournament in Tyler, Texas, last week, served for the match against Okamura at 5-4 and 6-5 in the third set and trailed 2-5 in the tiebreaker.

   Rogers stunned Serena Williams in the quarterfinals at Lexington, Ky., in August and reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal in September in the U.S. Open. Ranked 58th in the world and 10th in the United States, she is scheduled to meet another qualifier, Gabriela Talaba of Romania, on Thursday.

   Talaba, a 25-year-old left-hander with a one-handed backhand, won the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger last fall. 

   CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old wild card who was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, beat fifth-seeded Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov, a 22-year-old Spanish citizen from Moldova, for the second time in two weeks, 7-6 (0), 6-0. 

   Bellis has won nine of her last 10 matches, including the title on hardcourts in Macon, Ga., two weeks ago. She withdrew from the Tyler semifinals after playing six sets the previous day in the rain-delayed tournament.

   Bellis is set to play Katarzyna Kawa, a 27-year-old Pole, for the first time. Kawa reached the Tyler quarterfinals and teamed with compatriot Magdalena Frech to win the Macon doubles title and oust top-seeded Coco Gauff and Caty McNally of the United States 7-5 3-6 [10-3] in the first round in Charleston. 

   Caroline Dolehide, a 22-year-old native of Hinsdale, Ill., overwhelmed sixth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 6-1, 6-0 in 47 minutes.

   Ahn, who advanced to the round of 16 in last year's U.S. Open, has won only five games in her last two matches.

   Dolehide, who won a $60,000 clay-court tournament in Charleston last October, will meet qualifier Maiar Sherif Ahmed Abdelaziz of Egypt. Abdelaziz, a 24-year-old former Fresno State All-American who transferred to Pepperdine, routed Kristina Kucova, 30, of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1. Kucova, 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters), won a $125,000 clay-court tournament in Prague in early September.

   In the first round of Charleston doubles, wild cards Allura and Maribella Zamarripa, 18-year-old identical twins from St. Helena in the Napa Valley, dispatched Naomi Broady, a 6-foot-2 (1.89-meter) Briton, and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe, a former two-time NCAA doubles champion from the University of Alabama, 6-4, 6-3.

   The Zamarripas won the Tyler crown as alternates, saving two championship points. They are scheduled to meet third-seeded Dolehide and Rogers at about 11 a.m. PST in the Charleston quarterfinals. Live streaming will be available.

Bellis pulls out of Tyler semis; twins reach doubles final

CiCi Bellis' winning streak ended at eight matches. 2018 photo
by Mal Taam

   One week ago, sixth-seeded Marta Kostyuk, 18, of Ukraine retired from the final of the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic in Macon, Ga., against wild card CiCi Bellis with leg cramps.

   Today, the unseeded Bellis withdrew from the semifinals of the $80,000 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic in Tyler, Texas, against the eighth-seeded Kostyuk with a sore arm.

   Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product, won two three-set matches on Friday in the rain-delayed hardcourt tournament to give her eight consecutive victories. She underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow in 2018-19, sat out for 19 months and returned last November. 

   "Her arm and elbow were pretty sore this morning after the six sets especially in the cold," texted Bellis' father, Gordon. "She didn't want to push it today and then jeopardize (playing in) Charleston (next week)."

   CiCi, who was born in San Francisco and grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, is projected to rise eight spots to No. 133 in Monday's new world rankings. She reached a career-high No. 35 in 2017 and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year.

   Kostyuk, ranked No. 104, is scheduled to face seventh-seeded Ann Li, a 20-year-old American, for the first time on Sunday not before 10 a.m. PDT. Li, ranked No. 112, topped unseeded Greet Minnen of Belgium 7-5, 7-5.

   Neither finalist has lost a set in the tournament. Kostyuk crushed wild card Fernanda Contreras Gomez of Mexico 6-0, 6-0 in the first round. The title will be the biggest of either finalist's career.

   Alternates Allura and Maribella Zamarripa, 18-year-old identical twins from St. Helena, Calif., in the Napa area, advanced to the doubles final by walkover against unseeded Kostyuk and Clara Tauson, 17, of Denmark.

   The Zamarripas, who ousted top-seeded Caroline Dolehide and Caty McNally of the United States in the quarterfinals, are set to play fourth-seeded Paula Kania-Chodun and Katarzyna Piter of Poland at 8:30 a.m.

   The finals will be streamed live.

   ATP Tour — Second-seeded Max Purcell and Luke Saville of Australia beat fourth-seeded Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), a New Zealand product who plays for his mother's native Japan, and Franko Skugor of Croatia 4-6, 6-3 [10-5] in the semifinals of the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

   McLachlan, 28, won the Cologne title last week with Raven Klaasen, 38, of South Africa in their first tournament together.

   Purcell and Saville, the Australian Open runners-up early this year, will play top-seeded Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen of Belgium in the final.

Kratzer suspended; McDonald falls; Bellis wins twice

Ashley Kratzer, playing in Berkeley, Calif., in 2018, tested
positive for a growth hormone. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Ashley Kratzer, who has excelled in Northern California Challengers, was suspended for four years after failing a drug test in January, the International Tennis Federation announced Thursday.

   Kratzer, the Stockton runner-up to Sofia Kenin in 2017 and a Berkeley semifinalist in 2018, provided a urine sample on Jan. 27 during a $125,000 hardcourt tournament in her hometown of Newport Beach, Calif., and tested positive for a growth hormone.

   The 21-year-old left-hander has immense talent but is highly volatile on the court. After Nicole Gibbs beat Kratzer in the Berkeley semifinals in 2018, the former Stanford star was asked if the upstart needs to work on her attitude the most.

   "Absolutely," Gibbs asserted. "She's one of the most talented players out here. If she can pull it together a little bit more consistently mentally, I think she's going to be a really big threat on tour — top 50 for sure, if not top 20, soon."

   Kratzer began playing pro tournaments at 14, skipping the juniors and then college. She turned pro at 17 in 2016, won the USTA Girls 18 National Championships in San Diego in 2017 and reached a career-high No. 200 in the world in August 2018. 

   Kratzer, who hasn't played since losing in the first round of qualifying in Newport Beach in January, can appeal her suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

   ATP Tour — Third-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France beat Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

   McDonald, who returned in January from hamstring surgery, is projected to rise 18 places to No. 191 on Monday. Only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters), he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018 and climbed to a career-high No. 57 in April last year. 

   In the doubles quarterfinals, fourth-seeded Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), a New Zealand product who plays for his mother's native Japan, and Franko Skugor of Croatia eliminated Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Artem Sitak, a Russia native who plays for New Zealand, 6-3, 7-6 (4). 

   McLachlan, 28, won the Cologne title last week with Raven Klaasen, 38, of South Africa in their first tournament together.

   USTA Pro Circuit — Unseeded CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old Bay Area product, extended her winning streak to eight matches with two victories in the rain-delayed $80,000 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic on hardcourts in Tyler, Texas. 

   Bellis defeated qualifier Jamie Loeb of Ossining, N.Y., 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the second round and fourth-seeded Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov of Spain 6-0, 2-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

   Loeb, a 25-year-old product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, won the 2015 NCAA singles title as a North Carolina sophomore and promptly turned pro. Bolsova Zadoinov reached the fourth round of last year's French Open as a qualifier.

   Bellis is scheduled to face eighth-seeded Marta Kostyuk, 18, of Ukraine on Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT in a rematch of last week's final in the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga. Bellis prevailed 6-4, 6-7 (4), 0-0, retired (leg cramps).

   In Saturday's second semifinal, seventh-seeded Ann Li, a 20-year-old native of King of Prussia, Pa., will play unseeded Greet Minnen of Belgium. Both semis will be streamed live.

   Clara Tauson, a 17-year-old qualifier from Denmark, ousted top-seeded Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in 3 hours, 7 minutes in the second round. Tauson, formerly the top-ranked junior in the world, then lost to Li 6-3, 7-5.

   Tauson qualified for the recent French Open and knocked off 21st-seeded Jennifer Brady, a U.S. Open semifinalist, in the first round before losing to American Danielle Collins.

   Rogers, ranked No. 58, stunned Serena Williams in Lexington, Ky., in August and reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal last month in the U.S. Open.

   In the Tyler doubles quarterfinals, alternates Allura and Maribella Zamarripa, 18-year-old identical twins from St. Helena, Calif., in the Napa area, stunned top-seeded Caroline Dolehide, a 22-year-old native of Hinsdale, Ill., and Caty McNally, an 18-year-old Cincinnati native, 6-4, 4-6 [10-4]. 

   Dolehide and countrywoman Vania King, a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, reached the doubles semifinals in last year's U.S. Open. McNally and compatriot Coco Gauff, then 15, advanced to the doubles quarterfinals in this year's Australian Open.

   Kateryna Bondarenko, a 34-year-old mother of two from Ukraine, and Olga Govortsova of Belarus routed Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and Naomi Broady of Great Britain 6-1, 6-1 in 59 minutes in a clash of unseeded teams. 

Bellis ends title drought as teen retires with leg cramps

CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product, won her first title
in four years today. She missed 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing four
operations. 2017 photo by Mal Taam 

   It doesn't get much more ironic than this.

   CiCi Bellis, who sat out for 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing four operations, won her first title in four years today after her last two opponents broke down physically.

   Sixth-seeded Marta Kostyuk, 18, of Ukraine retired with leg cramps in the opening game of the third set in the final of the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga.

   Bellis, a 21-year-old wild card who was born in San Francisco and grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, won the first set 6-4, and Kostyuk took the second set 7-6 (4) in the first USTA Pro Circuit tournament after the long COVID-19 break.

   In Saturday's semifinals, Bellis led 6-3, 1-0 when Varvara Lepchenko, a 34-year-old American qualifier from Uzbekistan, quit with an upper leg injury.

   Lepchenko, who reached No. 19 in the world in 2012, was coming off a 3-hour, 15-minute victory over unseeded Sachia (pronounced SAH-shuh) Vickery in the quarterfinals and ousted second-seeded Nina Stojanovic in the first round in 3 hours, 33 minutes. 

   Neither Bellis, now based at the USTA National Campus near Orlando, Fla., nor Kostyuk, who reached the third round of the recent French Open and won a $60,000 hardcourt tournament in Cairo in Feburary, had lost a set entering their first career meeting. Kostyuk, in fact, hadn't dropped more than five games in a match. She routed top-seeded Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals after Doi had survived a 3-hour, 9-minute battle in the second round. 

   But Bellis and Kostyuk traded laser-like groundstrokes for 2 hours, 23 minutes in cloudy 75-degree (23.9 Celsius) weather and 68 percent humidity.

   After slugging a down-the-line backhand winner for deuce on Bellis' serve in the first game of the third set, Kostyk collapsed with a cramp above her left knee. She was briefly treated on the court by a trainer, and the cramp subsided.

   Kostyuk tried to continue, but on the next point, she sprawled on the court with a cramp in her right leg. Lying on the court and sobbing, Kostyuk retired.

   The right-handed Bellis, who had three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow, claimed her first title since a $125,000 tournament in Honolulu in November 2016. Playing strictly at the top level of women's tennis, she reached a career-high No. 35 at age 18 in 2017 and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year before arm trouble forced her off the tour in March 2018. Bellis finally returned last November and reached the third round of the Australian Open in January.

   Bellis collected $12,192, a paltry amount for her. More importantly, she will jump 31 places to No. 142 in Monday's new rankings. Kostyuk, who earned $6,518, will improve eight spots to No. 105.

   Fans can be forgiven if they confused the finalists. In addition to being young, hard-hitting baseliners, both wore forest-green Nike dresses and white visors. Kostyuk was the one with blonde hair tied in a bun, four earrings in her left ear and black kinesiotape on her right shoulder. 

   The first set featured four consecutive service breaks and seven in the first nine games. Bellis held at 15 for the set when Kostyuk netted a cross-court forehand.

   Kostyuk led 5-2 in the second set, but Bellis reeled off four straight games to serve for the championship. She was two points from the title at 30-30 but slugged a down-the-line backhand wide and was broken on Kostyuk's forehand cross-court winner.

   Bellis led 2-0 in the tiebreaker but then uncharacteristically committed six unforced errors to drop the set. Serving to open the third set, she fought back from 15-20 to deuce, and it appeared the players were headed for another grueling set. Three points later, however, the match abruptly ended.

   ATP Tour — Unseeded Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), playing in their first tournament together, stunned third-seeded Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, Germans who have won the last two French Opens, 6-2, 6-4 to win the title in Cologne, Germany.

   Klaasen, a 38-year-old South African, and McLachlan, a 28-year-old New Zealand native who plays for his mother's home country of Japan, did not lose a set in their four matches.

   Klaasen won his 17th ATP doubles title and McLachlan his sixth.

Bellis gains 1st final in 4 years as Lepchenko quits match

CiCi Bellis reached her first final since winning a $125,000 tournament
in Honolulu in November 2016. 2017 photo by Mal Taam

   Varvara Lepchenko figured to have a tough time against CiCi Bellis today.

   As it turned out, Lepchenko couldn't make it through the match.

   Bellis led 6-3, 1-0, 0-40 on Lepchenko's serve in the semifinals of the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga., when Lepchenko retired with an upper leg injury. No ballkids are being used in the first USTA Pro Circuit tournament after the long COVID-19 break.

   Lepchenko, a 34-year-old American qualifier from Uzbekistan, was coming off a 3-hour, 15-minute victory over American Sachia (pronounced SAH-shuh) Vickery on Friday. Lepchenko, a left-hander who reached a career-high No. 19 in 2012, also needed 3 hours, 33 minutes to oust second-seeded Nina Stojanovic of Serbia in the first round.

   Bellis, a 21-year-old wild card who was born in San Francisco and grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, reached her first final since winning a $125,000 tournament in Honolulu in November 2016.

   After climbing to a career-high No. 35 in 2017 and being named the WTA Newcomer of the Year, Bellis had three surgeries on her right wrist and one on her right elbow in 2018-19 and missed 19 months.

   Lepchenko played in the main draw of 31 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments from 2011 to 2018, reaching the fourth round of the 2012 French Open and 2015 U.S. Open.

  Lepchenko and Bellis combined for three semifinal appearances in the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, a five-minute drive from Bellis' childhood home. Lepchenko advanced to the final four in 2014 and 2015, Bellis in 2017.

   Bellis, who's projected to rise at least 22 places to No. 151 on Monday, is scheduled to face sixth-seeded Marta Kostyuk, 18, of Ukraine for the first time on Sunday at 10 a.m. PDT. The intriguing match will be streamed live.

   Kostyuk, who will improve at least eight spots to No. 105, dispatched Magdalena Frech, a 22-year-old qualifier from Poland, 6-3, 6-2.

    Neither finalist has lost a set in the tournament. Kostyuk hasn't lost more than five games in a match, and Bellis has dropped more than three games only once. Given all she has been through, Bellis could come out nervous.

   Kostyuk won a $60,000 hardcourt tournament in Cairo in February without losing a set and reached the third round of the U.S. Open last month, losing to eventual champion Naomi Osaka in three sets.

   Bellis, now based at the USTA National Campus near Orlando, Fla., used her impeccable groundstrokes to bolt to a 5-1 lead today, holding serve from 0-40 for 3-1 and from 15-40 for 5-1.

   "Look at her," veteran commentator Ken Thomas marveled early in the match. "She's what, 5-6 (1.68 meters) and 125 pounds (56.7 kilograms)? But she gets it done. (She has) perfect technique and timing. If she has a weakness, it's maybe her second serve."  

   Lepchenko saved two set points to hold for 2-5 and broke for 3-5, but Bellis broke back, converting her fifth set point. Lepchenko took a medical timeout after the first set and, hobbling, lost seven of the eight points in the second set.

   In the doubles final, Frech and countrywoman Katarzyna Kawa beat Americans Francesca Di Lorenzo and Jamie Loeb 7-5, 6-1 in a matchup of unseeded teams. Frech and Kawa's compatriot, 19-year-old Iga Swiatek, shockingly won the French Open two weeks ago.

   ATP Tour —Unseeded Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) will play the two-time reigning French Open champions in Sunday's final in Cologne, Germany.

   Third-seeded Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies of Germany advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over unseeded Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Philipp Oswald of Austria.

   Klaasen, a 38-year-old South African, and McLachlan, a 28-year-old New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, beat unseeded Max Purcell and Luke Saville of Australia 7-5, 6-4 in a Friday semifinal. Klaasen seeks his 17th ATP Tour title and McLachlan his sixth.

Bellis linked to Evert in rout of former No. 5 Errani

CiCi Bellis, 21, thrashed 33-year-old Sara Errani, formerly ranked
No. 5 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, 6-0, 6-3 today in Macon, Ga.
Bellis won the first nine games. 2018 photo by Mal Taam

   Before multiple surgeries derailed CiCi Bellis' career, her former coach compared her to Jennifer Capriati.

   Veteran commentator Ken Thomas paid Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, another tremendous compliment today.

   "I see a little Chris Evert in CiCi Bellis — quality groundstrokes," Thomas declared on the live stream of Bellis' 6-0, 6-3 thrashing of Sara Errani, formerly ranked No. 5 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, today in the quarterfinals of the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic in Macon, Ga. "For American women's tennis, it's really good to see Bellis playing like this."

   Earlier, sixth-seeded Marta Kostyuk, 18, of Ukraine, routed top-seeded Misaki Doi of Japan 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour, 23 minutes in a matchup of the only remaining singles seeds.      Bellis, a wild card now based at the USTA National Campus outside of Orlando, Fla., had more firepower than the unseeded Errani, a 33-year-old Italian counterpuncher ranked No. 137, in the 65-minute match.

   Playing almost flawlessly, the petite, 5-foot-7 (1.68-meter) Bellis reeled off the first seven points and the opening nine games in her first meeting with the 5-foot-5 (1.64-meter) Errani, the runner-up to Maria Sharapova in the 2012 French Open. Bellis then lost two consecutive games before breaking serve for 4-2. Both players held serve from there.

   Granted, the Mercer Tennis Classic is a minor-league tournament, but Bellis reached her first semifinal since the 2017 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, a five-minute drive from her childhood home, on the WTA Tour. She reached a career-high No. 35 two weeks later at 18 and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year for 2017. 

   But slugging it out against older, bigger players at the top level of women's tennis took a massive toll on Bellis. She underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow in 2018-19 and missed 19 months.     

   Errani, meanwhile, had her own troubles. She was suspended for two months in 2017 after failing a drug test, and the suspension was lengthened to 10 months in 2018. Errani claimed that she accidentally consumed her mother's cancer medication in homemade tortellini.

   Bellis, who's projected to rise at least 15 places to No. 158 on Monday, has an excellent chance in Saturday's semifinals against another accomplished veteran, weary qualifier Varvara Lepchenko. The 34-year-old American left-hander from Uzbekistan outlasted Sachia (pronounced SAH-shuh) Vickery, a 25-year-old Miramar, Fla., native, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in 3 hours, 15 minutes.

   That wasn't even Lepchenko's longest match of the tournament. She edged second-seeded Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (6) in 3 hours, 33 minutes in the opening round on Wednesday.

   Bellis is 1-1 against Lepchenko, ranked No. 186 after climbing as high as No. 19 in 2012. Bellis prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the second round of her comeback tournament in Houston, a $125,000 event, on hardcourts as a qualifier last November, and Lepchenko coasted 6-3, 6-2 in the Rabat (Morocco) quarterfinals on clay in 2017.

   Both Lepchenko and Vickery have starred in NorCal, albeit at different levels. Lepchenko advanced to two semifinals (2014 and 2015) and one quarterfinal (2013) at Stanford. Vickery reached the singles semifinals and teamed with countrywoman Madison Brengle to win the doubles title in last year's $60,000 Berkeley Challenger. 

   Doi, a 5-foot-3 (1.59-meter) left-hander, was coming off a physically and mentally draining 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay in 3 hours, 9 minutes on Thursday. Cepede Royg served for the match at 6-5 in the second set. 

   Kostyuk, meanwhile, has lost an average of only four games in her three matches this week.

   Both Kostyuk and Doi lost to eventual champion Naomi Osaka in three sets in the recent U.S. Open, Kostyuk in the third round and Doi in the first round.

   Kostyuk, ranked No. 113, will meet Poland's Magdalena Frech, a qualifier ranked No. 165, for the first time on Saturday. Frech, 22, beat unseeded American Francesca Di Lorenzo 7-5, 6-3. 

   Both singles semifinals are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. PDT with thunderstorms forecast to strike as early as 9 a.m. The doubles final, also featuring Frech, will follow, weather permitting.

   The unseeded team of Frech and compatriot Katarzyna Kawa dispatched top-seeded Caroline Dolehide and Caty McNally of the United States 6-4, 6-3. Frech and Kawa will play the unseeded pair of Di Lorenzo and countrywoman Jamie Loeb, who nipped second-seeded Doi and Stojanovic 1-6, 6-3 [10-8].

   ATP Challenger Tour — Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, another San Francisco Bay Area product now based at the USTA National Campus, lost to unseeded Martin Klizan, a former top-25 player from Slovakia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $104,160 Istanbul Challenger on hardcourts.

   The diminutive McDonald, who was born and raised in Piedmont, advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018 and climbed as high as No. 57 in April last year. However, he tore a right hamstring tendon during a doubles match the following month in the French Open, had surgery in June and sat out for the rest of the season. He is projected to rise 14 places to No. 209 on Monday.

   Klizan won the 2006 French Open boys singles title and reached a career-high No. 24 in 2015 before battling injuries. The 31-year-old left-hander will improve at least 13 spots to No. 155. 

   ATP Tour — Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), playing in their first tournament together, defeated Max Purcell and Luke Saville 7-5, 6-4 to reach the final in Cologne, Germany.

   Purcell and Saville, the 2011 Wimbledon boys singles champion, reached the Australian Open final early this year, losing to American Rajeev Ram, now a volunteer assistant coach at Cal, and Great Britain's Joe Salisbury. 

   Saville and Hans Hach Verdugo of Mexico won the 2018 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger as qualifiers in their first tournament together.  

   Klaasen, 38, of South Africa and Ben McLachlan, a 28-year-old New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, will play either third seeds and two-time reigning French Open champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies of Germany or unseeded Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Philipp Oswald of Austria on Sunday.

   Daniell and Oswald ousted top-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-2, 4-6 [10-3].

   Klaasen seeks his 17th ATP doubles title and McLachlan his sixth.

Bay Area products gain quarters, continuing comebacks

CiCi Bellis routed Romanian qualifier Gabriela Talaba 6-1, 6-3
in Macon, Ga. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Almost 6,000 miles apart, San Francisco Bay Area products CiCi Bellis and Mackenzie McDonald reached the quarterfinals of minor-league hardcourt tournaments as they continued comebacks from surgery.

   Bellis, a 21-year-old wild card who was born in San Francisco and grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, routed qualifier Gabriela Talaba, a 25-year-old Romanian left-hander, 6-1, 6-3 today in the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic in Macon, Ga.

   Bellis saved eight of nine break points against her. She double-faulted twice while serving for the match at 5-0 in the second set. Talaba, one of the few women with a one-handed backhand, won last year's $25,000 Redding, Calif., Challenger. 

   Mackenzie McDonald, who was born and raised in Piedmont, defeated Nino Serdarusic of Croatia 7-6 (9), 6-3 in a matchup of qualifiers in the $104,160 Istanbul Challenger.

   Bellis, a petite 5-foot-7 (1.68 meters), was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017 after attaining a career-high No. 35 ranking at age 18. Then the nightmare began. She underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow in 2018-19 and missed 19 months.

   McDonald, only 5-foot-10 (1.77 meters) and 160 pounds (72 kilograms), advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018 and climbed as high as No. 57 in April last year. However, he tore a right hamstring tendon during a doubles match the following month in the French Open, had surgery in June and sat out for the rest of the season. 

   Both Bellis, ranked No. 173, and McDonald, ranked No. 223, are now based at the USTA National Campus near Orlando, Fla., and both face big quarterfinal challenges.

   Bellis will meet unseeded Sara Errani, formerly ranked No. 5 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, for the first time on Friday not before 10:45 a.m PDT. Live streaming is available.

   Errani, a 33-year-old Italian, outplayed fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 6-3, 6-4. Errani, now ranked No. 137, broke serve in the final game.

Mackenzie McDonald beat Nino Serdarusic of Croatia
7-6 (9), 6-3 in a matchup of qualifiers in Istanbul.
2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   McDonald will play Martin Klizan, the 2006 French Open boys champion who reached No. 24 in 2015 before battling injuries, for the first time. Klizan, a 31-year-old left-hander from Slovakia now ranked No. 168, defeated Roberto Marcora of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-1.

   Another Bay Area product, 18-year-old Katie Volynets, lost to Varvara Lepchenko, a 34-year-old American left-hander from Uzbekistan formerly ranked No. 19, by the deceptive score of 6-0, 6-1 in a clash of qualifiers.

   "This is the best 6-0, 6-1 match I've ever seen," veteran commentator Ken Thomas crowed during the final game of the 1-hour, 20-minute match that featured many long, hard-hitting rallies. 

   Volynets, who was born and still lives in Walnut Creek, fought hard throughout the match and never appeared frustrated.

   "She's not complaining; she's not quitting," Thomas said during the second set. "A lot of big-name players who will go unnamed would quit if they were getting rolled 6-0, 3-0. It's nice to see Katie Volynets dig deep."

   Thomas concluded that Volynets, who won the USTA 18 national championship in August 2019 and turned pro in December, "is the real deal even though she got hammered today."

   Lepchenko has played in the main draw of 44 Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the fourth round of the 2012 French Open and 2015 U.S. Open. She advanced to two semifinals (2014 and 2015) and one quarterfinal (2013) in the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

   Lepchenko, now ranked No. 186, had no trouble rebounding from her grueling 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory over second-seeded Nina Stojanovic, ranked No. 91, on Wednesday in the opening round. 

   Top-seeded Misaki Doi of Japan narrowly avoided an upset, topping qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-1. Cepede Royg, who lost in the second round of the 2012 Redding Challenger as the second seed, served for the match at 6-5 in the second set against the 5-foot-3 (1.59-meter) left-hander.

   Doi held a match point against left-hander Angelique Kerber in the opening round of the 2016 Australian Open. Kerber survived and went on to win the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles.

   Doi, ranked No. 86, is scheduled to face sixth-seeded Marta Kostyuk, an 18-year-old Ukrainian ranked No. 113, at 9 a.m. in a matchup of the only remaining singles seeds.

   In the Istanbul doubles quarterfinals, Americans Robert Galloway and Nathaniel Lammons downed second-seeded Andre Goransson (University of California, Berkeley, 2014-17) of Sweden and Artem Sitak, a Russia native who plays for New Zealand, 7-5, 7-6 (1). 

   ATP Tour — Unseeded Raven Klaasen, 38, of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14), a 28-year-old New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, beat fourth-seeded Jurgen Melzer, 39, of Austria and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 36, of France 7-5, 6-4 to reach the semifinals in Cologne, Germany.

   Klaasen and McLachlan will play unseeded Australians Max Purcell and Luke Saville, who edged second-seeded Oliver Marach of Austria and Mate Pavic of Croatia 2-6, 6-3 [11-9]. 

   Purcell and Saville, the 2011 Wimbledon boys singles champion, reached the Australian Open final early this year, losing to American Rajeev Ram, now a volunteer assistant coach at Cal, and Great Britain's Joe Salisbury. 

   Saville and Hans Hach Verdugo of Mexico won the 2018 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger as qualifiers in their first tournament together. 

After two losses to Serena, Ahn advances in Macon

Fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn will face former
world No. 5 Sara Errani. 2018 photo by
Paul Bauman

   Kristie Ahn didn't have to play Serena Williams for a change.

   After losing to the American icon in straight sets twice in a row in Grand Slam tournaments, the fourth-seeded Ahn dispatched qualifier Tessah Andrianjafitrimo of France 6-3, 6-3 today in the first round of the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga.

   Joining Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., in the second round were CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old wild card who was born in San Francisco and grew up in nearby Atherton, and Katie Volynets, an 18-year-old qualifier from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area.

   Bellis, continuing her comeback from three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow, defeated Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 6-3, 7-5.

   Volynets, who turned pro in December, eliminated Caroline Dolehide 7-6 (3), 6-3 after losing to the American 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the opening round of last year's $60,000 Berkeley, Calif., Challenger.  

   Ahn is scheduled to face former world No. 5 Sara Errani, a 33-year-old Italian who dominated Katarzyna Kawa of Poland 6-3, 6-0, in a matchup of 5-foot-5 (1.64-meter) players on Thursday not before 9:30 a.m. PDT. Live streaming is available. 

   Errani, the 2012 French Open runner-up to Maria Sharapova, beat Ahn 6-4, 6-0 in the second round of the $125,000 Indian Wells (Calif.) Challenger in 2018 in their only previous meeting.

   Bellis, who climbed as high as No. 35 at age 18 in 2017, is set to play qualifier Gabriela Talaba, a 25-year-old left-hander from Romania with a one-handed backhand, for the first time at 7 a.m.

   Talaba, who won last year's $25,000 Redding, Calif., Challenger, ousted seventh-seeded Greet Minnen of Belgium 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 after winning three consecutive sets 6-0 in qualifying. 

   After the Bellis-Talaba match, Volynets will take on qualifier Varvara Lepchenko, a 34-year-old U.S. left-hander from Uzbekistan, for the first time. 

   Lepchenko, who has tumbled from a career-high No. 19 in 2012 to No. 186, edged second-seeded Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (6). Stojanovic, ranked No. 98, has lost in the first round of her last four tournaments, including two Grand Slams.

   Lepchenko reached two semifinals (2014 and 2015) and one quarterfinal (2013) in the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. 

McDonald breaks through, braces for Nadal

Mackenzie McDonald, a San Francisco Bay Area product,
defeated qualifier Steven Diez of Canada in the first round
of the French Open. File photo by Paul Bauman

    The good news for Mackenzie McDonald is that he won a main-draw match in the French Open for the first time.

   The bad news is he plays Rafael Nadal next.

   McDonald, a 25-year-old product Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated qualifier Steven Diez, a 29-year-old Canadian based in Spain, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 today in a matchup of undersized players in chilly Paris.

   Diez, 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 167 pounds (75 kilograms), broke with McDonald serving for the match at 5-3 in the fourth set, but McDonald broke right back to advance.

   McDonald, 5-foot-10 (1.77 meters) and 160 pounds (72 kilograms), pounded 11 aces and committed two double faults in the first-time meeting.

   McDonald played at UCLA for three years (2014-16), turning pro after winning the NCAA singles and doubles titles in 2016 as a junior. He won his first Challenger title in Fairfield, Calif., 40 miles (64.4 kilometers) north of Piedmont, in 2017 and advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018.

   Last year, McDonald reached a career-high No. 57 in April but underwent right hamstring surgery in June and sat out the rest of the season. Now ranked No. 236, he is playing with a protected ranking.

   Nadal, seeking his fourth consecutive French Open title and 13th overall, beat Belarus' Egor Gerasimov, a semifinalist in last year's Aptos (Calif.) Challenger, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Nadal and McDonald, now based at the USTA National Campus near Orlando, Fla., are set to meet for the first time on Wednesday. 

   Like McDonald, CiCi Bellis was born and raised in the Bay Area, trains at the USTA National Campus and is rebounding from surgery. She lost to left-hander Bernarda Pera, a 25-year-old American born in Croatia, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

   Bellis, a right-hander who had three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow in 2018-19, played in the French Open for the first time since reaching the third round in 2017.

   Sixth-seeded Serena Williams, a three-time champion at Roland Garros, eliminated Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, in straight sets in the first round for the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament. Williams triumphed 7-6 (2), 6-0 after beating Ahn 7-5, 6-3 in the U.S. Open.

   Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia and eighth-seeded Gael Monfils, a 34-year-old Frenchman, lost in the opening round. 

   Marton Fucsovics of Hungary ousted Medvedev, the U.S. Open runner-up in 2019 and a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows this month, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-1. Fucsovics, ranked No. 63, had been 0-14 against top-10 players. Medvedev, 24, fell to 0-4 in the French Open.

   Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik, the champion of the 2017 Aptos Challenger, downed Monfils 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The 23-year-old Bublik, ranked No. 49, had been 0-5 against top-10 players. Monfils, a Roland Garros semifinalist in 2008, committed 12 double faults.

   Third-seeded Dominic Thiem, the runner-up in the last two French Opens, outclassed Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion playing on his 32nd birthday, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

   Thiem, 27, played for the first time since winning his maiden Grand Slam title in the U.S. Open. He defeated Cilic in four sets in the third round at Flushing Meadows.

   Lorenzo Giustino, a 29-year-old Italian qualifier, topped Corentin Moutet, a 21-year-old left-hander from France, 0-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), 2-6, 18-16 in 6 hours, 5 minutes for his first Grand Slam victory. The fifth set lasted 3 hours. 

   The match fell 28 minutes short of the Roland Garros record, Fabrice Santoro's victory over fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the first round in 2004.

   Iga Swiatek, 19, of Poland eliminated 15th-seeded Marketa Vondrousova, last year's runner-up to Ashleigh Barty at 19, 6-1, 6-2 in 63 minutes. Vondrousova, a 21-year-old left-hander, had left-wrist surgery last summer and sat out for the rest of the year.

   In 2018, Swiatek won the Wimbledon girls singles title and the French Open girls doubles crown with American Caty McNally.