Osaka beats Brady for title; Cal assistant wins mixed

Naomi Osaka, shown in 2014 at age 16, improved to
4-0 in Grand Slam finals. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Third-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan won her fourth Grand Slam singles title today, dominating 22nd-seeded Jennifer Brady of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-4, 6-3 in the Australian Open in Melbourne.

   From 4-4 in the first set, Osaka won six consecutive games. 

   "She played really well when she had to," Brady, who lost to Osaka 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3 in the U.S. Open semifinals last September, told reporters. "She hit good shots when she needed them."

   Osaka, who saved two match points in her fourth-round victory over Garbine Muguruza, improved to 4-0 in Grand Slam finals. 

   Osaka became the first woman to win her first four major finals since Monica Seles 30 years ago. The only other player to accomplish the feat in the Open era, which began in 1968, is Roger Federer.

   "That's very amazing company," Osaka said.

   Among active women, only 39-year-old Serena Williams (23) and 40-year-old Venus Williams (seven) have won more Grand Slam singles titles than the 23-year-old Osaka.

   Osaka pocketed $2.13 million for her second Australian Open singles crown, down from the $3.12 million that Sofia Kenin collected for winning last year's title. Osaka, formerly ranked No. 1, will rise one notch to No. 2 on Monday.

   Brady, 25, settled for $1.16 million in her first Grand Slam final. She is projected to jump 11 places to a career-high No. 13. 

   Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut at 16 at Stanford in 2014. Brady starred in Northern California Challengers, sweeping the singles and doubles titles in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and advancing to the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to Sofia Kenin.

   Men's singles final — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is scheduled to face fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. PST on ESPN (replays at 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. on ESPN2).

   Djokovic, 33, is 4-3 against the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Medvedev, 25. But Medvedev has won three of the past four meetings, all in best-of-three-set matches. In their only previous Grand Slam encounter, Djokovic prevailed 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth round of the 2019 Australian Open.

   Djokovic seeks his third consecutive Australian Open singles title, ninth overall and 18th in majors, two short of the record held by Federer, 39, and Rafael Nadal, 34.

   Medvedev will play in his second Grand Slam final. He lost an epic match against Nadal in the 2019 U.S. Open.

   Mixed doubles final — In a late match, sixth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, defeated Australian wild cards Samantha Stosur and Matthew Ebden 6-1, 6-4. 

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

   Stosur and Ebden were playing for their second Australian Open mixed doubles titles. Stosur won with countryman Scott Draper in 2005, and Ebden triumphed with Jarmila Gajdosova, a Slovakian-born Australian, in 2013.

   Men's doubles final — Ram, from Carmel, Ind., and Great Britain's Joe Salisbury, the fifth seeds and defending champions, are scheduled to meet ninth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia tonight at 8 (PST) on Tennis Channel. 

   Ram, 36, Salisbury, 28, and Dodig, 36, seek their second Grand Slam men's doubles titles. Polasek, 35, will play in his first major final. 

Osaka outslugs Serena to reach Australian Open final

Naomi Osaka, shown at 16 in 2014, improved to 3-1
against Serena Williams. Osaka will meet Jennifer Brady
for the Australian Open title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Showdown? What showdown?

   In a much-anticipated match, third-seeded Naomi Osaka outslugged 10th-seeded Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4 tonight to reach the Australian Open final in Melbourne.

   Williams, a seven-time Australian Open champion, fell short for the 11th time in her attempt to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. 

   Williams, 39, put her hand over her heart as she said goodbye to the crowd, leading to speculation that this was her last Australian Open.

   "If I ever say farewell, I wouldn't tell anyone," Williams — who won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014 — said in her post-match news conference before walking off in tears.

   Osaka, 23, of Japan improved to 3-1 against Williams, including a victory in the contentious 2018 U.S. Open final.

  The 2019 Australian Open champion, Osaka is scheduled to meet 22nd-seeded Jennifer Brady of Boca Raton, Fla., on Saturday at 12:30 a.m. PST on ESPN in a rematch of their U.S. Open semifinal last September. Osaka triumphed 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3 en route to the title. She is 2-0 against Brady at the tour level.

   Brady, 25, beat 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam final.

   Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut at 16 at Stanford in 2014. Brady starred in Northern California Challengers, sweeping the singles and doubles titles in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and advancing to the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to Sofia Kenin. 

   In the first men's semifinal, top-ranked Novak Djokovic eliminated qualifier Aslan Karatsev of Russia 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Djokovic, seeking his ninth Australian Open singles title, will play the winner of the Friday, 12:30 a.m. (PST) match between fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev and fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas on ESPN.

   Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Rajeev Ram, a 36-year-old volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, reached the mixed doubles final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Australian wild cards Storm Sanders and Marc Polmans.

   Krejcikova and Ram will meet either unseeded Desirae Krawczyk of the United States and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain or Australian wild cards Samantha Stosur and Matthew Ebden.

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

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.

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

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

   Victoria Azarenka continued her stunning comeback in stunning fashion tonight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brady breezes into first Grand Slam semifinal

   Since American Jennifer Brady began working with Michael Geserer of Germany last October, her career has reached new heights.

   The 28th-seeded Brady rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 23rd-seeded Yulia Putintseva, a Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, in 69 minutes today to reach the U.S. Open semifinals in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. 

   Brady was playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and Putintseva her third in a matchup of 25-year-olds. The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Putintseva also advanced to the last eight in the 2016 and 2018 French Open. 

   Brady had never won a set in two previous matches against Putintseva, both in 2018 and one on clay in the French Open.

   Since the WTA tour resumed last month, the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Brady has used her powerful serve and forehand to win 11 of 12 matches, never surrendering more than four games in a set in the victories. Her closest victory during the hot streak was a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Jil Teichmann, a Swiss left-hander, in the Lexington, Ky., final. That gave Brady her first WTA title.

   The highest-ranked player Brady has beaten in the 11 victories was No. 23 Angelique Kerber in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Brady recorded her first two top-10 wins this year before the women's and men's tours shut down in March. As a qualifier, she knocked off top-ranked Ashleigh Barty to reach the quarterfinals in Brisbane in January and No. 6 Elina Svitolina en route to the Dubai semifinals in February. 

   Geserer formerly coached Julia Goerges, a German who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018 to climb to a career-high No. 9.

   "I told myself I want to try something new, do something different, commit to it, and I did, and I'm really happy I did," Brady told WTA Insider in January.

   Ranked No. 55 at the end of 2019, Brady will soar at least 16 places to a career-high No. 25 on Monday. 

   Geserer told WTA Insider in April that he tries "to have a positive look and a positive approach on every day and in every situation. I believe that with smart and good work you will reach your goals."

   Brady, a former UCLA All-American, starred in Northern California Challengers. She won the singles and doubles titles in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and reached the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to defending champion Sofia Kenin.

   Also in 2017, Brady advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open at age 21 and U.S. Open at 22. She became the first American female qualifier to advance to the last 16 in Melbourne in the Open Era.

   Brady will face Naomi Osaka, seeded fourth and ranked ninth. Osaka, who won the first of her two Grand Slam titles in the 2018 U.S. Open at age 20, dismissed unseeded American Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4.

   Osaka and Brady have split two career matches, most recently in 2018. 

   In the men's draw, fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany beat 27th-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-3 to reach his second consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev rallied from a 2-4 deficit in the second set to improve to 2-3 against Coric and become the first German to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since Boris Becker in 1995.

   "I started playing more aggressively," Zverev, who had 18 aces and 12 double faults, said in an on-court interview. "I wasn't playing aggressively enough in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

   "I was more consistent (after that), and my serve got better. I had nothing to lose at that moment."

   Zverev, the 23-year-old son of former Russian pro Alexander Zverev Sr., is set to meet 20th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta, a 29-year-old Spaniard, on Friday.

   Carreno Busta outlasted 12th-seeded Denis Shapovalov of Canada 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 0-6, 6-3 to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the second time. Carreno Busta scored the only break of the fifth set on a double fault to lead 4-2. The 4-hour, 8-minute match ended at 1:07 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

   Carreno Busta advanced to the quarters when top-ranked Novak Djokovic was defaulted Sunday for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball.

   Zverev defeated Carreno Busta, who also reached the U.S. Open semis three years ago, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the 2018 Miami semis in their only previous meeting.

   In the men's doubles semifinals, eighth-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia eliminated third-seeded Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain 7-6 (3), 6-4.

   Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, and Salisbury, who won the doubles title in the 2017 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger with compatriot Brydan Klein, were seeking their second consecutive Grand Slam title.

   Koolhof and Mektic will play unseeded Mate Pavic of Croatia and Bruno Soares of Brazil for the title on Thursday. Pavic and Soares topped unseeded Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania, the 2017 U.S. Open champions, 6-4, 7-5.

Djokovic defaulted for hitting line judge with ball

With Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer absent, Novak Djokovic
had been heavily favored to win his fourth U.S. Open title.
File photo by Paul Bauman

   As if the U.S. Open wasn't strange enough already, it became even more bizarre today.

   In a stunning development, top-ranked Novak Djokovic was defaulted from his fourth-round match in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball.

   After losing his serve to trail 20th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 5-6 in the first set at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Djokovic flicked a ball underhand in anger toward the wall behind his baseline as he started to walk to his chair.

   The ball struck the line judge, who fell to the court. Djokovic immediately put his hand up in apology and walked to the woman, who gasped for air and moaned repeatedly while sitting on the court before walking off unassisted. She reportedly was OK. 

   After 10 or 15 minutes, during which officials conferred on the court and Djokovic pleaded his case in the virtually empty stadium, he was defaulted for ball abuse. The 33-year-old Serb shook hands with the 29-year-old Carreno Busta, a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2017, and left the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center without talking to the media.

   Fans are not permitted at the tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

   "This whole situation has left me really sad and empty," Djokovic wrote on Instragram after his earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament since a fourth-round loss in the 2018 Australian Open,. "I checked on the lines person and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling OK. I'm extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. I'm not disclosing her name to respect her privacy.

   "As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being. I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behavior. I'm very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I'm so sorry."

   The 2020 Official Grand Slam Rule Book defines ball abuse as "intentionally hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences."

   "Players have been defaulted for less," said ESPN commentator Darren Cahill, who coaches reigning Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, reached a career-high No. 22 in 1989 and won one of his two ATP singles titles in San Francisco in 1991. "The tournament made the right decision. The ranking of a player cannot come into account. It's tough for the tournament and tough for Novak."

   Cahill's colleague and fellow Australian, former doubles world No. 1 Rennae Stubbs, declared, "This will be remembered by Djokovic and journalists for the rest of his career."

   Djokovic was on edge even before the incident. He furiously swatted a ball against a sign on the side of the court earlier in the set and hurt his left shoulder breaking a fall with his arm while serving at 5-5, 0-15.

   "He has many great qualities as a person, but he's not in control of (his emotions)," said ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe, a former U.S. Davis Cup captain who reached career highs of No. 28 in singles and No. 3 in doubles. "He has (smacked balls in anger) many times in his career. When you do that, you're playing with fire, and he played with fire one time too many."

   Djokovic, who has earned $143.9 million in prize money, also will forfeit $250,000 for reaching the round of 16 and faces a fine of up to the same amount. He fell to 26-1 this year and 29-1 since November.

   Ironies abound surrounding Djokovic's default.

   Two years ago at Arthur Ashe Stadium, heavily favored Serena Williams was penalized a game for her third code violation in a 6-2, 6-4 loss to 20-year-old Naomi Osaka in a chaotic U.S. Open final. 

   In the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals, Williams was assessed a point penalty for threatening a line judge who had called a foot fault against her. The penalty came on match point, giving Kim Clijsters a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

   Ashe, an International Tennis Hall of Famer, was known for his composure and grace on and off the court. He died of AIDS at 49 in 1993 after receiving a tainted blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery.

   Twelfth-seeded Denis Shapovalov, a 21-year-old rising star from Canada, beat seventh-seeded David Goffin of Belgium 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in tonight's first featured match at Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Shapovalov was defaulted from a Davis Cup match in 2017 after hitting chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye with a ball at age 17. Gabas had surgery for a broken eye socket.

   Pressure has been mounting on Djokovic for months. He came under fire in April after revealing that he opposes vaccinations and in June after several players, including himself, participated in a charity tournament in Serbia organized by Djokovic and subsequently tested positive for coronavirus. Fans packed the stands, and social distancing was not observed.

    Djokovic also resigned as president of the ATP Player Council last week and announced the formation of a new players association. 

    In the absence of defending champion Rafael Nadal (coronavirus concerns) and five-time winner Roger Federer (two arthroscopic knee surgeries this year), Djokovic had been heavily favored to win his fourth U.S. Open title. Djokovic has amassed 17 Grand Slam singles championships, third in history behind Federer (20) and Nadal (19).

   With Djokovic's departure, a new Grand Slam men's champion will be crowned next Sunday (1 p.m. PDT on ESPN) for the first time since Marin Cilic won the 2014 U.S. Open.

   Two remaining players, both in the bottom half of the draw, have played in major finals. Second-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria lost to Nadal in the 2018 and 2019 French Open finals and to Djokovic in the Australian Open title match in January. His best result at Flushing Meadows is a quarterfinal appearance in 2018. Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia fell to Nadal in a five-set epic in last year's U.S. Open final.

   Cahill, McEnroe and colleague Brad Gilbert pick Medvedev to become the first man other than the Big Five of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka to win a Slam since Cilic.

   Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who shocked Federer to claim the 2009 U.S. Open, is the only other player besides the Big Five to capture a major since 2005.

   This is also the first Grand Slam tournament since the 2004 French Open in which neither Federer, Nadal nor Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals.

   Much as Williams' histrionics overshadowed Osaka's breakthrough, Djokovic's default eclipsed two American women reaching the quarterfinals in the top half of the draw.

   Unseeded Shelby Rogers saved four match points in a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6) victory over sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion. Rogers also advanced to the French Open quarterfinals in 2016 before having knee surgery in 2018.

   Rogers, 27, is scheduled to meet the fourth-seeded Osaka, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over 14th-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, on Tuesday. Osaka, 22, never faced a break point against Kontaveit and converted her sixth match point.

   Rogers has never lost a set in three career matches against Osaka, but their last meeting was in 2017 and two of the encounters were on clay.

   Jennifer Brady, seeded 28th, outslugged 17th-seeded Angelique Kerber, who won the second of her three Grand Slam singles crowns in the 2016 U.S. Open, 6-1, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

   Brady excelled in Northern California Challengers. She won the singles and doubles titles in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and reached the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to defending champion Sofia Kenin.

   Brady, who won her first WTA title three weeks ago in Lexington, Ky., is set to face 23rd-seeded Yulia Putintseva, a Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan. The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Putintseva, a  two-time French Open quarterfinalist, topped eighth-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

   The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Brady, 25, has never won a set in two career matches against Putintseva, both in 2018 and one on clay in the French Open.

   "This is a different Jennifer Brady than two years ago," Stubbs asserted. "She absolutely can win this tournament if she truly believes in herself."

Brady blitzes Bellis, avoids facing top-seeded Pliskova

CiCi Bellis lost to fellow American Jennifer Brady 6-1, 6-2 in 51 minutes today in the
second round of the U.S. Open. 2017 photo by Mal Taam

Jennifer Brady is rolling while CiCi Bellis is trying to rebound.

Brady, seeded 28th, overpowered Bellis, who was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-1, 6-2 in 51 minutes today in the second round of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Both players are based at the USTA National Campus in the Orlando, Fla., area.

Bellis hit only three winners and committed 20 unforced errors as she fell to 1-1 against Brady.

Brady, 25, won her first WTA title three weeks ago in Lexington, Ky. She will face France's Caroline Garcia, who ousted top-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6 (2) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Pliskova, the runner-up to Angelique Kerber in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and 2016 U.S. Open, and Garcia have been ranked as high as No. 1 and No. 4, respectively. 

Pliskova suffered her earliest loss in a Grand Slam tournament since a second-round exit at Wimbledon in 2017. She also lost early in last week's Western & Southern Open at the National Tennis Center, falling to 41st-ranked Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 7-5, 6-4 in the second round after receiving a first-round bye.

Brady and Garcia have split six career meetings. Even with a loss, Brady will rise four spots to a career-high No. 37 after the U.S. Open. 

Brady played at UCLA for two years (2014-15), helping the Bruins win the NCAA title as a freshman. In Northern California Challengers, she won the singles and doubles titles in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and reached the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to defending champion Sofia Kenin.

Also in 2017, Brady advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open at age 21 and U.S. Open at 22. She became the first American female qualifier to advance to the last 16 in Melbourne in the Open Era.

Brady recorded her first two top-10 wins this year before the women's and men's tours shut down in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. As a qualifier, she knocked off No. 1 Ashleigh Barty to reach the quarterfinals in Brisbane in January and No. 6 Elina Svitolina en route to the Dubai semifinals in February. 

Bellis, 21, was playing in the U.S. Open for the first time since 2017. She defeated Tamara Korpatsch of Germany 6-7 (13), 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round for her first victory at Flushing Meadows since 2016.

Bellis first made headlines by shocking 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the 2014 U.S. Open at 15. After climbing to No. 35 and earning WTA Newcomer of the Year honors in 2017, she underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow in 2018-19. 

Ranked No. 860 last December, Bellis will jump 22 places to No. 166.

France's Kristina Mladenovic, seeded 30th, lost to Varvara Gracheva, a 20-year-old Russian playing in her first Grand Slam tournament, after leading 6-1, 5-1.

Mladenovic, who fell 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0, has been exposed to compatriot Benoit Paire, who tested positive for the coronavirus and was removed from the draw before the tournament. 

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat Kyle Edmund, 25, of Great Britain 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in high humidity to improve to 25-0 this year and 28-0 since November.

Djokovic has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, third behind Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (19). Neither Federer (arthroscopic knee surgery) nor defending champion Nadal (coronavirus concerns) entered the U.S. Open.

Edmund struggled with a left knee injury last year, dropping as low as No. 75 in October after reaching a career-high No. 14 in October 2018. He has fought back to No. 44.

Edmund won his second career ATP title indoors in New York in February. He reached the semifinals of the 2015 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger, losing to eventual champion John Millman; fourth round of the 2016 U.S. Open; and semifinals of the 2018 Australian Open.

Taylor Fritz, seeded 19th and ranked 25th, beat Gilles Simon, a 35-year-old Frenchman, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to equal his best stage in a Grand Slam tournament. 

The 22-year-old Fritz, the only American man left in the top half of the draw, is scheduled to face Canada's Denis Shapovalov, seeded 12th and ranked 17th, on Friday. 

Shapovalov, a 21-year-old left-hander, has not lost a set in two matches against Fritz, who won consecutive Northern California Challengers in Sacramento and Fairfield at 17 in 2015.

The second round in the bottom half of the men's draw is set for Thursday. Only three U.S. men remain: Frances Tiafoe, 21-year-old wild card J.J. Wolf and alternate Ernesto Escobedo. All will face higher-ranked players.

American Brady bags first WTA title with win over Swiss

Jennifer Brady, playing in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, rose
to a career-high No. 40 by winning the inaugural Top Seed Open in Lex-
ington, Ky. Photo by Rob Vomund 

U.S. women, unlike the men, have made big news in the past few years.

Serena Williams has lost her last four Grand Slam finals in straight sets in an attempt to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 major singles titles.

Sofia Kenin, who stunned top-ranked Ashleigh Barty en route to the Australian Open title in January, has skyrocketed to No. 4 in the world at age 21.

Sloane Stephens in 2017 became the second unseeded woman to win the U.S. championships in the Open Era, which began in 1968, and advanced to the French Open final in 2018.

Amanda Anisimova shocked defending champion Simona Halep to reach the semifinals of last year's French Open at 17.

Coco Gauff became a worldwide sensation by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, upsetting five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round, as a 15-year-old qualifier.

Lost amid all the hoopla, Jennifer Brady is quietly rising in the rankings. 

The 25-year-old product of the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., overpowered Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 today in the inaugural Top Seed Open on hardcourts in Lexington, Ky., for her first WTA title.

"There's nothing better than playing at home in America," Brady, who improved to 2-1 against Teichmann and collected $25,000, crowed during the awards ceremony. "Every person loves to play in their country. To win a title on home soil is a great achievement for me and something that I'm going to be very happy about."

Both players were unseeded in the first WTA tournament in North America in almost one year. In fact, two of the three champions since the tour resumed on Aug. 3 after being shut down for almost five months because of the COVID-19 pandemic were unseeded. Also winning titles were unseeded Fiona Ferro of France in Palermo last week and the top-seeded Halep in Prague today.

"I didn't have my coach (Michael Geserer) or trainer with me during the lockdown because they're both based in Germany," Brady said on wtatennis.com. "We had great communication over the past four, five months. They sent me a plan every day. Over the past few months, I've been going nonstop, working and training really hard. Some days were tough, but through most of it, I was pretty motivated and knew what I was doing would help in the long run."

Brady, one of the few Americans whose favorite surface is clay, was playing in her first WTA final. Teichmann, a 23-year-old left-hander, had been 2-0 in WTA title matches, winning on clay in Prague and Palermo last year. 

Neither player had lost a set in the tournament entering the final. Brady surrendered only 25 games in five matches, dropped her serve only three times and saved all four break points against her in the final. Brady faced only one seed, No. 6 Magda Linette, ranked 36th, in the second round.

Both finalists rose nine places in the rankings, Brady to a career-high No. 40 (seventh in the United States) and Teichmann to a career-high-tying No. 54 (second in Switzerland behind No. 8 Belinda Bencic).

Because of Brady's success in Lexington and several U.S. Open withdrawals due to coronavirus concerns, she will be seeded at Flushing Meadows, Aug. 31 to Sept. 13.

Brady has needed time to harness her power and tame her emotions. She played at UCLA for two years (2014-15), helping the Bruins win the NCAA title as a freshman. In Northern California Challengers, she won the singles and doubles title in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and reached the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to defending champion Kenin.

Also in 2017, Brady advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open at age 21 and U.S. Open at 22. She became the first American female qualifier to advance to the last 16 in Melbourne in the Open Era.

Brady recorded her first two top-10 wins this year before the women's and men's tours shut down in March. As a qualifier, she knocked off Barty to reach the quarterfinals in Brisbane in January and No. 6 Elina Svitolina en route to the Dubai semifinals in February. Brady then played 19 exhibition matches during the hiatus.

The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Brady converted only 33 percent of her first serves in the first set against the 5-foot-6 (1.70-meter) Teichmann, who was born in Barcelona and lived there until she was 14, and 44 percent overall. But Brady won 81% of those points (25 of 31) and 62% on her second serve (24 of 39).

Brady broke serve on Teichmann's mis-hit forehand to lead 5-3 in the first set, then capitalized on her fifth set point. Brady earned the only break of the second set in the opening game on Teichmann's long forehand.

Teichmann, who earned $14,000 as the runner-up, also lost in the doubles final. Fourth-seeded Hayley Carter, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Luisa Stefani of Brazil beat unseeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Teichmann 6-1, 7-5 for their second WTA title. The winners split $9,000, and the runners-up shared $5,040.

Carter and Stefani starred at North Carolina and Pepperdine, respectively. Carter won the doubles title in the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger with Ena Shibahara, a native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and former UCLA standout who plays for Japan.

Brady beats Gauff, 16, to reach first WTA final

Jennifer Brady, playing in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, will face
Jil Teichmann of Switzerland in the final of the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky.
 Both players are unseeded. Photo by Rob Vomund

This week's Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky., featured plenty of star power.

Four Grand Slam singles champions — Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens — inhabited the top quarter of the draw, and 16-year-old U.S. phenom Coco Gauff occupied the bottom quarter.

Meeting in Sunday's final (8 a.m. PDT, Tennis Channel), however, will be two rising unseeded players.

Jennifer Brady, a 25-year-old former UCLA star from Boca Raton, Fla., overpowered Gauff 6-2, 6-4 to reach her first WTA final. 

Gauff had ousted second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, the runner-up in San Jose, Calif., last August, in the second round and eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur, an Australian Open quarterfinalist in January, in the quarters.

Jil Teichmann, a 23-year-old left-hander from Switzerland, dismissed Shelby Rogers, a 27-year-old wild card from Charleston, S.C., 6-3, 6-2. Rogers was coming off a three-set victory over top-seeded Serena Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, on Friday.

Teichmann, who was born in Barcelona and lived there until she was 14, is 2-0 in WTA finals, winning on clay in Prague and Palermo last year, and 1-1 against Brady.

Neither finalist has lost a set in four matches in the first WTA tournament in North America in almost one year. Brady has dropped 17 games and Teichmann 22. 

"I don't have an answer for that, why I don't lose any sets," Teichmann, who also reached the doubles final, said in an on-court interview. "I just feel very good. I'm playing very consistent, and I feel great on court. I guess that's the main reason."

Brady played at UCLA for two years (2014-15), helping the Bruins win the NCAA title as a freshman. She won the singles and doubles titles in the 2014 Redding (Calif.) Challenger and reached the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Open and U.S. Open.

Brady won 85 percent of the points (22 of 26) on her first serve in her first career match against Gauff and faced only one break point, which she saved. Brady had eight aces and two double faults. 

Both Brady, a semifinalist in Dubai as a qualifier in February, and Gauff, who won the title in Linz, Austria, last October as a lucky loser, will ascend to career-high rankings on Monday. Brady is guaranteed to rise six places to No. 43, and Gauff will improve five notches to No. 48.

In another first-time matchup, Teichmann converted only 46% of her first serves (to Rogers' 74%) but won 80 percent of those points (20 of 25). She will jump at least nine places in the rankings to tie her career high of No. 54.

Rogers made numerous unforced errors in the match but will return to the top 100 for the first time since April 2018, vaulting 21 places to No. 95. 

Rogers reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 French Open and climbed to a career-high No. 48 the following January. However, she hurt her left knee in a first-round loss at Indian Wells in March 2018, had surgery and sat out for one year.

In the doubles semifinals, unseeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Teichmann edged top-seeded Alexa Guarachi, a native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., who plays for Chile, and Desirae Krawczyk, a left-hander born in Palm Desert, Calif., 6-2, 3-6 [10-4].

Bouzkova and Teichmann will play fourth-seeded Hayley Carter, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Luisa Stefani of Brazil after the singles final. Carter and Stefani starred at North Carolina and Pepperdine, respectively. 

Carter won the doubles title in the 2018 Stockton, Calif., Challenger with Ena Shibahara, a native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Japan.

Serena falls to No. 116 Rogers; Gauff, 16, rallies; Bellis out

Serena Williams lost to wild card Shelby Rogers 1-6, 6-4,
7-6 (5) today in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Top Seed
Open in Lexington, Ky. File photo by Paul Bauman

Serena Williams lost to a player ranked in triple digits for the first time in more than eight years today.

Of course, Shelby Rogers is not really that caliber.

Rogers, a wild card ranked No. 116, stunned Williams, seeded first and ranked ninth, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in an all-American quarterfinal in the inaugural Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky.

"It's every kid's dream when they're growing up watching her play to do something like that," the 27-year-old Rogers, a former top-50 player rebounding from knee surgery, said in an on-court interview. "Weird circumstances, weird setting, but a win is a win, and I know that we're all just happy to be back playing. It's great to see everyone fit and playing well." 

There is little seating at the site, which isn't a problem because no fans are allowed at the tournament, the first on the WTA tour in North America in almost one year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament featured four Grand Slam singles champions (Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens), all in Rogers' quarter of the draw.

Rogers is scheduled to face unseeded Jil Teichmann of Switzerland for the first time on Saturday at 8 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). Teichmann, 23, needed seven match points to subdue CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton, 6-2, 6-4.

Teichmann, who has not lost a set in three matches, will be Rogers' third left-handed opponent this week.

"I'm not sure I've ever done that before," said Rogers, who beat lefties Misaki Doi of Japan in the first round and Leylah Fernandez, a 17-year-old qualifier from Canada, in the second round. "It's definitely rare."

After the Rogers-Teichmann match, Coco Gauff will meet Jennifer Brady for the first time in a showdown of unseeded Americans.

Gauff, a 16-year-old phenom ranked No. 53, defeated Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, seeded eighth and ranked a career-high 39th, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Gauff trailed 2-4 in the second set but won 10 of the last 11 games.

Brady, ranked No. 49, drubbed unseeded Marie Bouzkova, a Czech ranked one notch higher, 6-1, 6-2. Brady, who reached the Dubai semifinals as a qualifier in February, has lost only 11 games in her three matches this week.

Williams, a 38-year-old part-time resident of Silicon Valley, suffered her first loss to a player ranked No. 100 or below since falling to No. 111 Virginie Razzano of France in the first round of the 2012 French Open.

Rogers, meanwhile, recorded her third victory over a top-10 player. She defeated No. 8 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in the second round at Montreal in 2014 and ousted No. 4 Simona Halep in the first round of the 2017 Australian Open.

Rogers reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2016 and climbed to a career-high No. 48 the following January. However, she suffered a knee injury in a first-round loss at Indian Wells in March 2018, had surgery and sat out for one year.  

All three of Williams' matches in the tournament went to three sets, including her emotional win over Venus Williams on Thursday.

Against Rogers, Serena Williams led 3-1 in the tiebreaker and netted a putaway forehand that would have made it 4-1. Rogers won the next three points to lead 5-3. 

Williams made it 4-5 with a swinging forehand volley but netted a backhand to give Rogers two match points. Williams saved the first one with a service winner but then slugged a backhand long. 

"I was definitely a little bit overwhelmed in the first set with the pace, heavy spin and serve," Rogers admitted after playing Williams for the first time and reaching her first WTA semifinal in more than four years. "I just tried to make a few more balls, make one more, one more, run down a few more."

Rogers converted only 45 percent of her first serves in the match.

"The serve was a struggle for me today, but the second serve came through when I needed it," she said. "Then (on the second) match point, I made a first serve, so that's all that matters, I guess."

Gauff, coming off a three-set victory over second-seeded and 11th-ranked Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday, reached her second WTA semifinal. She won the title in Linz, Austria, last October as a lucky loser.

Gauff, who advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January, is guaranteed to rise to a career-high No. 48 on Monday. 

Jabeur won the French Open girls singles title in 2011 and reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Australian Open in January, ending former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki's career in the third round.

Bellis survived all six match points with Teichmann serving at 5-3 in the second set and finally broke on a double fault. But Teichmann, who has one of the best returns-of-serve in women's tennis, broke serve for the sixth time to close out the match. 

"That was tough," Teichmann said of the next-to-last game. "I was serving very well from this side, but obviously when you serve for the match, it's a bit different. You start thinking a bit, and she was starting to play a bit more aggressive. She hit a few lines, and I was hitting a little bit out, so it was a very close game. I'm happy to close it in the next game."

Teichmann lost the first two games of the match but won the next nine en route to her first WTA hardcourt semifinal. Bellis converted only 22 percent of her first serves in the first set and 43 percent overall.

"I started a little bit slow, and CiCi started very well," said Teichmann, who will rise at least five places to No. 58, four spots off her career high in July 2019. "I just knew I had to get into a rhythm, and I was lucky to get it in the third game. After that, I played very consistent." 

Teichmann, who was born in Barcelona and lived there until she was 15, and Bellis met for the first time as professionals. Bellis routed Teichmann 6-2, 6-1 in the 2015 French Open girls quarterfinals. 

Curiously, Teichmann decided to play in Lexington rather than defend her title on clay, her favorite surface, in Prague. Her other WTA singles title also came last year on clay, in Palermo.

Bellis was seeking her first WTA semifinal since the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, a five-minute drive from her childhood home, in August 2017. The 5-foot-7 (1.68-meter) right-hander missed almost two years, from March 2018 to November 2019, while undergoing three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow.

Lexington was the fifth tournament of Bellis' comeback. Ranked a career-high No. 35 in August 2017, she will jump from No. 302 to No. 250 after reaching her first WTA quarterfinal since Doha in February 2018.

Kenin, 20, clinches U.S. win in Fed Cup playoffs

Sofia Kenin, shown en route to the title in Berkeley (Calif.) last July,
earned her first Fed Cup victory today. She was a late replacement for
Madison Keys, who was upset on Saturday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In less than one year, Sofia Kenin has gone from champion of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger to Fed Cup heroine.
   Kenin, a late replacement for veteran Madison Keys, defeated Timea Bacsinszky, a former top-10 player, 6-3, 7-6 (4) today to give the United States an insurmountable 3-1 lead over Switzerland on an indoor hard court in San Antonio in the Fed Cup World Group playoffs.
   "I'm speechless," the 36th-ranked Kenin, who trailed by a service break twice in the second set, said in an on-court interview. "It's my first win in Fed Cup, and I'm honestly so happy. You guys (the fans) are incredible -- I love the support. You guys really saved me, so thank you."
   Kenin, a 20-year-old Moscow native who moved to the United States as a young child, had been 0-3 in the Fed Cup, all in singles.
   Bacsinszky, 29, reached a career-high No. 9 in May 2016 but underwent surgery on her right (playing) hand in September 2017. Since dropping out of the rankings last September, she has climbed back to No. 111.
   Earlier today, Fresno product Sloane Stephens beat Victorija Golubic 6-3, 6-2 to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. In the last match, Switzerland's Ylena In-Albon and Conny Perrin beat Jennifer Brady and Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2.
   Absent this weekend were top-20 singles players Serena Williams of the United States and Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. They have climbed as high as No. 1 and No. 7, respectively.
   The United States will remain in the elite World Group next year and try to win its 19th Fed Cup title. The Czech Republic ranks second with 10. Switzerland, meanwhile, will stay in World Group II.
   In a gutsy move, U.S. captain Kathy Rinaldi chose Kenin over Keys to play the critical fourth match. Kenin, who also won Northern California Challenger singles titles in 2016 and 2017, is far less experienced and accomplished than the 24-year-old Keys, who won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and reached the U.S. Open final in 2017 (losing to Stephens), but mentally tougher.
   Keys, ranked No. 14, lost to No. 80 Golubic 6-2, 6-3 in the opener on Saturday to fall to 4-5 in Fed Cup singles. Stephens, ranked No. 8, then evened the series with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Bacsinszky.
   Both Brady and Pegula made their Fed Cup debuts.
   Brady swept the singles and doubles titles in the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger in 2014.
   Pegula reached the singles final of the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2012, losing to Modesto product Maria Sanchez, and advanced to the semifinals of the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last October.
   Pegula's parents, Terrence and Kim Pegula, own the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres.

Sharapova triumphs in U.S. return at Stanford

Maria Sharapova won in her first tournament match in North America in more
than two years on Monday night at Stanford. Photo by Mal Taam

   Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova defeated Jennifer Brady 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 Monday night in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   It was Sharapova's first tournament match in North America in more than two years and her first anywhere since the Italian Open in May.
   Sharapova, 30, returned from a 15-month doping suspension in April. In the third tournament of her comeback, she retired from her second-round match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in Rome with a thigh injury.
   "I feel like I face a lot of things: not competing for a long time, an opponent who's able to play some great tennis -- what a year she's had already!" Sharapova, a wild card ranked No. 171, told reporters. "I feel like I'm playing catch-up against everyone who's had a head start.
   "All that matters is that I keep playing. As long as I'm the one winning the last point, I get to play another match, and another. The more I play, the better I'll do. That's the goal."
   Brady, 22, of Orlando, Fla., reached the fourth round of the Australian Open as a qualifier in January and the quarterfinals of last week's $60,000 Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area.
   Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, will play seventh-seeded Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine on Wednesday or Thursday. Tsurenko, who reached the third round at Wimbledon and the French Open and won Acapulco this year, dismissed Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 6-3, 6-3.
   After Sharapova's victory, former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs edged 17-year-old wild card Claire Liu 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) in a battle of Southern Californians. Liu, the Wimbledon girls champion, is ranked No. 1 in the juniors.
   Gibbs, 24, will face the winner of today's scheduled match between sixth-seeded and 24th-ranked CoCo Vandeweghe of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., in the San Diego area and Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia.
   Tomljanovic withdrew from Sunday's final in the Gold River Challenger with soreness in her surgically repaired right shoulder.
   Vandeweghe reached the final at Stanford five years ago as a lucky loser, falling to Serena Williams.
   In tonight's featured match at 7, local favorite CiCi Bellis will take on Alize Cornet of France. Bellis, 18, is the youngest player in the top 50 at No. 44. Cornet, 27, is one spot lower.
   Bellis was born in San Francisco and grew up in Atherton, a five-minute drive from Stanford. She now lives in Orlando, Fla.
   Here are the Bank of the West singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Sharapova to play on Monday night at Stanford

  Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion formerly ranked No. 1, will face American Jennifer Brady on Monday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Sharapova, a wild card who returned from a 15-month doping suspension in April, will play in a WTA tournament in the United States for the first time since March 2015.
   Brady, 22, lost to defending champion Sophia Kenin, 18, on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento suburb of Gold River. Brady was seeded first at No. 77 in the world.
   In Monday night's second match, former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs will meet 17-year-old Claire Liu, the reigning Wimbledon girls champion and world's top junior. Both players live in the Los Angeles area.
   Eighth-seeded CiCi Bellis, who was born in San Francisco and grew up a five-minute drive from Stanford in Atherton, will play Alize Cornet of France on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Bellis, 18, is the youngest player in the top 50 at No. 43.
   Following that match, 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, a 37-year-old Italian, will take on Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine.
   Here are the Bank of the West qualifying draw and singles main draw and Sunday's schedule.

Defending champ beats top seed in $60K Sacramento

   GOLD RIVER, Calif. — The dream quarterfinal was turning into a nightmare for Sofia Kenin.
   Top-seeded Jennifer Brady, who has a big serve and powerful whipping forehand, steamrolled the defending champion in the first set on Friday night in the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   But Kenin, 18, rallied to defeat her fellow Floridian 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area and extend her winning streak to eight matches.
   Kenin, who swept the singles and doubles titles in last week's $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, won the last three games in her first meeting against Brady.
   "She was obviously playing really well (in the first set), and I just told myself to keep fighting because I was right there. The games were close," said Kenin, seeded eighth and ranked No. 165. "I just told myself to fight for every point."
   That's more than you can say for Brady, who didn't try for two balls late in the match, including Kenin's forehand cross-court passing shot on her first match point.
   Kenin also became more aggressive, hitting harder and taking time away from Brady, after dropping the first set.
   "I started going for my shots," she said. "I already lost the first set, so I just tried to play my best."
   Brady, 22, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open as a qualifier in January and the second round at Wimbledon early this month. At No. 77, she is the highest-ranked player Kenin has beaten.
   Kenin's only other victory over a top-100 player came last month against No. 85 Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the first round of qualifying on grass in Mallorca.
   Brady will head to Stanford, where she is scheduled to play wild card Maria Sharapova in the first round in next week's Bank of the West Classic.
   Kenin, meanwhile, will meet unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic (pronounced EYE-la Tom-lee-on-o-vich), a 24-year-old Croatian based in Boca Raton, Fla., in a semifinal for the second consecutive week tonight.
   Kenin won 7-6 (3), 7-5 in Stockton to even her record against the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Tomljanovic at 1-1. Tomljanovic won on clay in the first round of a $60,000 tournament in Charlottesville, Va., in April en route to the semifinals.
   Tomljanovic, ranked No. 270, beat Irina Falconi of Orlando, Fla., in the quarterfinals for the second straight week in a matchup of former top-100 players rebounding from surgery. After prevailing in three sets in the $60,000 Stockton Challenger, Tomljanovic won 6-1, 7-6 (2).
   Tomljanovic advanced to the fourth round of the 2014 French Open, had shoulder surgery in February 2016 and missed the rest of the year.
   In the other Gold River semifinal, second-seeded Kristie Ahn of Orlando will face 15-year-old phenom Amanda Anisimova of Hallandale Beach, Fla., after a 4 p.m. doubles semifinal.
   Ahn outlasted seventh-seeded Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in 2 hours, 21 minutes in a match that began at noon on another scorching day in the San Joaquin Valley.
   Anisimova, the most promising American with the initials "AA" since Andre Agassi, topped qualifier Chanel Simmonds, a 24-year-old left-hander from South Africa, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 as the temperature soared to 103 degrees (39.4 Celsius) early in the second set at 5:15 p.m.
   In May, the 5-foot-10 (1.83-meter) Anisimova became the youngest player to compete in the women's main draw of the French Open since Alize Cornet, also 15, in 2005. Before the tournament, Anisimova was profiled in The New York Times.
   Ahn and Anisimova will meet for the second time. Ahn triumphed 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 on clay in the final of a $60,000 tournament in Dothan, Ala., in April. Anisimova pulled a groin muscle early in the second set. Still, Ahn was highly impressed.
   "Obviously, she's a very clean ball-striker," Ahn said. "She's young, she's raw, she's talented. I think we're going to see a lot more of her. The crazy part is she's only 15. She's really mature for her age, and it's really impressive to watch her dictate matches."
   Anisimova said last week in Stockton, where she lost to American Jamie Loeb in the quarterfinals, that her goal is to become No. 1 in the world and win all the Grand Slam tournaments. That's realistic, according to Ahn.
   "Yeah, yeah," Ahn said without hesitation. "Obviously you never know, but she is only 15. I imagine the time when Serena, Sharapova and Venus aren't playing anymore, so it's going to be interesting to see the new wave of players in 10 years when they're 25. There's a good group of Americans, especially. I think we're all pretty curious to see how they grow up."
   Anisimova is eager to avenge her loss in Dothan.
   "This time it's going to be on hardcourt, so it's going to be a little different," said Anisimova, adding that her favorite surface is clay because it gives her more time to haul off on her groundstrokes. "Last time I wasn't fully there because I pulled a muscle, but hopefully this time I'll be there 100 percent, so we'll see how it goes."
   Both Ahn, 25, and Collins, 23, are college graduates, a rarity in professional tennis. Ahn, along with Nicole Gibbs, led Stanford to the NCAA team title in 2013 and graduated the following year. Collins graduated from Virginia last year as a two-time NCAA singles champion (2014 and 2016).
   Ahn shook off a double fault on set point in the first set and Collins' rally from 1-4 (one service break) to 4-4 in the third set.
   "A lot of credit to her," said the 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Ahn, ranked No. 116. "She played well, she put a lot of pressure on me, and I was just trying to clear it out of my head and take each point one at a time.
   "Obviously, experience helps, but she's playing pretty well, and there were just a couple of key moments that —you're right — I was able to put out of my head at the right time."

   Collins, ranked No. 160 after only one year on the circuit full-time, crushes her serve, return of serve and groundstrokes. She blasted 11 aces, including three in a row twice.

   "She definitely took the initiative from the start — serves and returns," Ahn said with a laugh, "I think she had like eight aces or something, so definitely whenever I had a look, I tried to get into points as much as I could. "

   Anisimova trailed by a set and a service break for 0-1 in the second set when she suddenly stopped making unforced errors and started rifling passing shots. When the 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Simmonds pounded an ace at 0-4, 0-40, she raised her arms in mock triumph and smiled at the fans sitting behind the baseline.
   Said Anisimova: "I just didn't have a great day today. I think everyone doesn't always play great, but I got myself out of it, and I started playing my game again."
   Here are the Gold River singles and doubles draws and today's schedule. Live streaming is available.

No. 77 Brady to face junior star in 60K Sacramento

   Top-seeded Jennifer Brady, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January as a qualifier, will face reigning Wimbledon junior champion Claire Liu in an all-American matchup on Wednesday in the first round of the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   Brady, 22, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Liu, 17, of Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles area will meet at a time to be announced at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   Brady, ranked No. 77, is the only top-100 player in the draw. Next is No. 116 Kristie Ahn, a former Stanford star based in Orlando, Fla.
   Ahn will play Francesca Di Lorenzo, a 19-year-old left-hander from New Albany, Ohio, on Tuesday after the 10 a.m. match between Victoria Duval and Michaela Gordon in the final round of qualifying.
   Di Lorenzo, the top-ranked college player all spring as an Ohio State sophomore, reached the quarterfinals of last week's $60,000 Stockton Challenger.
   Duval was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 18 in 2014, shortly before cracking the top 100 in the world. Gordon, from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, will turn 18 on Wednesday and enroll at Stanford in September.
   Two top U.S. prospects will square off on Tuesday in the opening round. Third-seeded Kayla Day, a 17-year-old left-hander from Santa Barbara, Calif., will take on Amanda Anisimova, 15, of Hallandale Beach, Fla., at about 2 p.m.
   In May, Anisimova became the youngest player to compete in the women's main draw of the French Open since Alize Cornet at 15 in 2005. Anisimova joined Di Lorenzo in the Stockton quarterfinals.
   Day advanced to the third round of the prestigious BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in March, losing to Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Muguruza won Wimbledon eight days ago for her second Grand Slam singles title. Day did not play in Stockton.
   Eighth seed and Gold River defending champion Sofia Kenin, 18, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., will try to sweep the Stockton and Sacramento titles. She will open against Jillian Taggart, a 16-year-old wild card from Fair Oaks in the Sacramento area, on Wednesday at a time to be announced.
   Also in action Wednesday will be Marina Erakovic, a former top-40 player from New Zealand rebounding from knee problems, and 46-year-old Japanese marvel Kimiko Date, who ascended to No. 4 in the world in 1995.
   Erakovic will play Jennifer Elie, a 30-year-old American, and Date will meet U.S. wild card Emina Bektas, 24.
   Here are the Sacramento qualifying, singles and doubles draws and Tuesday's schedule.

King ousts top seed, defending champion in Redding

   REDDING, Calif. -- Vania King's victory over top seed and defending champion Jennifer Brady highlighted a long day in The Ascension Project Women's $25,000 Challenger.
   King, a former top-50 player and a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, defeated Brady 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in a first-round match that had been postponed by rain.
   King, a 26-year-old Southern California native, then outlasted American wild card Julia Jones 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 and withdrew from her doubles quarterfinal, also scheduled for Thursday, with Robin Anderson.
   Brady, who turned pro in June after two stellar seasons at UCLA, at times employed her whipping forehand to rocket passing shots past King in their first career meeting. More often, the 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) King used her quickness to keep the ball in play until Brady slugged the ball out.
   Brady jumped out to a 3-0 lead (one service break) in the 9 a.m. match, but King reeled off the next seven games, including a Brady double fault on set point.
   Brady broke serve to lead 6-5 in the second set, but King, aided by a double fault for 0-40, broke back at love to force a tiebreaker. Brady made three consecutive unforced errors to trail 4-0 and couldn't recover.
   "She's an experienced player," Brady said of King, 26. "She knows how to play the big points well. She makes you play." 
  King is playing in her fifth tournament after missing almost one year with a herniated disc in her neck. She declined an interview request after defeating Brady, saying she had to prepare for her next match.
   Also falling were No. 3 seed Jovana Jaksic of Serbia and No. 4 Lauren Embree of Santa Monica.
   Chiara Scholl of the United States outlasted Jaksic 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the first round before losing to Klaartje Liebens of Belgium 6-4, 6-3. Liebens reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
   Scholl had two match points at 5-4 in the second set against Jaksic but failed to capitalize on them.
   "I think I played well overall," Scholl said. "I was getting really tired in the third set, so I'm glad I could still pull it out. She gave me a lot of free points in the last game of the third set. That was lucky for me."  
   Anna Zaja of Germany beat Embree, last year's runner-up, 6-4, 6-0 in the second round. They played their opening matches on Tuesday before rain wiped out Wednesday's singles schedule.
   Embree's bid for a third straight Redding doubles title ended when she and Ema Burgic Bucko of Bosnia and Herzegovina pulled out of today's scheduled semifinal against second-seeded Michelle Sammons of South Africa and Varatchaya Wongteanchai of Thailand.
   Embree, a former University of Florida All-American, won in 2013 with Anderson and last year with Brady.   

THE ASCENSION PROJECT WOMEN'S $25,000 CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.

First-round singles

   Vania King, United States, def. Jennifer Brady (1), United States, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

   Chiara Scholl, United States, def. Jovana Jaksic (3), Serbia, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

   Klaartje Liebens, Belgium, def. Amy Zhu, United States, 7-6 (9), 6-1.

   Nadja Gilchrist, United States, def. Sophie Chang, United States, 7-5, 6-3.

   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, def. Alexandra Stevenson, United States, 7-5, 7-5.

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, def. Megan McCray, United States, 6-1, 6-3.

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Ashley Weinhold, United States, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5).

 Second-round singles

   Vania King, United States, def. Julia Jones, United States, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

   Caitlin Whoriskey (6), United States, def. Piia Suomalainen, Finland, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1.

   Klaartje Liebens, Belgium, def. Chiara Scholl, United States, 6-4, 6-3.

   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, def. Nadja Gilchrist, United States, 6-2, 6-2.

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, def. Petra Rampre, Slovenia, 6-2, 6-2.

   Anna Zaja, Germany, def. Lauren Embree (4), United States, 6-4, 6-0.

   Sherazad Reix (5), France, def. Maegan Manasse, United States, walkover.

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Lauren Albanese, United States, 6-3, 6-0.

 Doubles quarterfinals

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (1), United States, def. Jennifer Brady, United States, and Caroline Doyle, San Francisco, 6-4, 6-3.

   Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, def. Robin Anderson and Vania King, United States, walkover.

   Ema Burgic Bucko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lauren Embree, United States, def. Darya Possokhova, San Francisco, and Seriana Saltzen, Cameron Park, 6-2, 6-2.

   Michelle Sammons, South Africa, and Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Laura Schaeder and Anna Zaja, Germany, 6-3, 6-4. 

Doubles semifinals

   Michelle Sammons, South Africa, and Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Ema Burgic Bucko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lauren Embree, United States. 

Today's schedule

Court 2
(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, vs. Anna Zaja, Germany.

   Vania King, United States, vs. Caitlin Whoriskey (6), United States.

(Not before 4:30 p.m.)

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (1), United States, vs. Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park.

Court 1 

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, vs. Sherazad Reix (5), France.

   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, vs. Klaartje Liebens, Belgium.