Bryan Brothers Weekend set for San Francisco

The Bryan brothers celebrate a victory in
the 2016 U.S. Open with their trademark
chest bump. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Bryan Brothers Showdown Weekend is scheduled for Oct. 2-3 at the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Tennis Center at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

   The festivities kick off with Breakfast at Wimbledon on Oct. 2 at 9 a.m., followed by a clinic and chalk talk with Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98), lunch, a doubles challenge with flight winners facing the Bryans, and an afternoon barbecue. Dinner and a performance by the Bryan Brothers Band are set for 6:30 p.m. 

   The Grand Slam Clinic, Oct. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., includes Breakfast at Wimbledon, a two-hour clinic with the Bryans, a buffet lunch, photos and autographs.

   Proceeds from the event benefit the Tennis Coalition SF, which led the campaign to renovate the Goldman Tennis Center (GTC) and now supports the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department's Tennis and Learning Center program and works to create access to GTC for all San Francisco youth and families.

   The Bryan brothers retired last year at 42 after winning a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles in their 22-year career.

   To register for Bryan Brothers Showdown Weekend, go here. 

   KPSF Open — A $50,000 non-sanctioned tournament for men and women is scheduled for Sept. 22-26 at the Goldman Tennis Center. All matches are free for spectators. 

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the first round of doubles, No. 4 seeds Christian Harrison of Bradenton, Fla., and Dennis Novikov of San Jose, Calif., beat wild cards Robin Catry and Damien Salvestre, North Carolina State teammates from France, 6-3, 6-4 in the $52,080 Atlantic Tire Championships II in Cary, N.C.

Osaka to play; Bryans retire; U.S. Open draws held

Naomi Osaka, shown at 16 in 2014, said postponing the
semifinals of the Western & Southern Open one day brings
more attention to police violence. Photo by Paul Bauman

Naomi Osaka said today that she will play Friday in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The semifinals had been scheduled for today, but Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, said she would not play to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, an African-American, by police in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. Tournament officials then postponed all of today's matches until Friday.

Osaka, 22, was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother and grew up in Florida. Although based in Los Angeles, she plays for Japan.

"As you know, I pulled out of the tournament yesterday (to protest) racial injustice and continued police violence," Osaka, who's Black with a Haitian father and Japanese mother, said in a statement. "I was (and am) ready and prepared to concede the match to my opponent.

"However, after my announcement and lengthy consultation with the WTA and USTA, I have agreed at their request to play on Friday. They offered to postpone all matches until Friday and in my mind that brings more attention to the movement."

Osaka is scheduled to play 14th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Friday at 8 a.m. PDT (ESPN2). They have split two career matches. Osaka won the last meeting 6-4, 6-1 in the Osaka semifinals en route to the title last September.

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

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

Here's Friday's schedule (times EDT). 

Bryans retire – Former Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan, who won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, announced their retirement after a 22-year career.

"We just both feel it in our guts that it is the right moment," Mike Bryan, the older of the 42-year-old twins by 2 minutes, told The New York Times. "At this age, it takes so much work to go out there and compete. We love playing still, but we don't love getting our bodies ready to get out there. The recovery is tougher. We feel like we were competitive this year, last year, the year before. We want to go out right now where we still have some good tennis left."

The Bryans won six Australian Open, five U.S. Open, three Wimbledon and two French Open titles. They captured an Open Era-record 119 tour titles together (including four in the ATP Finals), earned a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics and helped the United States win its last Davis Cup championship in 2007.

The Bryans spent 438 weeks at No. 1 and ended 10 seasons as the top-ranked team (2003, 2005-07, 2009-14). They played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, helping the Cardinal win the NCAA team championship each year. Bob Bryan achieved a rare Triple Crown in 1998, sweeping the NCAA singles, doubles (with Mike) and team titles.

Stanford students are not allowed to choose roommates. The Bryans were given rooms on opposite sides of campus, but Bob brought a mattress to Mike's dorm and slept on the floor.

The Bryans' father, Wayne Bryan, coached the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis for 12 years (2002-13). He led Sacramento to two WTT titles (2002 and 2007) and was named the league's Coach of the Year three times (2004-06).

U.S. Open draws – Third-seeded Serena Williams, a part-time Silicon Valley resident, will open her quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title against Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate.

The U.S. Open is scheduled for Monday through Sept. 13 at the National Tennis Center. No fans will be allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Williams, a six-time U.S. Open champion who will turn 39 next month, and Ahn, who reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows last year, will meet for the first time. They are ranked No. 9 and No. 97, respectively.

Ahn was born two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the National Tennis Center and lives a 30-minute drive away in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Sloane Stephens, a 27-year-old Fresno, Calif., product who won the 2017 U.S. Open, is set to meet Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania for the first time.

Buzarnescu, a 32-year-old left-hander, claimed her only career WTA singles title in the first Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic. 

Wild card CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, will play Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in another first-time matchup. 

Bellis, rebounding from three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow, first made headlines by shocking 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the 2014 U.S. Open at 15.

The men's draw features three players with strong Northern California ties. 

Sam Querrey, another San Francisco native, will meet Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia. The winner could face 11th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia.

Left-hander Bradley Klahn, a 30-year-old Stanford grad, will play Sumit Nagal of India, with the survivor potentially facing second-seeded Dominic Thiem.

Mackenzie McDonald, who was born and raised in Piedmont in the East Bay, drew 30th-seeded Casper Ruud, a 21-year-old Norwegian and son of former top-40 player Christian Ruud. McDonald, 25, underwent hamstring tendon surgery in June 2019 and missed the rest of the year.

All three men's matches are first-time meetings. 

Vegas ends skid in possibly Bryan brothers' last match

Bob Bryan, left, said he and Mike Bryan "are having
a blast playing tennis, maybe for the last time." File
photo by Paul Bauman 

   In possibly the last match of Bob and Mike Bryan's careers, the Vegas Rollers ended their season with a 19-16 victory over the Washington Kastles today at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V.

   Asia Muhammad and Mike Bryan routed Venus Williams, 40, and Marcelo Arevalo 5-1 in the last set as Vegas (5-9) ended its losing streak at five matches.

   The 42-year-old Bryan twins said last November that they would retire after this year's U.S. Open. Their plans now are uncertain because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

   "We're having a blast playing tennis, maybe for the last time," Bob Bryan said in a post-match interview on Tennis Channel. "No better place to play than The Greenbrier for World TeamTennis."

   The 42-year-old Bryan twins, playing their 18th WTT season, saluted each other at the beginning of the third set, men's doubles. Mike Bryan and Sam Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, then dominated Arevalo and Nick Monroe 5-2 to give Vegas a 12-10 lead at intermission. Bob Bryan sat out with a quadriceps strain.

   Querrey beat Tommy Paul 5-3 in the previous set, marking the first time Vegas won back-to-back sets since its last win, on July 21 over Orange County. 

   Washington (6-7) was eliminated from contention for the playoffs, Saturday and Sunday at The Greenbrier. Advancing will be the Philadelphia Freedoms (11-2), expansion Chicago Smash (9-4), Orlando Storm (9-4) and New York Empire (7-6). The seedings will be finalized on Thursday, the last day of the regular season.

                                    VEGAS ROLLERS 19, WASHINGTON KASTLES 16

   Women's singles – Bernarda Pera (Wash.) def. Monica Puig 5-2.

   Men's singles – Sam Querrey (LV) def. Tommy Paul 5-3.

   Men's doubles – Mike Bryan and Querrey (LV) def. Marcelo Arevalo and Nick Monroe 5-2.

   Women's doubles – Pera and Venus Williams (Wash.) def. Asia Muhammad and Puig 5-2.

   Mixed doubles – Mike Bryan and Muhammad (LV) def. Arevalo and Williams 5-1.

Vegas routs Orlando to even WTT record at 1-1

   Sam Querrey lost the opening set again, but the Vegas Rollers dominated the rest of today's World TeamTennis match.
   Vegas defeated the Orlando Storm 24-15 at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V., to even its record at 1-1.
   Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, lost to Tennys Sandgren 5-4 (5-3) after falling to 18-year-old Brandon Nakashima of the expansion Chicago Smash 5-3 on Sunday at The Greenbrier.
   But Monica Puig, the women's singles gold medalist in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, kick-started Vegas' victory with a 5-3 decision over Danielle Collins, a semifinalist in the 2019 Australian Open and inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University in 2018.
   Puig rebounded from a 5-1 loss to Fresno product Sloane Stephens in Sunday's second set. It was Puig's first competitive match since she had elbow surgery in December.
   Collins missed Orlando's 21-18 win over the two-time defending champion Springfield (Mo.) Lasers on Sunday with an undisclosed illness. She beat three top-20 players – No. 5 Elina Svitolina, No. 7 Belinda Bencic and No. 15 Sofia Kenin – in January.
   Vegas swept today's three doubles sets behind Asia Muhammad and ex-Stanford stars Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan and Kristie Ahn.
   The Rollers will return to the court on Tuesday at 8 a.m. (ESPN2) against the San Diego Aviators (1-0).

   VEGAS ROLLERS 24, ORLANDO STORM 15 

   Men's singles – Tennys Sandgren (Orl) def. Sam Querrey 5-4 (5-3).
   Women's singles – Monica Puig (LV) def. Danielle Collins (Orl) 5-3.
   Mixed doubles – Asia Muhammad and Mike Bryan (LV) def. Darija Jurak and Sandgren 5-3.
   Women's doubles – Kristie Ahn and Muhammad (LV) def. Jurak and Jessica Pegula 5-3.
   Men's doubles – Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (LV) def. Sandgren and James Ward 5-1.

Vegas, with NorCal stars, loses TeamTennis opener

Sam Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, lost to
18-year-old Brandon Nakashima of the Chicago Smash
5-3 in men's singles today. File photo by Paul Bauman 

   The Vegas Rollers, featuring four players with strong Northern California ties, were unable to overcome a dismal start in their World TeamTennis season opener today.
    Vegas trailed 10-4 after the first two sets, accounting for the difference in its 24-18 (1-0 extended play) loss to the expansion Chicago Smash at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. The match was televised on the CBS Sports Network while the ATP and WTA tours are shut down until next month because of the coronavirus pandemic.
   Chicago's Brandon Nakashima, 18, of San Diego upset Sam Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, 5-3 in the first set. The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, who ranks eighth in aces since ATP Match Stats began in 1991, double-faulted on break point at 3-3.
   Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, then routed Monica Puig, the singles gold medalist in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 5-1 to give Chicago a 10-4 lead. Puig, who underwent elbow surgery in December, has not played on the WTA tour since October.
   Each of the three doubles sets went to a tiebreaker, with Vegas winning two. Competing for the Rollers were former Stanford stars Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan (both 1997-98) and Kristie Ahn (2011-14). Playing for the Smash was Rajeev Ram, a 36-year-old volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley during breaks from the pro tour.
   Players and coaches replaced ballkids, and fans, wearing masks, were separated in the 2,500-seat stadium at The Greenbrier, which is hosting the entire three-week season. A chair umpire officiated, but there were no line judges.
   Vegas will play the Orlando Storm (1-0), led by two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist Tennys Sandgren, on Monday at 10 a.m. PDT on ESPN2. Orlando beat the two-time defending champion Springfield (Mo.) Lasers 21-18 (1-0 extended play) today.

CHICAGO SMASH 24, VEGAS ROLLERS 18 (1-0 EXTENDED PLAY)

   Men's singles – Brandon Nakashima (Chi) def. Sam Querrey 5-3.
   Women's singles – Sloane Stephens (Chi) def. Monica Puig 5-1.
   Mixed doubles – Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Rajeev Ram (Chi) def. Asia Muhammad and Mike Bryan 5-4 (5-3).
   Women's doubles – Kristie Ahn and Muhammad (LV) def. Eugenie Bouchard and Mattek-Sands 5-4 (5-3).
   Men's doubles – Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (LV) def. Nakashima and Ram 5-4 (5-2).
   Extended play – Nakashima and Ram (Chi) def. Bryan and Bryan 1-0.

WTT Vegas bets on players with strong NorCal ties

Ex-Stanford stars Bob Bryan, right, and Mike Bryan will play for the Vegas
Rollers in World TeamTennis this season, July 12-Aug. 2 at The Greenbrier
resort in White Sulphur Springs, Va. File photo by Paul Bauman 

   The Vegas Rollers of World TeamTennis will have a distinct Northern California flair this season.
   The Rollers' roster includes former Stanford stars Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan and Kristie Ahn as well as San Francisco native Sam Querrey.
   Also on the team are Monica Puig, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in women's singles from Puerto Rico, and Las Vegas product Asia Muhammad.
   The 42-year-old Bryan twins, who were born in Camarillo in the Los Angeles area and now live in Florida, have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles.
   The Bryans played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, helping the Cardinal win the NCAA title each year. Bob achieved a rare Triple Crown, capturing the NCAA singles, doubles (with Mike) and team titles in 1998.
   Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, reached the round of 16 at last year's U.S. Open. She was born two miles from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of the U.S. Open, and lives in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., a 30-minute drive from the center.
   Querrey, a 32-year-old Las Vegas resident, advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals in 2017.
   Another player with NorCal ties, Sloane Stephens, will play for the Chicago Smash. The 27-year-old Fresno product won the 2017 U.S. Open and reached the final of the 2018 French Open.
   WTT will play its entire season at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. The regular-season is scheduled for July 12-30, and the four-team playoffs are set for Aug. 1-2.
   Play on the men's and women's pro tours has been suspended until at least Aug. 3.
   Here are this season's WTT rosters (future additions possible):
   Chicago Smash – Genie Bouchard, Evan King, Brandon Nakashima, Rajeev Ram, Sloane Stephens. Coach: Kamau Murray.
   New York Empire – Kim Clijsters, Mardy Fish, Sabine Lisicki, Kveta Peschke, Neal Skupski, Jack Sock. Coach: Luke Jensen.
   Orange County Breakers – Luke Bambridge, Steve Johnson, Andreja Klepac, Milos Raonic. Coach: Rick Leach.
   Orlando Storm – Danielle Collins, Darija Jurak, Tennys Sandgren, Ken Skupski, James Ward. Coach: Jay Gooding.
   Philadelphia Freedoms – Caroline Dolehide, Sofia Kenin, Fabrice Martin, Taylor Townsend, Donald Young. Coach: Craig Kardon.
   San Diego Aviators – Ryan Harrison, Christina McHale, Nicole Melichar, Jonny O'Mara, Coco Vandeweghe. Coach: John Lloyd.
   Springfield (Mo.) Lasers – Hayley Carter, Olga Govortsova, Mitchell Krueger, Robert Lindstedt, Caty McNally, Jean-Julien Rojer. Coach: John-Laffnie de Jager.
   Vegas Rollers – Kristie Ahn, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Asia Muhammad, Monica Puig, Sam Querrey. Coach: Tim Blenkiron.
   Washington (D.C.) Kastles – Marcelo Arevalo, Nick Monroe, Bernarda Pera, Arina Rodionova, Frances Tiafoe. Coach: Robby Ginepri.

World TeamTennis to play full season at W.V. resort

Sofia Kenin, ranked fourth, headlines the World Team-
Tennis rosters this season. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman 

   World TeamTennis will play its entire season at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V., the league announced today.
   The regular season is scheduled for July 12-30, and the four-team playoffs are set for Aug. 1-2. Play on the men's and women's pro tours has been suspended until at least Aug. 3.
   CBS will broadcast a WTT regular-season match on July 19 and the WTT Final on Aug. 2. CBS Sports Network will carry 13 regular-season matches and the Aug. 1 semifinals.
   WTT will play at least three matches per day at The Greenbrier's 2,500-seat outdoor stadium, and an indoor court will be installed as a backup. In accordance with state health guidelines, WTT will allow up to 500 fans to attend the outdoor matches.
   The nine-team league consists of the two-time defending champion Springfield (Mo.) Lasers, Las Vegas Rollers, Orange County Breakers, San Diego Aviators, New York Empire, Orlando Storm, Philadelphia Freedoms, Washington Kastles and expansion Chicago Smash.
   This season's players include:
   –Sofia Kenin (Philadelphia), the world No. 4 and reigning Australian Open champion.
   –Sloane Stephens (Chicago), the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up.
   –Grigor Dimitrov (Orange County), a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist.
   –Bob and Mike Bryan (Las Vegas), who have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles.
   –Sam Querrey (Las Vegas), a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2017.
   –Tennys Sandgren (Orlando), a two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist.
   –Neal Skupski (New York), last year's WTT Male MVP.
   Kenin won Northern California Challengers in three consecutive years – Sacramento at 17 in 2016, Stockton and Berkeley.
   Stephens grew up in Fresno, the Bryan twins starred at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, and Querrey was born in San Francisco.
   The Bryans, Sandgren and Skupski played for the Sacramento area-based California Dream in 2015, the team's only year of existence.

Bryans end Davis Cup career with win; U.S. advances

Bob Bryan, serving, and Mike Bryan finished 25-5 (.833)
in the Davis Cup to rank first in the United States and
tied for fourth overall in doubles wins. File photo by
Paul Bauman

   There are worse places to end your Davis Cup career than Honolulu.
   Especially with a clinching victory.
   Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, 41-year-old identical twins and former Stanford stars who plan to retire after the U.S. Open, defeated Sanjar Fayziev and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-3, 6-4 in 67 minutes today to give the United States an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five-match qualifier.
   Istomin, 33, and Fayziev, 25, are ranked No. 320 and No. 474 in doubles, respectively.
   It was the Bryans' first Davis Cup match together since an agonizing loss to Croatia in 2016 in Portland, Ore., where they had led the U.S. to the last of its record 32 championships in 2007.
   The Bryans could have given the Americans an unbeatable 3-0 lead against Croatia but lost to Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig in four sets. Croatia went on to stun the U.S. 3-2 for its first win after trailing 2-0.
   Bob Bryan underwent right hip surgery in August 2018 and returned at the beginning of 2019.   
   The United States will face an opponent to be determined in the Davis Cup Finals, Nov. 23-29 in Madrid. Uzbekistan will compete in World Group I in September.
   The Bryans, who made their Davis Cup debut in 2003, finished 25-5 (.833) to rank first in the U.S. and tied for fourth overall in doubles wins. They played on one Davis Cup championship team, going 4-0 in 2007.
   Istomin reached the final of the 2012 SAP Open in San Jose, losing to Milos Raonic.
   The Bryans, who grew up in Camarillo in the Los Angeles area and have won just about everything in tennis, ironically never won the title in San Jose, a 30-minute drive from Stanford. They played in one SAP Open final, losing to – in another irony – ex-Stanford stars Scott Lipsky and David Martin. The tournament ended after the 2013 edition, its 125th year in Northern California.
   College men – No. 10 seedes Filip Kolasinksi and Alexandre Rotsaert of Stanford ousted co-No. 1 seeds Keegan Smith and Johannes de Villiers (assistant coach) of UCLA 8-4 on Friday in the third round of Pacific Coast Men's Doubles in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, Calif.
   College women – No. 2 UCLA edged No. 21 Cal 4-3 on Friday in Berkeley, Calif., in a Pacific-12 Conference opener. No. 113 Sasha Vagramov gave the Bruins an insurmountable 4-2 lead with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Jessica Zeynel on Court 6.
   No. 9 Stanford, which has won the last two NCAA team titles and three of the last four, blanked No. 37 USC 7-0 at Stanford on Friday.

Bryans win sixth Delray title; Stanford women top Texas

Bob Bryan, serving, and Mike Bryan will retire after the
U.S. Open in September. File photo by Paul Bauman

   The homecourt advantage helped former Stanford stars Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan win another title today.
   The top-seeded Bryan twins, Southern California natives who now live in Florida, edged fourth-seeded Luke Bambridge of Great Britain and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan 3-6, 7-5 (10-5) to claim the Delray Beach Open for the second consecutive year and record-extending sixth overall.
   "It's amazing to win this title again in our backyard," Bob Bryan said on atptour.com. "I have been staying at home, and I have so many friends and family here. They kept us fighting and focused. Those are the people that have your back.
   "We were down most of the match. The other team was outplaying us for over an hour. Had it been any other place, it would have been easy to (lie) down. But here, they kept us in it until we got a little bit of luck."
   The Bryans, who will turn 42 in April and retire after the U.S. Open in September, won all three of their matches this week in match tiebreakers. They triumphed in their first-round match against Australians Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson by walkover.
   The Bryans have won five other tournaments six times – the Australian Open, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Monte Carlo – and at least one ATP Tour title as a team for 20 consecutive years. They own 119 tour-level championships overall.
   Bambridge, who won the 2017 Fairfield, Calif., Challenger with David O'Hare of Ireland, and McLachlan, a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native country, earned their first ATP Tour crown last month in Auckland.
   Oracle Pro Series – Men's and women's tournaments are scheduled for Sept. 21-27 at Stanford.
   Stanford women – The No. 12 Cardinal beat No. 3 Texas 4-3 in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.
   Emma Higuchi, a 5-foot-2 (1.57-meter) senior from Los Angeles, gave Stanford (8-1) an insurmountable 4-1 lead by defeating Marta Perez Mur 6-4, 6-1 on Court 6.
   Cal women – The No. 18 Bears lost at No. 2 UCLA 7-0 on Friday and No. 12 Pepperdine 5-0 on Saturday. The latter match was shortened because of rain and lightning in Malibu, Calif.

Bryans bow out of their last Australian Open

No. 13 seeds Bob Bryan, left, and Mike Bryan lost to No. 4
seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek 6-3, 6-4 in the third
round of the Australian Open. File photo by Paul Bauman

   Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are out of the Australian Open.
   For good.
   The 13th-seeded Bryans (Stanford, 1997-98) lost to fourth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday night (California time) in the third round in Melbourne.
   The Bryan twins, who will turn 42 in April, announced last November that they will retire after this year's U.S. Open.
   The Bryans have collected a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, including six in the Australian Open. They won their last Slam in the 2014 U.S. Open and their last Melbourne crown in 2013. Bob Bryan underwent right hip surgery in August 2018 and returned at the beginning of 2019.
   Dodig, 35, seeks his second Grand Slam men's doubles title and Polasek, 34, his first. Dodig won the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo of Brazil. Polasek retired in 2013 because of back, spine and left leg injuries. After hitting with Mike Bryan in May 2018, Polasek returned the following month.
   In the first round of Australian Open junior doubles:
   –Top-seeded Arthur Cazaux and Harold Mayot beat Lorenzo Claverie of Venezuela and Aidan Mayo, who grew up in Roseville in the Sacramento area, 6-3, 6-2.
   –Savannah Broadus of Carrollton, Texas, and Elizabeth Coleman of Midland, Mich., edged India Houghton, a Stanford commit from Belvedere Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Celia Belle Mohr of France 6-4, 6-7 (11) [10-8].

Serena's losses in major finals highlight top stories of '19

Serena Williams, playing at Indian Wells in March, lost two more Grand Slam
finals in straight sets to remain one major title short of Margaret Court's record
of 24. Photo by Harjanto Sumali

   The wait continues for Serena Williams.
   The part-time Silicon Valley resident, who turned 38 in September, went 0-2 in Grand Slam singles finals in 2019 to remain one major singles title short of Margaret Court's record of 24.
   Williams, who won eight consecutive Grand Slam finals from 2012 to 2015, is 0-4 in them since capturing the Australian Open title in January 2017. Each loss has been in straight sets.
   Williams had her first child on Sept. 1, 2017, and suffered life-threatening complications. Since then, injuries – and nerves – have slowed Williams.
   Here are the top 10 stories in Northern California tennis in 2019 and 10 honorable mentions:
   1. Andreescu upsets Serena for U.S. Open title – One year after 20-year-old Naomi Osaka stunned Williams in a tumultuous final in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu triumphed 6-3, 7-5 in front of a staunchly pro-Williams crowd at 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium.
   The hart-hitting Andreescu, seeded 15th, showed no sign of nerves in her first major final until trying to close out the match. The daughter of Romanian immigrants, she became the first Canadian, male or female, to win a Grand Slam singles title.
   2. Halep routs Serena for first Wimbledon crown – Playing the match of her life, Simona Halep routed a nervous Williams 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes for her second major singles title and first at Wimbledon.
   Halep, playing great defense, committed only three unforced errors to Williams' 26 and won 83 percent of the points on her first serve (29 of 35) to Williams' 59 percent (19 of 32).
   3. Serena voted AP Female Athlete of Decade – Williams, who won a dozen Grand Slam singles titles in the 2010s, was voted The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Decade. No other woman won more than three Slams during that time.
   Williams was ranked No. 1 for 3 1/2 years in a row, equaling Steffi Graf's record for most consecutive weeks atop the rankings.

As an 18-year-old wild card in qualifying, Jenson Brooksby
shocked Tomas Berdych, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2010,
in the first round of the U.S. Open. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   4. Brooksby stuns Berdych in U.S. Open – Jenson Brooksby, an 18-year-old qualifier from the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael, shocked 33-year-old Tomas Berdych, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2010, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Open.
   Brooksby became only the second qualifying wild card to win a men's main-draw match in the U.S. Open, joining Stanford graduate Bradley Klahn.
   5. Bellis returns from 19-month layoff – Qualifier CiCi Bellis reached the third round of the $162,480 Houston Challenger in her first tournament in 19 months.
   The 20-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product rebounded from three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow. She was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017 after climbing as high as No. 35.
   6. Gibbs reaches final in return from cancer surgery – Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) advanced to the final of the $60,000 Honolulu Challenger only two months after having surgery for a rare cancer in the roof of her mouth.
   Gibbs lost to fellow American Usue Arconada 6-0, 6-2 one day after topping Caroline Dolehide 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4 in 2 hours, 41 minutes.
   7. Bryans to retire after 2020 U.S. Open – Former Stanford stars Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, generally considered the greatest doubles team in history, announced that they will retire after the 2020 U.S. Open.
   The 41-year-old identical twins have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, an Open Era-record 118 trophies (including four in the ATP Finals) and an Olympic gold medal (2012 London). They also helped the United States win its last Davis Cup championship, in 2007.
   8. Ma leads U.S. to Junior Fed Cup title – Connie Ma, 16, of Dublin in the Bay Area led the United States to a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic in the Junior Fed Cup final in Orlando, Fla.
   It was the third consecutive Junior Fed Cup title for the Americans and second straight for Ma. She played on last year's team, but not in the final against Ukraine.
   9. Stanford women rout Georgia for 20th NCAA crown – The No. 3 Cardinal routed No. 1 Georgia 4-0 in Orlando for its second consecutive NCAA crown, third in four years and 20th overall.
   Stanford coach Lele Forood matched her predecessor, Frank Brennan, with 10 NCAA titles. No other school approaches the Cardinal's total. Florida ranks second with seven titles, and Georgia is tied for third with three other schools at two.

Katie Volynets poses after winning the girls 18 singles
title in the USTA National Championships in San Diego.
Photo courtesy of JFS Communications

   10. Volynets wins USTA Girls 18 Nationals – Second-seeded Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek in the Bay Area beat third-seeded Emma Navarro of Charleston, S.C., 6-2, 6-4 to win the girls 18 singles title in the USTA Billie Jean King Girls National Championships in San Diego.
   Volynets became the third Northern Californian to win a USTA 18 hardcourt national singles title in six years, joining Collin Altamirano (2013) of Sacramento and Brooksby (2018). All train under Joseph Gilbert at the Arden Hills Athletic & Social Club in Sacramento.
   Honorable mention – Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, defeated 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 7-5 to reach the round of 16 in the U.S. Open. Ahn had never won a main-draw match in a Grand Slam tournament before that week.
   –Unseeded Zheng Saisai of China knocked off four consecutive seeds in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., and won her first WTA singles title. In the final, she toppled Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, ranked 10th and seeded second, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
   –After trailing 6-1, 5-2, seventh seed and 2018 runner-up Maria Sakkari of Greece saved four match points in a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over top-seeded Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the Silicon Valley Classic.
   –Saving seven championship points, second-seeded Luke Casper of Santa Cruz, Calif., outlasted top-seeded Samir Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J., 3-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6) to win the USTA Boys 16 National Clay Court Championships in Delray Beach, Fla.

Pam Shriver speaks at the Sutter Lawn Tennis
Club's 100th-anniversary celebration in Sacra-
mento, Calif. Photo by Paul Bauman

   –In the doubles semifinals of the $108,320 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger, Alex Lawson was defaulted for swatting a ball into the seats during a match tiebreaker. The ball struck a middle-aged man in the back, but he was not hurt.

   –Ahn, seeded sixth, flung her racket high into crowd during her 6-1, 6-3 loss to top-seeded Madison Brengle in the semifinals of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Tennis Club Women's Challenge. No one was injured, but Ahn later was fined an undisclosed amount of up to $500.
   –Bob Bryan returned from hip surgery in the Brisbane International at the beginning of the year, losing in the first round with Mike Bryan to Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Milos Raonic of Canada 3-6, 6-4 (10-7).
   –Pam Shriver, an International Tennis Hall of Famer and ESPN commentator, emceed the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club's 100th-anniversary celebration in Sacramento, Calif.
   –Volynets, who will celebrate her 18th birthday on Tuesday, turned pro.
   –Top-seeded Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose and Sarah Hamner of Fort Collins, Colo., won the girls 16 doubles title in the Eddie Herr International in Bradenton, Fla.

Roundup: Bryans to retire after 2020 U.S. Open

Bob Bryan, left, and Mike Bryan have won a record 16 Grand
Slam men's doubles titles. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Former Stanford stars Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, generally considered the greatest doubles team in history, announced today that they will retire after the 2020 U.S. Open.
   The 41-year-old identical twins have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, an Open Era-record 118 trophies (including four in the ATP Finals) and an Olympic gold medal (2012 London). They also helped the United States win the Davis Cup championship in 2007.
   The Bryans spent 438 weeks and ended 10 seasons as the No. 1 team (2003, 2005-07, 2009-14). Mike Bryan became the oldest No. 1 at age 40 on July 16, 2018, and holds the record of 506 weeks at the top of the rankings.
   Overall, the Bryans have a 1,102-358 (.755) match record.
   "Mike and I chose to finish our 2019 season after the U.S. Open, even knowing there was a strong chance we'd qualify for the ATP Finals," Bob Bryan said on atptour.com. "After much discussion, we decided that it would be best to rest our minds and strengthen our bodies in preparation for 2020, which will be our final season on the ATP Tour.
   "For the last 21 years, we have been so grateful for the opportunity to live out our dreams of playing professional tennis. It has truly been a magical ride. However, we want to end this great ride while we're healthy and we can still compete for titles."
   Mike Bryan said: "We are currently extremely motivated and excited going into our last season. We will enjoy and appreciate each moment we have while saying our goodbyes and giving thanks to the fans who have given us so much joy."
   Bob Bryan underwent right hip surgery in August 2018 and returned at the beginning of 2019. The brothers won two titles this year, in Delray Beach and Miami. After reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, they lost in the third round of the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
   The Bryans played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, helping the Cardinal win the NCAA team championship each year. Bob Bryan achieved a rare Triple Crown in 1998, sweeping the NCAA singles, doubles (with Mike) and team titles.
   Stanford students are not allowed to choose roommates. The Bryans were given rooms on opposite sides of campus, but Bob brought a mattress to Mike's dorm and slept on the floor.
   The Bryans' father, Wayne Bryan, coached the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis for 12 years (2002-13). He led Sacramento to two WTT titles (2002 and 2007) and was named the league's Coach of the Year three times (2004-06).
   Oracle Challenger Series in Houston – Second seed and defending champion Bradley Klahn, a 29-year-old Stanford graduate, and 13th-seeded Jenson Brooksby, 19, of Carmichael in the Sacramento area won their second-round matches.
   Klahn, a left-hander who won the 2010 NCAA singles title, defeated Filip Cristian Jianu, 18, of Romania 7-5, 6-3. Brooksby outclassed Gonzalo Villanueva of Argentina 6-2, 6-2.
   Klahn is set to face 14th-seeded Michael Mmoh, 21, of Bradenton, Fla., on Thursday at about 3 p.m. PST (live stream). Klahn leads the head-to-head series 2-0, both three-set matches in 2017.
   Mmoh won last week's $54,160 Knoxville Challenger after being defaulted from his second-round match in the $54,160 Charlottesville Challenger the previous week for throwing his racket and hitting a line judge.
   Brooksby will meet fourth-seeded Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles region for the first time at about 5 p.m.
   Giron, the 2014 NCAA singles champion from UCLA, topped Brandon Holt, the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-2. Holt, a USC senior, trailed 5-0 in the second set and saved 11 match points.
   Collin Altamirano, 23, of Sacramento lost to 11th-seeded Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain 6-4, 6-0. Both Brooksby and Altamirano train at the JMG Tennis Academy in Sacramento.
   Qualifier CiCi Bellis, a 20-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product, will take on third-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium at 1 p.m.
   Bellis is playing in her first tournament in 19 months. During her layoff, the right-hander underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow.
   College signing – Stefan Leustian of Mather in the Sacramento area signed with UCLA.
   "I have seen all the things Billy (Martin) and (assistant coach) Rikus (de Villiers) have done in the past and seen improvements from all the players," Leustian said on tennisrecruiting.net. "I've been a really big UCLA fan since I was young, and I love the location. Nothing beats L.A. It was kind of like the best of every world."

McDonald loses French Open battle of little guys

San Francisco Bay Area product Mackenzie McDonald,
shown in February 2018, fell in his French Open main-draw
debut today. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Mackenzie McDonald faced someone even smaller than himself today in the first round of the French Open.
   McDonald, a 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter), 160-pound (73-kilogram) product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to Yoshihito Nishioka, a 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter), 141-pound (64-kilogram) left-hander from Japan, 6-7 (7), 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in Paris.
   McDonald, 24, made his French Open main-draw debut, and Nishioka, 23, recorded his first Roland Garros main-draw victory.
   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., slugged 17 aces to Nishioka's one but committed 70 unforced errors to his opponent's 31.
   In the opening round of men's doubles, seventh-seeded Bob Bryan of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., beat Pablo Carreno Busta and Gerald Granollers of Spain 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) won the French Open in 2003 and 2013.
   Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin of France eliminated 15th-seeded Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-3, 6-3.

Bryans, Easter Bowl, NorCal HOF, coach award, colleges

Bob Bryan, serving, and Mike Bryan play in the 2016
U.S. Open. The ex-Stanford stars won their sixth Miami
Open title on Saturday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Bryan brothers and Vivian Ovrootsky won big titles on Saturday.
   Third seeds and ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan beat unseeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-5, 7-6 (6) for their sixth Miami Open crown and second in a row.
   The 40-year-old Bryan twins saved four set points in the second-set tiebreaker. They also survived four match points in their 7-6 (7), 6-7 (8) [14-12] semifinal victory over top-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil.
   The Bryans collected their 118th tour-level title and second since Bob returned to action in January after missing eight months. He underwent hip replacement surgery last August.
   "A doctor was cutting me open eight months ago, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it back on court," said Bob, who lives in the Miami suburb of Sunny Isles Beach. "To win this title is a dream and certainly wasn't possible eight months ago. This huge for us."
   Ovrootsky, a 14-year-old San Jose resident, downed DJ Bennett of Belleview, Fla., 6-3, 6-4 for the Easter Bowl girls 16 title in Indian Wells. Ovrootsky was seeded ninth and Bennett 10th.
   "I didn't play my best tennis today, and DJ played unbelievable tennis today, and her forehand was really on," Ovrootsky, who also received the USTA Sportsmanship Award in her age group, told publicist Steve Pratt. "I just had to get through the match and stay offensive."
   Ovrootsky, who won an ITF Level 4 tournament in Irvine last week, extended her winning streak to 12 matches.
   "It was tiring, but I think I recovered well, which is why I was able to move the way I did today," said Ovrootsky, who has won three USTA gold balls and two silver balls.
   Ovrootsky takes online classes and trains under Nick Fustar at the Eagle Fustar Tennis Academy.
   Two other San Francisco Bay Area residents, Ria Bhakta of Saratoga and Natasha Rajaram of Los Altos, lost in finals on Thursday.
   Third-seeded Tsehay Driscoll of Pacific Palisades in the Los Angeles area topped the second-seeded Bhakta 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 for the girls 14 singles title.
   Unseeded Daniela Borruel of Buena Park in the L.A. region, and Rebecca Kong of San Diego dominated second-seeded Thea Latak, from the Chicago suburb of Burr Ridge, Ill., and Rajaram 6-3, 6-1 for the girls 12 doubles crown.
   NorCal Hall of Fame -- The USTA Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame will enshrine prominent coach Brad Stine and four others at a luncheon on Friday, June 21, at the Peninsula Golf & Country Club in San Mateo. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  Stine has coached Jim Courier, Kevin Anderson, Mardy Fish, Andrei Medvedev and other pros. Also inducted will be:
   --Elly Hakami, who reached No. 32 in the world in singles in 1988 and No. 68 in doubles in 1987.
   --Jeff Greenwald, a sports psychologist, author and top 40-and-over player.
   --Administrators Linda Peltz and Mike Skinner.
   Developmental Coach of Year -- Joseph Gilbert, the owner and director of the JMG Tennis Academy at Arden Hills Athletic & Social Club in Sacramento, became the first two-time winner of the Team USA Developmental Coach of the Year award.
   Gilbert coaches:
   --Collin Altamirano and Jenson Brooksby, the 2013 and 2018 USTA boys 18 national champions, respectively.
   --Ishaan Ravichander and Mason Nguyen, the boys 18 and 12 winners, respectively, in the USTA National Winter Championships in January.
   --Zachery Lim, who won the boys 16 title in the International Spring Championships in Carson last April.
   Colleges -- Caroline Lampl edged Rianna Valdes 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to give the No. 7 Stanford women (14-1, 5-0 Pac-12) a 4-3 victory over No. 16 USC (13-3, 3-1) in Los Angeles.
   Emily Arbuthnott, one of the Cardinal's top players, missed the match for an undisclosed reason.
   No. 11 UCLA (12-4, 4-1) routed No. 15 Cal (9-5, 3-2) 6-1 in Los Angeles.
   The No. 12 USC men (13-6, 3-0) outplayed No. 10 and host Stanford (12-4, 2-2) 4-1. No. 19 UCLA (10-4, 3-0) beat No. 40 Cal (9-9, 2-2) 4-2 in Berkeley.

After BNP loss, Querrey will plunge further in rankings

Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, lost
to 13th-seeded Milos Raonic 7-6 (1), 6-4 today in the
second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
File photo by Paul Bauman

   Sam Querrey's free-fall in the rankings will continue.
   The 31-year-old San Francisco native lost to 13th-seeded Milos Raonic 7-6 (1), 6-4 today in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Raonic, who reached the Wimbledon and Indian Wells finals in 2016, hammered 18 aces and saved all four break points against him. Querrey, 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), pounded 10 aces and escaped four of the five break points he faced.
   Raonic improved to 4-2 against Querrey in a rematch of their Indian Wells quarterfinal last year. Raonic won that encounter 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
   Querrey, who ascended to a career-high No. 11 in February last year, will plunge from No. 51 to about No. 69 in the next rankings on March 18. That would be his lowest spot since he was No. 77 in June 2014.
   Both Raonic, a 28-year-old Canadian, and Querrey, now based in Las Vegas, have excelled in Northern California.
   Raonic never lost a set in three appearances in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011, 2012 and 2013) before the tournament ended a 125-year run in NorCal.
   Querrey swept the Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon Challengers in three weeks in 2014.
   In the first round of men's doubles today, fourth-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, playing in their native Southern California, dispatched Russians Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev, both ranked in the top 15 in singles, 6-3, 6-2.
   The 40-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) won the Indian Wells title in 2013 and 2014 and were the runners-up in 2003, 2006 and last year.

Past, present Stanford players dominate

Bob Bryan, left, and Mike Bryan, shown in 2016, won
the first all-brothers final on the ATP World Tour since
1977. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Stanford had a lot to celebrate today.
   The Bryan brothers (1997-98) captured the doubles title in the Delray Beach Open, Nicole Gibbs (2011-13) won an all-Stanford singles final on the women's Challenger circuit, and the Cardinal men beat visiting Cal 4-2 in the Big Slam.
   Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan, 40-year-old natives of Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, beat second-seeded Ken and Neal Skupski of Great Britain 7-6 (5), 6-4 for their fifth Delray Beach title, 117th overall and first since last April in Monte Carlo.
   It was the first all-brothers doubles final on the ATP World Tour since 1977, when Vijay and Anand Amritraj of India beat John and David Lloyd of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 at Queen's Club in London.
   Bob Bryan injured his right hip in the Madrid final last May, had replacement surgery in August and returned to the circuit in January.
   "We're very, very, very pleased with how this week's gone," Bob Bryan said on atptour.com. "Our expectations ... have been a little bit lower than they have in the past. We've just been trying to have fun and enjoy our time together, and it's actually resulted in some really good play. We didn't lose a set this week. We're taking care of our serve and just weathering the tough times during matches."
   Unseeded Radu Albot of Moldova won the singles title, saving three championship points in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory over qualifier Daniel Evans of Great Britain.
   Evans, 28, double-faulted on the 29-year-old Albot's third championship point. Albot also lost the first set in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Both 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) finalists were seeking their first ATP title.
   Gibbs, seeded second, outplayed Kristie Ahn (2011-14), seeded fifth, 6-3, 6-3 in the $25,000 Shoebacca Women's Open in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
   Gibbs, who will turn 26 next Sunday, improved to 5-0 against Ahn, 26, and claimed her sixth Challenger singles crown (all in the United States). The pair led Stanford to the 2013 NCAA team title.
   The No. 6 Stanford men (9-2), coached by Paul Goldstein, rallied to defeat No. 40 Cal (2-4) after losing the doubles point. Sameer Kumar, ranked 31st, clinched the victory by beating 6-2, 6-4 Yuta Kikuchi on Court 3.
   The No. 24 Cal women defeated No. 17 USC 4-2 in Berkeley. Maria Smith won the clincher, beating Becca Weissmann 6-3, 6-3 on Court 5. The Bears improved to 5-3, and the Women of Troy dropped to 4-2.
   Back on the ATP World Tour, unseeded Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin of France topped third-seeded Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-7 (4) [10-3] to win the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.

Murray has hip surgery; Altamirano reaches quarters

Andy Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level
singles titles in San Jose in 2006 and 2007, wrote on Insta-
gram that he now has a metal hip. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Andy Murray might try to prolong his career, after all.
   The former world No. 1, who tearfully announced on Jan. 10 that he would retire after Wimbledon in July at the latest, underwent right hip surgery in London on Monday.
   " ... Feeling a bit battered and bruised just now but hopefully that will be the end of my hip pain," Murray, 31, wrote on Instagram. "I now have a metal hip."
   Doubles specialist Bob Bryan had the same procedure last August. He returned in the recent Australian Open, teaming with 40-year-old twin Mike Bryan to reach the quarterfinals. They played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, leading the Cardinal to the NCAA title in both years.
   "He's been watching me like a hawk, asking me how I'm feeling after matches, after practices, where I'm at," Bob Bryan said of Murray in an  Associated Press story. "I never once told him, 'This is the way to go,' because I do see that singles is a different monster. Those guys are really sliding around, killing themselves for four hours. Who knows if this joint would hold up?"
   Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level singles titles in San Jose in 2006 and 2007, also had right hip surgery last January and came back in June.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- Collin Altamirano of Sacramento reached the quarterfinals of last week's $162,480 Oracle Challenger Series in Newport Beach.
   After receiving a first-round bye as an alternate, the 23-year-old Altamirano defeated Victor Estrella Burgos, 38, of the Dominican Republic and Dustin Brown, 34, of Germany before losing to Donald Young of Atlanta.
   Brown, the runner-up in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger in 2015, is 2-0 against Rafael Nadal. Both wins came on grass, including on Centre Court at Wimbledon in the second round in 2015.

Fed tops Serena; Bryan back; Stephens stumbles; etc.

   Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Frances Tiafoe and Serena Williams 4-2, 4-3 (5-3) today, lifting Switzerland to a 2-1 victory over the United States in the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia.
   It was the first meeting between Federer, who has won a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, and Williams, who needs one more major singles crown to tie Margaret Court's mark of 24.
   Both Williams and Federer are 37. Williams has a residence in Silicon Valley, and Federer made his Northern California debut in a San Jose exhibition last March.
   Bryan returns -- Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Milos Raonic of Canada edged top-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, 40-year-old identical twins, 3-6, 6-4 (10-7) in the first round of the Brisbane International.
   Bob Bryan played for the first time since hurting his hip in the Madrid final in May. He underwent surgery on Aug. 2.
   All four players have Northern California connections.
   The Bryans led Stanford to the NCAA team title in both of their years there (1997-98).
   Lindstedt, 41, played at Fresno State before transferring to Pepperdine and reaching the 1998 NCAA doubles final, in which he and Kelly Gullett lost to the Bryans.
   Raonic, 28, never lost a set in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011-13) before the tournament ended a 125-year run in NorCal.
   Stephens ousted early -- Johanna Konta of Great Britain eliminated third-seeded Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Brisbane International. Konta won the 2016 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Riffice scores big upset -- Wild card Sam Riffice, a Florida freshman from Roseville in the Sacramento area, stunned fourth-seeded Filip Peliwo of Canada 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the second round of the $50,000 Orlando (Fla.) Open. Peliwo won the 2012 Wimbledon boys singles title.
   USTA National Winter Championships -- Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento region reached the girls 14 and boys 12 singles final, respectively, in Tucson, Ariz.
   Both players are seeded ninth. Bhakta will meet fifth-seeded Kinaa Graham of Austin, Texas, and the Nguyen will play fourth-seeded Maxwell Exsted of Savage, Minn.
   Three boys and two girls from NorCal reached the 18s quarterfinals in Orlando. Advancing were ninth-seeded Zachery Lim of Fairfield, 10th-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara, unseeded Karl Lee of Sacramento, fourth-seeded Connie Ma of Dublin and unseeded India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon.
   Moving into the boys 16 singles quarterfinals in Orlando were fifth-seeded Luke Casper of Santa Cruz and 17th-seeded John Kim of Sunnyvale.

Zverev stuns Djokovic for title; Bryan, 40, sets record

   Even though he's only 21, Alexander Zverev has long been touted as a future Grand Slam champion.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) German reached his first major quarterfinal this year and could go further in 2019, perhaps all the way.
   One day after beating second-seeded Roger Federer in straight sets, the third-seeded Zverev shocked top seed and five-time champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 today to win the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
   Zverev, who began working with International Tennis Hall of Famer Ivan Lendl in August in an effort to improve his Grand Slam results, became the youngest ATP Finals champion since Djokovic 10 years ago at 21.
   Zverev also became the first player to defeat Djokovic and Federer in the tournament, and the first to beat the top two seeds in the semifinals and final of the event since Andre Agassi in 1990.
   "This is the biggest title of my career so far," Zverev, who had lost to Djokovic 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in a round-robin match, told reporters. "This trophy means a lot, everything, to all the players. I mean, you only have so many chances of winning it. You play against the best players only. How I played today, how I won it, for me it's just amazing."
   Djokovic, who had won 35 of his previous 37 matches, was trying to tie Federer's record of six ATP Finals titles.
   "(Zverev) had big serves. I wasn't returning well," said Djokovic, who returned to No. 1 this month after undergoing right elbow surgery in February. "I wasn't making him move too much. I was making way too many unforced errors.
   "From 4-4 in the first set, my game fell apart. But if we put things in perspective, it has been an amazing year and a great comeback."
   Zverev pocketed $2,509,000, and Djokovic collected $1,432,000.

   ATP Finals doubles -- Since pairing for the first time in June, Mike Bryan and Jack Sock have won three titles.
   And we're not talking Umag, Winston-Salem and Chengdu.
   We're talking Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Nitto ATP Finals.
   Bryan (Stanford, 2017-18) and Sock of the United States completed a dream half-season with a 5-7, 6-1 [13-11] victory over Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the title match of the ATP Finals.
   Bryan and Sock, seeded fifth, saved a championship point at 10-11 in the match tiebreaker and converted their sixth championship point when Herbert double-faulted. Herbert and Mahut, the eighth seeds and this year's French Open champions, had routed Bryan and Sock 6-2, 6-2 in 53 minutes on Friday in round-robin play.
   Bryan, 40, became the oldest champion in the history of the ATP Finals and the sixth player to win the title with at least two partners. It was the fifth crown in the tournament for Bryan, who won the others with twin Bob Bryan, and first for Sock, the singles champion in the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger in 2012 and the doubles runner-up in the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2011 with countryman Nicholas Monroe.
   Bob, who's recovering from August hip surgery, and Mike plan to reunite next year. They have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles together but none since the 2014 U.S. Open.
   "I've had a magical partnership with Jack, but his No. 1 focus has always been singles," Mike said in a New York Times story published Tuesday. "He knows he was just filling in until Bob comes back."
   Mike Bryan and Sock became the first team to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same season since Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Todd Woodbridge of Australia in 2003.
   Herbert and Mahut were bidding to become the first French team to win the ATP Finals since Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro in 2005.
   Bryan and Sock shared $479,000; Herbert and Mahut split $279,00.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- Second-seeded Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, beat wild card Roy Smith, a sophomore at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in a matchup of American left-handers to win the $150,000 Oracle Challenger Series -- Houston.
   The match was moved indoors because of rain.
   Klahn won his seventh Challenger singles title, his second this year and the biggest of his career. He rose 20 places to No. 77, 14 spots below his career high in 2014. Klahn underwent his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in 2015.

Zverev booed after beating Fed; Bryan in doubles final

Alexander Zverev, shown in 2016, said he was "really upset"
by the London crowd's reaction after he beat Roger Federer
in the semifinals of the ATP Finals. Photo by Paul Bauman

   For the second time in less than three months, a young player was booed after defeating an icon in a big tournament.
   Third-seeded Alexander Zverev toppled second-seeded Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6 (5) today to reach the final of the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
   Zverev, a 21-year-old German, halted play after hitting a second serve at 4-4 in the tiebreaker when a ballboy accidentally dropped a ball during the point. According to the rules, the point must be replayed. With another first serve, the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev fired an ace.
   The pro-Federer crowd at O2 Arena thought Zverev, the son of the former Soviet pro with the same name, was using gamesmanship.
   "I was a little bit sad at the end with the booing and reaction of the crowd," Zverev, the first German since Boris Becker in 1996 to reach the title match of the ATP Finals, told reporters. "I was very emotional afterwards. The booing went into cheering kind of afterwards, which kind of helped me.
   "I was really upset afterwards in the locker room -- I'm not going to lie. I had to take a few minutes for myself."
   Federer, who made his Northern California debut in a March exhibition in San Jose, supported Zverev afterward.
   "It's unfortunate that this happened," said the 37-year-old Federer, who fell to 3-3 against Zverev. "Sascha doesn't deserve it."
   The controversy was reminiscent of the U.S. Open final in September, when the crowd booed 20-year-old winner Naomi Osaka during the award ceremony after Serena Williams had been assessed a game penalty for her third code violation.
   Zverev is scheduled to face top-seeded Novak Djokovic on Sunday not before 10 a.m. PST (ESPN2). Djokovic, seeking his sixth crown in the tournament, dismissed fourth-seeded Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2 to improve to 35-2 since the start of Wimbledon.
   This is the first time Djokovic has reached the title match in the ATP Finals without dropping a set.
   Djokovic beat Zverev 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in the round-robin phase of the ATP Finals to improve to 2-1 (2-0 on hardcourts) in the head-to-head series.
   In Sunday's doubles final at 7:30 a.m. (Tennis Channel), fifth-seeded Mike Bryan (Stanford, 2017-18) and Jack Sock will meet eighth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France.
    Bryan and Sock, this year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open champions, topped fourth-seeded Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-3, 4-6 [10-4]. Herbert and Mahut, who won the French Open in June, edged second-seeded Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia 6-3, 5-7 [10-5].
   Herbert and Mahut routed Bryan and Sock 6-2, 6-2 in 53 minutes on Friday in round-robin play.
   Bryan, 40, hopes to become the oldest doubles champion in ATP Finals history. He is 4-2 in finals in the tournament, all with twin Bob.
   WTA Tour -- Unseeded Maegan Manasse (Cal, 2014-17) and Jessica Pegula of the United States nipped third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk of the U.S. and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, 1-6, 6-4 [10-8] to win the $150,000 Oracle Challenger Series -- Houston.
   It's by far the biggest title of the 23-year-old Manasse's career and her first with Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula.