Bellis, 17, reaches third consecutive final

   CiCi Bellis will play for her third consecutive singles title and by far the biggest of her life on Sunday.
   But the 17-year-old product of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area faces a stiff challenge.
   Bellis, seeded fourth, dispatched unseeded American Jacqueline Cako 6-0, 6-4 today in the semifinals of the $125,000 Hawaii Open in Honolulu. It was Bellis' 14th straight win.
   Bellis, by far the youngest player in the top 100 at No. 92, will meet top-seeded Zhang Shuai of China for the first time on Sunday at 3 p.m. PST. The match will be streamed live.
   The 23rd-ranked Zhang, who reached the Australian Open quarterfinals as a qualifier in January, outclassed sixth-seeded Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 6-2, 6-3.
   Bellis already has beaten one Grand Slam quarterfinalist this year. As a qualifier, she upset Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., in the second round of the U.S. Open before falling to second seed and eventual champion Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-1. Rogers advanced to the final eight in the French Open in June.
   Then there was Bellis' breakthrough victory over 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova at 15 in the 2014 U.S. Open. Cibulkova had reached the Australian Open final that year, losing to since-retired Li Na of China.
   Neither Zhang, a 27-year-old wild card, nor Bellis has dropped a set in the Honolulu tournament. Bellis, in fact, has not lost more than five games in a match.
   Bellis, who turned pro on Sept. 13, is coming off titles in two $50,000 indoor tournaments in Canada. She also has won four crowns in $25,000 tourneys.
   Zhang, meanwhile, seeks her second straight title. She won a $100,000 tourmament in Tokyo this month.
   Bellis will rise to approximately No. 75 with a victory in the Honolulu final or about No. 83 with a loss.

Bellis extends win streak, reaches Hawaii semis

No. 4 seed CiCi Bellis, shown in July, whipped No. 7 Sara
Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-1, 6-1 on Friday for her 13th
consecutive singles victory. Photo by Paul Bauman

   CiCi Bellis, a 17-year-old product of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, extended her singles winning streak to 13 matches on Friday.

   The fourth-seeded Bellis demolished seventh-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-1, 6-1 in 64 minutes to reach the semifinals of the $125,000 Hawaii Open in Honolulu.

   Sorribes Tormo, ranked No. 109, committed 13 doubles faults and won only 2 of 17 points (12 percent) of the points on her second serve.

   Bellis, the youngest player in the top 100 at No. 92, will face unseeded American Jacqueline Cako. The 329th-ranked Cako, 25, upset Germany's Sabine Lisicki, the fifth seed and 2013 Wimbledon runner-up, 3-6, 7-5, 2-0, retired (shoulder).   

   Bellis, who's coming off titles in two $50,000 indoor tournaments in Canada, has not lost more than three games in a set in her three matches in Honolulu.

   Cako, a former Arizona State All-American, eliminated second seed and ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs in the first round and outlasted Jamie Loeb of Ossining, N.Y., in the second round. Both Gibbs (2012 and 2013) and Loeb (2015) won NCAA singles titles. 

   Bellis, who turned pro after reaching the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier, is 2-0 against Cako.

   In the doubles final, top-seeded Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato of Japan edged third-seeded Gibbs of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area and Asia Muhammad of Las Vegas 6-7 (3), 6-3 [10-8]. 

   Gibbs also won the 2012 NCAA doubles title with Mallory Burdette.

Embree, 15-year-old Gordon stun seeds in Challenger

Lauren Embree stunned second-seeded Tara Moore of Great
Britain 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday in the second round of the
Redding Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

    Note: A profile of Michaela Gordon will be posted next week.

   REDDING, Calif. -- Playing in their home state, Lauren Embree and 15-year-old Michaela Gordon pulled off big upsets on Thursday in the second round of The Ascension Project $25,000 Women's Challenger.
   Embree, a 23-year-old native of Naples, Fla., now based in Santa Monica, stunned second-seeded Tara Moore of Great Britain 7-5, 6-4 at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. 
   Gordon, from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, shocked fourth-seeded Tammi Patterson of Australia 6-4, 6-2.
   Only three seeds reached the quarterfinals: No. 1 Mayo Hibi of Japan and No. 3 Zuzana Zlochova of Slovakia in the top half of the draw, and No. 7 Klaartje Liebens of Belgium in the bottom half. The other five quarterfinalists are American.
   A major upset also occurred in doubles as fraternal twins Alexandra and Kat Facey, UC Irvine juniors from Cameron Park in the Sacramento area, knocked off top-seeded Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman and Jacqueline Cako of the United States 6-4, 6-3.
  Cako (pronounced CAY-ko) made her Grand Slam debut in the recent U.S. Open, falling in the first round of mixed doubles with  Joel Kielbowicz to Taylor Townsend and Donald Young 7-5, 6-3 in an all-American matchup.
   Cako was trying to reach her third straight Redding doubles final with her third partner. She won the title in 2012 with Sanaz Marand and was the runner-up last year with Allie Kiick.
   Embree, a former University of Florida All-American, underwent surgery for torn cartilage in her right hip in January and returned to the circuit in late June. She trailed 3-0 (one service break) in the first set against Moore, a hard hitter despite standing only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters).
   "She came out pretty aggressive, and I guess I wasn't ready for that big of a ball," said Embree, a counterpuncher in singles who won last year's Redding doubles title with UCLA star Robin Anderson. "She was on the offense, and I just tried to get my balls a little bit deeper and make more balls, make her play a little bit."
   Indeed, Embree kept the ball in play until Moore would hit one of her laser forehands just wide or long.
   "She played really well," said Moore, a 22-year-old native of Hong Kong ranked No. 265. "She got a lot of balls in the court and made me play. Sometimes it's just not your day." 
   Like Embree, Moore grew up in steamy Florida. She trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton from age 9 to 16.
   Moore received a wild card in the main draw at Wimbledon in June and lost to 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-7 (3), 9-7 in the first round. Zvonareva, a right-hander, launched her latest comeback from right shoulder surgery in the tournament.
   Moore wears different colored shoes on each foot for all her matches. In Redding, one was white and the other pink.
   "It happened at one tournament (three years ago in England)," Moore explained. "I took two different shoes by accident, and I won the tournament. It's been the same (routine) since then." 

Michaela Gordon, a 15-year-old wild card from Saratoga,
shocked fourth-seeded Tammi Patterson of Australia
6-4, 6-2. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Gordon, an amateur, reached her first quarterfinal in her sixth professional tournament. Patterson, at No. 307, is the highest-ranked player Gordon has beaten.
   From 4-4 in the first set, Gordon won eight of the last 10 games in 100-degree (37.8 Celsius) heat. Patterson, 24, was coming off a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Akvile Parazinskaite, 17, of Lithuania in 2 hours, 50 minutes on Wednesday as the temperature climbed to 102 (38.9 Celsius).
   Gordon, the youngest player in the draw (by nine months over 15-year-old Karina Vyrlan of Sacramento), will meet 33-year-old Alexandra Stevenson, the second-oldest player in the field, for the first time today.
   Fifteen years ago, Stevenson became the first female qualifier to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. The 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) daughter of basketball legend Julius Erving, she climbed to a career-high No. 18 in 2002 before shoulder problems derailed her career. Stevenson is now ranked No. 515.

THE ASCENSION PROJECT $25,000 WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness

In Redding, Calif.

Second-round singles

   Lauren Embree, United States, def. Tara Moore (2), Great Britain, 7-5, 6-4.

   Mayo Hibi (1), Japan def. Felicity Maltby, Sunnyvale, 6-2, 6-0.

   Alexandra Stevenson, United States, def. Ellie Halbauer, United States, 6-3, 6-4.

   Michaela Gordon, Saratoga, def. Tammi Patterson (4), Australia, 6-4, 6-2.

   Klaartje Liebens (7), Belarus, def. Megan McCray, United States, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

   Jennifer Brady, United States, def. Jacqueline Cako, 6-3, 6-2.

   Zuzana Zlochova (3), Slovakia, def. Lauren Albanese, United States, 6-4, 6-2.

   Kristie Ahn, United States, def. Terri Fleming, United States, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Leila Hodzic and Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States, def. Ellie Halbauer and Malika Rose, United States, walkover.

   Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, def. Fatma Al Nabhani, Oman, and Jacqueline Cako (1), United States, 6-2, 3-6 [10-7].

   Sabastiani Leon, Mexico, and Mara Schmidt, United States, def. Tara Moore, Great Britain, and  Tammi Patterson (3), Australia, 6-1, 6-2.

   Jennifer Brady and Lauren Embree, United States, def. Tory Parravi and Lauren Stratman, United States, 6-1, 6-4.

Today's schedule

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

Court 2

   Klaartje Liebens (7), Belgium, vs. Lauren Embree, United States.

   Alexandra Stevenson, United States, vs. Michaela Gordon, Saratoga.

   Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, vs. Leila Hodzic and Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States.

Court 1

   Mayo Hibi (1), Japan, vs. Jennifer Brady, United States.

   Zuzana Zlochova (3), Slovakia, vs. Kristie Ahn, United States.

   Sabastiani Leon, Mexico, and Mara Schmidt, United States, vs. Jennifer Brady and Lauren Embree, United States.

Two Americans beat seeds in Redding Challenger

   REDDING, Calif. -- Two former college stars from the United States knocked off seeds today in the first round of The Ascension Project $25,000 Women's Challenger.
   Jacqueline Cako, a 23-year-old former All-American at Arizona State, ousted No. 6 Marina Shamayko of Russia 6-0, 7-5 at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. Wild card Kristie Ahn, a 22-year-old former All-American at Stanford, eliminated No. 8 Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman 7-5, 6-1.
   With the opening round complete, the only other seed to fall was No. 5 Petra Rampre of Slovenia on Tuesday.
   Ahn reached the Redding semifinals in 2012 and won the deciding match in Stanford's 4-3 victory over Texas A&M in last year's NCAA final. She completed her eligibility in May after helping the Cardinal reach the NCAA semifinals and advancing to the round of 16 in singles.
   Al Nabhani, a 23-year-old right-hander, received treatment on her right shoulder at 1-2 in the second set. She and Cako, the top seeds in doubles, later beat Megan and Morgan McCray of Oceanside in Southern California 7-6 (5), 6-4.
   That prevented an all-sisters quarterfinal against Alexandra and Kat Facey of Cameron Park in the Sacramento area. The Faceys, 21-year-old fraternal twins, are juniors at UC Irvine. Morgan McCray, 20, and Megan, 19, played at Oklahoma State in the spring.
   Cako made her Grand Slam debut in the recent U.S. Open, falling in the first round of mixed doubles with  Joel Kielbowicz to Taylor Townsend and Donald Young 7-5, 6-3 in an all-American matchup. Cako and Kielbowicz had earned a wild card by winning the U.S. Open National Playoffs, open to all players in the country 14 years old and over.  
   Cako is trying to reach her third straight Redding doubles final with her third partner. She won the title in 2012 with Sanaz Marand and was the runner-up last year with Allie Kiick.
   Also advancing in singles today was Felicity Maltby, 17, of Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area. Maltby dismissed fellow qualifier Elizabeth Profit, 18, of Lomita in the Los Angeles area 6-2, 6-2 to earn a meeting with top-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan on Thursday.
   Maltby and Profit have verbally committed to Big 12 Conference rivals Texas Tech and Baylor, respectively, beginning next year. Profit, a Type 1 diabetic, plays with a small insulin pump attached to her waist.
   Meanwhile, three qualifiers from archrivals Stanford and Cal lost.
   Krista Hardebeck, a Cardinal junior from Santa Ana, fell to second-seeded Tara Moore of Great Britain 6-3, 6-2.
   Denise Starr, a Cal sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y., suffered a sprained ankle and retired with seventh-seeded Klaartje Liebens of Belgium leading 2-6, 7-5, 3-0.
   And Lyann Hoang, a Bears freshman from Australia, succumbed to third-seeded Zuzana Zlochova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-2.
   Fourth-seeded Tammi Patterson, a 24-year-old Australian, saved two match points in a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 7-5 victory over 17-year-old Akvile Parazinskaite of Lithuania.

THE ASCENSION PROJECT $25,000 WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness

In Redding, Calif.

First-round singles

   Kristie Ahn, United States, def. Fatma Al Nabhani (8), Oman, 7-5, 6-1.

   Zuzana Zlochova (3), Slovakia, def. Lyann Hoang, United States, 6-1, 6-2.

   Tammi Patterson (4), Australia, def. Akvile Parazinskaite, Lithuania, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 7-5.

   Felicity Maltby, Sunnyvale, def. Elizabeth Profit, United States, 6-2, 6-2.

   Jacqueline Cako, United States, def. Marina Shamayko (6), Russia, 6-0, 7-5.

   Lauren Albanese, United States, def. Marie Norris, United States, 7-5, 6-3.

   Tara Moore (2), Great Britain, def. Krista Hardebeck, United States, 6-3, 6-2,

   Terri Fleming, United States, def. Karolina Wlodarczak, Australia, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

   Klaartje Liebens (7), Belgium, def. Denise Starr, United States, 2-6, 7-5, 3-0, retired (ankle).

First-round doubles

   Sabastiani Leon, Mexico, and Mara Schmidt, United States, def. Mayo Hibi, Japan, and Danielle Mills, United States, 3-6, 7-5 [10-8].
   Fatma Al Nabhani, Oman, and Jacqueline Cako (1), United States, def. Megan McCray and Morgan McCray, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
   Leila Hodzic and Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States, def. Roxanne Ellison, United States, and Karolina Wlodarczak, Australia, 6-2, 2-6 [10-6].

Thursday's schedule

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

 Court 2

   Tara Moore (2), Great Britain, vs. Lauren Embree, United States.
   Tammi Patterson (4), Australia, vs. Michaela Gordon, Saratoga.
   Zuzana Zlochova (3), Slovakia, vs. Lauren Albanese, United States.
   Fatma Al Nabhani, Oman, and Jacqueline Cako (1), United States, vs. Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park.

Court 1

   Mayo Hibi (1), Japan, vs. Felicity Maltby, Sunnyvale.
   Klaartje Liebens (7), Belgium, vs. Megan McCray, United States.
   Kristie Ahn, United States, vs. Terri Fleming, United States.
   Tara Moore, Great Britain, and Tammi Patterson (3), Australia, vs. Sabastiani Leon, Mexico, and Mara Schmidt, United States.

Court 3

   Alexandra Stevenson, United States, vs. Ellie Halbauer, United States.
   Jacqueline Cako, United States, vs. Jennifer Brady, United States.
   Leila Hodzic and Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States, vs. Ellie Halbauer and Malika Rose, United States.
   Jennifer Brady and Lauren Embree, United States, vs. Tory Parravi and Lauren Stratman, United States.

Little women: Perez, Anderson reach Redding final

No. 5 seed Adriana Perez of Venezuela volleys during her
2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2) victory over Catherine Harrison on Thurs-
day in the second round of the $25,000 Redding Challenger.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Professional tennis isn't just the land of the giants, although it sometimes seems that way.
   Petite Adriana Perez of Venezuela and tiny Robin Anderson of Matawan, N.J., will meet today at 12:30 p.m. for the title of the $25,000 The Ascension Project Women's Challenger at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.
   Perez, seeded fifth, dismissed seventh-seeded Allie Kiick of Plantation, Fla., 6-3, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinals. Kiick, 18, is the daughter of Jim Kiick, the fifth-leading rusher in Miami Dolphins history.
   Anderson, 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters), topped 5-11 (1.80-meter) Julia Boserup of Newport Beach 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in a matchup of unseeded players. Boserup, who turned 22 on Monday, won the 2011 Redding title but missed the first six months of this year with a bulging disc.
   Perez and Anderson, both 20, will face each other for the first time. Perez, ranked No. 237 in the world, seeks her second Challenger title in her third final. Anderson, a UCLA junior ranked No. 624, will play in her first Challenger final.

Unseeded Robin Anderson, shown in the second
round on Thursday, beat Julia Boserup in the semi-
finals after trailing 4-6, 3-5. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Both players survived close calls en route to the final.
   Perez edged unseeded Catherine Harrison, Anderson's teammate at UCLA, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) in the second round. The No. 1 Venezuelan then beat top-seeded Olivia Rogowska of Australia 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
   Anderson, who reached the singles round of 16 and doubles final in the NCAA Championships in May, trailed Boserup 5-3 in the second set. Boserup double-faulted nine times in the match, and Anderson converted five of 16 break points.
   Anderson also will play in the doubles final, which follows the singles. In an all-American encounter, Anderson and Lauren Embree will face Jacqueline Cako and Kiick. Both teams are unseeded. Cako (pronounced CAY-ko) won last year's doubles title with American Sanaz Marand.
   Cako graduated in three years from Arizona State in biological sciences in May and was named the Pacific-12 Conference Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She plans to attend medical school after her pro tennis career.

Facing Faceys jolts opponent

   Now Jacqueline Cako knows what Yogi Berra meant when he said, "It's like deja vu all over again."
   Cako had a surreal experience when she faced the Faceys back to back in singles qualifying for the recent $25,000 Oak River Rehab Challenger in Redding.
   Cako, a sophomore at Arizona State seeded first in qualifying, beat the 18-year-old twins from the Sacramento suburb of Cameron Park by almost identical scores to advance to the main draw. Alexandra lost 6-2, 6-0 in the first round, and Kat fell 6-2, 6-2 the next day in the second round.
   "It was pretty funny," said the 5-foot-10 Cako, who lost to University of Florida junior and eventual semifinalist Allie Will in the second round. "It's never happened to me. I played on the same court, I warmed up with the same person, and I was following the same person as the day before. It was like the day before all over again."
   Cako, a pre-med major from Brier, Wash., near Seattle who took a year off after high school to play professional tennis, plans to graduate in 2 1/2 years because she's eager to return to the circuit. She reached the round of 16 in the NCAA championships at Stanford in May.
   Cako said the Faceys have "very similar" games featuring powerful serves and two-handed forehands and backhands.  
   The Ponderosa High School graduates received a wild card into the main draw of doubles in Redding. Playing as amateurs in their first professional tournament, they lost to unseeded Julia Boserup, 20, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Malou Ejdesgaard, 20, of Denmark 6-0, 6-4 in the first round. Boserup went on to win her first professional singles title.
   Three days after the doubles loss, the Faceys left for UC Irvine to begin their freshman year on full scholarships.
   Christina Fusano, a 30-year-old Ponderosa graduate who retired early this month after eight years on the professional circuit, has practiced frequently with the Faceys in the last two years.
   "They're really athletic and talented but need coaching and matches," said Fusano, now an assistant coach for the UC Davis women. "They will really develop in college. I'm bummed because we play Irvine. (The Faceys) looked at Davis, but (head coach Bill Maze) only had one scholarship (available)."    
   Somewhat surprisingly, neither of the Faceys named twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 men's doubles team in the world, as tennis idols.
   Alexandra chose Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. "Both play every point, have a lot of motivation and never give up," she said.
   Kat picked Alexandra and their mother, Kim, who played No. 2 singles at Auburn in the late 1980s and coaches her daughters.
   The Facey twins, however, did meet the Bryans at a doubles invitational in New York two years ago.
   Unlike the Bryans, the Faceys are not identical twins. At 5-foot-9, Alexandra is two inches taller than Kat. And whereas Bob is left-handed and Mike right, both Faceys are right-handed.
   Kim and her husband -- Mike, an information technology consultant -- have one other child. Michael is a junior on the University of Montana tennis team.
   When asked if Alexandra and Kat have pro potential, Fusano said: "I don't see why not. They have big games, but they have a long way to go. First, they have four years of college."
   As Berra said, "You can observe a lot by watching."
   WTA tour -- Kops-Jones and fellow Californian Abigail Spears, coming off the women's doubles title in Quebec City, defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan and Zhang Shuai of China 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the first round of doubles in the $2.05 million Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.