Teen stuns defending champion Kerber in U.S. Open

   Two champions of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford played today in first round of the U.S. Open.
   Only one advanced.
   No. 6 seed Angelique Kerber, the defending champion at Flushing Meadows, lost to Naomi Osaka, 19, of Japan 6-3, 6-1 during the day session at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Kerber won the 2015 Bank of the West.
   It was Osaka's first top-10 victory and the first time the defending champion lost in the first round of the U.S. Open since Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2005.

Madison Keys applauds the crowd at last month's
 Bank of the West Classic, which she won, at
Stanford. Photo by Mal Taam

   No. 15 seed Madison Keys, who won last month's Bank of the West Classic, opened the evening session with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over Elise Mertens of Belgium at Ashe.
   Ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs leads Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 6-0, 1-6, 1-0 in a match suspended by rain. The contest is scheduled to resume on Wednesday at 8 a.m. PDT. Partly cloudy weather with only a 10 percent chance of rain is forecast.
   Ashe is the only stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center with a roof.
   Cepede Royg, 25, is ranked No. 75, and Gibbs, a 24-year-old Southern Californian, is No. 127. But Gibbs won their only previous meeting, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round at Carlsbad, Calif., in 2015 on a hardcourt. Both players are undersized, Gibbs at 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters) and Cepede Royg at 5-foot-4 (1.63).
   The winner will face top-ranked Karolina Pliskova, who outclassed Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-1.
   CiCi Bellis' first-round match against Nao Hibino of Japan was pushed back to Wednesday after the 8 a.m. match between No. 18 seed Gael Monfils and fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Court 17.
   Bellis, who grew up a five-minute drive from Stanford in Atherton, is 2-0 against Hibino, who won the inaugural Stockton Challenger in 2015. Bellis, 18, is the youngest player in the top 50 at No. 36. Hibino, 22, is ranked No. 80.
   In second-round matches scheduled for Wednesday:
   --No. 17 seed Sam Querrey, a 29-year-old San Francisco native, will meet diminutive Dudi Sela (5-foot-9 or 1.75 meters and 144 pounds or 65 kilograms) of Israel.
   --Sloane Stephens, a 24-year-old Fresno product, will take on No. 11 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
   --Sofia Kenin, who won last month's Stockton Challenger, will play qualifier Sachia Vickery in a matchup of Miami-area residents. Kenin, 18, ousted No. 32 seed Lauren Davis of Orlando, Fla., in the first round.

'Late bloomer' scores huge upset in Redding

Qualifier Katie Le, a junior at Santa Clara, stunned
second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay
6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $25,000
USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger in Redding.
Photos by Paul Bauman

   REDDING, Calif. -- In an upset-filled tournament, Katie Le pulled off the biggest one Thursday.
   It seemed nothing could top qualifier Kristie Ahn's straight-set victory over top-seeded Florencia Molinero on Wednesday in the first round of the $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger.
   But the 6-2, 6-4 triumph by Le, another qualifier, over second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg in the second round at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness was even more stunning.
   Both Ahn and Le (pronounced Lee) will begin their junior year at universities in the San Francisco Bay Area this month. But Ahn is a high-profile, albeit injury-prone, player from powerful Stanford who qualified for the U.S. Open in women's singles at 16 years old and has won professional tournaments.
   Le, on the other hand, was lightly recruited out of high school in the Bay Area suburb of Milpitas and settled for a full scholarship at obscure Santa Clara, a few miles down the road from Stanford. She needed a wild card to get into the qualifying event for the Oak River Rehab Challenger, her first pro tournament. As amateurs, Le and Ahn can accept only expense money. 
   "I would have loved to (go to Cal or Stanford), but I wasn't good enough," the 5-foot-6 Le conceded. "You could say I'm a late bloomer."
   Also falling Thursday were No. 4 Chieh-Yu Hsu of San Antonio and No. 6 Rebecca Marino, a Canadian formerly ranked in the top 40 in the world. Only one seed, No. 7 Nicola Geuer of Germany, reached today's quarterfinals. But three qualifiers -- Le, Ahn and 2010 NCAA singles champion Chelsea Gullickson -- remain alive.

Qualifier Chelsey Gullickson, the daughter
of former major-league pitcher Bill Gullickson,
defeated fourth-seeded Chieh-Yu Hsu 6-4, 6-3.

   Last season, Le became the first player in Santa Clara history to earn a berth in the NCAA Division I Singles Championships, losing in the first round, and the second Bronco woman to be named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in tennis.
   "I've improved a lot in college, maybe because of all the training and match play I got," said Le, who also was named to the WCC All-Academic team with a 3.81 grade-point average in computer engineering.
   Le now owns a victory over a top-200 player. Cepede Royg, a 20-year-old Paraguayan, is No. 188.
   Le was much fresher for the match, despite having played three matches to Cepede Royg's one in the tournament. Le lost only two games in two qualifying matches and dispatched Vojislava Lukic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday in the first round. 
   Cepede Royg, meanwhile, survived a draining 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory over Cal freshman Klara Fabikova of the Czech Republic on Wednesday. The match, played in 95-degree heat, lasted 3 hours, 7 minutes, but Royg said that wasn't a factor against Le.
   "I played some games OK and some not," said Cepede Royg, whose English is limited.
   The Fabikova match might have taken a mental, if not physical, toll on Cepede Royg.
   "She lost focus on some points, and I was able to take advantage," Le said. "She was still playing really well. She hit a lot of deep balls."
   Cepede Royg, only 5-foot-4, has a blistering forehand, but Le ran down a surprising number of shots.
   "On the first ball (back), she'll make it, but not the third or fourth," Le said.     

Unseeded Sachie Ishizu of Japan beat sixth-seeded Rebecca Marino,
a former top-40 player returning from a 6 1/2-month sabbatical, 6-2, 6-2.

   Gullickson, 5-foot-11, overpowered Hsu, a slightly built left-hander, 6-4, 6-3.
   "These courts fit my game well," said Gullickson, who completed her eligibility at Georgia in May. "They're fast. She hits with more spin, and the courts don't suit her game well.
   "She was getting to most of my balls. It couldn't have gone either way if a few points were changed."
   Gullickson's father, Bill, went 162-136 as a major-league pitcher for 14 years, and her older sister, Carly, won the 2009 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Travis Parrott.
   "Carly gives me tips on how to handle pressure and how to play these girls," Chelsea said. "My dad didn't play tennis, but he helps me after the tough times he had. It's a good support system."
   Sachie Ishizu of Japan used her pinpoint groundstrokes to defeat the 6-foot Marino 6-2, 6-2.
   "She seemed to be teeing off on everything and not missing anything," said Marino, who was playing in her first tournament after taking 6 1/2 months off because of fatigue and personal matters. "It was hard to get into the rhythm of the match."
   Marino, who reached a career-high No. 38 in the world last year, played her second consecutive Japanese opponent.
   "It definitely wasn't my best match," said Marino, who beat Miki Miyamura 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 Wednesday in the first round. "I think I was a bit tired from yesterday. For sure, I'll improve over the next few weeks."

Stanford's Ahn stuns top seed in Redding Challenger

Qualifier Kristie Ahn, a Stanford junior, knocked off No. 1 seed
Florencia Molinero of Argentina in the first round of the $25,000
USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger in Redding, Calif. Photos by
Paul Bauman

   REDDING, Calif. -- Kristie Ahn showed Wednesday what she can do when she's healthy and relaxed.
   The 20-year-old qualifier, who's about to begin her junior year at Stanford, dismissed top-seeded Florencia Molinero of Argentina 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.
   The injury-prone Ahn is ranked No. 1,153 in the world and Molinero No. 191. But Ahn has flashed her potential before. At 16 years old, she qualified for the 2008 U.S. Open in women's singles before losing to Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. Safina was ranked seventh at the time and reached No. 1 the following year. Ahn also has won two $10,000 tournaments in singles and a $50,000 event in doubles with Stanford teammate Nicole Gibbs.
   Ahn said "words cannot describe" the frustration over her injuries.

Molinero called Ahn "a great player."

   "I guess the toughest part was expecting so much of myself," she continued. "I was really playing well before it all went downhill. I expected to jump right back in, but the (fundamentals) you take for granted -- focusing, moving your feet, getting low -- weren't there."
  Second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg almost joined her doubles partner, Molinero, on the sideline. Cepede Royg, a 20-year-old Paraguayan, held off Klara Fabikova, an 18-year-old Cal freshman from the Czech Republic, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
   Sixth-seeded Rebecca Marino, a Canadian formerly ranked among the top 40 in the world, outlasted Miki Miyamura of Japan 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Marino was playing in her first match since taking a 6 1/2-month break because of fatigue and personal matters.  
   Ahn's physical problems began when she had surgery on her right (playing) wrist during her senior year of high school in Upper Saddle River, N.J. As a Stanford freshman, she was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rookie of the Year in 2011 despite playing only one match after May 1 because of an ankle injury.

Second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay almost
joined her doubles partner, Molinero, on the sideline.

   Ahn missed almost all of her sophomore season with a stress fracture in her left foot and shoulder soreness, then tore a quadriceps muscle earlier this summer.
   Finally feeling 100 percent physically this week, Ahn decided to take the pressure off of herself against Molinero.
   "One of the most important things was staying loose," Ahn said. "I haven't been playing much in the last year, and my last few tournaments were awful because I was so nervous. I just wanted to play a good, solid match and not freak out. I did a pretty good job of that."
   Playing the top seed actually helped Ahn.
   "It was a win-win situation," she explained. "I'm excited to go back to school. If I lose, I get to go back to school. If I win, I get to play more."
   The Farm will have to wait, thanks largely to Ahn's serve and forehand. Ahn blasted four aces, not exactly Serena Williams-like but not bad for a short player (5-foot-5) and match.
   "I think that's the most aces I've hit in my entire life," Ahn marveled.

Sixth-seeded Rebecca Marino, a Canadian
formerly ranked among the top 40 in the world,
won her first match after a long layoff.

   Ahn has beaten other top-200 players but called the victory over Molinero her biggest in the last year or two.
   "She's a great player," Molinero said. "She had a good day, and I lost. She has a great forehand and serve. For me, it was not a perfect day. I didn't play my best tennis."
   When asked why not, Molinero simply shrugged her shoulders. 
   Ahn will face Jacqueline Cako (pronounced CAY-ko), a junior from Pacific-12 Conference rival Arizona State, on Thursday in the second round after a 10 a.m. match. Ahn and Cako have never met in college.
   The 5-foot-4, 143-pound Royg and the 5-11, 190-pound Fabikova traded laser groundstrokes but struggled with their serves in a 3-hour, 7-minute battle in 95-degree heat. Royg committed 17 doubles faults and Fabikova, whose toss could draw rain, nine.
   The 10th game of the third set was a marathon within a marathon. Royg, ranked No. 188, double-faulted on match point at 5-4 and finally sprayed a backhand on Fabikova's eighth break point of the game. Royg double-faulted six times in the game and three consecutive times to lose her serve at 5-5 in the first set.
   "I was a little nervous with my serve," she said.
   Fabikova was playing her first match in six weeks because of a lower-back injury and an illness requiring antibiotics.
   "It will take a few more matches for me to play my best," she said.  
   Royg will take on Katie Le, a junior at Santa Clara from Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the second round. Le, the West Coast Conference Player of the Year last season, defeated Vojislava Lukic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3.
   The 6-foot Marino described her comeback match as "difficult. My opponent didn't gve me much pace, and my game depends on pace. ... It's a bit of a relief to win my first match back. I was quite nervous at the beginning."
   Ahn, meanwhile, could face a dilemma Saturday, when the 25th-ranked Stanford football team hosts No. 2 USC at 4:30 p.m.
   "I really want to go to that game," she said. "If I'm still in the tournament, do I go down and come back? I don't know."
   It would be a nice problem to have.