Clijsters, New York hand Vegas third straight loss

   The Vegas Rollers' slim playoff hopes suffered another blow today.
   The New York Empire, featuring International Tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters, won all five sets in its 25-17 victory over Vegas, with ex-Stanford All-Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and San Francisco native Sam Querrey, in a World TeamTennis match at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V.
   It was Vegas' third consecutive loss and fifth in its last six matches. The Rollers have lost 14 of their last 15 sets, including all seven tiebreakers.
   Vegas fell to 4-7, sixth in the nine-team league. Even if the Rollers win all three of their remaining matches, they might not qualify for the four-team playoffs, Aug. 1-2 at The Greenbrier.
   Clijsters, a 37-year-old mother of three, launched a comeback in February after retiring in 2012. She and 45-year-old Kveta Peschke outclassed Monica Puig, the gold medalist in women's singles in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and Ajla Tomljanovic 5-2 to give New York (5-4) a 10-5 lead. Clijsters then won tiebreakers in mixed doubles and women's singles.
   After an off-day on Saturday, Vegas will face the expansion Chicago Smash (7-2) for the second time on Sunday at noon PDT (Tennis Channel) at The Greenbrier.
   Chicago defeated Vegas 24-18 (1-0 in extended play) in the season opener for both teams on July 12 at The Greenbrier.

NEW YORK EMPIRE 25, VEGAS ROLLERS 17

   Men's singles – Jack Sock (NY) def. Sam Querrey 5-3.
   Women's doubles – Kim Clijsters and Kveta Peschke (NY) def. Monica Puig and Ajla Tomljanovic 5-2.
   Mixed doubles – Clijsters and Sock (NY) def. Tomljanovic and Mike Bryan 5-4.
   Women's singles – Clijsters (NY) def. Puig 5-4.
   Men's doubles – Neal Skupski and Sock (NY) def. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (LV) 5-4.

Clijsters falls to Muguruza in comeback match

   So much for easing her way back onto the tour.
   In a matchup of former world No. 1 players, wild card Kim Clijsters lost to ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 7-6 (6) today in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
   "I had a good feeling out there," Clijsters, who won four singles titles in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford (2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006), said on wtatennis.com. "I do feel a little bit of – I'm not going to say relief, but (satisfaction) that I can handle the pace.
   "Second set, I felt I was really in the match. I felt like for a while I was dominating some of the points. That's a good feeling. ... I'll take that with me for the next matches."
   It was the first match since 2012 for Clijsters, a 36-year-old mother of three. Inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017, she has won six Grand Slam titles (four in singles and two in doubles).
   Muguruza, 26, has revived her career this year after reuniting with coach Conchita Martinez. In Muguruza's three other tournaments in 2020, she reached the semifinals in Shenzhen, quarterfinals in Hobart and final in the Australian Open.
   Muguruza advanced to the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic in 2017, the tournament's last year before moving to San Jose as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic. She also reached the singles quarterfinals and won the doubles title with fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro at Stanford in 2014 at age 20.
   College Men's Indoors – Second-seeded USC overwhelmed seventh-seeded Stanford 4-0 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the ITA Division I Men's National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. The Trojans defeated North Carolina 4-1 today for the title.
   College Women's Indoors – Fourth-seeded UCLA dominated top-seeded Stanford 4-0 in the semifinals of the ITA Division I Women's National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 9 in Chicago. Second-seeded North Carolina routed the Bruins 4-0 for the crown.

Clijsters, 36, plans return to WTA Tour

   International Tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters, a 36-year-old mother of three, announced today that she plans to return to the WTA Tour in January 2020.
   "I don't really feel like I want to prove something," Clijsters said on the WTA Insider Podcast. "For me, it's a challenge. ... I still love to play tennis."
   Clijsters, who left the circuit for the second time in 2012, won four Grand Slam titles in singles (three in the U.S. Open) and two in doubles. She ranks third among active players, behind Serena and Venus Williams, and 14th in the Open era (since 1968) with 41 singles titles.
   Four of Clijsters' titles came in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford (2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006). The tournament moved to San Jose as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic last year.
   Clijsters also played on Belgium's Fed Cup championship team in 2001 and won the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award, voted on by players, a record eight times.
   As a former world No. 1, Clijsters is eligible for unlimited wild cards in WTA tournaments.

New Hall of Famers dominated Bay Area tourneys

   Kim Clijsters and Andy Roddick, who were elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Monday, were practically adopted Northern Californians.
   Clijsters won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford four times (2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006), and Roddick captured three titles in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose (2004, 2005 and 2008).
   Clijsters won four Grand Slam singles crowns (three in the U.S. Open) and two major doubles titles. She also played on Belgium's Fed Cup championship team in 2001.
   Roddick used his thundering serve to claim one Grand Slam singles title, the 2003 U.S. Open, and reach three Wimbledon finals. He lost to Roger Federer each time at the All-England Club, including 16-14 in the fifth set in 2009.
   Roddick led the United States to its last Davis Cup championship, in 2007, and remains the nation's last man to win a major singles title.
   He joins countryman Michael Chang, Yannick Noah of France, Manuel Orantes of Spain and Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina as Hall of Famers with one Grand Slam singles crown.

Decisions, decisions

   MELBOURNE, Australia – I was torn for months.
   Do I attend the Australian Open for an extra day on our group tour, or do I go to a nature reserve and winery outside of Melbourne?
   Tennis fanatic that I am, I chose the Australian Open. I got my first look at Kim Clijsters and witnessed another virtuoso performance by Roger Federer on Tuesday (Monday in the United States) at Rod Laver Arena. So I have no regrets.
   Clijsters, the defending champion seeded 11th following an injury-plagued year, eliminated top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the quarterfinals. Wozniacki, who's constantly reminded that she has never won a Grand Slam title, will fall to at least No. 3 next week. She will be replaced at the top by either Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka or Maria Sharapova.
   The crowd was heavily pro-Clijsters, especially with all Australians having been knocked out of the tournament. The 28-year-old Belgian -- who has one child with her husband, former professional basketball player Brian Lynch of the United States -- long has been a local favorite because of her pleasant personality and former relationship with Aussie star Lleyton Hewitt. Additionally, Clijsters has said this will be her last Australian Open.
   Clijsters, who has won the Bank of the West Classic four times (2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006), showed no signs of a twisted ankle suffered in her fourth-round match against Li Na. Clijsters saved four match points in her 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory in a rematch of last year's Australian Open final.
   Clijsters, a great athlete with textbook groundstrokes, squandered a 5-2 lead in the second set before closing out the match. She will face Azarenka, the 2010 Bank of the West champion, in one semifinal. The other will be determined today. On tap are the second-seeded Kvitova of the Czech Republic against unseeded Italian Sara Errani, and the fourth-seeded Sharapova against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who ousted Serena Williams in the fourth round.
   Federer, seeded third, dispatched Juan Martin Del Potro, seeded 11th, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals in one hour, 59 minutes. It was their first Grand Slam meeting since Del Potro's stunning five-set victory in the 2009 U.S. Open final. Federer had demolished Del Potro 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in the Australian Open quarterfinals that year.
   Federer, a 30-year-old Swiss, has won a record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. What makes him great are his superhuman quickness, footwork and hand-eye coordination. Andre Agassi once paid him the ultimate compliment when he said, "This is a game with which I am not familiar."
   Del Potro, 23, of Argentina, underwent surgery on his right (playing) wrist in May 2010 and missed eight months. He was named the ATP World Tour's Comeback Player of the Year in 2011 after skyrocketing from No. 485 to No. 11.
   Players in the Australian Open must be in phenomenal shape. They run each other from side to side with pinpoint groundstrokes in brutal heat and humidity. It appears they will get a break today, though. It's overcast with a high of 78 degrees forecast.
   Melbourne Park, the site of the tournament, is picturesque with the city skyline in the background and very fan friendly. Security workers give bags and backpacks only a cursory look at the entrance. There are plenty of signs, scoreboards, TV screens, drinking fountains and grassy areas (some even with coveted shade), and the staff is cheerful and helpful. The Australian Open is not called the "Happy Slam" for nothing.
   In the evening, we played tennis and enjoyed a barbecue at Albert Reserve. Players in the Australian Open practice there because it has the same Plexicushion surface, similar to a fast hardcourt. Even at 10 p.m., it was hot and humid.
   Other matches -- Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan stayed on course for their fourth consecutive Australian Open men's doubles title and sixth overall. The former NCAA doubles champions from Stanford outlasted sixth-seeded Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4 in a quarterfinal that ended after 2 a.m. Melbourne time.
   Thirteenth-seeded Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, and Rajeev Ram, a former Sacramento Challenger runner-up in singles and doubles, lost to seventh-seeded Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-4, 6-4. Lipsky and Ram won last year's SAP Open in San Jose.
   In the women's doubles quarterfinals, third-seeded Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan fell to seventh-seeded Andrea Hlvackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-2.
   In the juniors, Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Stanford-bound Krista Hardebeck coasted to second-round singles victories.
   But Hardebeck, from Santa Ana, and Catherine Harrison of Memphis, Tenn., lost to top-seeded Irina Kromacheva of Russia and Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 2-6, 6-0, 10-4 match tiebreak in the second round.
   Third-seeded Connor Farren of Hillsborough in the San Francisco area and Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal fell to Alexandre Favrot and Quentin Halys of France 6-4, 6-4.