Struggling Kenin, Andreescu upset at Wimbledon

Madison Brengle ousted No. 4 seed Sofia Kenin today in the
second round at Wimbledon. 2019 photo by Paul Bauman

   Two of the top five women's seeds, both Grand Slam champions who have struggled this year, lost at Wimbledon today.

   In an all-American matchup, Madison Brengle ousted No. 4 seed Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-4 in the second round. Kenin has won three Challenger singles titles in Northern California and Brengle two.

   Also, Alize Cornet of France routed No. 5 seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada 6-2, 6-1 in the first round. Cornet, who stunned Serena Williams in the third round at Wimbledon in 2014, ended a three-match losing streak at the All England Club.

   Neither Kenin, who won the 2020 Australian Open at 21, nor Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion at 19, has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament this year. In fact, Andreescu hasn't survived the second round in a 2021 major. The last Grand Slam tourney of the year, the U.S. Open, is scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 12.

   Another major champion, 28-year-old Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens, defeated Kristie Ahn, a 29-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 7-5, 6-3 in the second round.

   In a rematch of the 2018 Wimbledon men's final, top-ranked Novak Djokovic dismissed Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the second round. The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, 35, had right knee surgery in September 2019 and February 2020.

   Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, eliminated No. 11 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2017 and quarterfinalist in 2016 and 2019, clubbed 22 aces and won 90 percent of the points on his first serve (56 of 62). Carreno Busta, a two-time U.S. Open semifinalist, fell to 0-6 at Wimbledon.

   Wild card Andy Murray, the Wimbledon champion in 2013 and 2016, outlasted qualifier Oscar Otte of Germany 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

   Murray won the first of his 46 tour-level singles titles in San Jose in 2006 at 18 and repeated the following year. He also won the Challenger in Aptos, Calif., a 45-minute drive south of San Jose, in 2005 at 18.

Friendly foes: Keys tops CoCo for Stanford title

Madison Keys sits on CoCo Vandeweghe's
lap after winning the Bank of the West
Classic at Stanford. Photo by Mal Taam

   STANFORD, Calif. -- A touching, likely unprecedented, scene occurred today in the cutthroat world of professional tennis.
   After defeating fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe 7-6 (4), 6-4 for the title in the Bank of the West Classic, Madison Keys walked to Vandeweghe's chair, hopped on her good friend's lap and hugged her.
   The horde of photographers, who had been aiming their cameras toward one end of the court for the impending trophy presentation, suddenly pivoted 90 degrees to capture the tender moment.
   Vandeweghe then walked to Keys' side of the court and sat next to her for the awards ceremony.
   Keys said the title "means a lot. It's my first title in the States and against a friend. Truly, I think the moments afterwards are part of what makes it so special and what I will always remember about this week."
   Keys and Vandeweghe became friends when they helped the United States rout host Australia 4-0 in the World Group playoffs of the Fed Cup in April 2016.
   "The whole team really bonded -- myself, Bethanie (Mattek-Sands), Maddie and Christina (McHale)," said Vandeweghe, also the runner-up to Serena Williams five years ago at Stanford as a lucky loser. "It was the first time really that we were all together for that long of a time because the tie (series) was in Australia. We had pretty much like two weeks together. It was a lot of fun, a lot of instances where the Australian media really did a good job in making it fun for us out there. And we won the tie, so that's a bonus of making everyone really like each other."
   Entering today, Keys and Vandeweghe each had won two WTA titles, both on grass in Europe. Aside from Keys' 6-3, 6-2 dismantling of top seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza in Saturday's semfinals, there was little indication that Keys would add to her total.

   Keys, a right-hander with a two-handed backhand, underwent surgery on her left wrist last November, returned to the tour in March and had arthroscopic surgery on the wrist in early June after losing in the second round of the French Open.
   Keys missed the Wimbledon grass-court tune-up tournaments, withdawing from Birmingham after winning the 2016 title there, and lost in the second round at the All England Club.

Madison Keys, 22, won her third career WTA title
but first in the United States. Photo by Mal Taam

   Keys arrived at Stanford, her first tournament since Wimbledon, with modest expectations.
   "I came into this tournament with the goal of having good, solid matches and trying to get consistent and feel good on the tennis court, and I think I did that," said Keys, who had lost in the second round in both of her previous Stanford appearances (2013 and 2015). "That's going to be my goal not only for the next tournament, but the tournament after that and for the rest of the season."

   Keys, who received a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed, trailed by a set and a break against U.S. qualifier Caroline Dolehide in the second round before prevailing 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
   "I think that first match really tested me in the sense of staying composed and figuring things out and just playing smarter," Keys said. "I think that match really, really helped me for the rest of the week."
   Both the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Keys and the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Vandeweghe have powerful serves and groundstrokes. But Keys is more athletic, which is saying something considering Vandeweghe's background. Her uncle Kiki and grandfather Ernie played in the NBA. Her mother, Tauna, competed in the Olympics in swimming in 1976 and volleyball in 1984.
   Keys' parents are lawyers, but she chose a different kind of court.
   There were no service breaks in the first set of the initial meeting between Keys, 22, and Vandeweghe, 25, on a beautiful 75-degree (23.9 Celsius) day in front of an announced crowd of 2,391. Keys saved three break points, and Vandeweghe escaped a set point serving at 4-5.
   Keys pulled out the first set with the help of a net cord. With the sixth-seeded Vandeweghe serving at 4-5 in the tiebreaker, Keys slugged a forehand passing shot down the line set up by her ball that clipped the tape and went over the net.
   "I felt, in the first set especially, I was putting the most pressure on her service games," said Vandeweghe, who began working with 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash at the start of the grass-court season. "I had three or four break points, and I want to say at least three of them were second serves. She came up with really good shots off those second serves, but if you look back and (say) coulda, woulda, shoulda, you're going to drive yourself crazy. Tennis is a game of millimeters, centimeters, whatever you want to call it. I looked at the end, and I think it was 72 points to 68 (correct), so there you go. That's how close it was.
   The only service break of the match came with Vandeweghe serving at 4-4 in the second set.  Vandeweghe fought back from 15-40 to deuce but lost the next two points. Keys laced a backhand winner down the line with Vandeweghe at the net, and Vandeweghe wasted an open court by sailing a runaround forehand long.
   Still, Keys was wary.
   "I definitely didn't know it was over," she said, "I just knew that if I kept hanging in on my service games (during the match) that hopefully I would have a chance to break. I knew there probably weren't going to be very many opportunities, so I knew when I had a break point in that game that I really needed to step up."
   Keys' worries were misplaced. She held serve at love, converting her first match point with a runaround forehand passing shot down the line.

Madison Keys, who had two operations on her left wrist, questioned whether
she could regain the form that took her to No. 7 in the world. Photo by Mal Taam 

   Keys earned $132,380 for the title. Vandeweghe collected $70,550 as the singles runner-up and added $20,825 for winning the doubles title with American Abigail Spears.
   Both singles finalists rose four places in the world rankings, Keys to No. 17 and Vandeweghe to No. 20, one spot off her career high in May.
   During Keys' layoffs, she had doubts that she could return to the form that carried her to a career-high No. 7 in the world last October.
   "There was lots of times when I thought maybe it just wasn't ever going to happen again," Keys confessed. "There's lots of low moments, but as great as this week is, I don't expect my wrist to be perfect forever and never have an issue with it again. It's going to be something I have to keep up and have a really good mentality about."
   Keys, though, wasn't surprised to win the title.
   "It definitely felt like my wrist has been the final missing piece in my game," said Keys, who's coached by former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and Dieter Kindlmann. I've actually felt pretty good about my game for a while. It was just really good to finally feel healthy for lots of matches."
   Notes -- The tournament's future is uncertain following the expiration of the Bank of the West's five-year contract. The Bank of the West Classic, in its 47th year, is the longest-running women's professional tournament in the world. It has been sponsored by Bank of the West since 1992 and held at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997.
   Former Bank of the West champions include Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.
   --Vandeweghe and Spears, seeded third, outclassed unseeded Alize Cornet of France and Alicja Rosolska of Poland 6-2, 6-3 in the final. It was the 36-year-old Spears' second consecutive Bank of the West doubles crown and third overall. The first two came with Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones) of nearby San Jose.
   --Here are the complete Bank of the West singles and doubles draws.
   --Here are the men's $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws, and Monday's schedule. Aptos, situated on the Pacific Ocean, is a one-hour drive south of Stanford.

Bellis, making the grade as pro, breezes at Stanford

   STANFORD, Calif. -- At this time last year, CiCi Bellis was entering her senior year of high school and planning to attend Stanford University.
   One year later, the product of neighboring Atherton returned to the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford as a professional and the youngest player in the world's top 50 at No. 44.
   "It's crazy," the eighth-seeded Bellis marveled after using her impeccable groundstrokes to dismiss French veteran Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour, 17 minutes on Tuesday night in the first round. "The two choices I had last year, being on this path or going to Stanford, are great ones. If I had chosen Stanford, I would probably be going there in a few weeks. It's crazy how different life could be if I had chosen that."
   Bellis, 18, turned pro last September after reaching the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier. Seeded in a WTA tournament for the first time at Stanford, she raised her arms after converting her first match point as if she had won the title.
   "This being my home tournament, I just get so much more excited for every winning points and matches," gushed Bellis, who estimated that she had "40, maybe more" family members and friends in the announced crowd of 1,179.
   Cornet, 27, is ranked one spot lower than Bellis. In 2014, Cornet became the first player to defeat Serena Williams three consecutive times since Justine Henin in 2007. One of Cornet's victories over Williams came in the third round at Wimbledon; another came via retirement.
   Cornet has the most Grand Slam appearances (46) without reaching a quarterfinal of all active players.
   Bellis, now based in Orlando, Fla., will face Veronica Cepede Royg, a 25-year-old qualifier from  Paraguay, on Thursday in a bid to reach the quarterfinals at Stanford for the second consecutive year.
   Cepede Royg, only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters), downed Kristie Ahn, a 25-year-old former Stanford star also based in Orlando, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
   Cepede Royg defeated Bellis 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of qualifying in the 2015 French Open in their only previous meeting.
   Bellis could play second-seeded Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, in the quarterfinals on Friday. Kvitova returned to the tour in May after her left (playing) hand was severely injured in a knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic in December.
   During Tuesday's day session, sixth-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., in the San Diego area beat Alja Tomljanovic (pronounced Eye-la Tom-lee-on-o-vich) of Croatia 6-2, retired (right shoulder).
   Tomljanovic, 24, withdrew from Sunday's final against 15-year-old U.S. sensation Amanda Anisimova in the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger with soreness in her surgically repaired shoulder.
   By playing one set in the Bank of the West Classic, Tomljanovic pocketed $7,225 (minus 30 percent tax), far exceeding the $4,863 (minus tax) she earned in Sacramento.
   Vandeweghe reached the final of the 2012 Bank of the West Classic as a lucky loser, falling to Serena Williams. Vandeweghe, then 20, held a set point in the first set of her 7-5, 6-3 loss.
   American Alison Riske, a semifinalist last year at Stanford and quarterfinalist in 2015, defeated Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-4.
   Also, qualifier Caroline Dolehide, from Hinsdale, Ill., outplayed Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-4, 6-2 in a matchup of teenagers. It was the 18-year-old Dolehide's first main-draw match in a WTA tournament.
   Among the four doubles seeds, only the No. 3 team of Abigail Spears of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Vandeweghe remains alive after the first round.
   Americans Jennifer Brady and Madison Keys ousted top seeds Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones) of nearby San Jose and Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan 4-6, 7-5 [10-6]. Atawo and Spears won the title last year and in 2013.
   Highlighting today's day session, former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova will meet seventh-seeded Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine not before 2:30 p.m. in the second round.
   In the featured night match, top seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza will face 17-year-old Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., at 7. The top four singles seeds received first-round byes.
   Here are the Bank of the West singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Venus survives test in Bank of the West Classic

Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Magda Linette of Poland
in three sets to reach the quarterfinals of the Bank of the
West Classic at Stanford. Photo by Paul Bauman

   STANFORD, Calif. -- Venus Williams appeared to be on her way to another comfortable victory over Magda Linette.
   But Linette had other ideas.
   After leading 6-3, 4-2, the top-seeded Williams battled to a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2 victory tonight in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   Williams also led 2-0 in the tiebreaker, but Linette won the next six points. Williams saved four set points to pull even at 6-6, but Linette hit an 84-mph service winner out wide and then converted her fifth set point with a forehand down-the-line winner.
   "She's such a fighter," Williams said of Linette, a 24-year-old Pole, in an on-court interview after the match. "Every time I thought the match was over, it wouldn't end. Credit to her for figuring out how to stay in the match."
   Williams, who won the Bank of the West title in 2000 and 2002, bolted to a 4-0 lead in the third set and held on from there.
   "I tried to get that third gear -- or fifth or sixth or whatever gear it is to get the win," said Venus Williams, who won the last of her seven Grand Slam singles titles in 2008 at Wimbledon.
   Williams had clobbered Linette 6-1, 6-2 in their only previous meeting, which came in the United States' 4-0 Fed Cup victory over Poland in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in February.
   The 36-year-old Williams is coming off a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon, the first time since she has advanced that far in a Grand Slam tournament since the 2010 U.S. Open. She made her WTA debut 22 years ago in the Bank of the West Classic when it was held at the Oakland Coliseum..
   "It's been a wonderful blessing to live my dream -- to chase this ball. And I'm not going to stop anytime soon," said Williams, eliciting a big cheer from the announced crowd of 1,912.
   Among the spectators was Serena Williams, a three-time Bank of the West champion who is not playing in the tournament this year.
   Venus Williams, ranked seventh, will play either CiCi Bellis, a 17-year-old wild card from neighboring Atherton, or qualifier Sachia Vickery from Boca Raton, Fla., on Friday night in the quarterfinals.
   Williams seeks her 50th career title. To win it in the Bank of the West Classic, she said, "would be special. I'd like to just keep advancing. I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to do any of that, but if I could do that, it would make it an even better year."
   During the day session, Zheng Saisai upset No. 7 seed Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-1. Zheng won the doubles title at Stanford last year with Chinese countrywoman Xu Yifan.   Zheng, 22, won the last five games and 11 of the last 13 against Cornet, who played in the Bank of the West Classic for the first time this year and joined No. 6 Jelena Ostapenko and No. 8 Varvara Lepchenko on the sideline.
   Cornet, a 26-year-old veteran, sat out February and March with bruised vertebrae but reached the third round at Wimbledon this month. She has beaten Serena Williams in their past three matches, including a third-round decision at Wimbledon in 2014 and most recently a retirement in the second round in Wuhan, China, that year.
   Zheng will play third-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain in the quarterfinals. Konta, an Australian Open semifinalist in January, dispatched Julia Boserup, a 24-year-old wild card from Newport Beach, Calif., 6-3, 6-1 in 61 minutes.
   Konta, ranked 18th, made her tournament debut after receiving a first-round bye.
   In an all-Japanese encounter, fifth-seeded Misaki Doi beat Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-4. Doi, a 5-foot-3 (1.59-meter) left-hander with surprising power, is coming off her career-best run in a Grand Slam tournament. She reached the fourth round at Wimbledon before falling to eventual runner-up Angelique Kerber.
   Doi had a match point against Kerber in the first round of this year's Australian Open, and the 28-year-old German left-hander went on to win her first Grand Slam title. 
   Hibino won the inaugural $50,000 Stockton Challenger last summer at age 20.
   Doi, 25, will meet the winner of Thursday's match between second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia and Poland's Urszula Radwanska, the younger sister of fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska.
   The 5-foot-3 Cibulkova, who got married on July 9 in Bratislava, defeated Agnieszka Radwanska to win the 2013 Bank of the West Classic. Radwanska withdrew from this year's tournament on July 8 with a right hand injury.
   In the first round of doubles, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Arina Rodionova of Australia defeated former Stanford stars Nicole Gibbs of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area and Carol Zhao of Canada 6-4, 6-4. 

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC

At Stanford

Singles

Second round

   Saisai Zheng, China, def. Alize Cornet (7), France, 6-4, 6-1.
   Johanna Konta (3), Great Britain, def. Julia Boserup, United States, 6-3, 6-1.
   Misaki Doi (5), Japan, def. Nao Hibino, Japan, 6-3, 6-4.
   Venus Williams (1), United States, def. Magda Linette, Poland, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2.

Doubles

First round

   Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, and Arina Rodionova, Australia, def. Nicole Gibbs, United States, and Carol Zhao, Canada, 6-4, 6-4.

Quarterfinals

   Darija Jurak, Croatia, and Anastasia Rodionova (3), Australia, def. Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk, Ukraine, 6-2, 6-4.

Thursday's schedule

Stadium

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Alison Riske, United States, vs. Ana Bogdan, Romania.
   Dominika Cibulkova (2), Slovakia, vs. Urszula Radwanska, Poland (not before 1 p.m.).
   CiCi Bellis, Atherton, vs. Sachia Vickery, United States.
   CoCo Vandeweghe (4), United States, vs. Nicole Gibbs, United States (not before 7 p.m.).
   Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, and Taylor Townsend, United States, vs. Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend, United States.

Court 6

(Starting at 1:30 p.m.)

   Raquel Atawo, San Jose, and Abigail Spears (2), United States, vs. Julia Glushko, Israel, and Magda Linette, Poland.
   Xu Yifan and Zheng Saisai (1), China, vs. Johanna Konta, Great Britain, and Maria Sanchez, United States (not before 3 p.m.).

French Open Day 5 highlights: Controversy erupts

   Five highlights from Day 5 of the French Open:

   1. Alize Cornet of France overcame leg cramps to defeat Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in the second round, and each player accused the other of poor sportsmanship afterward.

   Cornet, the 2007 French Open junior girls champion who stunned Serena Williams in the third round at Wimbledon two years ago, repeatedly received treatment during changeovers in the third set.
   After winning, Cornet fell on her back in celebration. Maria, instead of waiting at the net, shook hands with the chair umpire and put her racket in her back before walking to the net near the chair to shake hands with Cornet. Maria then scolded Cornet while wagging a finger at her as the partisan crowd booed.

   "It's not fair play, what she did ... she had cramps," said the 28-year-old Maria, one of the few mothers on the WTA tour. "She takes physio for her left leg because her right leg was cramping."
   Said Cornet, 26: "She told me I was unfair. But it is she who was unfair, asking the umpire to give me time warnings."
   Cornet and Maria are scheduled to meet again in the second round of women's doubles on Friday.
   2. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced in straight sets. Nadal has lost only nine games in two matches (six sets).
   Djokovic is attempting to become the eighth man to achieve a career Grand Slam in singles. Nadal is trying to become the first player in the Open era, which began in 1968, to win 10 singles titles in a Grand Slam tournament.
   3. Sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, bidding to become the first Frenchman to win Roland Garros since Yannick Noah 33 years ago, avoided elimination with a 6-7 (6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.
   Tsonga, 31, and Baghdatis, who will turn 31 on June 17, were born exactly two months apart. Also, each has lost in the Australian Open in his only Grand Slam final. Tsonga fell to Djokovic in 2008 and Baghdatis to Roger Federer in 2006.
   The primary difference between the two is size: Tsonga is 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters) and 200 pounds (91 kilograms), and Baghdatis is 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 181 pounds (82 kilograms).
   Baghdatis won the 2014 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos, Calif.

Naomi Osaka, 18, of Japan has reached the third round
of the French Open. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   4. No. 1 seed Serena Williams and No. 9 Venus Williams advanced with 6-2, 6-1 victories. Serena overwhelmed Teliana Pereira of Brazil, and Venus routed 20-year-old qualifier Louisa Chirico in an all-American matchup.
   5. Four teenagers have reached the third round: 18-year-old Naomi Osaka of Japan and 19-year-old Daria Kasatkina of Russia on the women's side, and 19-year-olds Borna Coric of Croatia and Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men's draw.

   In Osaka's main-draw debut on the WTA tour at 16, she stunned 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 in the first round of the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Osaka, who has a Haitian father and Japanese mother, survived a match point at 6-7 in the tiebreaker and overcame a 3-5 deficit in the third set.
   Osaka next will meet sixth-seeded Simona Halep, the 2014 runner-up to Maria Sharapova at Roland Garros.

   Northern California results

Men's doubles

First round

   Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (5), former Stanford All-Americans from the United States, def. Mariusz Fyrstenberg, Poland, and Santiago Gonzalez, Mexico, 6-2, 6-3.

Second round

   Eric Butorac, United States, and Scott Lipsky, former Stanford All-American from the United States, def. Raven Klaasen, South Africa, and Rajeev Ram (8), United States, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

Women's doubles

First round

   Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic, Germany, def. Nicole Gibbs, former Stanford All-American from the United States, and Heather Watson, Great Britain, 6-4, 6-4. 

Mixed doubles

First round

   Andrea Hlavackova, Czech Republic, and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (6), France, def. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, Spain, and Scott Lipsky, former Stanford All-American from the United States, 6-2, 6-2. 

French Open Day 8 recap: Tsonga beats Berdych

No. 14 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, practicing at Indian Wells last year,
beat No. 4 Tomas Berdych in the French Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- In a matchup of past Roland Garros semifinalists, 14th-seeded Jo-Wilfried "Catchy" Tsonga of France eliminated No. 4 Tomas "Larry" Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the fourth round on a rainy day.
   Tsonga served for the match at 5-4 in the third set. The 30-year-old has reached one Grand Slam final, falling to Novak "It's No" Djokovic in the 2008 Australian Open. It was the first of Djokovic's eight major singles titles.
   Match of the day -- In a clash between former French Open junior champions, 19th-seeded Elina Svitolina, 20, of Ukraine held off No. 29 Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 7-6 (9) to reach her first major quarterfinal.
   Cornet, playing in the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time, saved five match points before she sent a backhand long.
   Notable -- Second-seeded Roger Federer "Express," the 2009 champion, and No. 13 Gael Monfils, a 2008 semifinalist, were tied at one set apiece when darkness suspended the match. 
   Fifth-seeded "Special" Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man in 82 years to reach the French Open quarterfinals, beating Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
   Eighth-seeded Stan "The Man" Wawrinka of Switzerland advanced to the quarters at Roland Garros for the second time, dismissing No. 12 Gilles Simon of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
   Seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia returned to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time since winning the 2008 title, topping No. 9 Ekaterina "Do The" Makarova of Russia 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
   Stars and stripes -- Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan moved into the men's doubles quarterfinals, as did second-seeded Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil of Canada and Jack "Lost A" Sock.
   Winning in the first round of junior singles were second-seeded Taylor "On The" Fritz on the boys side, and No. 3 Katerina "Martha" Stewart and No. 7 Usue Maitane Arconada on the girls side.  
   Northern California connection -- The 37-year-old Bryan twins led Stanford to NCAA titles in their two years there (1997-98) and are scheduled to play three matches this summer for the Sacramento-based California Dream of World TeamTennis.
   Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues, a full-time member of the Dream, and Taiwan's Hao-Ching Chan lost to ninth-seeded Andrea Hlavackova and "I Love" Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the third round of women's doubles. Garrigues won the title in 2008 and 2009 with since-retired countrywoman Virginia Ruano Pascual, and Hlavackova and Hradecka took the 2011 crown.
   Another full-time Dream player, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan, and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia surprised sixth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France and Daniel Nestor, 42, of Canada 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of mixed doubles.
   Scott "Don't Give Me Any" Lipsky, who helped Stanford win its last NCAA men's team crown (2000), and Abigail Spears fell to seventh-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Alexander "The Great" Peya of Austria 7-6 (5), 6-3.     
   Fast fact -- Owners of a combined 49 Grand Slam singles titles are scheduled to play today in the fourth round, the Associated Press reported. Dry weather is forecast.
   Quote -- Cornet to the chair umpire after one of her shots late in the match was called out: "You look in my eyes, and you know it (was in)."
   Today on Court Philippe Chatrier (starting at 2 a.m. PDT, ESPN2) -- Defending champion Maria Sharapova (2) vs. "I Love" Lucie Safarova (13), completion of Federer (2) vs. Monfils (13), Serena Williams (1) vs. Sloane "Ranger" Stephens, Djokovic (1) vs. Richard "Blow A" Gasquet (20).
   Today on Court Suzanne Lenglen (starting at 2 a.m. PDT, ESPN2) -- Garbine Muguruza (21) vs. Flavia Pennetta (28), Andy "Bill" Murray (3) vs. Jeremy "Don't Be" Chardy, defending champion "San" Rafael Nadal (6) vs. Sock, Petra Kvitova (4) vs. Timea Bacsinszky (23).

French Open Day 6 recap: No. 8 Suarez Navarro falls

No. 28 seed Flavia Pennetta, defending her title
at Indian Wells in March, beat No. 8 Carla Suarez
Navarro on Friday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- No. 28 seed Flavia Pennetta, a 33-year-old Italian, dismissed No. 8 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in the third round.
   Pennetta had lost in the first round of her two previous tournaments, to 10th-ranked Andrea Petkovic in Madrid and then-No. 19 Elina Svitolina in Rome.
   Pennetta has never advanced past the fourth round of the French Open in 12 appearances.
   Match of the day -- No. 29 seed Alize Cornet of France reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in 11 appearances, beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. 
   The 25-year-old Cornet "celebrated as if she had won the tournament, falling onto her back, letting out a scream and then bursting into tears," the Associated Press reported.
   Notable -- No. 2 seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova ended No. 26 Samantha Stosur's winning streak at seven matches with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Stosur, the 2010 runner-up to Francesca Schiavone, had lost only five games in two matches in Paris.
   Top-seeded Serena Williams is scheduled to face No. 27 Victoria Azarenka today in the third round. Williams saved three match points in a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (1) victory over Azarenka in the third round at Madrid three weeks ago.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 2 Roger Federer (2009 champion), No. 4 Tomas Berdych, No. 8 Stan Wawrinka, No. 12 Gilles Simon, No. 13 Gael Monfils, No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 20 Richard "Blow A" Gasquet.
   Men's seeded loser -- No. 21 Pablo "Jose" Cuevas.
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 2 Sharapova (2012 and 2014 champion), No. 7 Ana Ivanovic (2008 champion), No. 9 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 13 Lucie Safarova, No. 19 Svitolina, No. 21 Garbine Muguruza, No. 28 Pennetta, No. 29 Cornet.
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 8 Suarez Navarro, No. 11 Angelique Kerber, No. 20 Sabine Lisicki, No. 26 Stosur.
   Stars and stripes -- Steve Johnson lost to Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, leaving Jack Sock as the only U.S. man left in singles. Sock, 22, is set to play Borna Coric, 18, of Croatia today in the third round, with the winner likely to meet Rafael Nadal -- who has won nine French Open singles titles, including the last five -- in the round of 16.
   Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan and second-seeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada and Sock reached the third round of men's doubles. However, left-handers Austin Krajicek and Donald Young lost to ninth-seeded Rohan Bopanna of India and Florin Mergea of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
   Fast facts -- Only four of the top eight women's seeds remain halfway through the third round: No. 1 Williams, No. 2 Sharapova, No. 4 Petra Kvitova and No. 7 Ivanovic. In contrast, all of the top nine men's seeds are still alive. 
   Northern California connection -- In addition to the Bryans, former Stanford stars, advancing in men's doubles, Abigail Spears and Scott Lipsky, another ex-Cardinal, won their first-round mixed doubles match. But fifth-seeded Bob Bryan and Caroline Garcia of France lost to Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., 3-6, 7-5 [10-8].
   Quote -- Cornet: "At last, I'm into the second week at Roland. I've been waiting for this for 11 years."

Wimbledon Day 6 highlights: Cornet stuns Serena

SERENA WILLIAMS
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   Match of the day — Serena Williams' Grand Slam slump continued on Saturday as 25th-seeded Alize Cornet of France shocked the top seed and five-time champion 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round. Cornet also beat Williams in the semifinals at Dubai in February. Williams, 32, has won 17 major singles crowns (one behind Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth place all-time). But she has lost before the quarterfinals in all three Slams this year and in four of the last five. This was her earliest loss at Wimbledon since 2005, when she also fell in the third round.

   Biggest upset — Cornet's conquest of Williams.
   Biggest rout — Fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova, who won Wimbledon 10 years ago at 17 for her first Grand Slam title, drubbed unseeded Alison Riske of Atlanta 6-3, 6-0 in 69 minutes. After trailing 3-1, Sharapova won the last 11 games.
   Notable — Australian Nick Kyrgios (pronounced KEER-ee-ose), 19, backed up his upset over No. 13 Richard Gasquet with a four-set victory over 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Jiri Vesely, 20, of the Czech Republic. It was the first time two wild cards had met as deep as the third round at Wimbledon. The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Kyrgios, who saved nine match points against Gasquet, will face No. 2 seed and two-time champion Rafael Nadal on Tuesday in the round of 16. ... Two semifinalists from last year, No. 15 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland and No. 24 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, exited in the third round. The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Janowicz lost to No. 23 Tommy Robredo of Spain in five sets, and Flipkens fell to No. 9 Angelique Kerber of Germany in three sets. ... After a brief start, rain delayed play until about 5:30 p.m. London time, forcing some matches to be suspended and others to be postponed until Monday. Wimbledon is observing its traditional middle Sunday off. The weather forecast for the second week is good.
   U.S. report — Only one American man, No. 9 John Isner, and one U.S. woman, unseeded Madison Keys, are left in singles. And Keys is in serious trouble. She trailed Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7), 6-6 when the match was stopped because of darkness, and Keys had taken a medical timeout for a right leg injury before serving at 6-5 in the second set. She was in tears as she was helped off the court when play was halted. Isner's third-round match against Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez, seeded 19th, was postponed.
   Northern California connection — Playing second-round matches on Monday will be former Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan in men's doubles and mixed doubles, Sacramento-area resident Dmitry Tursunov in men's doubles, and San Jose resident and former Cal standout Raquel Kops-Jones in women's doubles and mixed doubles. CiCi Bellis, a 15-year-old Atherton resident seeded second in girls singles, will begin play on Tuesday.
   Fast facts — This is the first time in eight years that neither of the Williams sisters will play singles in the second week at Wimbledon. Venus, also a five-time champion, lost to No. 6 seed and 2011 winner Petra Kvitova in the third round. However, the eighth-seeded Williams sisters will play in the second round of women's doubles on Monday. They have won the title five times, most recently in 2012. ... Nadal has lost the first set in all three of his matches before winning in four sets.
   Quote — Cornet on Serena Williams: "It might be a bit premature to talk about her decline, but when she plays someone who finds the right tactics, she looks a bit lost on the court. In my opinion, there are more and more players understanding how to play her."