Djokovic reaches ATP semis; McDonald falls in Florida

Novak Djokovic, playing at Indian Wells in 2017, avenged a loss to Alexander
Zverev in the title match of the 2018 ATP Finals. Photo by Mal Taam

   Top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (4) today to reach the semifinals of the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

   Djokovic, a five-time champion, avenged a loss to Zverev, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) German, in the 2018 final of the indoor hardcourt tournament.

   Djokovic finished 2-1 and Zverev 1-2 in the four-man Group Tokyo 1970. The ATP Finals began 50 years ago in Tokyo.

   Both players have come under fire recently. Djokovic was defaulted from the U.S. Open in September for flicking a ball in anger and accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat. Zverev has denied accusations of domestic abuse by his former girlfriend Olga Sharypova.

   In Saturday's semifinals, Djokovic is scheduled to face third-seeded Dominic Thiem at 6 a.m. PST (Tennis Channel), and second-seeded Rafael Nadal is set to take on fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev not before noon. 

   In a doubles semifinal, second-seeded Rajeev Ram, a 36-year-old volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain will meet seventh-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France at 10 a.m.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Unseeded Brandon Nakashima, 19, of San Diego eliminated eighth-seeded Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-3, 7-6 (8) on another windy day in the quarterfinals of the $52,080 Orlando (Fla.) Open.

   Nakashima, who ousted top-seeded Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-4, 6-3 in the second round, won seven straight games from 1-3 in the opening set of his first career match against McDonald, playing on his adopted home courts at the USTA National Campus. 

   In the second set, Nakashima saved a set point serving at 5-6 with a backhand passing shot down the line and later converted his fourth match point.

   McDonald won the first of his two Challenger singles titles in Fairfield, Calif., 38 miles (61.2 kilometers) northeast of Piedmont, in 2017. Nakashima reached his first Challenger semifinal last fall in Fairfield.

   Nakashima is scheduled to meet unseeded Mitchell Krueger of Dallas on Saturday after the 8 a.m. PST semifinal between fourth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India and unseeded Christopher Eubanks of Atlanta. Both matches will be streamed live.

   Krueger, 26, defeated qualifier Alexander Ritschard of Switzerland 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1. Krueger, a quarterfinalist in the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger in 2015 and 2016, topped Nakashima 7-6 (7), 7-5 in the first round of qualifying for the 2018 Indian Wells Challenger in their only previous meeting.

   Gunneswaran, a 31-year-old left-hander who reached last week's final in Cary, N.C., routed sixth-seeded Dmitry Popko, a Russia native who plays for Kazakhstan, 6-0, 6-3. 

   The 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) Eubanks, 24, subdued second-seeded Denis Kudla, an Arlington, Va., resident who won the Cary title, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in 3 hours, 5 minutes.

   Eubanks, who trailed by a service break in the second set, blasted 17 aces, committed 10 double faults and saved 16 of 18 break points against him.

   Gunneswaran and Eubanks will meet for the first time. They reached the semifinals of $100,000 tournaments in Tiburon (2017) and Aptos (2018), respectively, in Northern California. 

   ITF Women's Circuit — Second-seeded Maiar Sherif Ahmed Abdelaziz (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt beat Lara Selden, a 21-year-old qualifier from Belgium, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Open Gran Canaria on clay in Las Palmas de Gran Carania, off the coast of northwestern Africa.

   Sherif, who won a $100,000 clay-court tournament in Charleston, S.C., as a qualifier two weeks ago, extended her winning streak to 10 matches. She will play another 21-year-old, Jule Niemeier of Germany.

   In the other semifinal, top-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia will meet sixth-seeded Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands.

   Kanepi, 35, has reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open twice each and been ranked as high as No. 15 in 2012. Hogenkamp, 28, climbed to a career-high No. 94 in 2017.

Eubanks overpowers third seed, ex-Tiburon champ

Christopher Eubanks serves during his 6-3, 6-3 victory
over Peter Polansky, the third seed and 2013 champion,
today in the $100,000 Wells Fargo Tiburon Challenger.
Photo by Paul Bauman 

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   TIBURON, Calif. -- Add Peter Polansky to the list of accomplished players Christopher Eubanks has frustrated with his power in Northern California Challengers lately.
   Eubanks, a 22-year-old lifelong Atlantan, dispatched Canada's Polansky, the third seed and 2013 champion, 6-3, 6-3 in 57 minutes today to reach the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Wells Fargo Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   Eubanks, 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) and only 180 pounds (82 kilograms), pounded nine aces and ripped numerous passing shots and winners with his flat forehand and one-handed backhand.
   After Polansky broke serve for 3-5 in the second set on a rare unforced error by Eubanks, Polansky cracked, "Back on earth, baby!"
   Following their first career meeting, the 6-foot (1.83-meter) Polansky said Eubanks "played very, very aggressively today, especially in the first set. I don't think he missed one return. He was slapping everything, making me play extremely difficult balls. I felt under pressure every single game. I thought eventually he might slow down a little bit or just throw in some mistakes at key moments, but he didn't. I got frustrated with just how well he was playing.
   "In the second set, I felt I had a little chance to come back there at the end. I was still down a break, and I wasn't serving well. Mentally I was not quite there as well, but he played like four levels above what I expected him to play. I don't know if that's his normal game."
   In terms of aggression, at least, it is.
   "That's pretty much how I play," Eubanks allowed. "It's been a staple of my game for a long time."
   Eubanks proudly donned an Atlanta Braves cap before and after the match. The Braves clinched their first National League East crown since 2013 on Saturday.

Peter Polansky said Christopher
Eubanks "played like four levels
above what I expected him to play."
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Americans Michael Mmoh and Ernesto Escobedo can empathize with Polansky, who made news at the recent U.S. Open by becoming the first lucky loser (a player who falls in the last round of qualifying but advances to the main draw because of a withdrawal) at all four Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year.
   Mmoh, a promising 20-year-old, and Escobedo, who reached a career-high No. 67 last year in July, were almost helpless against Eubanks' booming serve in back-to-back matches in last month's $100,000 Challenger in Aptos, 98 miles (158 kilometers) south of Tiburon. Both Mmoh, seeded second, and Escobedo lost in two close sets, and Eubanks subsequently fell to South African Lloyd Harris, who had won the $75,000 Lexington (Ky.) Challenger the previous week, in the semifinals.
   Mmoh, however, defeated Eubanks 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 three weeks ago in the first round of the $150,000 Chicago Challenger to improve to 4-2 in the head-to-head series. Mmoh is seeded fifth in Tiburon, where he reached the final as a qualifier two years ago.
   Polansky hedged when asked if Eubanks, who's ranked No. 223, has top-20 potential or better.
   "It's tough to say right now," said Polansky, who reached a career-high No. 110 in June and is now No. 120. "He's still pretty far away from that. Does he have top-hundred potential? Yeah. Once he's top hundred, it's, 'OK, push for 90, push for 80.' A lot of players take that route rather than aiming straight for top 20, top 30."
   Eubanks will meet his former Atlantic Coast Conference rival, 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Noah Rubin, in Friday's quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Rubin, also 22, beat another former ACC star, wild card JC Aragone (Virginia,  2015-17), 7-6 (3), 6-4 after trailing 0-4 in the first set.
   "He's a great ball-striker, especially (in conditions) like this -- the court is fast and the ball is slow," Rubin, a product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York and the runner-up in the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016, said regarding his early deficit. "It's good for him just to keep ripping. I came out relatively slow moving-wise and was kind of playing into his game. Then I said, 'Stop (playing like that),' and found my openings in a couple games. I was like, 'Just stick with this set and see what you can do,' and I found my way back."

John-Patrick Smith of Australia reacts
after beating eighth-seeded Bjorn Frat-
angelo of Orlando, Fla., 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Eubanks turned pro last year after his junior season at Georgia Tech, where he was named the ACC Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017. Rubin made the leap after reaching the 2015 NCAA final, in which he lost to 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Ryan Shane of Virginia, as a freshman at Wake Forest.
   Rubin was 2-0 against Eubanks in college, but Eubanks won in the first round of the $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger in 2016 in their only meeting in a pro tournament. All three matches were straight-set wins.
   Also Friday, top-seeded Marcel Granollers, a 32-year-old Spaniard, will play unseeded John-Patrick Smith, a 29-year-old left-hander from Australia.
   Granollers, who attained career highs of No. 19 in singles in 2012 and No. 4 in doubles in 2013, defeated qualifier Cem Ilkel of Turkey 6-2, 7-5.
   Smith, the doubles champion in Tiburon two years ago and in San Francisco last year with countryman Matt Reid, beat eighth-seeded Bjorn Fratangelo of Orlando, Fla., 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Fratangelo advanced to the Tiburon singles quarterfinals for three consecutive years (2014-16).
   The quarterfinal matchups in the bottom half of the draw will be determined Thursday.
   In the first round of doubles, wild cards and defending champions Andre Goransson and Florian Lakat -- former Cal teammates from Sweden and France, respectively -- topped third-seeded Polansky and Jackson Withrow of College Station, Texas, 4-6, 6-3 [10-4].
   Here are the Tiburon singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule. The tournament is being streamed live.
   Admission is $20 through Thursday (free for club members), $25 on Friday, $30 on Saturday and $35 on Sunday ($55 for a Saturday-Sunday pass).

Kokkinakis, Harris to meet for 100K Aptos title

Fourth-seeded Thanasi Kokkinakis, shown Tuesday, beat
top-seeded Thomas Fabbiano 7-5, 6-1 today in the semi-
finals in Aptos, Calif. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Thanasi Kokkinakis, who beat Roger Federer in March, and red-hot Lloyd Harris will meet for the first time Sunday in the final of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger.
   The fourth-seeded Kokkinakis, a 22-year-old Australian, beat top-seeded Thomas Fabbiano, 29, of Italy 7-5, 6-1 today at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Harris, a 21-year-old South African, dismissed 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) Christopher Eubanks, 22, of Atlanta 6-2, 6-2 in only 46 minutes in a matchup of unseeded players.
   Harris' four matches in the tournament have averaged 55 minutes. His longest one, a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Liam Broady in the quarterfinals, lasted 64 minutes.
   Harris, who won his first Challenger title last week in a $75,000 tournament in Lexington, Ky., extended his winning streak to nine matches. He has not lost more than four games in any of them.
   Kokkinakis, 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters), is rebounding from multiple injuries. He had 11 aces and three double faults against the 5-foot-8 (1.73-meter) Fabbiano, ranked No. 105 after reaching a career-high No. 70 last September. Kokkinakis converted all four of his break points and saved six of seven against him.
   "He started playing really well, and I immediately felt I needed to raise my level and be a bit more switched-on," said Kokkinakis, who has plunged from a career-high No. 69 in June 2015 to No. 268. "I couldn't really sustain that at the start, but then I started to find my way into the match. I started to serve a lot better and played really well toward the end."
   Harris, 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters) finished with eight aces and one double fault. He won 73 percent of the points on both his first serve (22 of 30) and second delivery (11 of 15).
   "Really good performance once again," said Harris, ranked a career-high No. 161. "I felt I played tremendously well the whole match. I think I retrieved so many serves that he didn't expect. I was making him play every single point and really found my range to get the balls nice and deep and made it difficult for him to attack and play his game."
   Eubanks had no aces after hammering 10 in his 6-4, 7-6 (6) semifinal victory over former top-70 players Ernesto Escobedo. Eubanks, ranked No. 236, flexed his right wrist late in today's match.
   WTA tour -- No. 3 seed Sloane Stephens, a 25-year-old Fresno product, beat No. 5 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3 6-3 to reach the Rogers Cup final in Montreal.
   Stephens, now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will meet No. 1 seed Simona Halep in a rematch of the French Open final in June. Halep won that match 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 for her first Grand Slam title after going 0-3 in major finals.
   Halep advanced to the Montreal final with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 15 seed Ashleigh Barty of Australia.
   Stephens won her only Grand Slam singles title in last year's U.S. Open, beating countrywoman and close friend Madison Keys.
   ITF Pro Circuit -- Unseeded Kristie Ahn, a 26-year-old Stanford graduate, topped fellow American Jessica Pegula 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7), 6-4 in the semifinals of the Koser Jewelers $60,000 Tennis Challenge in Landisville, Pa.
   Ahn will play third-seeded Madison Brengle, a 28-year-old American who beat Priscilla Hon of Australia 7-5, 7-5.

Hoop dreams gone, Eubanks ousts No. 2 seed in Aptos

Christopher Eubanks eyes a backhand volley
while warming up to play No. 2 seed Michael
Mmoh on Wednesday. Photo by Paul Bauman

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   APTOS, Calif. — U.S. men's tennis has waited a long time for a player like this.
   Christopher Eubanks, a 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) African-American, is the type of athlete who typically goes to the NBA.
   "I love basketball," Eubanks admitted Wednesday. "If I could have a second life, I definitely would be a very serious basketball player, but things just didn't work out that way. My dad felt tennis was going to be the best career path for me, and reluctantly I went along with it. I think he made the right decision."
   Eubanks, a 22-year-old lifelong Atlanta resident, continued his rapid rise with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over another African-American, second-seeded Michael Mmoh, in the second round of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Eubanks likely is the tallest African-American pro player ever. Chip Hooper, a San Francisco Bay Area product who peaked at No. 17 in the world in 1982, comes close at 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters).
   But Hooper, who weighed 210 pounds (95 kilograms), was pure power. Eubanks, only 180 pounds (82 kg.) with Manute Bol-like arms and legs, has plenty of that and can move, although there's room for improvement.
   Eubanks converted his sixth match point against Mmoh, the 20-year-old son of Nigerian former pro Tony Mmoh, with an inside-out forehand on the alley line. Mmoh briefly questioned the call.
   Mmoh — "the most athletic player you'll ever see on a tennis court," according to friend and fellow U.S. hopeful Reilly Opelka — was almost helpless against Eubanks' booming serve on a typically brisk night in this seaside resort. Eubanks finished with seven aces and four double faults, won 88 percent of the points on his first serve (43 of 49) and escaped the only break point against him.

Michael Mmoh, warming up on Wednesday, lost to Christopher
Eubanks for the first time in four matches. Photo by Paul Bauman  

   The 236th-ranked Eubanks, who also displayed a punishing forehand and one-handed backhand, recorded his first victory over the 135th-ranked Mmoh in four career matches.
   "A lot of our matches tend to be a little bit like (tonight's) — (my) offense versus (his) defense," Eubanks said. "On the other occasions, Mike just played too good. I might have let some moments go when we played in the past, but he plays how he plays. He's a fighter; he's a competitor. He made me come up with the goods, and I couldn't do it before. Today I did a good job of staying consistent, playing very dominant first point to last."
   Also Wednesday, 20-year-old Frances Tiafoe upset Milos Raonic to reach the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, and Evan King and Nathan Pasha advanced to the doubles quarterfinals in the Nordic Naturals Challenger. Tiafoe, who will crack the top 40 for the first time on Monday, King and Pasha are African-American.
   It appears African-Americans are making progress in men's professional tennis.
    "Absolutely," Eubanks asserted. "I've said it before: The more kids are able to see it and believe it, the more you'll see — I don't want to say a rush — but more African-American boys and girls introduced to the sport. If I hadn't had guys from the south side of Atlanta who were high-level tennis players, honestly I wouldn't have believed it was possible.
   "I feel like it's a visual thing. Kids will be whatever they see and believe is possible. The more Frances Tiafoe, Michael Mmoh, Donald Young and hopefully myself can get out there and show kids this life is possible — it just takes work, a little luck and a lot of resources — if you devote your time and you find the right people around you, it's definitely a possible career path."

No. 8 seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India narrowly avoided an
upset by young American JC Aragone in a 2-hour, 30-minute
slugfest. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Eubanks will meet unseeded Ernesto Escobedo, also 22, in Friday's quarterfinals. Escobedo, who has plummeted from a career-high No. 67 in July 2017 to No. 188, topped qualifier Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 7-6 (6), 7-6 (1).
   In the other half of the draw, fourth-seeded Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia will meet eighth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India.
   Kokkinakis, who stunned Roger Federer in the second round at Miami in March, wore down Kaichi Uchida of Japan 7-5, 6-0.
   Gunneswaran, a 28-year-old left-hander, was fortunate to outlast 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) JC Aragone, 23, of Yorba Linda in the Los Angeles area, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a 2-hour, 30-minute slugfest. Aragone, who helped Virginia win the NCAA title in all three of his years there, double-faulted while holding a match point at 5-4 in the second set and on break point in that game.
   Eubanks began playing at 2.
   "I have an older brother (Mark Jr.) who played, and when I came along (12 years later), my dad put me in the sport with him," Eubanks said.
   Eubanks' father prohibited him from playing on his high school basketball team.
   "I took advanced courses in high school," Eubanks explained. "I'd tell my dad that I would stay after school for tutoring, and I would go to tutoring for about 10 minutes, then I would scrimmage with the basketball team.

   "The basketball coach told me I had a spot on the team if I wanted it. I told my dad eagerly, 'Coach Rogers said I could play on the team.' Sternly he looked me in the face and said, 'No.' That was the extent of my basketball dreams."

JC Aragone was brilliant from the baseline against Prajnesh
Gunneswaran but double-faulted while holding a match point
and on break point in that game. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Eubanks has been mentored by Atlanta products Donald Young, who reached a career-high No. 38 in 2012, and Jarmere Jenkins, the 2013 NCAA singles runner-up and doubles champion from Virginia with Mac Styslinger and now Serena Williams' hitting partner.

   "Traveling with Donald Young kind of opened my eyes to see what professional tennis was like," said Eubanks, who has the one thing the former prodigy lacks — size. "If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have known how to go about playing Challengers or preparation or how to be diligent in practice every day.
   "He allowed me to travel with him to the French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open and a few other tournaments. I said, 'Wow, this is what professional tennis is; this is what I really want to do.' 

   Eubanks played at Georgia Tech in Atlanta for three years, earning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors in his last two (2016 and 2017). He reached the quarterfinals of his hometown tournament on the ATP World Tour last summer, defeating top U.S. prospects Taylor Fritz and Jared Donaldson, and turned pro last October.
   Eubanks' first and only Challenger title, in Leon, Mexico, at an elevation of 5,955 feet (1,815 meters) in April, was particularly satisfying.
   "I made the final (the previous week) in Guadalajara (at an elevation of 5,138 feet or 1,566 meters) and lost 7-6 in the third," Eubanks recalled. "I left that tournament feeling like I was at rock bottom to go to Leon. I ended up winning that tournament 7-6 in the third in the final, so to go from as low as I felt like I could — because I honestly didn't know if I was good enough to get back to a Challenger final anytime soon — to not only get back but to win it in the same fashion I lost the first one was pretty cool."

   It isn't difficult to identify Eubanks' biggest strength.
   "Definitely my serve," he proclaimed. "I think my match today definitely revolved around my serve. If I don't serve well, I definitely don't win this match."
   Eubanks is working on "getting stronger. Movement is a big thing. Getting out of the corners is a thing I tend to struggle with a little bit right now. I'm hoping as I continue to grow I will get stronger and work a little more diligently on the return and the movement out of the corners.
   "Those are two areas I'm really focusing on. I think I can be a much better player. And always continuing to get the serve as good as possible. The better the serve can be, the higher my trajectory is."
   Eubanks is making his second appearance in Aptos. He played the 2016 tournament on Young's recommendation.

   "Young said, 'I won my first Challenger title in Aptos (in 2007). You'll love it there,' " Eubanks said. "I lost 6-2, 6-1 to Eric Quigley in the first round and was on the next flight home. Now I know what (Young) meant."   

   Here are the updated Aptos singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule. Live streaming is available.