Brooksby upsets No. 15 Auger-Aliassime; Mertens wins

Jenson Brooksby is approaching the top 100 just over
seven months after turning pro. 2021 photo courtesy
of USTA

   Jenson Brooksby continued his meteoric rise today, ousting Felix Auger-Aliassime, seeded second and ranked 15th, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

   Brooksby, a wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area playing in his first ATP 500 tournament, dominated Auger-Aliassime on the baseline and confounded the Canadian with deft drop shots in a matchup of 20-year-olds.

   Auger-Aliassime defeated Roger Federer en route to the semifinals on grass in Halle, Germany, in June and reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon last month.

   Brooksby turned pro in late December and advanced to the final of the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I., last month in the first grass-court tournament of his life. He will rise at least 15 places to a career-high No. 115 after this week.

   Brooksby is scheduled to play No. 11 seed John Millman of Australia on Friday at 11 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). Millman, ranked No. 43, beat 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka of Delray Beach, Fla., 6-3, 7-6 (4).

   Millman stunned Federer to reach the quarterfinals of the 2018 U.S. Open and won Northern California Challengers in 2010 and 2015.

   Also today, No. 14 seed Lloyd Harris of South Africa stunned top-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Harris won the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 6-4, 6-4 in their third meeting since late April.

   McDonald beat reigning champion Nick Kyrgios and No. 13 seed Benoit Paire of France in the first two  rounds. Ivashka knocked off No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the second round.

   Ivashka, 27, defeated McDonald in two European clay-court tournaments in the spring. 

   WTA Tour in San Jose, Calif. — Top-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium outlasted Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   In her first quarterfinal in her last seven tournaments, Mertens will play eighth-seeded Yulia Putintseva, a Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan.

   Putintseva, a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, eliminated Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Tomljanovic reached her first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon last month and the final of the last (2017) Sacramento Challenger.

   Second-seeded Elena Rybakina, another Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, topped Claire Liu, a 21-year-old wild card from Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles region, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2. Rybakina advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in this year's French Open.

No. 7 seed Danielle Collins, above, beat Sloane Stephens, below, in three sets
to reach the quarterfinals in San Jose, Calif. Photos by Mal Taam

   In tonight's featured match (Tennis Channel), seventh-seeded Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., defeated Sloane Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif., 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

   Collins has won her last seven matches, including her first career WTA title two weeks ago on clay in Palermo. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, played in her first tournament in Northern California in nine years.

   Mertens and Collins reached the semifinals of the inaugural (2018) Silicon Valley Classic but did not play each other.

   Here is Friday's schedule.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) became the first Eygptian to reach a WTA quarterfinal, dismissing wild card Alexandra Eala, a 16-year-old left-hander from the Philippines, 6-2, 6-2 on clay.

   Sherif also advanced to the doubles semifinals, teaming with Katarzyna Piter of Poland to beat Katarzyna Kawa of Poland and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4.

Fratangelo beats Brooksby for Cleveland Challenger title

Bjorn Fratangelo won his fourth career Challenger singles title and first since
Fairfield, Calif., in 2018. File photo by Paul Bauman 

   Bjorn "Borg" Fratangelo ended his title drought and Jenson Brooksby "Brothers'" winning streak today.

   Fratangelo, a Pittsburgh, Pa., native based in Orlando, Fla., beat Brooksby, from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, 7-5, 6-4 today to win the $52,080 Cleveland Open on the ATP Challenger Tour. Both players were unseeded.

   The 27-year-old Fratangelo, who was named after Bjorn Borg, won his fourth career Challenger singles title and first since Fairfield, Calif., in 2018. He did not play from January to September last year, including the five-month pandemic break. 

   Fratangelo also snapped the 20-year-old Brooksby's winning streak at nine matches. Brooksby turned pro in December and won his first Challenger title last month in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

   Fratangelo, who pocketed $7,200, will soar 53 places in the world rankings to No. 233 on Monday after climbing to a career-high No. 99 in 2016. Brooksby, who earned $4,240, will jump 24 spots to a career-high No. 230.

   The players traded service breaks in the first two games of the match. Brooksby saved a break point for 2-2, three break points for 4-4 and a set point for 5-5. After Fratangelo held for 6-5, he broke Brooksby at love for the set.

   In the second set, Fratangelo served for the match after breaking for 5-3, but Brooksby broke back at love. Brooksby led 40-0 in the next game, but Fratangelo won the next four points to earn a championship point. Brooksby saved it and then earned a game point. Fratangelo reeled off the following three points, converting his second championship point with an inside-out forehand passing shot.

   ATP Tour in Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Wild card Aslan "Forty" Karatsev of Russia defeated qualifier Lloyd "Kamala" Harris 6-3, 6-2 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Both players were seeking their first ATP title.

   Karatsev, an Australian Open semifinalist as a qualifier last month, collected $149,490. Ranked No. 112 at the beginning of the year, he will rise 15 places to a career-high No. 27.

   Harris, who won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger and advanced to the final of the $100,000 Aptos Challenger in Northern California in 2018, settled for $110,530. He will jump 29 spots to a career-high No. 52.

   College women — No. 26 Stanford, which has won the last two NCAA championships and three of the last four, defeated visiting Arizona 5-2 to improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Pacific-12 Conference. The Cardinal beat No. 25 Arizona State 4-1 on Friday at Stanford.

   No. 20 California drubbed visiting Arizona State 6-1 to improve to 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12. The Bears routed Arizona 7-0 on Friday in Berkeley, Calif.

Brooksby overcomes big deficit to reach Challenger final

Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento
area, rallied from 2-6, 2-5, saving two match points, in
today's victory. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Jenson Brooksby "Brothers" had no business winning today's match in the $52,080 Cleveland Open.

   He did anyway. As usual, mental toughness had a lot to do with it.

   After trailing 6-2, 5-2, the 20-year-old resident of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area saved two match points and reeled off nine consecutive games en route to a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 semifinal victory over third-seeded Emilio "Estevez" Gomez of Ecuador in 2 hours, 21 minutes. 

   The unseeded Brooksby, who won turned pro in December and won his first Challenger title last month in Potchefstroom, South Africa, extended his winning streak to nine matches.

   For almost two full sets, the 29-year-old Gomez looked like the second coming of his father, 1990 French Open champion Andres Gomez, getting everything back. But as the pressure mounted, he looked like Gomez Addams, spraying shots all over the place.

   Brooksby took a medical timeout for an apparent leg problem at 6-5 in the second set but seemed fine for the rest of the match.

   Brooksby, who will jump at least 25 places to a career-high No. 229 on Monday, is scheduled to face 27-year-old American Bjorn "Borg" Fratangelo, unseeded at No. 286 after reaching a career-high No. 99 in 2016, for the first time on Saturday at noon. PDT. The match will be streamed live.

   Fratangelo, whose last title came in the 2018 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger, defeated compatriot Aleksandar Kovacevic, a 22-year-old qualifier ranked No. 537, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

   ATP Tour in Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Lloyd "Kamala" Harris of South Africa became the first qualifier to reach the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final, surprising third-seeded Denis Shapovalov of Canada, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6) in 2:41.

   Shapovalov, a 21-year-old left-hander ranked 12th, essentially threw the match away with double faults in the second set after leading 4-2. 

   Harris, 24, advanced to his first ATP 500 final with his second victory over a top-15 player in the tournament. He ousted Dominic Thiem, seeded first and ranked fourth, in the second round.

   Harris, who won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger and reached the final of the $100,000 Aptos Challenger in Northern California in 2018, is scheduled to play wild card Aslan "Forty" Karatsev of Russia for the first time on Saturday at 8 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). 

   Karatsev, an Australian Open semifinalist as a qualifier last month, ousted countryman Andrey Rublev, seeded second, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

   ATP Tour in Acapulco, Mexico — Second-seeded Alexander Zverev, the Acapulco runner-up in 2019, topped Dominik Koepfer, an unseeded left-hander, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a semifinal matchup of Germans.

   The 26-year-old Koepfer, who reached NorCal Challenger finals in 2018 and 2019, double-faulted twice while serving for the second set at 5-3 in his first ATP semifinal. He eliminated fourth-seeded Milos Raonic in the second round.

   In the doubles semifinals, unseeded brothers Ken and Neal "Officer" Skupski of Great Britain beat fourth-seeded Rajeev Ram "Tough," a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury "Steak" of Great Britain 6-4, 7-6 (5).

   Ram, who turned 37 on Thursday, and Salisbury, 28, were playing in their first tournament since losing in the Australian Open final as the defending champions.

Harris stuns Thiem in Dubai; lucky loser outs Stephens

Lloyd Harris, who starred in Northern California Challengers in 2018,
 recorded his first victory over a top-five player. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Qualifier Lloyd Harris of South Africa shocked top-seeded Dominic "Home" Thiem, the reigning U.S. Open champion, 6-3, 6-4 today in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, an ATP 500 tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

   The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Harris won 29 of 30 points on his first serve and did not face a break point against the fourth-ranked Thiem.

   Harris, who won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger and reached the final of the $100,000 Aptos Challenger in Northern California in 2018, recorded his first victory against a top-five player.

   "I'm super, super happy with that win," the 24-year-old Harris, who claimed his first top-20 win against Stan "The Man" Wawrinka, then No. 20, in the first round last week in Doha, Qatar, said in an on-court interview. "(He is) by far the highest-ranked player I have beaten. I look up to Domi a lot, so, for me, it is a special feeling. I am really happy. Just the fact that I am playing good tennis, match in, match out is giving me a lot of confidence."

   Harris, ranked No. 81, is scheduled to play 14th-seeded "Prince" Filip Krajinovic, ranked No. 33, of Serbia on Wednesday for a quarterfinal berth. 

   WTA Tour in Monterrey, Mexico — Sloane "Ranger" Stephens' woes continued with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Slovakia's Kristina "Aguilera" Kucova, a lucky loser ranked No. 151, in the first round of the Abierto GNP Seguros, a WTA 250 tournament.

   The top-seeded Stephens, a Fresno, Calif., product who will turn 28 on Saturday, fell to 1-7 since the U.S. Open last September. The 2017 U.S. Open champion has tumbled from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 48.

   ATP Challenger Tour in Cleveland — In a battle of the last two USTA boys 18 national champions, Jenson Brooksby "Brothers," 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area topped Zachary "Taylor" Svajda, 18, of San Diego 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in the opening round of the $52,080 Cleveland Open. 

   Brooksby, who's coming off his first Challenger title in February in Potchefstroom, South Africa, is set to play sixth-seeded Brayden Schnur of Canada for the first time on Wednesday. Schnur held off U.S. qualifier Felix Corwin 7-6 (0), 7-6 (4).

Harris pulls off big comeback to stun veteran Young

No. 2 seed Lloyd Harris rallied from two breaks
down at 2-5 in the third set and saved two match
points in a win over former top-40 player Donald
Young today in the first round of the $100,000 Fair-
field (Calif.) Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman 

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   FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- Donald Young has 103 singles victories on the ATP World Tour, the major leagues of men's tennis, to Lloyd Harris' one.
   But Harris has something that Young doesn't at the moment.
   Confidence. A lot of it.
   That was the difference in their first-round match today in the $100,000 NorthBay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship.
   The second-seeded Harris rallied from two service breaks down at 2-5 in the third set and saved two match points in a 7-6 (12), 4-6, 7-5 victory at Solano Community College. The nerve-wracking match lasted 2 hours, 33 minutes in 81-degree (27.2 Celsius) heat.
   "I think (confidence) got me the first set, and it also got me back from 2-5," asserted Harris, a 21-year-old South African. "Confidence definitely helps, especially on the big points."
   Whereas Harris has skyrocketed from No. 291 at the beginning of the year to a career-high No. 113, Young has tumbled from No. 61 to No. 264 over the same period and from a career-high No. 38 in 2012.
   In singles this year, Young is 3-12 on the ATP World Tour and now 4-7 on the Challenger circuit. He did beat three-time Grand Slam singles champion Stan Wawrinka, rebounding from knee surgery, in a third-set tiebreaker in the first round at Washington this summer as a qualifier.
   Young, a 29-year-old left-hander from Atlanta once considered the future of U.S. men's tennis, made his first appearance in Northern California since reaching the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger in 2013. He has won four Challenger singles titles in NorCal.
   "Playing a former top-40 player in the first round, it's not easy -- that's for sure," Harris said. "I think everybody saw the ability he has. He makes it look easy at times."

Donald Young has tumbled from a career-high No. 38
in 2012 to No. 264. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Harris stunned French veteran Gael Monfils, ranked 38th after reaching a career-high sixth in 2016, two weeks ago in Chengdu, China, for his first ATP main-draw victory and won last week's $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Pro Open for his second career Challenger singles title.
   "Today I was struggling to find my game," Harris admitted. "When you can pull through with a 'W' on days like that, I think that's what really counts."
   At 2-5 in the third set, Harris said he "was just like, 'Maybe he gets nervous. He hasn't won as many matches as he'd like maybe this year.' I thought maybe some nerves will kick in and maybe somehow I play more free. That's kind of what happened. I started playing a little better, more aggressive, and started moving better. Then all of a sudden, I play my best tennis from 5-2 down in the third."
   Young had six set points in the first-set tiebreaker. He double-faulted on the third one and on his first match point at 5-4 in the third set. Two points later, Harris escaped another match point with an inside-out forehand winner. On Harris' first match point, Young sailed a forehand approach barely long.
   "The tiebreaker was very draining," Harris said. "I thought I lost it like four times, so to come back and win it, that was awesome. It kept me in the match, obviously. He won the second set, then I came back from 2-5. My friend was telling me, 'Keep fighting; maybe you'll get a chance.' I was like, 'Yeah, sure.' I was fighting. I was playing unbelievable on the big points and somehow managed to get back."
   Harris finished with 17 aces and 12 double faults and saved 13 of 17 break points against him. Young had three aces and 11 double faults and survived two of the six break points he faced.
   Australia's Marc Polmans, the Stockton runner-up, lost to JC Aragone of Yorba Linda in the Los Angeles area 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3.

No. 8 seed Alex Bolt beat fellow Australian and
close friend Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Bolt
will face wild card Collin Altamirano of Sacramen-
to on Wednesday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Aragone's doubles partner at the University of Virginia last year, wild card Collin Altamirano of Sacramento, will play eighth-seeded Alex Bolt of Australia for the first time on Wednesday. Bolt, a 25-year-old left-hander, withstood 16 aces to defeat his childhood friend Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
   Bolt also beat Kokkinakis in the final round of qualifying at Wimbledon this year before losing to 21st-seeded Kyle Edmund of Great Britain in the first round of the main draw.
   Kokkinakis, who climbed as high as No. 69 in 2015 at age 19 before injuries derailed his career, shocked Roger Federer in the second round in Miami in March and won the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in August. Aptos is a two-hour drive south of Fairfield.
   "I was just trying to keep my level consistent," said Bolt, a two-time Australian Open doubles quarterfinalist. "Thanasi, his best game is up there with the best players, so I just had to weather the storm and was lucky enough to get on top."
   Top-seeded Jordan Thompson of Australia downed Jay Clarke of Great Britain 7-6 (3), 6-1, avenging a three-set loss to Clarke in the final of the $75,000 Binghamton (N.Y.) Challenger in July.
   Third-seeded Noah Rubin of Long Island, N.Y., beat wild card Axel Geller, a Stanford sophomore from Argentina, 6-3, 6-4.
   Rubin, a product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, reached the singles quarterfinals and won the doubles title (with Darian King of Barbados) last week in Stockton.
   Geller ended 2017 as the No. 1 junior in the world after advancing to the Wimbledon and U.S. Open boys singles finals that year. He also won the Wimbledon boys doubles crown with Hsu Yu-hsiou of Chinese Taipei in 2017.
   In tonight's featured singles match, Dominik Koepfer of Germany outplayed seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4.
   Koepfer, a 24-year-old former All-American at Tulane, was the runner-up to Jason Jung, a Los Angeles-area native who plays for Chinese Taipei, in the $100,000 San Francisco Challenger in February. Fairfield is a 45-minute drive northeast of San Francisco.
   The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Karlovic, 39, reached the final of last week's $150,000 Challenger in Monterrey, Mexico, losing to former world No. 3 David Ferrer, 36, of Spain.
   Here are the Fairfield singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule. The tournament is being streamed live.

Harris thrives, Brengle survives in windy Stockton finals

Fourth-seeded Lloyd Harris, right, of South Africa beat eighth-seeded
Marc Polmans of Australia 6-2, 6-2 today to win the $100,000 Stockton
(Calif.) Pro Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

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   STOCKTON, Calif. — Lloyd Harris didn't just beat Marc Polmans today.
   Harris also defeated Mother Nature, quite a feat considering all the damage she is doing around the world with increasing frequency.
   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) South African continued his remarkable rise this year with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Australia's Polmans in a matchup of 21-year-old friends to win the $100,000 Stockton Pro Open.
   Despite wind gusts that plagued the final for the second consecutive year at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center, Harris held serve throughout the match.
   "Before the match, I knew it was going to be tricky, so I just got myself in a positive mindset to expect anything and very difficult points," the fourth-seeded Harris said. "I was just mentally ready for it to be very difficult out there. I found my game somehow in the wind, and that was just amazing for me."

   Top-seeded Madison Brengle of Dover, Del., won the women's $60,000 tournament, topping unseeded Danielle Lao of Arcadia in the Los Angeles area 7-5, 7-6 (10). Lao, only 5-foot-2 1/2 (1.59 meters) and 115 pounds (52.2 kilograms), had one set point in the first set and four in the second-set tiebreaker.

Lloyd Harris held his serve throughout the final, saving
three break points against him. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Harris defeated Polmans for the first time in three career matches and pocketed $14,400 for the second and biggest Challenger title of his career. He won a $75,000 tournament in Lexington, Ky., in August and reached the final of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger the following week.
   Two weeks after Aptos, Harris qualified for a Grand Slam tournament in only his third attempt, losing in the first round of the U.S. Open to veteran Gilles Simon in straight sets.
   Harris last week qualified for a tournament on the ATP World Tour, the major leagues of men's tennis, for the third time and shocked Gael Monfils in the opening round in Chengdu, China, for his first ATP victory. Harris then lost to eventual champion Bernard Tomic in a third-set tiebreaker.
   Both Simon and Monfils are Frenchmen who have been ranked as high as No. 6.
   With the Stockton title, Harris rose eight places to a career-high No. 113, up from No. 340 on Feb. 26. Polmans, who collected $8,480, almost has mirrored Harris' year. Ranked No. 323 at the beginning of 2018, he improved 14 spots to a career-high No. 147 by reaching the Stockton final.
   The eighth-seeded Polmans lost his serve in the opening game of each set, the first time when Harris returned a second delivery with an explosive passing shot and the second time on a double fault.
   "Those first games in the first and second set were pretty crucial to try to get in front on the scoreboard and maybe put a bit more pressure on him," admitted Polmans, who moved from his native South Africa to Australia when he was 10. "I think that was a very important key to the match. Hopefully next time I can come out with a better start, and that's something I've got to improve on."

Top-seeded Madison Brengle topped unseeded
Danielle Lao 7-5, 7-6 (10) in an all-American
final. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Harris also broke for 5-2 in the first set when Polmans netted a backhand and for 4-1 in the second set on another big return of a second serve.
   "I definitely played the important points very well, and I think I served a lot better than him in the wind," said Harris, who lost his serve only once in his five matches during the week. "Those were some of the keys to my success today."
   Harris won 71 percent of the points on his second serve (17 of 24) to only 37 percent (7 of 19) for the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Polmans and saved all three break points against him.
   "Lloyd had a really good day today," conceded Polmans, who reached the doubles semifinals in the 2017 Australian Open with Aussie Andrew Whittington and won a preposterous 24 consecutive singles matches (mostly at the lower Futures level) in Australia early this year. "He was returning well and wasn't giving me too many cheap points. It just came down to a few points, and Lloyd was able to play a lot better on the big points. It was still a great week, so I'm not too disappointed."
   Of today's four singles finalists, Harris was the only one who didn't struggle in the wind. The women's final featured 15 service breaks, including six straight entering the second-set tiebreaker.
   The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Brengle converted her second match point when Lao, who had taken a medical timeout for a lower back problem early in the second set, sliced a backhand long.

Danielle Lao wore down after a tough
trip to the final. Photo by Paul Bauman

 Brengle, 28, was much fresher than Lao, 27, for the final.
   After beating Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway 6-4, 7-5 in the first round, Brengle averaged only 68 minutes on the court in her three matches before the final.
   Lao, meanwhile, spent 4 hours, 42 minutes on the court on Thursday alone in two victories after  her first-round match, scheduled for Wednesday, had been postponed by rain.
   Lao then routed 16-year-old phenom Whitney Osuigwe 6-2, 6-0 in 1 hour, 30 minutes on Friday and ousted second-seeded Jessica Pegula 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 57 minutes on Saturday.
   "I'm a little banged up right now," Lao, a former USC All-American nicknamed the "Little Giant," admitted after the final. "I think the first day with two matches started to add up, and yesterday night after the tough Pegula match, my back was stiffening up. Thankfully, it loosened up during warmup, but playing in the wind, you reach for a lot of shots, and it stiffened up midway through. Playing someone like Madison, I don't think you can have anything like that limit you, especially when you have to move and adjust a lot in these tough conditions. It's unfortunate, but it's part of the sport."
   Brengle, who improved to 2-1 against Lao, refused to talk to a reporter who had asked about her lawsuit against the WTA and International Tennis Federation on Wednesday. After initially declining to discuss the matter with the reporter, she cooperated and then complained to the tournament supervisor.

Madison Brengle won her third ITF singles title this year and
the 13th of her career. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Brengle, ranked a career-high No. 35 in 2015, rose seven notches to No. 88. She earned $9,119 for her third ITF singles title this year and the 13th of her career.
   Lao, who has qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, improved 24 places to No. 194, one spot below her career high last year. She received $4,863 after appearing in her first final above a $25,000 tournament.
   "New territory," Lao said. "Hopefully I can do a little better next time."
   In the women's doubles final, Hayley Carter of Hilton Head, S.C., and Ena Shibahara of Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles region edged Quinn Gleason of Mendon, N.Y., and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 7-5, 5-7 [10-7]. Both teams were unseeded.
   Here are the completed Stockton men's singles and doubles draws and women's singles and doubles draws.
   Here are the singles qualifying and main draws, doubles draw and Monday's schedule in the $100,000 Northbay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship at Solano Community College in Fairfield, Calif. The tournament is being streamed live.

Stockton finals to feature childhood friends, little Lao

No. 4 seed Lloyd Harris of South Africa beat No. 1 seed
Jordan Thompson of Australia in the semifinals of the
Stockton (Calif.) Pro Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Note to readers: If you enjoy my coverage of Northern California tennis, please donate on my homepage. Even $5 or $10 will help. Here's why I need your support. Thank you.
   STOCKTON, Calif. — Even though Lloyd Harris is from South Africa and Marc Polmans plays for Australia, the 21-year-olds became friends as kids.
   Polmans was born in South Africa and lived there until moving to Australia at age 10.
   "We grew up playing together," Polmans said today. "We played all through the under-8s and under-10s. We were always the two who took tennis the most seriously, so we were always practicing together and going to tournaments together. Our parents know each other very well. He's a very close family friend."
   Harris, seeded fourth, and Polmans, seeded eighth, will meet for the singles title on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the $100,000 Stockton Pro Open at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   In the singles final of the Stockton Women's $60K, top-seeded Madison Brengle will play tiny fellow American Danielle Lao, who's unseeded, after the 10:30 a.m. doubles final.
   Harris and Polmans have more in common than their age. Both overcame deficits in the semifinals and have soared in the rankings this year with impressive feats, including their first Challenger singles title. The primary difference between them is size and power. At 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters), Harris is three inches (7.6 centimeters) taller than Polmans.
   Harris beat top-seeded Jordan Thompson of Australia 7-6 (6), 6-2 on a windy day, gaining confidence after rallying from two mini-breaks down at 2-5 in the tiebreaker and saving two set points in the set.
  "I felt like I really stepped up in the second set," said Harris, who took a medical timeout after the first set after tearing skin on his left foot by running through his shoe. "I started playing a lot more aggressive, going for bigger forehands and serving a lot bigger, a lot better. I think that really pulled me over."

No. 8 seed Marc Polmans of Australia
eliminated unseeded Maxime Janvier of
France. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Harris hammered 15 aces to two for the 6-foot (1.83-meter) Thompson, won 81 percent of the points on his first serve (39 of 48) and saved all five break points against him.
   "I served really big, and I hit some really big shots off the ground, and maybe that was the key," said Harris, whose serve has been clocked at more than 136 mph (220 kph).
   Thompson has dropped from a career-high No. 63 in February 2017 to No. 106 after having his tonsils removed last last year. He stunned top-ranked Andy Murray in the first round of a Wimbledon tune-up tournament in June last year.
   Polmans eliminated unseeded Maxime Janvier of France 6-1, 6-4, coming back from 0-3 (one service break) in the second set.
   "I don't think I was doing too much wrong," Polmans said of the deficit. "He came out smoking a few winners off my serve, and I think he came out with a slightly different game plan for the second set. He started ripping as much as he could and coming forward, and it took me a bit by surprise. I tried to adjust and was able to get the break back in the second."

   Janvier, a 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) right-hander, took a medical timeout after holding serve for 4-3 in the second set to have his right forearm treated. He also took one for a left-foot problem during his quarterfinal victory over 2017 runner-up Darian King of Barbados on Friday. Janvier, 21, did not appear hindered by either issue against Polmans.
   Janvier survived 32 aces by second-seeded Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) American, in the first round and four match points against King.
   Polmans is 2-0 against Harris with victories in the final of two hardcourt Futures tournaments in Africa in 2016.
   Harris has skyrocketed from No. 340 in the world on Feb. 26 to No. 121. In three consecutive Challengers over the summer, he won the title in $75,000 Lexington (Ky.), reached the final in $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) and advanced to the quarterfinals in $100,000 Vancouver (British Columbia).
   Harris then qualified for a Grand Slam tournament in only his third attempt, losing in the first round of the U.S. Open. Harris last week shocked Gael Monfils, ranked No. 38 after reaching a career-high No. 6 in 2016, in the first round as a qualifier in Chengdu, China, for his first main-draw victory on the ATP World Tour, the major leagues of men's tennis. Harris then lost to eventual champion Bernard Tomic in a third-set tiebreaker.

   "I'm just working hard regardless on a match day or not, just putting in some extra hours on and off the court," Harris said of his rise. "If it's fitness or mobility or taking better care of my body, I feel like I'm just doing everything a little bit better this year, working on my game and really trying to make some improvements all the time, and that's paid off."

Tiny Danielle Lao rallied to beat fellow American
Jessica Pegula, seeded No. 2. Photo by Paul Bauman

   When he's not playing in a tournament, Harris said he practices for five hours, then does fitness work for 60 to 90 minutes and lifts weights for 30 to 40 minutes.
   Polmans said he moved to Australia with his family — his father, Gavin, is a financial planner, and mother, Nicola, stays at home — for "many reasons. The lifestyle was obviously a lot better in Australia. It's much safer, and the economy is a lot better. Also, the tennis system is a lot wealthier. They have a Grand Slam, so it's a very wealthy country for tennis. When I was young, it was better for schooling as well."
   Polmans reached the Australian Open doubles semifinals last year with Aussie Andrew Whittington and won a preposterous 24 consecutive singles matches in Australia early this year. He claimed the title in the $75,000 Launceston Challenger and three Futures tournaments and advanced to the final of another Futures tourney.
   The streak has helped Polmans cut his singles ranking almost exactly in half, from No. 323 to No. 161, in 2018.
   When asked what his biggest strength is, Polmans replied: "Just compete for every point and make points tough because I don't have the biggest weapons out there. I have to work my opponent from side to side. I have to rely on making points physical. In the future, I hope to play a bigger game style because I think that will be more successful at the next level."
   Polmans is immediately recognizable by his legionnaire's cap, popularized by Ivan Lendl during his International Tennis Hall of Fame career.
   "I've worn it ever since I was 8 years old," Polmans said. "It feels very normal, and I cannot play without it because I don't like the feeling of the sun on my neck. In Australia, the sun is very dangerous. ... It's cool to bring the tradition back."
   Lao, only 5-foot-2 1/2 (1.59 meters) and 115 pounds (52.2 kilograms), beat second seed and countrywoman Jessica Pegula, whose parents own the Buffalo Bills of the NFL and Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.
   "She was playing some of the best tennis I've ever seen in the first set," said Lao, 27, of Arcadia in the Los Angeles area. "She kind of knew where my shots were going to go, and when I pressed her, she came up with a winner.

No. 1 seed Madison Brengle of Dover, Del.,
crushed No. 3 seed Sofya Zhuk, an 18-year-
old Russian, 6-1, 6-1. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   "I took a bathroom break to walk it out a little bit. I think my energy level picked up a bit in the second set, and maybe I found a little opening on her. She had a couple more errors than she did in the first — she played nearly perfect tennis in the first set — and I just capitalized, and maybe she brought her game down a little bit. That's all it takes out here."
   Lao's first-round match, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed by rain. She played twice on Thursday, edging U.S. veteran Sanaz Marand 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (4) in 3 hours, 1 minute and upsetting fourth-seeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour, 41 minutes.
   Lao, a former USC All-American who has qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, relies on intelligence, mental toughness and quickness.
   "I think it's just accepting that I will not hit harder than (bigger players), so I need to find other ways to play a point that I want," said the 218th-ranked Lao, nicknamed "The Little Giant." "Maybe it's a little change in pace, maybe it's with accuracy, and sometimes it's with my foot speed. It just depends on the player and the day. Altogether, it's a mind game. It's about me extracting a strategy that I want to implement and just executing it."
   Brengle, 28, of Dover, Del., crushed third-seeded Sofya Zhuk, an 18-year-old Russian, 6-1, 6-1 in 66 minutes. Zhuk won the Wimbledon girls singles title three years ago.
   Brengle has tumbled from a career-high No. 35 in 2015 to No. 95. The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) right-hander is suing the WTA and International Tennis Federation for requiring an anti-doping blood test in 2016 that she says continues to cause severe pain in her right forearm and hand.
   Brengle, who reached the fourth round of the 2015 Australian Open and beat Serena Williams in 2017, and Lao have split two career matches. In their last meeting, Brengle won 6-4, 6-7 (9), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2014.
   "She really knows how to play the game," Lao said. "She's seen a lot of tennis, and she's super-accurate. She reads matches and players really well. She's a really smart player. She's open to making adjustments and the right adjustments. I think that's what makes her the toughest. She can play a lot of different ways. She's going to compete hard, too."

   In today's men's doubles final, unseeded Darian King of Barbados and Noah Rubin of Long Island, N.Y., beat top-seeded Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia 6-3, 6-4. King and Rubin split $6,200, and Ratiwatana and Rungkat shared $3,600.

   Sunday's ticket prices are $25 for courtside/VIP, $20 for general admission and $10 for children 5-12.

   Here are the Stockton men's singles and doubles draws and Sunday's schedule, plus the women's singles and doubles draws and Sunday's schedule. The men's singles final will be streamed live.

   Here are the singles qualifying and main draws and Sunday's schedule in the $100,000 Northbay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship at Solano Community College in Fairfield, Calif.

Kokkinakis ends title drought, Harris streak

Fourth-seeded Thanasi Kokkinakis, serving in the
first round on Tuesday, beat unseeded Lloyd Harris
6-2, 6-3 today to win the $100,000 Nordic Naturals
Challenger in Aptos, Calif. Photo by Paul Bauman

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   It's only a Challenger title, but Thanasi Kokkinakis will take it.
   Kokkinakis, who was on his way to stardom three years ago before injuries derailed his career, dominated Lloyd Harris 6-2, 6-3 in 67 minutes today to win the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club in Aptos, Calif.
   It was Kokkinakis' first title since he won the 85,000 euro ($96,781) Bordeaux Challenger on clay as a qualifier in May 2015. The following month, he reached a career-high No. 69 in the world at age 19.
   Later that year, the right-hander hurt his right shoulder lifting weights -- not to improve his tennis but to look better in Nike's new sleeveless shirts -- and had surgery. Because of that and numerous other injuries, he played only one match in 2016 and seven tournaments last year.
   Kokkinakis reached his first ATP final last August in Los Cabos but lost to promising American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in the first round there last week. That dropped Kokkinakis' ranking 104 places to No. 268. He will rise to No. 201 on Monday.
   Before losing to Kokkinakis in Saturday's semifinals, top-seeded Thomas Fabbiano of Italy predicted the 22-year-old Australian, who stunned Roger Federer in the second round at Miami in March, eventually will crack the top 10.
   Kokkinakis, seeded fourth, emphatically ended the unseeded Harris' winning streak at nine matches. Harris, who won his first Challenger title last week in a $75,000 tournament in Lexington, Ky., lost no more than four games in a set during his streak.
   Kokkinakis dropped only one set during the week. He trailed eighth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India by a set and an early service break before prevailing 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Friday night in the quarterfinals.
   Against Harris, the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Kokkinakis had 12 aces and one double fault, lost only one point on his first serve (26 of 27) and did not face a break point.
   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Harris finished with six aces and six double faults, and won only 8 of 27 points on his second serve (30 percent).
   Harris, appearing tight, lost his serve in the opening game when he netted a forehand putaway and for 1-4 on a double fault. Both players held serve for 3-3 in the second set before Kokkinakis broke twice on unforced errors.
   Harris, 21, of South Africa will crack the top 150 for the first time at No. 145. He was ranked No. 221 at the beginning of July.
   Kokkinakis also won the doubles title with countryman Matt Reid. Unseeded, they nipped top-seeded Jonny O'Mara and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain 6-2, 4-6 [10-8].
   Kokkinakis became the first player to sweep the Aptos singles and doubles crowns since Chris Guccione of Australia in 2009 and the fourth in the tournament's 31-year history.
   Past competitors in the Aptos Challenger, the oldest in the United States, include International Tennis Hall of Famers Patrick Rafter and Michael Chang and future Hall of Famers Andy Murray, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. The Bryan twins played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, winning the NCAA doubles title as sophomores.
   Kokkinakis collected $14,400 for the singles title and $3,100 for the doubles crown. Harris, who lost in the first round of doubles, pocketed $8,480 for reaching the singles final.
   Both Kokkinakis and Harris are scheduled to play in next week's $100,000 Vancouver Challenger. Kokkinakis drew second seed and countryman Jordan Thompson, ranked No. 100, and Harris will play a qualifier to be determined.
   Here are the complete Aptos singles and doubles draws.

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.

Harris extends win streak with another rout in Aptos

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   APTOS, Calif. -- Liam Broady accomplished an impressive feat today.
   He kept Lloyd Harris on the court for more than an hour.
   Not much more, and Broady still lost, but he has plenty of company lately.
   In a matchup of unseeded players, Harris rolled past Broady 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes today to reach the semifinals of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger on a gorgeous, 64-degree (17.8 Celsuis) day at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Harris, a 21-year-old South African, dispatched third-seeded Quentin Halys of France 6-4, 6-2 in 59 minutes in the first round and Joris De Loore of Belgium 6-2, 6-0 in 52 minutes in the second round.
   "I'm happy to keep the matches short and keep my body fresh for every round to come," said Harris, 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters) and only 176 pounds (80 kilograms).
   Harris, who won his first Challenger title last week in a $75,000 tournament in Lexington, Ky., extended his winning streak to eight matches. He has not lost more than four games in a set in any of them.
   "I've really just been focused on tennis and to keep on working and improving my game," Harris explained. "Every day I've just been practicing and trying to improve, and that's been the key for me."
   Harris soared 47 places to a career-high No. 161 with the Lexington title in Monday's updated rankings. That would have given him the fourth seed in Aptos, but the singles draw was held on Saturday based on last week's rankings.
   Harris had 10 aces and no double faults against Broady, a 24-year-old left-hander who reached last year's Aptos final as a qualifier. Harris won 83 percent of the points on his first serve (29 of 35) and 60 percent on his second delivery (6 of 10), and escaped both break points against him.
   "I felt I played tremendously well today," Harris crowed. "I came out of the starting blocks very (well) again and just kept that level up throughout the match. I felt I really served well, was defending well, attacking well, coming forward well -- all around a good performance."
   Harris turned pro three years ago out of high school.
   "I was never really interested in the college route," he said.
   In contrast, Harris' 32-year-old countryman, Kevin Anderson, starred at the University of Illinois for three seasons (2005-07). The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson has reached two of the last four Grand Slam singles finals, losing to Rafael Nadal in last year's U.S. Open and to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last month.
   "We touch base here and there and send texts back and forth," Harris said of Anderson. "When I'm in the bigger tournaments and I get to see him, we'll talk. I wouldn't say I know him very well."
   Asked whether Anderson has been a mentor to him, Harris said with a laugh: "It's hard to say. His results definitely have been a positive influence on me and the country."
   Harris will play 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) Christopher Eubanks, who beat former top-70 player Ernesto Escobedo 6-4, 7-6 (6) in a hard-hitting battle of unseeded 22-year-old Americans.
   As he did against second-seeded Michael Mmoh in the second round, Eubanks frustrated Escobedo with his booming serve. Eubanks had 10 aces and two double faults and did not face a break point. He won 75 percent of the points on his first serve (36 of 48) and a whopping 74 percent on his second delivery (14 of 19).
   "I think I served well at critical times," said the 236th-ranked Eubanks, who turned pro last fall after his junior year at Georgia Tech in his hometown of Atlanta. "I think I did a good job of keeping my composure when I was under pressure a little bit on my service games. Anytime you play a match and don't get broken, it's usually a pretty good day. I was very pleased with how I served and how I played overall."
   Eubanks and Harris will meet for the first time in Saturday's second semifinal at about 3 p.m.
   "Eubanks has a massive game and can play anyone off the court," Harris said. "It's going to be a really tough match, but I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a great challenge for me."
   Finally.
   In the top half of the draw, Fabbiano, one of the smallest players in men's pro tennis at 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters) and 152 pounds (69 kilograms), won 6-2, 6-2 for the second consecutive match. This time, he outclassed U.S. wild card Martin Redlicki, a 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) left-hander, in one hour.
   "The key was the same as (Thursday against countryman Stefano Napolitano)," said Fabbiano, who's ranked No. 105 after reaching a career-high No. 70 last September. "Good return, put the ball in -- he's a good server -- then do my shots. It was not that difficult today, but I had to be focused from the first to last point."
   Redlicki, a two-time NCAA doubles champion who graduated from UCLA in June, said he was most impressed by Fabbiano's "rally ball -- his regular, normal ball has that much more bite, it's that much heavier -- his ability to open the court, and his first ball. I would hit what I felt were some pretty decent returns off his serve, and he would just be able to take it and hit a winner off the first ball, which is something I wasn't expecting off the return I was hitting. I guess that's the next level I'm working for.
   "It was a really good learning experience, a good eye-opener. Lots to build on, lots to work on, a lot to look forward to."
   Fabbiano, who stunned Stan Wawrinka to reach the third round at Wimbledon last month, will face either fourth-seeded Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia for the first time on Saturday not before 1 p.m. 
   Kokkinakis, who shocked Roger Federer in the second round in Miami in March, topped eighth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 after trailing by an early service break in the second set. Gunneswaran, a 28-year-old left-hander, double-faulted for the only break in the third set to trail 2-4.
   The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Kokkinakis, who's rebounding from multiple injuries, has plummeted from a career-high No. 69 three years ago at age 19 to No. 268. But Fabbiano predicted Kokkinakis eventually will reach the top 10.
   "He's solid, big serve," Fabbiano said. "He's doing the right things. He's still young, so he can get his body even better than now. He will be on top in the next few years, for sure. He's a next-generation guy."
   Here are the updated Aptos singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule. Live streaming is available.

Virginia, Michigan players win NCAA singles titles

   Thai-Son Kwiatkowski pulled off an impressive double in the grueling NCAA Championships.
   Belinda Woolcock, however, fell short.
   Kwiatkowski, who helped Virginia win its third consecutive NCAA team title last week, defeated William Blumberg of North Carolina 6-4, 7-6 (5) today in an all-Atlantic Coast Conference men's singles final in Athens, Ga. Both players were seeded 9-16.
   Woolcock, who led Florida to the NCAA team title, lost to Brienne Minor of Michigan 6-3, 6-3 in the women's singles final. Woolcock was seeded sixth, and Minor was unseeded.
   Kwiatkowski, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., became the second Virginia man in three years to win the NCAA singles crown. Ryan Shane triumphed in 2015.
   Kwiatkowski and Blumberg played for the 12th consecutive day. Kwiatkowski lost to Blumberg 6-3, 6-2 on Court 2 in the team final last Tuesday, but the Cavaliers defeated the Tar Heels for their third consecutive championship.
   "Thank goodness the rest of the guys picked me up, because Will really took it to me when we met indoors last week," Kwiatkowski told reporters. "Today I felt that the coaches gave me a  really good game plan, one that was different than what we had before."
   Minor, a sophomore from the Chicago suburb of Mundelein, Ill., became the third Michigan player and first woman to win the NCAA singles title. Barry MacKay took the 1957 crown, and Mike Leach prevailed in 1982.                            
   "I'm still soaking it all in," Minor said. "When I threw my racket at the end of the match, I just felt this wave of relief because I was just so happy I could get that win. I was super tired, so I was excited to let that racket go and just be done with the match."
   Woolcock, a senior from Australia, also played for the 12th straight day. But Michigan lost to Stanford in the round of 16 on May 19, so Minor had four days off between the team and individual competition.
   Meanwhile, Andrew Harris added to his doubles resume. The unseeded team of Harris and Spencer Papa of Oklahoma edged top-seeded Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski of host Georgia 4-6, 6-2 [10-6] for the title.
   Harris, a senior, won the 2012 Wimbledon and French Open boys doubles titles with fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios, now ranked No. 19 in the world in singles.
   In the women's doubles final, unseeded Francesca Di Lorenzo and Miho Kowase of Ohio State gave the Big Ten Conference a title sweep by nipping No. 5-8 seeds Maddie Pothoff and Erin Routliffe of Alabama 6-7 (6), 6-4 [10-7].
   Di Lorenzo lost in the first round of singles as the top seed to Pepperdine's Mayar Sherif Ahmed, a transfer from Fresno State.
   Routliffe won the NCAA doubles title in 2014 and 2015 with Maya Jansen, who played for Cal this season as a graduate student. Jansen and Maegan Manasse reached the NCAA semifinals, losing to Di Lorenzo and Kowase 6-2, 6-3.

Stanford's Fawcett falls in NCAA semifinals

   No. 9-16 seed Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of three-time reigning champion Virginia defeated No. 8 Tom Fawcett of Stanford 6-3, 6-2 today in the men's singles semifinals of the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga.
   Fawcett, a 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) junior from Winnetka, Ill., won his first four matches in straight sets.
   Kwiatkowski, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., is scheduled to play No. 9-16 William Blumberg of North Carolina on Monday at 8 a.m. Blumberg, a freshman from Greenwich, Conn., surprised No. 2 Nuno Borges of Mississippi State 6-2, 7-6 (1).
   Meanwhile, Maya Jansen and Maegan Manasse of Cal ended their collegiate careers with a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Francesca Di Lorenzo and Miho Kowase of Ohio State in a matchup of unseeded teams in the women's doubles semifinals.
   Manasse, a senior from Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area, served underhand, and Di Lorenzo and Kowase stood far inside the baseline to return Manasse's first and second serve. The reason for Manasse's unconventional serve was not immediately available.
   Di Lorenzo and Kowase will face No. 5-8 seeds Maddie Pothoff and Erin Routliffe of Alabama on Monday. Pothoff and Routliffe dominated unseeded Ryann Foster and Joana Valle Costa of LSU 6-1, 6-1.
   Jansen, a graduate student, won the NCAA doubles crown with Routliffe for Alabama in 2014 and 2015. Manasse advanced to last year's final with Denise Starr.
   In other finals on Monday:
   --No. 6 seed Belinda Woolcock of NCAA champion Florida will  meet unseeded Brienne Minor of Michigan.
   --No. 1 seeds Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski of host Georgia will play unseeded Andrew Harris and Spencer Papa of Oklahoma. Harris, a senior, won the 2012 Wimbledon and French Open boys doubles titles with fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios, now ranked No. 19 in the world in singles.
   Video streaming and live scoring of the NCAA Championships are available here.

No. 2 Oklahoma tops No. 1 USC for Indoor title

   Avenging its loss to USC in last year's NCAA final, No. 2 Oklahoma defeated the No. 1 Trojans 4-2 today in Chicago for its first title in the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship.
   No. 63 Alex Ghilea provided the clincher, beating Max de Vroome 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Court 5. De Vroome gave USC a 4-2 victory in the NCAA final by outlasting Andrew Harris 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Court 4.
   Harris won the 2012 Wimbledon and French Open junior boys doubles title with fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios, who has soared to 37th in the men's world rankings at 19 years old. Harris now plays No. 1 singles as a sophomore.
   USC's Connor Farren, a sophomore from Foster City in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost at No. 3 doubles with Nick Crystal. Farren did not play singles.
   John Roddick, Andy's older brother, is in his sixth season as Oklahoma's coach.

No. 2 Oklahoma 4, No. 1 USC 2

Doubles

   1. No. 5 Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb (Oklahoma) def. No. 1 Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz, 7-6 (4).
   2. No. 38 Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson (USC) def. Andrew Harris and Spencer Papa, 6-1.
   3. Jose Salazar and Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) def. Nick Crystal and Connor Farren, 7-5.
   Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles

   1. No. 7 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) vs. No. 26 Andrew Harris, 4-6, 6-4, 4-4, did not finish.
   2. No. 11 Axel Alvarez (Oklahoma) def. No. 24 Roberto Quiroz, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
   3. No. 31 Dane Webb (Oklahoma) def. No. 20 Jonny Wang, 6-0, 6-4.
   4. Eric Johnson (USC) def. Spencer Papa, 6-4, 6-1.
   5. No. 63 Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) def. Max de Vroome, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
   6. No. 49 Nick Crystal (USC) def. Jose Salazar, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
   Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 5*
   *Clinched overall match

Wimbledon champs set for Napa qualifying

   Three Wimbledon champions -- one present and two past -- highlight today's schedule in the first round of qualifying for the $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger.

Noah Rubin, shown in last year's Sacramento Challenger, won
the Wimbledon boys singles title in July. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Noah Rubin, who won the Wimbledon boys singles title in July, is scheduled to play Julian Lenz of Germany. Rubin also won the singles and doubles titles at the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., in August.
   An 18-year-old product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, the 5-foot-9 (1.74-meter) Rubin just began his freshman year at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C.
   Sixth-seeded Frederik Nielsen, a Dane who captured the 2012 Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jonathan Marray of Great Britain, will take on wild card Victor Pham of Saratoga.
   Nielsen, the grandson of two-time Wimbledon singles runner-up Kurt Nielsen, and Marray became the first wild cards to win the men's doubles title at the All-England Club.
   Pham, a high school senior, has verbally committed to Columbia.
   Eighth-seeded Andrew Harris, an Australian who won the 2012 Wimbledon boys doubles title with Nick Kyrgios, will play former UC San Diego standout Erik Elliott.

$50,000 NAPA VALLEY CHALLENGER
At Napa Valley Country Club in Napa, Calif.

Today's schedule

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

Center Court

   Nils Langer, Germany, vs. Nick Chappell, United States.
   Jose (Rubin) Statham, New Zealand, vs. Sekou Bangoura, United States.
   Erik Elliott, United States, vs. Andrew Harris, Australia.
   Noah Rubin, United States, vs. Julian Lenz, Germany.
   Chris Wettengel, United States, vs. Ben McLachlan, New Zealand.
   Victor Pham, Saratoga, vs. Frederik Nielsen, Denmark.

Court 7

   Kevin Kim, United States, vs. Sebastian Bader, Austria.
   Daniel Nguyen, United States, vs. Tommy Paul, United States.
   Oren Motevassel, San Jose, vs. Alexios Halebian, United States.
   Trey Strobel, United States, vs. Vahid Mirzadeh, United States.
   Clay Thompson, United States, vs. Reilly Opelka, United States.

Court 8

   James Cluskey, Ireland, vs. Spencer Papa, United States.
   Dane Webb, United States, vs. Adam Hubble, Australia.
   Tigre Hank, Mexico, vs. Mico Santiago, United States.
   Wesley Koolhof, Netherlands, vs. Daniel Garza, Mexico.
   Nicolas Meister, United States, vs. Cameron Norrie, Great Britain.