Clones Arconada, Zacarias to meet in Berkeley final

Unseeded Usue Arconada topped seventh-seeded
 Mayo Hibi in 3 hours, 10 minutes. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. — Fans at the Berkeley Tennis Club on Sunday might have trouble telling the singles finalists apart.

   Usue Arconada and Marcela Zacarias look and play alike. Both are small, aggressive yet steady baseliners with Hispanic backgrounds. Both are unseeded. Both even wear shorts rather than skirts. 

   "Yes, I think we are (similar players)," Zacarias allowed with a laugh. "Totally."

   The biggest difference between Arconada and Zacarias (pronounced Za-ca-REE-us) is age. Zacarias is five years older at 27.

   Arconada — a 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter), 125-pound (57-kilogram) Argentina native who represents the United States — and Zacarias — a 5-foot-3 (1.59-meter), 110-pound (50-kilogram) Mexican — advanced in contrasting fashion today.

   Arconada, who's based in Orlando, Fla., outdueled seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident who plays for her native Japan, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in a grueling baseline battle that lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes.

   Zacarias trailed fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan 5-7, 3-0 when the 29-year-old Nara, ranked No. 178 after reaching a career-high No. 32 in 2014, retired with a right groin injury after 1:24. Nara's first-round and quarterfinal victories each spanned more than three hours.

   Arconada reached her first final since losing to then-No. 84 Anna Blinkova of Russia in the $162,480 Oracle Challenger in New Haven, Conn., in September 2019. Two months earlier, Arconada won the $60,000 Honolulu Challenger for the biggest title of her career.

 

Unseeded Marcela Zacarias serves during her victory over fourth-seeded
Kurumi Nara, who retired while leading 7-5, 0-3. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Arconada's first name (pronounced EW-sway) is Basque because her father's side of the family is from Spain. She lived in Argentina for seven or eight years before moving to Puerto Rico for two years and then to Florida to train for tennis.

   Zacarias advanced to her first final since winning a $15,000 hardcourt tournament in Cancun in December 2019. Earlier that year, she won four consecutive $15,000 hardcourt tourneys in Mexico. Zacarias has never played in the final of a tourney above $25,000. 

   Arconada, ranked No. 238, and Zacarias, ranked No. 306, are scheduled to meet for the first time, although they have practiced with each other frequently, on Sunday after the 11 a.m. doubles final. Both matches will be broadcast on RadioTennis.com.  

   The Arconada-Hibi match was filled with deuces, service breaks and clutch shots in 81-degree (27 Celsius) heat. It was exhausting just to watch.

Mayo Hibi prepares to hit her trademark backhand
slice. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Hibi, the runner-up in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, has an old-school game that her father, Soichi, taught her. She relies on consistency and finesse in an era of power, has a one-handed backhand that she usually slices, isn't afraid to come to the net and shows no emotion on the court. 

   Arconada, meanwhile, is exceptionally fast and shows her frustration under duress. She flung her racket after blowing a high volley on break point for 0-2 in the second set and hit a ball against the back fence after getting broken while serving for the match at 6-5 in the set. 

   Arconada basically willed herself to victory. After dropping the second-set tiebreaker, she trailed 1-3 in the third set but reeled off the next four games to serve for the match again. Arconada was called for a foot fault on her first serve at 15-40, was broken two points later and broke back at 15 for the match.

   "It was definitely tough after being up 6-5 in the second (set) and not being able to close it out," Arconada said. "She played a good tiebreaker, and I was kind of rushing my game a little bit. 

   "I started the (third) set a little slowly with my physicality, but I tried to push myself. I told myself I can stay out there all day, as long as I need to, to bring it, and I'm not leaving without a fight. That really helped me and pumped me up. I started taking it point by point and not concentrating so much on the end goal, just competing."

Kurumi Nara has reached the third round of the U.S. Open twice and
of the Australian Open once. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Nara's retirement was welcome for Zacarias, whose three previous matches this week, all three-setters, averaged 2:55 in length. 

   "I'm really sorry for her," Zacarias lamented. "She was in pain; she couldn't run. But yes, it's nice to finish earlier. I was not going to go until I won, so that would have been three hours," she quipped.

   Nara, who reached the third round of the U.S. Open in 2013 and 2017 and of the Australian Open in 2014, bolted to a 4-1 lead with one service break. After Zacarias won the next two games, Nara took a medical timeout to have her upper right thigh taped. Zacarias saved a set point while serving at 4-5, but Nara eventually broke for the set.

   Zacarias changed her racket and strategy after the first set and was a new player.

   "I thought my (strings were) loose," she said. "I started the second set more confident, and I had to come in (to the net). I was really far behind (the court) and waiting for her to come in. I need to change something, (so I said) I'm going to be aggressive. That's what I did, and it worked." 
   Zacarias rolled her right ankle at 5-5 in the first set but quickly recovered. 

   "It was painful but all good," she said.

   Here are the updated Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Sunday's schedule.

Mexican sobs after another three-set win in Berkeley

Marcela Zacarias, shown today, pondered retirement after a discouraging
loss last week. Photo by Mal Taam

   BERKELEY, Calif. — After Marcela Zacarias' victory today, she put her head in her hands, found a chair in a shady corner of the court, sat down and sobbed.

   That type of reaction normally is reserved for winning a Slam. But the 27-year-old Mexican had just beaten a qualifier in the quarterfinals of a $60,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament.

   What gives?

   Seeded fifth in last week's $25,000 tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, Zacarias lost 6-0 in the third set in the first round.

   "It's not really what I do, so I was really surprised," the unseeded Zacarias explained after topping Emma Navarro, a University of Virginia sophomore who won the NCAA singles title in May, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in 2 hours, 47 minutes today on a hot, sunny day at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club. "I told myself, I think I'm done with tennis. Maybe I will play a few more (tournaments) and retire next year.

   "I can't believe how after last week and all the thoughts, I trust in myself again this week, and this is what I can do. I was just really happy that I came. I was brave to come again, and I was really proud of myself."

Emma Navarro, the reigning NCAA singles champion, lost
to Marcela Zacarias in three sets. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Zacarias' expectations entering this week were rather low.

   "The first round, I won in three sets, and the only thing I was thinking was, I just want to win one game," she said. "I don't want to lose 6-0. After that, I played good, and I was mentally really strong, and that helped me in every match."

   Zacarias' three victories this week, all three-setters, have averaged 2:55 in length. Her 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Katie Volynets, 19, of nearby Walnut Creek in the opening round lasted 3:38. The first set was a match in itself, spanning 1:41. 

   Zacarias, only 5-foot-3 (1.59 meters) and 110 pounds (50 kilograms), attributes her endurance to a heavy dose of Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) tournaments in the United States. The events feature a round-robin format until the quarterfinals, guaranteeing all players at least three matches, but no ranking points.

   "It's amazing how many matches I've played," said Zacarias, ranked No. 306 in the world and No. 4 in Mexico. "It's like six matches every week, and I've been playing UTRs back-to-back, so I've played maybe 12 matches in two weeks. Sometimes in ITFs, you lose in the first round and don't do anything for a week. That helped me keep my fitness really good."

   The UTRs also have helped Zacarias mentally.

   "It's been rough," Zacarias admitted of life on the circuit. "I don't have any sponsors, it's been really difficult with COVID, and I didn't have any money to travel. So it's like, I'm going to play some UTRs, and actually I've won seven UTRs this year. I've made good money, I've played good matches, and it gave me confidence. I'm more relaxed about the money and traveling. I think that also helped me. It took off some pressure about ITFs." 

Kurumi Nara, only 5-foot-1 (1.55 meters), of Japan reached a career-
high No. 32 in 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Serving at 5-4 in the second set against Navarro, Zacarias made a sensational backhand get to give her a match point but squandered it by slugging a short forehand long.

   "It was actually a really easy forehand," Zacarias said. "I just got a little emotional instead of just hitting another ball. When I went to the restroom (after the second set), I just told myself I needed to forget about the match point. I've been playing better and winning, so if I keep doing my thing and forget about the match point, I was going to be OK."

   Navarro, who lost to Leylah Fernandez in the 2019 French Open girls singles final and won the doubles crown with Chloe Beck, made Zacarias' job easier by committing 10 double faults in the match. 

   Zacarias is scheduled to meet fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara, 29, of Japan for the first time on Saturday at about 3 p.m. (RadioTennis.com). The 5-foot-1 (1.55-meter) Nara, ranked No. 178 after reaching a career-high No. 32 in 2014, outlasted qualifier Sophie Chang, a 24-year-old native of Havre de Grace, Md., 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 in 3:12. 

   Nara, who has reached the third round of the U.S. Open twice and of the Australian Open once, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set. Chang, tall and powerful but erratic, had 12 aces and a whopping 21 double faults.

Unseeded Usue Arconada serves during her 6-3, 6-1 victory over eighth-
seeded Liang En Shuo. Arconada lost the first three games of the match
and won the next 11. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In Saturday's first semifinal, seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan is set to play unseeded Usue (pronounced EW-sway) Arconada of Orlando, Fla., after a 10 a.m. doubles semi. 

   Hibi, the runner-up in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, eliminated unseeded Louisa Chirico, a former top-60 player from Westchester, N.Y., 6-2, 6-3.

   "I feel like my slice works really well on this court and she couldn't really adapt to it," said Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident who has not lost a set this week. "She hit a lot of unforced errors off of it."

   Hibi, ranked No. 207, led 4-1 in the second set, but Chirico won the next two games.

   "I was a bit shaky at the end of the second set," Hibi conceded. "I'm happy I was able to finish it off because yesterday I had five match points at 5-4 (in the second set against wild card Victoria Duval) and couldn't finish it off. I had to go to a tiebreak and didn't want to do that again. I'm happy I finished it in straight sets."

   Arconada, ranked No. 238, dispatched Liang En Shuo, seeded eighth and ranked No. 228, of Chinese Taipei 6-3, 6-1. Arconada, only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters) and 125 pounds (57 kilograms), lost the first three games of the match and won the next 11.

   "I just started finding my groundstrokes and took it a point at a time," Arconada said. "I was just trying to be consistent and pushing her back. After that, it was just staying in the moment, staying mentally strong and taking care of every game."  

   Arconada defeated Hibi 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 Honolulu Challenger in 2019 en route to the title in their only previous meeting.

   Here are the updated Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule.

Defending champ Buzarnescu loses early in San Jose

Unseeded Mihaela Buzarnescu, playing in the final of last year's inaugural Mubadala
Silicon Valley Classic, lost to wild card Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-2 tonight in the first
round of the San Jose tournament. Photo by Mal Taam

   Defending champion Mihaela Buzarnescu's stay in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic singles draw lasted 64 minutes.
   Daria Kasatkina, a 22-year-old wild card from Russia, ousted the unseeded, error-prone Buzarnescu 6-2, 6-2 tonight in the first round at San Jose State.
   Buzarnescu, a 31-year-old left-hander from Romania, fell to 9-21 this year with no quarterfinal appearances in 19 tournaments. Ranked a career-high No. 20 last August, she will plunge 66 spots from No. 58 to No. 124 next Monday.
   Kasatkina has had her own woes, tumbling from a career-high No. 10 last October to No. 40. She is scheduled to face top-seeded Elina Svitolina, 24, on Wednesday. The top four seeds received first-round byes.
   Svitolina, ranked seventh, is coming off her best Grand Slam result, a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon.
   Seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari, who lost to Buzarnescu 6-1, 6-0 in last year's Mubadala final, beat Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 6-1, 6-4.
   Sakkari, 24, of Greece will play Japanese qualifier Mayo Hibi, the runner-up in the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Women's Challenge two weeks ago.
   The 23-year-old Hibi, ranked No. 265, edged Hungarian qualifier Timea Babos, ranked No. 126 in singles and No. 3 in doubles, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in 2 hours, 48 minutes. Babos had five aces and 12 double faults.
   Wild card CoCo Vandeweghe, playing in her first tournament match of the year after recovering from an ankle injury, defeated 21-year-old Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4.
   Vandeweghe, the runner-up in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2012 and 2017, climbed to a career-high No. 10 in November 2017. She will play Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, seeded second and ranked 10th, on Wednesday.
   Sabalenka is coached by Russian Dmitry Tursunov, a former top-20 player who trained in Northern California from age 12 into his 30s.
   Qualifier Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, outlasted Ajla Tomljanovic, a 26-year-old Croatia-born Australian, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Tomljanovic reached the quarterfinals in San Jose last year and the final of the 2017 Sacramento Challenger.
   Ahn recorded her first main-draw victory ever in the tournament, which moved from Stanford last year, and on the WTA tour since she stunned top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, in the first round on clay in Bogota in April.
   The 178th-ranked Ahn, a Berkeley semifinalist, will face Belgium's Elise Mertens, seeded third and ranked No. 20, on Wednesday.
   Sixth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain dispatched Magda Linette of Poland 6-3, 6-3. Suarez Navarro, who won the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic with compatriot Garbine Muguruza, will meet the winner of Tuesday's featured 7 p.m. match between U.S. wild cards Venus Williams, 39, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 34.
   In the opening round of doubles, Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya of Japan eliminated Mattek-Sands and China's Peng Shuai, both formerly ranked No. 1 in doubles, 6-2, 6-4.
   Here are the San Jose singles and doubles draws and Tuesday's schedule. Tennis Channel is televising the tournament.

Ahn beats former Pac-12 rival, qualifies for San Jose

Stanford graduate Kristie Ahn, playing in the Berkeley semifinals last
week, defeated Danielle Lao 6-1, 6-4 today in the final round of qual-
ifying for the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, a WTA tournament
at San Jose State.

   Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, qualified today for the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State.
   The fifth-seeded Ahn, from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., beat fourth-seeded Danielle Lao, a 28-year-old resident of Arcadia in the Los Angeles area, 6-1, 6-4 in a matchup of former Pacific-12 Conference rivals. Lao, only 5-foot-2 1/2 (1.59 meters) and 115 pounds (52.2 kilograms), starred at USC.
   Ahn, ranked No. 176, is scheduled to play Ajla Tomljanovic, a Croatia-born Australian ranked No. 43, on Monday in the third match on the stadium court. The first one will begin at 10 a.m.
   It will be Ahn's third appearance in the main draw of the WTA tournament, which moved from Stanford last year. She lost in the first round in 2014 and 2017.
   Japan's Mayo Hibi, ranked No. 272, will meet Hungary's Timea Babos, ranked No. 123 in singles and No. 3 in doubles, in Monday's second match on the Stadium Court. Both players survived qualifying.
   Fans may watch Monday's first-round doubles match, featuring the team of former world No. 1s Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Peng Shuai, on Court 1 at 1 p.m. and observe practice for free. Spectators must purchase tickets to watch matches on the Stadium Court.
   Here are the San Jose singles qualifying draw, singles main draw, doubles main draw and Monday's schedule.
   Bryan brothers fall in final – Second-seeded Dominic Inglot of Great Britain and Austin Krajicek of Bryan, Texas, edged top-seeded Bob Bryan of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 6-4, 6-7 (5) [11-9] in the final of the BB&T Atlanta Open.
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) were seeking their third title in the 10-year history of the Atlanta tournament.
   Third-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia topped second-seeded Taylor Fritz of Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles region 6-3, 7-6 (2) for the singles title.
   Former Cal, Pacific stars win doubles title – Third-seeded Andre Goransson, a former Cal star from Sweden, and Sem Verbeek, an ex-Pacific standout from the Netherlands, beat top-seeded Zhe Li of China and Hugo Nys of Monaco 6-2, 6-4 Saturday to win the $81,240 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby, near Montreal.

Six years after loss, Brengle beats Hibi for Berkeley title

Madison Brengle rejoices after winning the singles title
in the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Women's Challenge
today. Photo by Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. – Madison Brengle scoffed at the notion that she had extra motivation in the final of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Women's Challenge.
   The top-seeded Brengle beat unseeded Mayo Hibi 7-5, 6-4 today in their second career meeting. The first also was in the final of a Northern California Challenger as the unseeded Hibi, then a 17-year-old amateur, shocked the fifth-seeded Brengle, who was suffering from an intestinal illness, 7-5, 6-0 six years ago in Sacramento. Hibi saved nine set points and won the last 12 games of that match.
   Time for revenge, right? Prove that the result was a fluke. Show the upstart who's boss.
   Nope. Brengle, 29, had to be reminded about Sacramento.
   "That's a blast from the past," marveled Brengle, who also won the singles title in Stockton, 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Berkeley, last October. "I think as a tennis player your memory is maybe a little shorter than that. We always have a tournament the next week. Every time I step on the court, I have plenty of motivation."
   Indeed, whether it's Wimbledon or Berkeley, Brengle has Rafael Nadal-like focus and consistency. She stunned 16th seed and French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova in the first round at the All England Lawn Tennis Club two weeks ago before losing to eventual quarterfinalist Karolina Muchova in the second round.

Madison Brengle and Mayo Hibi have met twice, both times in the
final of a Northern California Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Isn't it a letdown to go from the most prestigious tournament in the world to the minor leagues?
   "No," Brengle insisted Wednesday. "Every match I get to play, it's an opportunity to go out and give it my best. I'm very happy to be here.
   "It's my first time playing here, I think. People are saying to me, 'You played (the Girls 18 National) Hardcourts here,' but I don't think I played it when it was here. But it's really nice."

   Brengle, a 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) native of Dover, Del., now based in Bradenton, Fla., will improve five places in the world rankings to No. 78 on Monday. She earned $9,119 in singles and collected $1,672 for winning the doubles crown Saturday with Sachia (pronounced SAH-shuh) Vickery of Miramar, Fla.
   Brengle climbed to a career-high No. 35 in singles in 2015, but she has a soft, stiff-armed serve because of what she says is incurable hand and arm pain from an anti-doping blood test at the 2016 U.S. Open. She sued the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation in April 2018. The WTA and ITF have not publicly commented on the case.
   Hibi, a longtime resident of Irvine in the Los Angeles area who plays for her native Japan, will jump 30 spots to No. 272. She pocketed $4,863 in singles and did not play doubles.

Madison Brengle "gets every ball back," Mayo Hibi said.
"It's very tough to finish the point against her ... " Photo
by Paul Bauman

   Brengle faced only one player ranked in the top 300 during the week – No. 180 Kristie Ahn, a Stanford graduate, in the semifinals –  but barely survived in the second round against 18-year-old qualifier Alycia Parks of Port St. Lucie, Fla. Brengle prevailed 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, saving eight break points to avoid trailing by two service breaks at 0-3 in the second set.
   Brengle showed her mental toughness again in the final, winning the last four games of the first set and final three games of the second set. The match featured many long, entertaining rallies.
   "It was a very physical match with a lot of running," Brengle said. "She has such good control of the ball, so I just kept trying to fight and work the point and be aggressive when I could. She's very tough, and it was a difficult match to play, so I'm happy to get through it."

   Hibi, who reached a career-high No. 166 in 2016, relied on her trademark slice backhand throughout the match and tried to disrupt Brengle's timing with forehand moonballs in the first set.
   "I thought that was working until 5-3," said Hibi, formerly coached by 1983 Wimbledon runner-up Chris Lewis from New Zealand and 1990 NCAA singles champion Debbie Graham from Stanford. "Then I felt like she started to adjust to that. She didn't take any risks on those high balls. I just didn't have a second option."

Defensive-minded Mayo Hibi said she needed to
be more aggressive against Madison Brengle.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   The defensive-minded Hibi, only 5-foot-5 (1.65 meters) and 120 pounds (55 kilograms), added that she needed to be more aggressive against Brengle.
   "It's a balance of cutting the unforced errors but also taking risks and putting pressure (on opponents)," Hibi said. "I think it's going to be really important in the future for my game. You can't just have the one or the other.
   "I wasn't taking enough risks from the beginning. I wasn't putting too much pressure on her, like coming to the net, just giving her a message that, you know, I can go for it if I want to. I couldn't do that today.
   "But she gets every ball back. It's very tough to finish the point against her, but I feel like to get to a higher level I need to be able to do that."
   Here are the complete Berkeley singles and doubles draws.

Ahn flings racket into crowd during Berkeley loss

Sixth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, said she had
intended to throw her racket to the bottom of the net during her loss to
top-seeded Madison Brengle on Saturday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. – As her frustration mounted, Kristie Ahn finally snapped.
   Standing behind the baseline, the 27-year-old graduate of Stanford, across San Francisco Bay from Berkeley, flung her racket high in the air Saturday on the court where Billie Jean King was crowned the girls 18 national champion.
   The racket sailed into the crowd on one sideline, and a man dived to catch it.
   "If it gives you any indication of how my day went, I was aiming for the bottom of the net," the sixth-seeded Ahn said after losing to top seed, fellow American and good friend Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Women's Challenge. "Somehow, my hand caught onto the grip, and (the racket) just went floating away in the crowd unfortunately. Luckily, no one got hurt."
   Chair umpire Carrie Hinueber warned Ahn for unsportsmanlike conduct and turned to International Tennis Federation supervisor Marc Bell, who was sitting the stands, to see if he needed to intervene and possibly default Ahn. Bell shook his head.
   "We check three things," Bell said after the match. "We check the action, intent and result. The intent was not to hurt anybody; the intent was to throw it to the (racket) bag. Nobody got hurt, so the result wasn't really bad. Her action? She's responsible for herself.
   "Any one of these three could be enough to be defaulted. In this case, none of these there were bad enough. The action itself was not so bad. That thing flew very lightly – the rest does not exist."

Madison Brengle complained to the chair umpire but later said it wasn't her de-
cision whether Kristie Ahn should have been defaulted. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Had Ahn hurled the racket on a line into the crowd, that would have been different, Bell noted.
   Ahn, who will be fined up to $500, went into the crowd to retrieve her racket but said nothing, and play continued.
   On the next changeover, Brengle complained to Hinueber, saying, "This is unacceptable." Brengle, who will play unseeded Mayo Hibi of Japan today at 2:30 p.m., then turned around and glared at Bell.
   After the subsequent doubles final, won by Brengle and Sachia (prounounced SAH-shuh) Vickery, Brengle was asked what was unacceptable.
   "I don't remember. Sorry," she said.
   Did Brengle think Ahn, who did apologize after their match to two fans sitting in the area, should have been defaulted?
   "That's not my call," she said. "That has nothing to do with me."
   Ahn, ranked No. 180 after reaching a career-high No. 105 in January 2018, had survived a grueling baseline battle against unseeded Arina Rodionova, who's No. 206, on Friday and faced the prospect of an even tougher one against Brengle, ranked No. 83 after climbing as high as No. 35 in 2015.
   Then Ahn, a right-hander with a two-handed backhand, bruised her left hand hitting a shot on the first point of the match.

Unseeded Mayo Hibi will play Madison Breng-
le in a rematch of the 2013 Sacramento final,
won by Hibi, then 17, in shocking fashion.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   "It just went downhill from there," she lamented.

   Ahn was victimized by a bad line call in the second game and in the first game of the second set. In the next game, she had control of a point but watched helplessly as Brengle laced a spectacular running forehand passing shot down the line.
   That's when Ahn lost her temper.
   "Maddie obviously is super tough to play," said Ahn, who stunned 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round on clay in Bogota in April. "She gets a lot of balls back and puts you in really uncomfortable situations. I played a really good, solid point and was just unable to execute, and it was just a bit of frustration there.
   "You come out to play regardless of the circumstances, and it's just a bit disappointing that I couldn't mentally get over my demons."
   Ahn was bidding to become the second former Stanford star in the two-year history of the Berkeley tournament to reach the final. Her ex-teammate and close friend, Nicole Gibbs, lost to Sofia Kenin last year. Kenin, a Moscow-born American, is now ranked No. 27 at age 20.
   It was Ahn's second consecutive debacle against Brengle, who leads the head-to-head series 3-0. Ahn vomited on the court and retired with Brengle leading 6-4, 1-0 last August in the final of a $60,000 tournament in hot, humid Landisville, Pa.
   Ahn said she had never thrown a racket into the seats.
   "No, no. I don't really throw my racket to begin with, but when I do, I aim for the bottom of the net or bottom of the fence," she said.
   Nor, Ahn said, has she ever been defaulted from a match.
   "I've barely even gotten (warnings), so it's not part of my routine," she said.
   Bell estimated that he has seen a player throw his or her racket into the stands four times in his 32 years as a linesman, chair umpire or supervisor, adding that sometimes nobody is sitting in them. He said he has never seen a player get defaulted for throwing a racket or a fan get hurt by one.
   "I saw a guy throw it out of the stadium on Center Court once," Bell said. "I don't want to say who it was or where. It was maybe seven or eight years ago. Nobody can throw it out of a stadium – the wind caught it."
   Vickery also had a bad day in singles – although nothing compared to Ahn's – at the Berkeley Tennis Club, which has a rich history. It was founded in 1906, and legends Don Budge, Helen Wills Moody, Helen Hull Jacobs and Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman once were members. Fellow International Tennis Hall of Famers Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe – in addition to King – played in tournaments there.

Second-seeded Sachia Vickery said she wasn't
herself in a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Mayo Hibi. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   The second-seeded Vickery, rebounding from lingering knee and elbow injuries, dropped the last eight games and lost to Hibi, who was born in Japan but has lived in California since she was 2 years old, 6-3, 6-0.
   "I woke up and wasn't really myself," said the 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Vickery, 24. "It was just one of those days where I couldn't get anything right. Even in the warmup, I wasn't feeling great. I thought as the match went on it would get better, but it didn't.
   "I haven't played this amount of matches in a row in a while since I have been a little bit injured, so my body was not used to the everyday routine, but she played a good match. Like I said yesterday, she's a tricky opponent to play, especially when you're not 100 percent."
   Still, Brengle and Vickery, playing their second tournament together, defeated Francesca Di Lorenzo from Columbus, Ohio, and Katie Swan of Great Britain 6-3, 7-5 for the doubles title. Both teams were unseeded.
   Brengle, 29, and the 23-year-old Hibi, who has tumbled from a career-high No. 166 in 2016 to No. 302, will meet for the second time. The first was also in the final of a Northern California Challenger as the unseeded Hibi, then 17, shocked the fifth-seeded Brengle, suffering from an intestinal illness, 7-5, 6-0 in Sacramento in July 2013.
   Hibi, who saved nine set points and won the last 12 games of that match, signed a letter of intent that November to attend UCLA but turned pro five months later instead. The Sacramento tournament moved to Berkeley last year.
   Hibi, only 5-foot-5 (1.65 meters) and 121 pounds (55 kilograms), said she's happy with her decision to turn pro but admitted that was not always the case.
   "There was definitely a point of time when I did kind of regret it," she said. "In your career, you have ups and downs. After I turned pro, all the pressure came to me. I was worrying about every single thing – money, I need a coach ...
   "College had been an (option) – if I don't do well enough, I can go to college. Now, I didn't have that anymore. I had so much more responsibility, so much more pressure that sometimes I wish I (had) gone to college.
   "Now I feel different. I feel those experiences also helped me and will help me in the future."
   The Bay Area is a second or third home for Hibi, whose father, Soichi, is a tennis fanatic and sales manager for a branch of a Japanese music company. She lived with her parents in Foster City, near San Francisco International Airport, from age 2 to 4, and her 19-year-old brother, Leo, was born in San Francisco. He is helping Mayo at the Berkeley tournament.
   The Hibis moved from Foster City to the Los Angeles area, first to Rancho Palos Verdes for two or three years and then to Irvine, where they still reside.
   Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws.

Ahn survives battle to reach $60K Berkeley semis

Sixth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, won
 a fierce baseline battle against unseeded Arina Rodionova, a 29-
year-old Australian from Russia. Photo by Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. – The first meeting between Kristie Ahn and Arina Rodionova was memorable.
   Point after point, the veterans traded blistering groundstrokes and made amazing gets on another warm, sunny day at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club.
   Set after set, Ahn took a lead only for Rodionova to fight back.
   Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, finally prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in 2 hours, 13 minutes today in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Women's Challenge.
   Ahn led 3-0 in the third set, but Rodionova, a 29-year-old Australian from Russia, got back on serve at 3-4. Rodionova then played an uncharacteristically loose game to trail 3-5, and Ahn held serve at 15 for the match, ending a string of four consecutive breaks.
   "She's an incredible competitor, and we had so many good points," said the 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Ahn, seeded sixth. "I just tried to stay as tough as I could and hang in there."
   The unseeded Rodionova, a chiseled 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), was coming off a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory over Jovana Jaksic, a Serb living in Sacramento, that lasted 2 hours, 56 minutes.
   "If you know Arina, you know she's one of the fittest players out there," said Ahn, who's ranked No. 180 after reaching a career-high No. 105 in January 2018. "She can do that all day, so I tried to stay aggressive but hang in there as well."
   Ahn, a right-hander, again played with her right arm heavily taped to protect a hyperextended elbow. The arm, she said Wednesday, is "much better than it looks."

Arina Rodionova was coming off a three-set victory over Jovana
Jaksic, a Serb living in Sacramento, that lasted almost three
hours. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Both Ahn and Rodionova qualified for Wimbledon this month and lost in the first round. Rodionova also reached the second round of doubles there with Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine. They lost to eventual runners-up Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Yifan Xu of China.
   Ahn, a resident of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., was named after Kristi Yamaguchi, who won the Olympic gold medal in figure skating in 1992, the year Ahn was born.
   Ahn, who stunned 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round on clay in Bogota in April, will take on good friend and top seed Madison Brengle, a 29-year-old native of Dover, Del., now based in Bradenton, Fla., on Saturday not before 1:30 p.m.
   Brengle, ranked No. 83 after climbing as high as No. 35 in 2005, beat unseeded Gail Brodsky, a 28-year-old mother of two who grew up in Brooklyn, 6-0 6-4 in 55 minutes. They embraced after their meeting since 2012.
   "We talked about it," Brengle said. "It's been a long time, but we've known each other for so long (since Brengle was 10 or 11), and we're very good friends."
   Brodsky quit tennis in 2012 because of burnout and returned last year.
   Brengle is 2-0 against Ahn. But their first meeting was nine years ago, and Ahn retired from the second one with Brengle leading 6-4, 1-0 in the final of a $60,000 tournament in Landisville, Pa., last August. Ahn vomited on the court in the heat and humidity.
   "(Brengle) has an incredible tennis IQ," Ahn said. "She knows exactly how to play the game and how to play to her strengths. She can read the ball really well."

Second-seeded Sachia Vickery, who beat unseeded
Caroline Dolehide 6-3, 7-5, is the only semifinalist
who hasn't lost a set this week. Photo by Paul Bauman

   But Brengle has a soft, stiff-armed serve because of what she says is incurable hand and arm pain caused by a reaction to an anti-doping blood test at the 2016 U.S. Open. She sued the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation in April 2018. The WTA and ITF have not publicly commented on the case.
   "Everyone says, 'Oh, attack the serve,' but it's really tricky," Ahn said. "She defends so well, so if you go for too much, you miss. If you don't go for enough, she's right back on you."
   In Saturday's other semifinal, second-seeded Sachia (pronounced SAH-shuh) Vickery, 24, of Miramar, Fla., will face unseeded Mayo Hibi, 23, of Japan at 11 a.m.
   Vickery, only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters), eliminated unseeded but powerful Caroline Dolehide, a 20-year-old native of Hinsdale, Ill., 6-3, 7-5.
   Hibi, a resident of Irvine in the Los Angeles region, topped fifth-seeded Na-Lae Han, a 27-year-old left-hander from South Korea, 7-5, 6-4 in a matchup of players with an unusual stroke. Hibi has a one-handed backhand, and Han possesses a two-handed forehand.
   Both Vickery, ranked No. 163, and Dolehide, ranked No. 256, have struggled this year after emerging in 2018.
   Vickery reached a career-high No. 73 last July but suffered tears in her knees late last year, came back too soon and hurt her elbow last month.
   "I wasn't even supposed to play this week," said Vickery, the only semifinalist who hasn't lost a set this week. "I was supposed to be doing another week of rehab."
   Dolehide, 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters), has plunged from a career-high No. 102 last July to No. 256 but reached the singles semifinals and doubles final in a $60,000 tournament in Honolulu last week.

Last year at age 19, Caroline Dolehide played in the main
draw of three Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the sec-
ond round of the French Open, and almost upset Simona
Halep at Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Last year, Dolehide played in the main draw of three Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the second round of the French Open as a qualifier, and advanced to the third round at Indian Wells, coming within a tiebreaker of beating Simona Halep, then ranked No. 1.
   Vickery and Hibi, ranked No. 302 after climbing as high as No. 166 in 2016, have split four career matches. They will meet for the third time this year and second time in five weeks.
   Vickery beat Hibi  6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in the first round of a $100,000 tournament in Manchester, England, last month and 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of a $25,000 hard-court tourney in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe in February.
   Vickery described the 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Hibi's game as "frustrating. She makes you work for everything. She doesn't play like anyone else on tour. Her ball is very flat and skiddy. She has kind of an underspin with a continental grip, so the ball comes very differently. She serves-and-volleys, and she chips-and-charges. She has very good hands, so that's something you don't see very often.
   "Playing her on grass is probably anyone's worst nightmare because her game is so suited to it. But I think here with the bouncier courts, I may have a little more time to take her shots. Her balls won't come through as quickly."
   In Saturday's doubles final, Brengle and Vickery will play Francesca Di Lorenzo from Columbus, Ohio, and Katie Swan of Great Britain in a matchup of unseeded teams.
   Brengle and Vickery crushed unseeded Ahn and Catherine Harrison, from Germantown, Tenn., in the Memphis area, 6-1, 6-0 in 54 minutes.
   Di Lorenzo and Swan edged top-seeded Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 6-3, 6-7 (2) [11-9].
   Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule. Live streaming is available.

Kratzer, 19, prevents all-Stanford semi in $60K Berkeley

Unseeded Ashley Kratzer won the last six games
to beat fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Photo by Paul Bauman  

   BERKELEY, Calif. -- There will be no all-Stanford semifinal.
   Nor will there be an all-Japanese semifinal.
   Two 19-year-old Americans, one right-handed and one left-handed, saw to that.
   But not to worry. The semis in the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge remain plenty enticing.
   Unseeded Ashley Kratzer, the lefty, ousted fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 26-year-old Stanford graduate, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in Friday's quarterfinals.
   In a matchup of former Sacramento Challenger champions, top-seeded Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., beat eighth-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan 6-1, 6-4.
   Hibi, 22, was born in Japan but lived in Foster City in the San Francisco Bay Area as a young child and grew up in Irvine in the Los Angeles area.
   Kratzer will take on second seed and fellow Southern Californian Nicole Gibbs today at 11. Gibbs and Ahn led Stanford to the 2013 NCAA championship.
   "I'm disappointed for Kristie," said Gibbs, 25. "However, I'm always glad not to have to play her. It's never fun playing a really good friend."
   Kenin, who was born in Moscow but moved to the United States as a young child, will meet another Japanese player, third-seeded Nao Hibino, following the Gibbs-Kratzer match.
   After Kratzer double-faulted to lose her serve in the opening game of the third set against Ahn, she reeled off six straight games for the match.
   "I kind of dug deep and remembered back to yesterday, how much energy and my whole self I put into it," Kratzer said, referring to her 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over little Danielle Lao in 3 hours, 9 minutes. Kratzer escaped a match point at 6-7 in the tiebreaker. "I knew I had the match under control. I just needed to settle down and figure out what was working."

Kristie Ahn couldn't raise her level to match Ashley Krat-
zer's in the third set. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The turning point came with Ahn serving at 1-2, 40-0 in the third set. Kratzer won the next five points to break and then overwhelmed Ahn with a barrage of passing shots.
   "She hit some really good returns," said the 5-foot-5 (1.68-meter) Ahn, who's based in Boca Raton, Fla. "Maybe I wasn't aggressive enough, but I didn't play badly. I needed to raise my level a little bit more because obviously she did, and she took advantage of it, and obviously it changed the tone of the match."
   Ahn took a medical timeout early in the second set to have her lower back massaged. Asked if her back bothered her in the third set, Ahn said, "It wasn't great, but it's something you have to play through," before adding sheepishly, "It's from period cramps. I don't like to ... the timing is just unfortunate."
   Gibbs dismissed fifth-seeded Jamie Loeb, a 23-year-old product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, 6-3, 6-2 in 61 minutes in a clash of ex-NCAA singles champions.
   Gibbs turned pro after winning her second consecutive NCAA singles title in 2013 as a junior (in addition to capturing the 2012 doubles crown with Mallory Burdette). Loeb made the leap after taking the 2015 title as a North Carolina sophomore.

Top-seeded Sofia Kenin winds up on a back-
hand during her 6-1, 6-4 victory over eighth-
seeded Mayo Hibi. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Gibbs, ranked No. 116 after reaching a career-high No. 68 two years ago, and Kratzer, ranked No. 231, have split two career matches.
   Kratzer won 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of an $80,000 hard-court tournament in Tyler, Texas, last fall, and Gibbs triumphed 6-4, 6-4 in the final of a $25,000 clay-court event in Naples, Fla., in early June.
   "She's explosive, she's extremely talented, she's an athlete," said Gibbs, who has reached the third round of a Grand Slam twice and extended then-No. 1 Karolina Pliskova to 6-4 in the third set in the second round of the U.S. Open last September. "I'm definitely looking forward to the contest tomorrow."
   Kratzer, who last summer reached the final of the $60,000 Stockton Challenger (losing to Kenin) and won the USTA girls 18 hardcourt title, said Gibbs "definitely is looking to move forward and trying to attack off the first ball. It's definitely going to be who can make the most balls tomorrow but also staying super offensive."
   Ahn said she could not stay for Gibbs' match but would watch the live stream.
   "I'm curious about that match as well," said Ahn, who is scheduled to play in a $60,000 tournament in Ashland, Ky., next week. "I'm sure it will be a really good match."
   Kenin's athleticism and flat groundstrokes proved to be too much for the slightly built Hibi, but Kenin was frustrated at times by Hibi's unorthodox game. Hibi gives opponents little pace, slices every backhand, chases down almost everything and has a good drop shot and volley.
   "She has good hands and a good slice, and she comes to the net really well," said the 64th-ranked Kenin, who reached the third round of the U.S. Open last year and the second round at Wimbledon this month. "It's really tough to play someone like her.
   "I had to try to somehow (produce) my own pace. Against players like that, people overhit and miss everything. I tried to be patient."

Mayo Hibi, who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area as a
young child, follows through on her trademark slice backhand.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Hibino, the champion of last week's $60,000 Honolulu Challenger, extended her winning streak to eight matches with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over seventh-seeded Francesca Di Lorenzo, a 20-year-old left-hander from New Albany, Ohio.
   Kenin and Hibino, ranked No. 113 after climbing to a career-high No. 56 in 2016, will meet for the first time in a matchup of past Stockton Challenger champions.
   "I didn't really watch her before my match because I didn't want to look ahead," Kenin said. "From what I saw, she hits flat, moves well and fights for every point."
   Gibbs also will play for the doubles title after today's second singles semifinal. She and Asia Muhammad of the United States will face top-seeded Ellen Perez of Australia and Sabrina Santamaria of the United States.
   Gibbs and Muhammad beat Di Lorenzo and Jovana Jaksic, a Serbian living in Sacramento, 6-4, 6-3.
   Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

No. 2 seed Min barely survives in 50K Gold River

   Second-seeded Grace Min of Boca Raton, Fla., saved two match points in a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands on Thursday in the second round of the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento, Calif., area.
   The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Min, 22, escaped the match points to hold her serve for 5-5 in the third set. She broke for 6-5 on a perfectly executed backhand drop shot and held serve for the match on a service winner down the middle.
   Krajicek, the 27-year-old sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, was coming off a 3-hour, 22-minute victory over U.S. wild card Sabrina Santamaria on Wednesday.
   Michaella Krajicek has been ranked as high as No. 30 in singles (2008) and No. 23 in doubles (2015). She is now No. 223 and No. 94, respectively.
   Min, ranked No. 158, will play her doubles partner, former Stanford star Kristie Ahn, not before 1:30 p.m. in today's quarterfinals (live streaming at usta.com).
   The 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Ahn, who clinched Stanford's 2013 NCAA championship at No. 2 singles, routed sixth-seeded Tara Moore of Great Britain 6-2, 6-1.
   Also, qualifier Valeria Solovyeva of Russia ousted seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan 6-2, 6-2.
   Solovyeva reached the semifinals of the inaugural Gold River Challenger in 2012 at 19 years old and took last year off to earn a master's degree in sports and health science, graduating with honors.
   Hibi won the Gold River title in 2013 at 17.
   Solovyeva will face third-seeded An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium in tonight's featured match at 6:30. Mestach, the world's top junior in 2011, reached the final of last year's Stockton and Gold River Challengers. She did not play in last week's Stockton Challenger.
   In today's other quarterfinals, lucky loser Caroline Romeo of France will meet 17-year-old Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and eighth-seeded Sabina Sharipova of Uzbekistan will play Elizaveta Ianchuk of Ukraine.
   The 434th-ranked Romeo stunned top-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck, who won the Stockton title last week, on Wednesday in the first round.
   Here are links to the singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Top seed Gibbs survives test in Stockton opener

Nicole Gibbs, a former Stanford standout, outlasted Aleksandra
Wozniak, a former top-25 player, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round
of the Stockton Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   STOCKTON, Calif. -- When you're 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters) and petite, as Nicole Gibbs is, you had better be in tremendous shape and have a positive attitude if you're going to survive in an era of what television commentator Mary Carillo calls "Big Babe" tennis.
   Check and check for Gibbs, a former Stanford standout who has parlayed those assets and a formidable forehand into a world ranking of No. 72. That's an impressive achievement for anyone, but especially an undersized player.
   A nearly three-hour battle in the first round of the University of the Pacific $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger? No problemo.
   The heat? Bring it on.
   Coming off six losses in seven matches on clay or grass in Europe? Good experience.
   Going from Wimbledon, the center of the tennis universe, to sleepy Stockton? Chance to get back on track.
   The top-seeded Gibbs outlasted Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, a former top-25 player rebounding from shoulder surgery and a foot injury, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 today at the new $4 million Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   Gibbs trailed 2-0 and 3-1 in the third set but fought back for 3-3. She served for the match at 5-4 but was broken. Gibbs then broke Wozniak to lead 6-5, hitting a high lob at 15-30 that Wozniak let fall just inside the baseline for a winner, and held serve to end the 2-hour, 59-minute match played in 86-degree (30.0 Celsius) heat.
   So much for easing into the Challenger, comparable to Triple A in baseball.
   "Yeah, I guess that's the hope that you get a couple rounds under your belt before you really get a challenge," conceded Gibbs, a 23-year-old resident of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area. "But honestly, I think that was a huge blessing for me to have such a tough challenge in the first round.
   "It really tested me mentally and emotionally as well as how I've been transitioning my game back to the hardcourts. So now I'm really optimistic about the level I need to bring the rest of the tournament having that one under my belt."
   Even with the heat, Gibbs was happy to return to the hardcourts that she grew up on in Southern California.
   "Yeah, absolutely, and I love the heat," chirped Gibbs, who won three NCAA singles titles (two in singles and one in doubles) while at Stanford from 2011 to 2013. "It brings a whole different kind of challenge and element to it, but I know my fitness is really good, and I think that showed today."

   Wozniak, playing in her first tournament since late May because of a ligament strain in her right foot, admitted she tired late in the match. Gibbs, though, had a different impression.
   "Honestly, I was hoping to see her get a little more tired than she did," Gibbs said. "She maintained her level, actually, very well. You never know with someone coming back from an injury if their hours on the court are going to be 100 percent, but she definitely looked fully fit and ready to go throughout the third set.
   "That said, I would take me against almost anyone in terms of fitness. I really do think I'm one of the fittest players on the court."
   Smaller players, lacking a big serve with which to win "free" points, must be in phenomenal shape so they can win long rallies.
   "Oh, absolutely," Gibbs asserted. "I have no choice, but I don't mind it. I like the work, so this (marathon against Wozniak) is good. I'll be even fitter for my match on Thursday."
   Gibbs excelled on hardcourts at the top level of women's tennis in the first three months of the year under new coach Roger Smith, a former top-100 player from the Bahamas.
   As a qualifier, Gibbs reached the second round of Shenzhen and the Australian Open, the quarterfinals in Monterrey and the fourth round in Indian Wells. Then she advanced to the third round in Miami as a wild card before losing to 6-foot (1.82-meter) Garbine Muguruza 6-1, 6-0. Just over two months later, Muguruza won the French Open for her first Grand Slam title.
   "I received a huge boost bringing Roger onto my team," Gibbs said. "He was such an immediate spark to my game. He gave me that extra edge, gave me new ways of looking at the game. The spike in my game was definitely a result of that.
   "Now, there's always an up-and-down process where you reach a new level and get to a position where you have to prove yourself. For me, it came on my least-favorite surfaces -- anything other than hardcourts (laughs).
   "That was a challenge for me over in Europe, but honestly, my attitude is eons better than it was last year in terms of dealing with the adversity. I've been through six-match losing streaks; I've been through not winning a match in months. Having that experience has been really valuable."
   Still, Gibbs is emotional on the court. She often grunted in frustration after losing a point against Wozniak, and she slammed a ball against the low concrete wall behind the baseline after losing the first set.
   And let's face it. Playing a Challenger after Wimbledon is a letdown.
   "It can be (tough), but I really feel I came into this event with the right mindset," Gibbs said. "I had lost six out of my last seven matches -- Europe is always very challenging for me. Honestly, I just wanted to come here and have a good look at winning some matches. Even if I didn't win today, I would have had my first really competitive match since the French Open, and that's a while. My attitude was just, strap on the blue-collar shirt and try to make people suffer in the heat."
   Mission accomplished, but Wozniak administered her own punishment, running Gibbs from side to side with precise groundstrokes.

Aleksandra Wozniak won the 2008 Bank of the West Classic as a 20-year-old
qualifier and underwent major shoulder surgery in 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   As a qualifier in the 2008 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, Wozniak became the first Canadian woman in 20 years to win a WTA title and the first ever from Quebec. She climbed to a career-high No. 21 the following year and in 2012 became the first Canadian to play singles in the Olympics.
   A month after the 2012 London Olympics, Wozniak was warming up for a second-round night match in Quebec City when she hit a forehand and her right shoulder almost popped out of its socket.
   "(Doctors) said it was (caused by) repetitition, a lot of practice and overuse with time," said Wozniak, a 28-year-old Montreal native who speaks with her Polish parents' accent. "And me, I've always had a problem -- I'm almost double-jointed. I could be a gymnast. I'm too flexible. Some people are too stiff in their joints, and I'm very loose."
   Wozniak did three months of physiotherapy and tried to resume playing but finally underwent surgery in September 2014 and missed 11 months. During her layoff, she had physiotherapy almost daily.
   "(The doctor inserted) screws, did a lot of repairs, shaved bones, tightened the capsule," said Wozniak, who has improved from No. 844 at the end of 2015 to No. 471. "It was big surgery. That's why I needed so much physiotherapy and exercises. I was just glad to come back on the tennis court and slowly hit balls."
    Wozniak, 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters), now relies on placement more than power on her serve. Although her slice serve can be effective, at times today, it was a cream puff.
   Both players, in fact, struggled mightily with their serve, combining for 25 double faults (13 by Gibbs) and no aces in a slight breeze. In 17 service games each, Wozniak was broken nine times and Gibbs eight.
   "I knew the serving would come up (in a post-match interview)," Gibbs groaned. "That was ugly today. I'm not really known for throwing in a lot of double faults. ... That's ultra-unusual for me. I'm going to work on it this afternoon in doubles and try to come back a better player on Thursday."
   Gibbs attributed the rash of double faults to "radically different" conditions than those she came from in Europe.
   "The balls are way lighter, and the atmosphere feels like there's no air," Gibbs explained. "The ball just goes and goes, which is true of L.A. as well, but I think it's even more here with the heat and wind.
   "The conditions were just really tough to feel solid in. At the end of that match, it was kind of whoever was braver and willing to work through the tough things was going to win the majority of the points."                
   If Wozniak's serve was shaky, her groundstrokes were another story.
   "I was definitely hoping to get a few more errors out of her," Gibbs admitted. "The scouting report I received was basically, 'She's a really good hitter, but it's going to be a little bit hit and miss,' and I felt like it was a little bit hit and hit today.
   "I had to work really hard on defense to kind of bail myself out. I felt lucky on a few points here and there, and that was really the difference. She easily could have taken that (match) from me today."

UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC

$50,000 USTA PRO CIRCUIT CHALLENGER 

In Stockton, Calif.
Singles

Final-round qualifying

   Chanel Simmonds, South Africa, def. Brynn Boren, United States, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

   Caitlin Whoriskey, United States, def. Gabriela Ce (2), Brazil, 6-1, 6-3.

   Desirae Krawczyk, United States, def. Elizaveta Ianchuk (3), Ukraine, 6-3, 6-2.

   Jennifer Elie (6), United States, def. Priscilla Hon (4), Australia, 6-4, 6-3.

First round

   Mayo Hibi, Japan, def. Taylor Townsend (6), United States, 6-4, 6-4.

   Robin Anderson, United States, def. Sanaz Marand, United States, 6-2, 7-6 (1).

   Nicole Gibbs (1), United States, def. Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

   Riko Sawayanagi, Japan, def. Kristie Ahn, United States, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

   Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal, def. Sabina Sharipova, Uzbekistan, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
   Storm Sanders, Australia, def. Michaela Gordon, Saratoga, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

   Arina Rodionova, Australia, def. Victoria Kan, Russia, 6-4, 7-5.

Doubles

First round

   Greet Minnen, Belgium, and Riko Sawayanagi, Japan, def. Jacqueline Cako, United States, and Gabriela Ce, Brazil, 7-5, 6-4.

   Kristyna Pliskova, Czech Republic, and Alison Van Uytvanck (4), Belgium, def. Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, 6-3, 6-2.

   Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend (1), United States, def. Chanel Simmonds, South Africa, and Renata Zarazua, Mexico, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).

   Yuki Kristina Chiang, United States, and Elizaveta Ianchuk, Ukraine, def. CiCi Bellis, Atherton, and Jamie Loeb, United States, 6-3, 7-5.

   Sanaz Marand and Melanie Oudin, United States, def. Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs, United States, 6-2, 3-6 [10-6].

Wednesday's schedule

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

Court 1

   Sachia Vickery (8), United States, vs. Desirae Krawczyk, United States.

   CiCi Bellis, Atherton, vs. Zhaoxuan Yang, China (not before 11:30 a.m.).

   Desirae Krawczyk and Ena Shibahara, United States, vs. Priscilla Hon and Storm Sanders, Australia (not before 1 p.m.).

Court 2 

   Urszula Radwanska (4), Poland, vs. Kayla Day, United States.

   Grace Min (5), United States, vs. Jamie Loeb, United States (not before 11:30 a.m.).

   Jennifer Elie, United States, vs. Ashley Kratzer, United States (not before 1 p.m.).

Court 3

   Alison Van Uytvanck (3), Belgium, vs. Melanie Oudin, United States.

   Kristyna Pliskova (2), Czech Republic, vs. Chanel Simmonds, South Africa (not before 11:30 a.m.).

   Robin Anderson and Maegan Manasse, United States, vs. Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria, United States (not before 1 p.m.).

Court 4

   Lin Zhu (7), China, vs. Caitlin Whoriskey, United States.

   Asia Muhammad, United States, vs. Anastasia Pivovarova, Russia (not before 11:30 a.m.).

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (2), United States, vs. Victoria Kan and Sabina Sharipova, Uzbekistan.

Top seed Gibbs to face Wozniak in 50K Stockton

Nicole Gibbs serves during her fourth-round loss
to Petra Kvitova at Indian Wells in March, Photo
by Paul Bauman

   Nicole Gibbs and Aleksandra Wozniak have fond memories of Stanford, one as an amateur and the other as a professional.
   Gibbs attended the world-renowned university in the San Francisco Bay Area for three years (2011-13), winning two NCAA titles in singles and one in doubles.
   Wozniak qualified for the 2008 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and went on to become the first Canadian in 20 years, and first ever from Quebec, to win a WTA title. She defeated Serena Williams 6-2, 3-1, retired (knee) in the semifinals and Marion Bartoli in the final.
   Gibbs and Wozniack will meet for the first time today, not before 11:30 a.m., in the first round of the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Stockton, Calif.
   The second annual tournament, at the new Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center at the University of the Pacific, kicks off the U.S. Open wild-card challenge that also includes Sacramento, Calif., and Lexington, Ky., in the following two weeks. The American with the most points in two of the three tournaments will earn a wild card into the U.S. Open, Aug. 29-Sept. 11 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Gibbs, a 23-year-old resident of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area, is seeded first in Stockton with a world ranking of No. 76.
   The 28-year-old Wozniak is ranked No. 471 after reaching a career-high No. 21 in 2009. The right-hander missed 11 months after undergoing right shoulder surgery in September 2014.
   In a matchup of 20-year-olds with Northern California ties, sixth-seeded Taylor Townsend of Atlanta will play Mayo Hibi of Japan.
  Townsend, a talented left-hander, reached the third round of the French Open in 2014 and the second round at Roland Garros in May. She played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in their final season of 2013.
   Hibi, who was born in Japan but grew up in Irvine in the Los Angeles region, won the 2013 Sacramento Challenger at 17 and gained the Stockton quarterfinals last year.
   Also in action today will be:
   --Michelle Larcher de Brito, 23, of Portugal. She reached the third round at Wimbledon as a qualifier in 2013 (beating 2004 champion Maria Sharapova) and 2014.
   Larcher de Brito broke into pro tennis at 14, helping the Capitals win the 2007 WTT title. She was the youngest player in league history until Madison Keys surpassed her by 19 days as a 14-year-old with the Philadelphia Freedoms in 2009.
   --Kristie Ahn, who played on Stanford's NCAA championship team in 2013 with Gibbs.
   --Michaela Gordon, a 16-year-old wild card from Saratoga in the Bay Area.

$50,000 USTA PRO CIRCUIT CHALLENGER

In Stockton, Calif.

Second-round qualifying

   Brynn Boren, United States, def. Danielle Lao (1), United States, 6-2, 6-4.
   Chanel Simmonds, South Africa, def. Nicole Frenkel, United States, 6-3, 6-2.
   Gabriela Ce (2), Brazil, def. Jacqueline Cako, United States, 6-2, 6-4.
   Caitlin Whoriskey, United States, def. Ashley Weinhold, United States, 6-3, 6-2.
   Elizaveta Ianchuk (3), Ukraine, def. Brooke Austin, United States, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
   Desirae Krawczyk, United States, def. Giuliana Olmos, Fremont, 6-1, 6-2.
   Priscilla Hon (4), Australia, def. Yuliya Beygelzimer, Ukraine, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
   Jennifer Elie (6), United States, def. Sabrina Santamaria, United States, 6-4, 6-2.

Today's schedule

Starting at 10 a.m.

Court 1

   Elizaveta Ianchuk (3), Ukraine, vs. Desirae Krawczyk, United States (final-round qualifying).
   Nicole Gibbs (1), United States, vs. Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada (not before 11:30 a.m.).
   Storm Sanders, Australia, vs. Michaela Gordon, Saratoga (not before 1 p.m.).
   Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend (1), United States, vs. Chanel Simmonds, South Africa, and Renata Zarazua, Mexico (not before 2:30 p.m.)

Court 2

   Jennifer Elie (6), United States, vs. Priscilla Hon (4), Australia (final-round qualifying).
   Taylor Townsend (6), United States, vs. Mayo Hibi, Japan (not before 11:30 a.m.)
   Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal, vs. Sabina Sharipova, Uzbekistan (not before 1 p.m.).
   CiCi Bellis, Atherton, and Jamie Loeb, United States, vs. Yuki Kristina Chiang, United States, and Elizaveta Ianchuk, Ukraine (not before 2:30 p.m.).

Court 3

   Gabriela Ce (2), Brazil, vs. Caitlin Whoriskey, United States (final-round qualifying).
   Kristie Ahn, United States, vs. Riko Sawayanagi, Japan (not before 11:30 a.m.).
   Victoria Kan, Russia, vs. Arina Rodionova, Australia (not before 1 p.m.).
   Jacqueline Cako, United States, and Gabriela Ce (3), Brazil, vs. Greet Minnen, Belgium, and Riko Sawayanagi, Japan (not before 2:30 p.m.).

Court 4

   Brynn Boren, United States, vs. Chanel Simmonds, South Africa (final-round qualifying).

   Robin Anderson, United States, vs. Sanaz Marand, United States (not before 11:30 a.m.).
   Kristyna Pliskova, Czech Republic, and Alison Van Uytvanck (4), Belgium, vs. Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park (not before 1 p.m.).
   Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs, United States, vs. Sanaz Marand and Melanie Oudin, United States (not before 2:30 p.m.).