Stanford women, men ranked high; Volynets in semis

   The Stanford women, who have won the last two NCAA titles and three of the last four, are fourth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason team rankings released today.

   Ranked ahead of the Cardinal are, in order, North Carolina, UCLA and Texas. California is 19th. 

   The Stanford men are ranked fifth behind, in order, USC, North Carolina, Ohio State and Michigan. Cal did not crack the top 25.

   UTR Pro Tennis Series — In a battle of San Francisco Bay Area teenagers, top-seeded Katie Volynets outlasted Vivian Ovrootsky 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the first-place playoff in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Volynets, a 19-year-old pro from Walnut Creek, is scheduled to meet Jessica Luisa Alsola of Fresno, Calif., on Saturday in the $25,000 tournament. Alsola, who's headed to Cal in the fall, defeated Camille Kiss, a UC Santa Barbara freshman from Redlands, Calif., 6-1, retired.

   Ovrootsky, 16, of San Jose has verbally committed to the University of Texas for 2022.

   In the quarterfinals of the third-place playoff, Filippa Bruu-Syversen of Chatham, N.J. beat Priya Nelson, 15, of Sacramento, Calif., by walkover. Bruu-Syversen plans to enroll at UCSB in the fall. 

   Tomi Main, a high school junior from Seaside, Calif., planning to attend Texas Tech in 2022, is slated to play Isabella Chhiv, a high school sophomore from Irvine, Calif., on Friday at 9 a.m. in the quarters of the third-place playoff. Live streaming is available.

Stanford's Rotsaert ranked third in preseason singles

   Alexandre Rotsaert, a Stanford junior from Boca Raton, Fla., is third in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association men's preseason rankings released today.

   Rotsaert trails, in order, Daniel Cukierman of USC and William Blumberg of North Carolina.

   Sam Riffice, a Florida junior who grew up in the Sacramento, Calif., suburb of Roseville, is rated eighth. 

   The Cardinal's Arthur Fery and Tristan Boyer are first and fourth, respectively, among the top 10 men's newcomers.

   On the women's side, Stanford senior Michaela Gordon of nearby Saratoga, Calif., is ranked 10th in singles. Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine heads the rankings.

   Other rankings:

Men's singles

   20. Axel Geller, Stanford

   23. Damon Kesaris, Saint Mary's

   42. Yuta Kikuchi, California

   44. Jack Molloy, California

   63. Paul Barretto (Tiburon, Calif.), California

   75. Sangeet Sridhar, Stanford

   79. Ryder Jackson (Nicasio, Calif.), USC

   94. Arthur Fery, Stanford

   97. Philip Hjorth, California

   119. Tristan Boyer, Stanford

Men's doubles

   11. Axel Geller/Neel Rajesh, Stanford

   31. Marcus McDaniel (Vacaville, Calif.)/Pablo Schelcher, Georgia Tech

   36. Paul Barretto (Tiburon, Calif.)/Can Kaya, California

   45. Sam Riffice (grew up in Roseville, Calif.)/Duarte Vale, Florida

Women's singles

   17. Mariia Kozyreva, Saint Mary's

   18. Haley Giavara, California

   21. Carolyn Campana (Hillsborough, Calif.), Wake Forest

   26. Valentina Ivanov, California

   43. Julia Rosenqvist, California

   58. Angelica Blake, Stanford

   63. Emily Arbuthnott, Stanford

   70. Klara Kosan (Carmichael, Calif.), Pacific

   114. Janice Shin, Stanford

Women's doubles

   9. Emily Arbuthnott/Angelica Blake, Stanford

   32. Sara Choy (Palo Alto, Calif.)/Emma Higuchi, Stanford

   33. Elvena Gevargiz/Maddie Pothoff, Santa Clara

   40. Haley Giavara/Valentina Ivanov, California

   53. Anna Bright/Julia Rosenqvist, California

Cal freshman Giavara named All-American in singles

Haley Giavara is ranked 15th
in singles. Photo courtesy of
Cal athletics

   Cal's Haley Giavara was one of three freshmen named as All-Americans in women's singles today by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

   Twenty women's singles players and 10 women's doubles teams were honored after the season was shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The same number of men's players and teams received recognition. 

   The 15th-ranked Giavara, from San Diego, went 19-7 in singles with four victories over top-10 players. Other freshmen chosen were UCLA's Abigail Forbes and Virginia's Natasha Subhash.

   Also named in singles were 12th-ranked Michaela Gordon, a Stanford junior from nearby Saratoga, and 21st-ranked Mariia Kozyreva, a Saint Mary's junior from Russia. 

   It's the third consecutive year that Gordon has been selected as an All-American in singles. She also was picked in doubles as a freshman. Kozyreva was named for the first time in singles or doubles.

   On the men's side, Sam Riffice, a Florida sophomore who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, was named an All-American in singles and doubles.
   Riffice is ranked fifth in singles and 19th in doubles. He also was chosen in singles last year.

   Seventh-ranked Alexandre Rotsaert, a Stanford sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., was honored in singles. It's his first All-America recognition.

Altamirano injured, Donaldson surgery, college rankings

Sacramento's Collin Altamirano, playing in the
$100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger last October,
retired from his second-round match in the $54,160
Savannah (Ga.) Challenger with a twisted ankle.
Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Collin Altamirano was heading toward his fourth career Challenger quarterfinal.
   Then misfortune struck.
   The Sacramento native and resident twisted his left ankle and retired after losing the first set to Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 7-6 (3) today on green clay in the $54,160 Savannah (Ga.) Challenger.
   Altamirano led 5-2 with two service breaks, but Vukic fought back to 4-5 in the first meeting between the 23-year-old, 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) right-handers. With Altamirano serving for the set at deuce, he hurt his ankle running up to retrieve a sharply angled inside-out forehand.
   Altamirano hopped on his right leg to his chair and took the first of three medical timeouts. On the next point, he slugged an inside-out forehand wide for 5-5.
   Both players then held serve, despite Altamirano delivering at half-speed, to send the set to a tiebreaker, in which Vukic won the last four points.
   Altamirano broke through in the $75,000 Winnetka (Ill.) Challenger last July, reaching the semifinals as a qualifier. He advanced to the quarters in his next tournament, retiring at 2-3 in the third set against Joris De Loore of Belgium in the $75,000 Lexington (Ky.) Challenger, and in the $162,480 Newport Beach (Calif.) Challenger in January.
   Donaldson surgery -- Jared Donaldson, the runner-up in the 2015 Sacramento Challenger, underwent right knee surgery at Stanford University Medical Center on Tuesday.
   Donaldson, 22, reached the third round of the 2016 U.S. Open as a qualifier, stunning then-No. 14 David Goffin of Belgium in the first round, and attained a career-high ranking of No. 48 in March 2018.

   INTERCOLLEGIATE TENNIS ASSOCIATION RANKINGS

(Top 10 and Northern California; previous ranking in parentheses)

Women's team

1. North Carolina (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Stanford (5)
4. South Carolina (3)
5. Duke (4)
6. Pepperdine (6)
7. UCLA (9)
8. Vanderbilt (7)
9. Texas (8)
10. Washington (11)
17. Cal (16)

Women's singles

1. Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (2)
2. Katarina Jokic, Georgia (1)
3. Kate Fahey, Michigan (3)
4. Ingid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (4)
5. Makenna Jones, North Carolina (5)
6. Fernanda Contreras, Vanderbilt (6)
7. Alex Graham, North Carolina (7)
8. Sophie Whittle, Gonzaga (10)
9. Kenya Jones, Georgia Tech (8)
10. Anna Rogers, North Carolina State (9)
17. Paige Cline (Kentfield), South Carolina (16)
22. Felicity Maltby (Sunnyvale), Texas Tech (23)
24. Michaela Gordon (Saratoga), Stanford (24)
29. Melissa Lord, Stanford (32)
41. Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (41)
44. Emily Arbuthnott, Stanford (46)
48. Olivia Hauger, Cal (47)
66. Caroline Lampl, Stanford (68)
79. Anna Bright, Cal (74)
107. Emma Higuchi, Stanford (88)
108. Janice Shin, Stanford (106)
111. Mariiya Kozyreva, Saint Mary's (113)
116. Maddie Pothoff, Santa Clara (120)
119. Sara Choy (Palo Alto), Stanford (119)

Women's doubles

1. Angela Kulikov and Rianna Valdes, USC (2)
2. Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham, North Carolina (5)
3. Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (7)
4. Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh, Arizona State (1)
5. Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield, UCLA (4)
6. Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia, Kansas (3)
7. Alana Smith and Anna Rogers, North Carolina State (8)
8. Ashley Lahey and Evgeniya Levashova, Pepperdine (6)
9. Kaitlin Staines and Sadie Hammond, Tennessee (9)
10. Fernanda Navarro and Marie Leduc, Clemson (10)
19. Kimberly Yee and Caroline Lampl, Stanford (14)
20. Hana Mraz and Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (17)
29. Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon (Saratoga), Stanford (22)
32. Hind Abdelouahid and Mariiya Kozyreva, Saint Mary's (28)
45. Kimberly Yee and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (43)
54. Anna Bright and Jasie Dunk, Cal (40)
57. Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (51)
59. Abi Altick and Alaina Miller (Saratoga), UCLA (48)
62. Katerina Stloukalova and Hana Mraz, Cal (63)
88. Olivia Hauger and Katerina Stloukalova, Cal (88)

Men's team

1. Ohio State (1)
2. Texas (2)
3. Wake Forest (3)
4. Florida (4)
5. Virginia (5)
6. Baylor (6)
7. Mississippi State (7)
8. USC (8)
9. Texas Christian (9)
10. North Carolina (10)
12. Stanford (14)
24. Cal (33)

Men's singles

1. Nuno Borges, Mississippi State (2)
2. JJ Wolf, Ohio State (1)
3. Carl Soderlund, Virginia (3)
4. Alex Rybakov, Texas Christian (5)
5. Paul Jubb, South Carolina (4)
6. Brandon Holt, USC (10)
7. Christian Sigsgaard, Texas (8)
8. Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest (6)
9. Oliver Crawford, Florida (7)
10. Aleksandar Kovacevic, Illinois (9)
13. Axel Geller, Stanford (12)
37. Victor Pham (Saratoga), Columbia (33)
54. Sam Riffice (Roseville), Florida (63)
63. Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (55)
88. Cameron Klinger (San Jose), Vanderbilt (87)
91. William Genesen, Stanford (NR)

Men's doubles

1. Sven Lah and Jimmy Bendeck, Baylor (1)
2. Maxime Cressy and Keegan Smith, UCLA (4)
3. Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic, Mississippi State (3)
4. Henry Patten and Oli Nolan, North Carolina-Ashville (2)
5. Christian Sigsgaard and Harrison Scott, Texas (5)
6. Timo Stodder and Preston Touliatos, Tennessee (6)
7. Cameron Klinger (San Jose) and Billy Rowe, Vanderbilt (8)
8. Juan Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith, Texas A&M (7)
9. Parker Wynn and Bjorn Thomson, Texas Tech (10)
10. Brandon Holt and Riley Smith USC (11)
21. Axel Geller and Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (21)
28. Yuta Kikuchi and Jacob Brumm, Cal (31)
69T. Sam Riffice (Roseville) and Andy Andrade, Florida (60)
75. Logan Weber and Andy Zhou (Palo Alto), Harvard (61)
83. David Goulak and Ivan Thamma, UC Davis (70)

Stanford's Geller rises to No. 8; Gibbs falls in qualies

Stanford's Axel Geller, playing in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.)
Challenger last October, improved five spots to No. 8 in the Inter-
collegiate Tennis Association rankings. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Despite not beating a ranked player, Stanford's Axel Geller jumped five spots to No. 8 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings released today.
   Since the last singles rankings on Feb. 20, the sophomore from Argentina sat out of singles in Stanford's 4-0 victory over UC Davis on Feb. 22 and crushed Cal's Jacob Brumm 6-1, 6-0 on Court 1 in the Cardinal's 4-2 win over Cal on Feb. 24. Both dual matches were at Stanford.
   Geller ended 2017 as the No. 1 junior in the world.
   The Cardinal (9-2) remained No. 7, and Cal (2-5), previously No. 40, dropped out of the 50-team rankings.
   In the women's team rankings, Stanford (6-1) stayed No. 4, and Cal (5-3) fell four notches to No. 20.
   BNP Paribas Open -- No. 10 seed Zarina Diyas, a Kazakh who reached a career-high No. 31 in 2015, defeated Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the second (final) round of qualifying in Indian Wells.
   Gibbs, who turned 26 on Sunday, has not won a main-draw match in Indian Wells since reaching the fourth round as a qualifier in 2016.

INTERCOLLEGIATE TENNIS ASSOCIATION RANKINGS

(Top 10 plus Northern California; previous ranking in parentheses)

Men's team

1. Ohio State (1)
2. Wake Forest (2)
3. Texas (3)
4. Virginia (4)
5. Baylor (7)
6. North Carolina (6)
7. Stanford (5)
8. Columbia (9)
9. Florida (10)
10. Mississippi State (8)

Men's singles

1. JJ Wolf, Ohio State (1)
2. Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest (2)
3. Nuno Borges, Mississippi State (3)
4. Christian Sigsgaard, Texas (8)
5. Thomas Laurent, Oregon (7)
6. Daniel Cukierman, USC (11)
7. Alex Rybakov, TCU (6)
8. Axel Geller, Stanford (13)
9. Yuya Ito, Texas (12)
10. Jan Zielinski, Georgia (5)
31. Victor Pham (Saratoga), Columbia (65)
32. Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (39)
35. Sameer Kumar, Stanford (31)
48. Sam Riffice (Roseville), Florida (46)
56. William Genesen, Stanford (60)
105. Zdenek Derkas, Fresno State (NR)

Men's doubles

1. Henry Patten and Oli Nolan, UNC Ashville (1)
2. Sven Lah and Jimmy Bendeck, Baylor (2)
3. Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini, Mississippi State (6)
4. Constant De La Bassetiere and Gabriel Nemeth, Penn State (7)
5. Fabian Fallert and Finn Reynolds, Mississippi (4)
6. Parker Wynn and Bjorn Thomson, Texas Tech (8)
7. Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic, Mississippi State (11)
8. Kyle Seelig and Alex Kobelt, Ohio State (3)
9. Johannes Ingildsen and Brian Berdusco, Florida (14)
10. Jack Lin and William Matheson, Columbia (5)
11. Yuta Kikuchi and Jacob Brumm, Cal (13)
27. Sam Riffice (Roseville) and Andy Andrade, Florida (16)
33. Paul Barretto (Tiburon) and Can Kaya, Cal (31)
70. Axel Geller and Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (NR)

Women's team

1. North Carolina (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Duke (3)
4. Stanford (4)
5. Vanderbilt (6)
6. UCLA (5)
7. Washington (22)
8. Oklahoma State (8)
9. South Carolina (10)
10. Ohio State (14)
20. Cal (16)

Women's singles

1. Katarina Jokic, Georgia (1)
2. Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (Fla.) (7)
3. Fernanda Contreras, Vanderbilt 3)
4. Kate Fahey, Michigan (8)
5. Makenna Jones, North Carolina (2)
6. Alexa Graham, North Carolina (5)
7. Sophie Whittle, Gonzaga (4)
8. Christina Rosca, Vanderbilt (9)
9. Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (10)
10. Elysia Bolton, UCLA (11)
17. Emily Arbuthnott, Stanford (19)
22. Michaela Gordon, Stanford (16)
24. Olivia Hauger, Cal (20)
25. Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (45)
41. Melissa Lord, Stanford (49)
49. Paige Cline (Kentfield), South Carolina (38)
51. Caroline Lampl, Stanford (59)
55. Janice Shin, Stanford (58)
63. Emma Higuchi, Stanford (63)
74. Anna Bright, Cal (69)
94. Sara Choy (Palo Alto), Stanford (76)
106. Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (78)
107. Mariia Kozyreva, Saint Mary's (93)
115. Katerina Stloukalova, Cal (NR)

Women's doubles

1. Ashley Lahey and Evgeniya Levashova, Pepperdine (5)
2. Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia, Kansas (3)
3. Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson, LSU (11)
4. Fernanda Navarro and Marie Leduc, Clemson (1)
5. Cameron Morra and Makenna Jones, North Carolina (4)
6. Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh, Arizona State (6)
7. Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (2)
8. Kaitlin Staines and Sadie Hammond, Tennessee (9)
9. Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham, North Carolina (16)
10. Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield, UCLA (8)
11. Kimberly Yee and Caroline Lampl, Stanford (12)
20. Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon, Stanford (15)
23. Anna Bright and Jasie Dunk, Cal (23)
26. Hana Mraz and Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (28)
27. Kimberly Yee and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (29)
36. Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (40)
48. Abi Altick and Alaina Miller (Saratoga), UCLA (38)
50. Katerina Stloukalova and Hana Mraz, Cal (NR)

Stanford men fall to Virginia in ITA National Indoors

   The No. 10 Stanford men lost to No. 13 Virginia 4-2 today in the first round of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship in Chicago.
   Carl Soderlund, a junior from Sweden, beat Axel Geller, a sophomore from Argentina, 6-4, 7-5 on Court 1 to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers (8-1).
   Stanford (6-2) will play No. 19 Tulane (4-4) on Saturday in the consolation bracket. The Green Wave lost to No. 2 Ohio State 4-0.

Georgia snaps Stanford women's win streak at 25

Michaela Gordon, shown in 2017, lost the deciding match as No. 1 Stanford fell
to No. 5 Georgia 4-3 on Monday in the semifinals of the ITA National Women's
Team Indoor Championships in Seattle. Photo by Rob Vomund

   No. 5 Georgia ended No. 1 Stanford's winning streak at 25 matches on Monday, edging the Cardinal 4-3 in the semifinals of the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships in Seattle.

   The Cardinal's run included its 19th NCAA title, an ongoing record, last May in Winston-Salem, N.C.
   In Monday's deciding match, No. 2 Katarina Jokic defeated No. 23 Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 on Court 1.
   No. 13 Emily Arbuthnott and Gordon won on Court 2 to give Stanford (5-1) the doubles point. No. 31 Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe, a freshman from Sunnyvale in the Bay Area, lost on Court 3.
   Georgia (6-0) will play No. 3 and defending champion North Carolina (9-0), which routed rival Duke 4-0.

Staggs, UCLA lose in Men's Team Indoors final

   Top-ranked Wake Forest won its first national championship today, defeating No. 7 UCLA 4-2 in the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Seattle.
   Skander Mansouri, ranked 22nd, clinched the match for the Demon Deacons (9-0) with a 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over No. 107 Keegan Smith on Court 3.
   Wake Forest's Bar Botzer, ranked 112th, topped Logan Staggs, a senior from Tracy ranked 58th, 6-4, 6-4 on Court 4.
   The Demon Deacons overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1.
   The match between top-ranked Martin Redlicki of UCLA (11-2) and 100th-ranked Borna Gojo on Court 1 was abandoned at one set apiece and 40-40 in the first game of the third set.

Stanford women ranked No. 1; Pliskova routs Bellis

Michaela Gordon, now a Stanford freshman, eyes a forehand in singles quali-
ing for the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger in July. Photo by Rob Vomund

   The Stanford women earned the top spot in the first college rankings of the dual-match season, which were released today.
   Returnees from the Cardinal's NCAA runner-up team last year include junior All-American Melissa Lord, junior Caroline Lampl and sophomores Emma Higuchi and Emily Arbuthnott.
   Joining Stanford, which has won a record 19 national titles, is Michaela Gordon of nearby Saratoga. Gordon ranks second nationally among freshmen and newcomers and 13th overall.
   Artbuthnott and Gordon won the doubles title in the inaugural ITA National Fall Championships at Indian Wells in November. Stanford has only one senior, and she is not a regular.
   Stanford opens the spring season on Jan. 12 in the NCTC Classic at Indian Wells and the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas.
   The Cal women, led by freshman Anna Bright, are ranked No. 11. On the men's side, Stanford is No. 13, and Cal is No. 19. The Cardinal's Tom Fawcett, a 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) senior from Winnetka, Ill., reached the NCAA singles semifinals last May.
   The first singles and doubles rankings of the year will be released on Feb. 7.
   WTA tour -- CiCi Bellis, the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017, lost to defending champion and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes in the second round of the Brisbane (Australia) International.
   The 6-foot-1 (1.86-meter) Pliskova, seeded second, won 90 percent of the points on her first serve (19 of 21) and 64 percent (9 of 14) on her second delivery against the 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter) Bellis, an 18-year-old product of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pliskova faced no break points in the match. 

Stanford pair win ITA National Fall doubles title

Michaela Gordon eyes a forehand in the singles qualifying event of the
$60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area in
July. Photo by Rob Vomund  

   Playing only their second tournament together, Stanford's Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon won the inaugural ITA National Fall Championships.
   Arbuthnott, a sophomore from England, and Gordon, a freshman from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, beat Alexa Bortles and Arianne Hartono of Mississippi 6-4, 6-1 today in Indian Wells, Calif. Both teams were unseeded.
   Arbuthnott and Gordon won the first three of their five tournament matches in super tiebreakers. They ousted third-seeded fifth-seeded Rosie Johanson and Meghan Kelley of Virginia in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Kelly Chen and Samantha Harris of Duke in the semifinals.
   Arbuthnott and Gordon ended the fall season with an 8-1 record. They reached the doubles semifinals in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships last month at Stanford.
   Gordon earned her second collegiate title and Arbuthnott, who played No. 1 doubles with then-senior Taylor Davidson last season, her first. Gordon won the singles crown in the Northwest Regionals.

Stanford duo to play for doubles title in Fall Nationals

Michaela Gordon volleys in the singles qualifying event
of the $60,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in
the Sacramento area in July. Photo by Rob Vomund

   After pulling off their second consecutive upset, Stanford's Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon will play for the doubles title in the ITA National Fall Championships.
   The unseeded pair knocked off third-seeded Kelly Chen and Samantha Harris of Duke 6-1, 7-5 today in Indian Wells, Calif.
   Arbuthnott, a sophomore from England, and Gordon, a freshman from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, won all three of their previous tournament encounters in match tiebreakers. They surprised fifth-seeded Rosie Johanson and Meghan Kelley of Virginia in the quarterfinals.
   Arbuthnott and Gordon will play Mississippi's Alexa Bortles and Arianne Hartono, who beat Paige Hourigan and Kenya Jones of Georgia Tech 6-2, 7-6 (5) in a matchup of unseeded teams. Bortles is a sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., and Hartono is a senior from the Netherlands.

Stanford pair reach doubles semis in Fall Nationals

   Stanford's Michaela Gordon and Emily Arbuthnott lost to unseeded players today in the third round of the ITA National Fall Championships in Indian Wells, Calif.
   However, they reached the doubles semifinals together.
   The 12th-seeded Gordon, a freshman from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, fell to Bianca Turati of Texas 6-2, 7-6 (7). Arbuthnott, a sophomore from England, succumbed to Marie Leduc of Clemson 6-1, 6-2.
   Unseeded in doubles, Arbuthnott and Gordon edged fifth-seeded Rosie Johanson and Meghan Kelley of Virginia 3-6, 7-6 (5) [10-4].
   Arbuthnott and Gordon, who have won all three of their encounters in match tiebreakers, will play third-seeded Kelly Chen and Samantha Harris of Duke. Chen and Harris beat Elena Christofi and Morgan Coppoc of Georgia 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Gordon, Pham, Hill win ITA Regonal titles

   Three Northern Californians won titles in the recent ITA Regional Championships.
   All three players are from the San Francisco Bay Area, and all triumphed in singles. Michaela Gordon won the Northwest Regional, Victor Pham the Northeast Regional and Sean Hill the Mountain Regional.
   The fourth-seeded Gordon, a Stanford freshman from Saratoga, defeated teammate Emily Arbuthnott, seeded seventh, 7-5, 6-2 on their home courts in Monday's final.
   The top-seeded Pham, a Columbia junior from Saratoga, beat No. 5-8 seed David Volfson of Cornell 6-3, 6-3 at Yale on Monday.
   The unseeded Hill, a BYU sophomore from Berkeley, routed third-seeded Ricky Hernandez-Tong of New Mexico 6-2, 6-1 at BYU on Saturday.

Bellis, 17, claims another top-50 victim

CiCi Bellis, shown last July, upset 17th-seeded Yulia Putintseva in the first round
in Dubai. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Despite a late start this season, 17-year-old CiCi Bellis upset another top-50 player today.
   Bellis, a product of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, surprised 17th-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
   Bellis, the youngest player in the top 100 at No. 70, trailed 5-1 in the second set of the Premier Level tournament on the elite WTA Tour.
   "I think some players, when they are up by a lot like that, they relax a little bit," Bellis told reporters, "so I think that's a good time that you can take advantage of, like, a little bit of a level drop from them."
   Bellis, now based in Orlando, Fla., missed January with strained hamstring and gluteus muscles. She returned to the circuit last week in Doha, losing in the second round of qualifying.
   Putintseva, the runner-up in St. Petersburg three weeks ago, is ranked No. 27. The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Moscow native is the sixth top-50 player Bellis has beaten. Three of them -- Dominika Cibulkova, Shelby Rogers and Zhang Shuai -- have reached the quarterfinals or better in a Grand Slam tournament. Cibulkova and Zhang also were ranked in the top 30 at No. 13 and No. 23, respectively.
   Bellis is scheduled to play Germany's Laura Siegemund, ranked No. 41, for the first time on Tuesday at midnight (California time). Siegemund, who will turn 29 on March 4, edged qualifier Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3) in 2 hours, 57 minutes on Sunday.
   College -- Virginia finally lost a point in the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships.
   No matter. The top-ranked Cavaliers, with junior Collin Altamirano of Sacramento playing No. 1 singles, defeated third-ranked Ohio State 4-1 at home in Charlottesville, Va., for their sixth title in the tournament.
   Virginia (9-0), which appears headed to its third consecutive NCAA title in May, had won its first three dual matches in the National Indoors 4-0.
   The unranked Altamirano lost to second-ranked Mikael Torpegaard, a junior from Denmark, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Torpegaard, who won the $50,000 Columbus (Ohio) Challenger on his home courts in September, is ranked No. 342 in the world. Altamirano, the runner-up in last month's $25,000 Long Beach Futures, is No. 813.
   Today's dual match was closer than the score indicated. Ohio State (12-1) was on the verge of closing out matches and No. 3 and No. 5 singles when Virginia's J.C. Aragone edged Herkko Pollanen 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) at No. 4 to clinch the overall victory.

Novikov falls in semis; Altamirano leads Virginia

Dennis Novikov, serving in doubles at the U.S. Open
last September, lost to Tennys Sandgren in the semi-
finals of the $75,000 Tempe (Ariz.) Challenger.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   The singles champion of the $75,000 Tempe (Ariz.) Challenger still hasn't been decided.
   But it won't be Dennis Novikov.
   The 23-year-old resident of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area lost to compatriot Tennys Sandgren 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in today's semifinals.
   The unseeded Sandgren, 25, blasted 16 aces, committed four double faults and saved eight of 12 break points against him. The seventh-seeded Novikov had four aces and one double fault. He survived eight of 14 break points.
   Novikov ousted top-seeded Ernesto Escobedo of West Covina in the Los Angeles region in the quarterfinals.
   The Sandgren-Novikov match was delayed for several hours and suspended briefly early in the third set because of rain, forcing the final to be postponed until Monday. Sandgren, 25, will play unseeded Serbian Nikola Milojevic, who beat sixth-seeded Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 7-6 (3), 6-4.
   College -- No. 1-ranked Virginia, led by Collin Altamirano of Sacramento and playing at home, crushed No. 5 North Carolina 4-0 to reach the final of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va.
   The two-time defending NCAA champion Cavaliers have shut out all three of their opponents in the tournament.
   Altamirano, a junior, dominated 16th-ranked Ronnie Schneider 6-0, 6-3 on Court 1 as Virginia avenged a 4-2 loss to the Tar Heels in last year's final. Altamirano also won at No. 3 doubles with J.C. Aragone.
   Although Altamirano is unranked in college, he's No. 813 in the world after reaching the quarterfinals and final in back-to-back $25,000 tournaments in Southern California last month.
   Virginia (8-0) will play No. 3-ranked Ohio State (12-0) for the title. Second-ranked Mikael Torpegaard lifted the Buckeyes to a 4-3 victory over No. 2 Wake Forest by edging top-ranked Petros Chrysochos 7-6 (6), 5-7, 7-6 (4) on Court 1.

Virginia advances in Indoors; rain hits 75K Tempe

Sacramento's Collin Altamirano, shown in 2014, plays
No. 1 singles for top-ranked Virginia. The Cavaliers,
who have won the last two NCAA titles, beat co-No. 7
UCLA in the quarterfinals of the ITA Nationl Men's
Team Indoor Championships. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Virginia and UCLA men's teams are both ranked in the top 10 with a Northern Californian in the singles lineup.
   But it was no contest when the No. 1 Cavaliers and the co-No. 7 Bruins met today in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships. Virginia, the host and two-time defending NCAA champion, routed UCLA 4-0 in Charlottesville, Va.
   The Cavaliers' Collin Altamirano, a junior from Sacramento, and the Bruins' Logan Staggs, a 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) junior from Tracy, trailed when their matches were abandoned. Martin Redlicki, ranked 73rd, led Altamirano 6-3, 4-2 on Court 1, and Alexander Ritschard was ahead of Staggs 7-5, 1-1 on Court 5.
   Altamirano won in doubles on Court 3 with J.C. Aragone. Staggs did not play doubles.
   Virginia will face defending champion and No. 5-ranked North Carolina, which defeated No. 4 Cal 4-2, in a rematch of last year's final.
   Bears junior Billy Griffith, a Fresno resident ranked 40th, lost to Robert Kelly 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Court 4 but won in doubles with Andre Goransson on Court 2. Cal's J.T. Nishimura, a junior from San Jose, trailed in doubles on Court 3 with Bjorn Hoffmann when their match was abandoned. Nishimura did not play singles.
   Men's Challenger -- Rain wiped out play in the $75,000 Tempe (Ariz.) Challenger. The singles semifinals and final and the doubles final are scheduled for Sunday.
   In the first singles semifinal, No. 7 seed Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area will meet unseeded countryman Tennys Sandgren for the first time. After the doubles final, sixth-seeded Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia will play unseededNikola Milojevic of Serbia.
   Novikov ousted No. 1 seed Ernesto Escobedo of West Covina in the Los Angeles area in the quarterfinals.

Novikov upsets top seed; Virginia, Cal advance

Dennis Novikov, shown in 2015, ousted top seed
Ernesto Escobedo today in the quarterfinals of the
$75,000 Tempe (Ariz.) Challenger. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   No. 7 seed Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area knocked off No. 1 Ernesto Escobedo of West Covina in the Los Angeles region 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 today in the quarterfinals of the $75,000 Tempe (Ariz.) Challenger.
   Novikov, 23, saved both break points against him, blasted 10 aces and committed only one double fault. Escobedo, 20, had 13 aces and eight double faults.
   Novikov, ranked No. 179, will meet unseeded countryman Tennys Sandgren, ranked No. 198, for the first time on Saturday. Sandgren, 25, ousted No. 5 seed Marco Trungelliti of Argentina 6-3, 7-5.  
   In the other semifinal, sixth-seeded Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia will play unseeded Nikola Milojevic of Serbia.
   Denys Molchanov of Ukraine and Novikov, seeded first in doubles, lost to unseeded Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Jose Hernandez-Fernandez of the Dominican Republic 2-6, 6-3 [12-10] in the semifinals.
   College -- No. 1 seed and host Virginia, the two-time defending NCAA champion, blitzed No. 16 Utah State 4-0 in the first round of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va.
   Collin Altamirano, a junior from Sacramento, led Jack Swindells 6-1, 4-3 on Court 1 when the match was abandoned. Altamirano and J.C. Aragone won in doubles on Court 3.
   The Cavaliers will play No. 8 UCLA, which edged No. 9 USC 4-3, in Saturday's quarterfinals. The Bruins' Logan Staggs, a junior from Tracy, lost to 119th-ranked Jack Jaede of the Trojans on Court 5 to tie the score 3-3. Martin Redlicki, ranked 73rd, won the deciding match on Court 1. Staggs did not play doubles.
   No. 4 Cal, with Billy Griffith of Fresno and J.T. Nishimura of San Jose, beat No. 13 Baylor 4-2. Griffth, ranked 40th, routed Jimmy Bendeck 6-1, 6-2 on Court 4. Nishimura lost to Constantin Frantzen 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Court 6. Griffith won on Court 2 in doubles, but Nishimura lost on Court 3.
   The Bears will face No. 4 seed and defending champion North Carolina, which topped No. 12 Georgia 4-2.
   In the ITA National Women's Indoor Championships in New Haven, Conn., No. 1 seed Florida  defeated North Carolina 4-2 on Monday for the title. No. 7 Cal lost to the Tar Heels 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
   Texas Tech's Felicity Maltby, a sophomore from Sunnyvale, was named to the all-tournament team at No. 3 doubles with junior Gabriela Talaba. They went 2-0.

Altamirano ousts top seed; his Cavaliers ranked No. 1

Collin Altamirano played in an exhibition in
Antelope, near Sacramento, in early October.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Qualifier Collin Altamirano of Sacramento stunned No. 1 seed Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday in the first round of the $25,000 Los Angeles Futures at USC.
   Paul, the 2015 French Open boys champion, is ranked No. 282 at 19 years old. He turned pro out of high school.
   Altamirano, a Virginia junior, has helped the Cavaliers win the past two NCAA team titles. He is scheduled to play qualifier Karue Sell of Brazil today, but rain is forecast.
   Sell, a former UCLA standout, dispatched yet another qualifier, Timur Khabibulin of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-2.
   If Altamirano beats Sell, he will play a Virginia teammate, either freshman Carl Soderlund of Sweden or senior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Charlotte, N.C., in the quarterfinals. Soderlund is seeded eighth.
   No. 5 seed Mackenzie McDonald, who grew up in Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated wild card Thibault Forget (pronounced For-ZHAY), a USC junior from France, 6-3, 6-2.
   Forget's father, Guy (pronounced Ghee), reached No. 4 in the world in singles in 1991 and No. 3 in doubles in 1986. He played on two Davis Cup championship teams for France and captained (coached) the team from 1999 to 2012.
   College rankings -- The Virginia men top the first rankings of the spring season. Cal is tied for fifth, and Stanford is 18th.
   Stanford's Tom Fawcett ranks eighth in singles. Cal's Florian Lakat and Andre Goransson are 12th and 15th, respectively. Cal's Filip Bergevi and Lakat are second in doubles.
   The defending champion Stanford women rank fourth, and Cal is eighth. The Bears' Karla Popovic is 17th in singles.

Bellis, 17, cracks top 100 with title; Ahn falls in final

Atherton's CiCi Bellis, shown in the U.S. Open in Sept-
ember, jumped 11 places to No. 90 in the world with
her second straight title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   CiCi Bellis, a 17-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product, on Sunday became by far the youngest player ranked among the top 100 women in the world.
   Bellis, who turned pro on Sept. 13 after reaching the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier, jumped 11 places to No. 90 with her second straight title in a $50,000 Canadian indoor hardcourt tournament.
   The top-seeded Bellis, from Atherton, beat fourth-seeded Jesika Maleckova, a 22-year-old Czech, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to win the Tevlin Challenger in Toronto.
   "It means everything to me," Bellis, who also won the Saguenay Challenger two weeks ago, told Tennis Canada. "This has been the best year of my life and the best couple tournaments of my life. I've never been happier."
   After defeating Usue Maitane Arconada, 18, of the United States 6-4, 6-2 in the first round, Bellis won her last four matches in three sets.
   Bellis is 15 months younger than the next youngest player in the top 100, No. 48 Ana Konjuh of Croatia. Konjuh, who reached the U.S. Open quarterfinalist in September, will turn 19 on Dec. 27.
   Bellis will gain direct entry into the Australian Open in January. It will be her first appearance in the tournament.
   Meanwhile, former Stanford star Kristie Ahn of Upper Saddle River, N.J., lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) in the final of the $50,000 Copperwynd Women's Pro Challenge in Scottsdale, Ariz. Both players were unseeded.
   The 5-foot-5 (1.66-meter) Ahn, 24, led by a break in both sets against the 20-year-old left-hander, who did not lose a set in the tournament.
   Haddad Maia ousted top-seeded Nicole Gibbs in the second round and U.S. phenom Kayla Day in the semifinals. Gibbs and Ahn led Stanford to the 2013 NCAA team title. Day, a 17-year-old left-hander, won the $50,000 Macon (Ga.) Challenger the week before Scottsdale.
   Ahn now must win this week's $50,000 Waco (Texas) Challenger to overtake Day in the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge.
   In Flushing, N.Y., No. 1 seed Francesca Di Lorenzo of Ohio State won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships for the second straight year.
   Di Lorenzo, a sophomore, pounded fourth-seeded Hayley Carter of North Carolina 6-1, 6-1 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of the U.S. Open.
   Seventh-seeded Michael Redlicki of Arkansas won the men's crown, surprising top-seeded Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State 6-4, 6-3.
   The doubles titles went to second-seeded Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim of Wake Forest on the men's side and unseeded Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi of Kentucky on the women's side. Seraphim is 6-foot-10 (2.08 meters).

NorCal brothers fall in Nat'l Indoor doubles semis

   Columbia's Richard and Victor Pham, brothers from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to wild cards Jeffrey Schorsch and Charlie Emhardt of Valparaiso in Indiana 7-6 (8), 6-3 on Saturday in the semifinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing, N.Y.
   Schorsch and Emhardt, who ousted top-seeded Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat of Cal in the second round, will face second-seeded Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim of Wake Forest for the men's doubles title today at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center not before 8 a.m. PST.
   Seraphim, a junior from Germany, is 6-foot-10 (2.08 meters). Mansouri, a junior from Tunisia, is 6-foot-3 (1.90 meters).
   Today's other finals:
   --No. 1 seed Mikael Torpegaard, who won the $50,000 Columbus Challenger on his home courts at Ohio State in September, vs. No. 7 Michael Redlicki of Arkansas in men's singles not before 8 a.m.
   --No. 1 seed and defending champion Francesco Di Lorenzo of Ohio State vs. No. 4 Hayley Carter of North Carolina in women's singles at 7 a.m.
   --Kentucky's Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi, last year's runners-up to Carter and Whitney Kay, vs. UCLA wild cards Jada Hart and Ena Shibahara, this year's U.S. Open girls doubles champions, in women's doubles at 7 a.m.
   All matches will be streamed live.