Tragedy, health scare mar Day 6 of Australian Open

Canada's Milos Raonic, serving at Indian Wells last year,
dedicated his third-round victory in the Australian Open
to shooting victims in Saskatchewan. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Off-the-court issues overshadowed Day 6 of the Australian Open.
   During the day session on Friday (PST) in Melbourne, No. 13 seed Milos Raonic of Canada dedicated his 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 21 Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the third round to shooting victims in a remote community in Saskatchewan. Four people died, and at least two were injured.
   "Today, before I stepped out on court, it was a difficult day back home," the 25-year-old Raonic, from Thornhill, Ontario, in the Toronto area, told the crowd. "I want to take a moment and give thoughts to that community. Today's victory was for that community, and a quick recovery and all of Canada, and I'm sure the world is behind you."
   During the night session (early today PST), the third-round match between No. 15 Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., and No. 20 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia was suspended for an hour after Ivanovic's coach, Nigel Sears, collapsed in the stands at Rod Laver Arena.
   Sears, the father-in-law of No. 2 seed Andy Murray, was removed on a stretcher and taken to a hospital. He reportedly was alert and sitting up.
   Murray was playing No. 32 Joao Sousa of Portugal at Margaret Court Arena at the time and apparently unaware of the emergency. His wife, Kim Sears, is back home in Great Britain awaiting the birth of their first child.

   Ivanovic, the 2008 Australian Open runner-up to Maria Sharapova, led 6-4, 1-0 when play was halted. But Keys, a semifinalist in last year's Australian Open at 19, rallied to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 after trailing 3-0 in the third set. Murray won 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Ana Ivanovic's match against Madison Keys
was suspended for an hour after her coach,
Nigel Sears, collapsed in the stands. Keys
eventually won. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Early on Day 6, two top-10 women's seeds lost. No. 3 Garbine Muguruza of Spain fell to Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2, and No. 9 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic exited against No. 21 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-3, 6-2.
   Muguruza, the runner-up at Wimbledon last year, won the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford with countrywoman Carla Suarez Navarro.
   Pliskova was the singles runner-up to Angelique Kerber of Germany in last year's Bank of the West Classic.
   Kerber is the highest remaining seed in the bottom half of the Australian Open draw, but No. 14 seed Victoria Azarenka looms as the biggest threat to No. 1 Serena Williams in either half.
   Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion, appears to have regained her form after battling injuries for two years.
   In the second night match at Rod Laver Arena, No. 16 Bernard Tomic defeated fellow Australian John Millman, who won the 2015 Aptos and 2010 Sacramento Challengers, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
   Millman became the first No. 1 seed in the 28-year history of the Aptos tournament, the longest-running Challenger in the United States, to win the title.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 

In Melbourne

(Northern California results only)

Men's doubles

Second round

   Dominic Inglot, Great Britain, and Robert Lindstedt (11), Sweden, def. Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky (former Stanford All-American), United States, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-4.

Women's doubles

Second round

   Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia, and Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic, def. Raquel Atawo (San Jose resident, former Cal All-American) and Abigail Spears (6), United States, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2.
   Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic (3), France, def. Maria Sanchez (Modesto native), United States, and Stephanie Vogt, Switzerland, 6-2, 6-1.

Mixed doubles

First round

   Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Bob Bryan (former Stanford All-American) (2), United States, def. Jessica Moore and Marc Polmans, Australia, 6-2, 6-1.

French Open Day 12: Serena, Safarova gain final

Serena Williams, practicing during the Bank of the
West Classic at Stanford last summer, overcame the
flu and a big deficit to reach the French Open final.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Women's semifinals -- Battling the flu, top-seeded Serena Williams pulled off another comeback to defeat No. 23 Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the semifinals.
   Williams dropped the first set for the fourth time in her last five matches and trailed 3-2 in the second set on Bacsinszky's serve. Williams then reeled off the last 10 games, advancing to the final against 13th-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic (Saturday at 6 a.m. PDT on NBC).
   Safarova, 28, beat Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, the seventh seed and 2008 champion, 7-5, 7-5 to reach her first Grand Slam singles final. Safarova won her first major title in this year's Australian Open, teaming with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in women's doubles. 
   Stars and stripes -- The 33-year-old Williams, who grew up in Compton in the Los Angeles area, is trying to join Margaret Court (24) and Steffi Graf (22) as the only players to win at least 20 Grand Slam singles titles.
   Southern California natives Bob and Mike Bryan, seeded first, dismissed Italians Simone Bolleli and Fabio Fognini, the sixth seeds and reigning Australian Open champions, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final.
   The 37-year-old Bryan twins will play third-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. They outclassed fifth-seeded Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-3, 7-5.
   Mattek-Sands and Mike Bryan, seeded second in mixed doubles, captured the title with a 7-6 (3),  6-1 triumph over unseeded Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.
   Three Americans and one Frenchman advanced to the semifinals in junior boys singles. Second-seeded Taylor Fritz will meet No. 4 Corentin Denolly of France, and No. 6 Michael Mmoh will face No. 13 Tommy Paul.
   In the junior girls quarterfinals, fourth-seeded CiCi Bellis of the United States routed unseeded Jill Teichmann of Switzerland 6-2, 6-1, but American Katerina Stewart, seeded third, lost to No. 12 Paula Badosa Gibert of Spain 6-2, 6-2.
   The United States has one team in both the boys and girls doubles semis: No. 4 William Blumberg and Paul, and No. 6 Caroline Dolehide and Stewart. 
   Northern California connection -- Williams won her third Bank of the West title at Stanford last year. The Bryans played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, helping the Cardinal win the NCAA team title each year. Bellis, 16, lives in Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Fast facts --Williams is 11-0 in three-set matches this year and 31-1 overall (not counting two walkover losses). The defeat came against Petra Kvitova in the Madrid semifinals on clay last month.
   Safarova has not lost a set in her six French Open matches, including a fourth-round victory over defending champion Maria Sharapova.
   Quote -- Williams: "I don't think I've ever been this sick. I didn't expect to win that. I really didn't. I can't believe I won."
   Friday's men's semifinals -- Stan Wawrinka (8) vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (14), 4 a.m. PDT, followed by Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Andy Murray (3), Tennis Channel (delayed on NBC, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.).
   Djokovic is 18-8 against Murray with a seven-match winning streak (all on hardcourts). Djokovic leads 2-0 on clay, winning 7-6 in the third set in the 2011 Italian Open semifinals in their last meeting on the surface.
  The Wawrinka-Tsonga series is tied 3-3. Wawrinka has won the last two matches, both on clay.

Australian Open Day 1: Ivanovic, 7 other women exit

Fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic lost to Czech qualifier
Lucie Hradecka 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. 2014 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, seeded fifth, lost to Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday. Ivanovic, who finished in the top five last year for the first time since 2008, was one of eight seeded women to fall.

   Matches of the day -- Thanasi Kokkinakis, an 18-year-old wild card from Australia, saved four match points in the fourth set of a 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 8-6 victory over 11th-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia. The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Kokkinakis, ranked No. 147, needed 4 hours, 7 minutes to subdue Gulbis, a French Open semifinalist last year.
   Christina McHale of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., vomited on the court and saved a match point in a 6-4, 1-6, 12-10 win over qualifier Stephanie ("Can't See The") Foretz of France. The third set lasted 1 hour, 51 minutes and the match 3 hours, 9 minutes.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 2 Roger Federer, No. 3 Rafael Nadal, No. 6 Andy Murray, No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 14 Kevin Anderson, No. 20 David Goffin, No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber, No. 23 Ivo Karlovic, No. 24 Richard ("Blew A") Gasquet, No. 26 Leonardo ("Don't Call Me Da Vinci") Mayer, No. 28 Lukas Rosol, No. 29 Jeremy Chardy, No. 32 Martin Klizan.
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 15 Tommy Robredo (retired).
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 2 Maria Sharapova, No. 3 Simona ("I Need") Halep, No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard, No. 10 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 14 Sara Errani, No. 21 Shuai Peng, No. 22 Karolina Pliskova, No. 31 Zarina Diyas.
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 5 Ana Ivanovic, No. 9 Angelique Kerber, No. 16 Lucie Safarova, No. 17 Carla Suarez Navarro, No. 23 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 28 Sabine Lisicki, No. 32 Belinda Bencic.
   U.S. report -- American men and women went 3-3 combined. Advancing were qualifier Tim Smyczek, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and McHale. Losing were 36-year-old qualifier Michael Russell (the oldest man in the draw), Grace Min and Alison ("Take A") Riske.
   Fast facts -- Ivanovic led the WTA tour with 58 match victories last year and made her earliest exit in a Grand Slam tournament since the 2011 French Open. She upset top-ranked Serena Williams in last year's Australian Open en route to the quarterfinals. 
   Quote -- McHale: "I would have preferred to have not thrown up on the court."

U.S. Open Day 4 highlights: No. 8 Ivanovic, Bellis fall

Karolina Pliskova, shown in last month's Bank of
the West Classic at Stanford, upset eighth-seeded
Ana Ivanovic in the second round of the U.S. Open.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- Karolina Pliskova, a 22-year-old Czech who stands 6-foot-1 (1.86 meters), knocked off eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-4 in the second round.
   Ivanovic ascended to No. 1 in the world after winning the 2008 French Open for her only Grand Slam title. After dropping out of the top 20, she has rebounded this year. Ivanovic upset Serena Williams to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January and returned to the top 10 for the first time since 2009 on Aug. 4.
   Pliskova, ranked 42nd, advanced to the third round of a major for the first time. She lost to Williams 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford last month.
   Northern California connection --  CiCi Bellis, a 15-year-old wild card from Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. Diyas, 20, reached the fourth round of Wimbledon this summer.
   Bellis had stunned 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the first round to become the youngest player to win a match in the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   Wild card Nicole Gibbs, a two-time NCAA singles champion from Stanford, surprised 23rd-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3.

Ana Ivanovic returned to the top 10 for the first
time since 2009 on Aug. 4. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native and former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, outclassed 28th-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a third-round matchup with top-ranked Novak Djokovic.  
   In the first round of men's doubles, former Stanford stars Scott Lipsky and Bradley Klahn won separately, but Querrey and Steve Johnson lost to fourth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
   Lipsky and fellow American Rajeev Ram edged 16th-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and John Peers of Australia 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4). Murray is Andy's older brother. 
   Klahn and Smyzcek outlasted Austin Krajicek of Bradenton, Fla., and John-Patrick Smith of Australia 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
   Match of the day -- Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, a five-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, saved two match points in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) victory over 24th-seeded Sam Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion. 
   Men's seeded winners -- Djokovic, No. 5 Milos Raonic, No. 8 Andy Murray, No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 10 Kei Nishikori, No. 13 John Isner, No. 16 Tommy Robredo, No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber and No. 23 Leonardo Mayer.
   Men's seeded losers -- Garcia-Lopez and No. 31 Fernando Verdasco.
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 1 Williams, No. 3 Petra Kvitova, No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard, No. 11 Flavia Pennetta, No. 15 Carla Suarez Navarro, No. 16 Victoria Azarenka, No. 17 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 29 Casey Dellacqua and No. 30 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
   Women's seeded losers -- Ivanovic, Pavyluchenkova, Stosur and No. 27 Madison Keys.
   Notable -- Victor Estrella Burgos, a Dominican playing in the U.S. Open for the first time at 34, defated Borna Coric, 17, of Croatia 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Estrella Burgos, only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters), won a $15,000 Futures tournament in the Sacramento suburb of Loomis in 2008.
   U.S. report -- The men went 2-0 in singles, but the women went 3-6 (including one all-American match). Four U.S. women lost to seeds.
   Through two rounds, four U.S. ladies remain: Williams, No. 19 Venus Williams, Uzbekistan native Varvara Lepchenko and Gibbs. With half of the men's second round to be played, the only Americans left are Isner, Querrey and wild card Tim Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check).
   Fast facts -- Isner will face Kohlschreiber in the third round of the U.S. Open for the third straight year. Kohlschreiber won in five sets in 2012 and in four sets last year.
   Vania King, who lost to Serena Williams 6-1, 6-0, sang "America the Beautiful" in Arthur Ashe Stadium before a U.S. Open night session in 2006.
   King and Pavlyuchenkova also are former Capitals.
   Quote -- Bellis, after her loss: “This whole experience has been unbelievable, like mind-blowing. It's been crazy. It's been the best couple days of my life.”

Serena reaches semis at Stanford, but Venus falls

Serena Williams, shown earlier in the week, defeated Ana Ivan-
ovic 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West
Classic. Photo by Paul Bauman

   There will be no all-Williams semifinal in the Bank of the West Classic.
   At least top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semis. Even that looked shaky for a while, to the dismay of tournament organizers who faced the prospect of the weekend's attendance and television ratings going down the drain.
   Williams pulled out a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia on Friday at Stanford to reach today's 2 p.m. semifinal (ESPN2) against eighth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany. Petkovic, a French Open semifinalist in June, edged wild card Venus Williams 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
   In the other semifinal tonight at 7 (Tennis Channel), third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany will face unseeded Varvara Lepchenko, a U.S. citizen originally from Uzbekistan, in a battle of left-handers. Both advanced easily on Friday.
   Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, outclassed rising star Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-2, 6-1. Lepchenko trounced Sachia Vickery, a 19-year-old qualifier from Hollywood, Fla., 6-1, 6-0.
   Williams has a 3-0 career record against Petkovic, including two victories this year. 
   The 59th-ranked Lepchenko is 4-2 against Kerber, ranked eighth. But Kerber has won the last two matches, both in the French Open on clay. In their last meeting, Kerber won 6-2, 7-5 in the second round at Roland Garros in May.
   Petkovic, ranked 18th, is playing in the Bank of the West Classic for the first time this year. In Kerber's only previous appearance, she lost in the second round of qualifying in 2007.

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC

At Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center

Singles quarterfinals

   Angelique Kerber (3), Germany, def. Garbine Muguruza, Spain, 6-2, 6-1.
   Varvara Lepchenko, United States, def. Sachia Vickery, United States, 6-1, 6-0.
   Andrea Petkovic (8), Germany, def. Venus Williams, United States, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
   Serena Williams (1), United States, def. Ana Ivanovic (5), Serbia, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Paula Kania, Poland, and Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, def. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, and Arantxa Parra Santonja, Spain, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Today's schedule

Stadium

(Starting at 2 p.m.)

   Serena Williams (1), United States, vs. Andrea Petkovic (8), Germany.
   Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, and Anastasia Rodionova (2), Australia, vs. Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro (3), Spain.

(Starting at 7 p.m.)

   Angelique Kerber (3), Germany, vs. Varvara Lepchenko, United States.
   Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears (1), United States, vs. Paula Kania, Poland, and Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic.

Advantage, Serbia: Tiny nation becomes power

   While training indoors during the winter at the Partizan Tennis Club in Belgrade, Serbia, in the early 1990s, Dusan Vemic couldn't help but notice a precocious 6-year-old on the next court.
   Vemic was 17 at the time. The boy's name was Novak Djokovic.
   "He was always an interesting little kid," recalled Vemic, who has played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis for the past two seasons. "He was like a little professor. You could have a serious conversation with a 6-year-old. It doesn't happen that often.
   "He was talking about things he needed to work on and how to warm up. He was like a professional tennis player. He was not playing tennis; he was working tennis."
   Eight years later, Vemic played on the Davis Cup team when Djokovic was brought in as a hitting partner.
   "You could see he was a special talent," Vemic said. "He was a sponge as well. He would take all the advice we would give him. That's another quality he has. He will continue to get better and be a great champion when he looks back."
   Djokovic recently completed one of the greatest years in tennis history. He won three Grand Slam singles titles and 10 overall, rose to No. 1 in the world and went 70-6 (with two of the losses resulting from retirements), including 6-0 against Rafael Nadal (all in finals) and 4-1 against Roger Federer.
   And Djokovic is just the beginning for Serbia. Against all odds, the tiny country bombed by NATO forces in 1999 has produced four No. 1 players in the world in the past three years. Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic (both in women's singles) and Nenad Zimonjic (men's doubles) all climbed to the top in 2008.
   In the men's game, Serbia also has No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic and No. 22 Viktor Troicki. With Djokovic leading the way, the nation won its first Davis Cup title last year.
   How has Serbia, smaller in area than South Carolina and somewhat larger in population than Dallas-Fort Worth, become a tennis power?
   "It's definitely the spirit," said Serbia's Ilija Bozoljac, the runner-up at Challengers in Aptos in July and Tiburon in 2009. "Kids are really competitive and hungry. That's the key. If you lose in Serbia a couple of times, you feel ashamed.
   "If you're 200 in the world, it means nothing in Serbia," continued Bozoljac, a flashy player who uses two hands on both sides. "In the States, everyone thinks you're really good, which you are. But (the Serbian) mentality makes you want to go for more. In the States, it's the opposite. You can get a sponsor and support, but players are getting spoiled."
   The poor economy in Serbia has a lot to do with the motivation of juniors and their parents. According to the U.S. Department of State, the official unemployment rate last April was 22.2 percent.
   "Serbian kids are fighting for their life," said Vemic, a crowd pleaser with great athleticism who reached the doubles semifinals at the French Open in 2008 and Australian Open in 2010. "U.S. kids don't have that as the last option. They have education, a good lifestyle and many more opportunities. Serbian kids are a little more hungry. We've been struggling (economically) the last 20 years, that's for sure."
   Added Djokovic in the New York Times last September: "There is something in the mentality that obviously helps us, because we have all experienced the war, we have all experienced tough times, to have the right conditions to become a professional player."
   Jankovic agreed.
   "When you get used to (those) conditions and not-so-good facilities like some other countries have, I think it makes you stronger," she told espnW.com in September. "You feel good especially when you come to playing on those perfect courts like you have in the States. ... You feel like you're in heaven and you're ready for everything.
   "When it comes to our cases, we earned it the hard way. We came from a small country without really a tradition in tennis. We came a long way. It shows it doesn't matter where you come from, what kind of facilities you have. If you have the will and the desire and the motivation, the hunger to succeed, you can do it, so I think we showed that."
   Vemic said Serbia's rise to power in tennis has been "like a wave." On the men's side, he and Zimonjic, both 35, came first. Then came Tipsarevic, 27, Troicki, 25, and Djokovic, 24. On the women's side, Monica Seles, 38, paved the way for Jankovic, 26, and Ivanovic, 24.
   "There were a couple of good guys before Novak, Ana and Jelena became the best in the world," Vemic said. "Tipsarevic pulled everyone in the top 100. Novak was right behind at 16, 17 years old. Jelena was the No. 1 junior, and Ana also was good in the juniors. The whole timing of one of the veterans breaking through to the top level gave the others confidence. We all train together from time to time."
   Serbia's success, Vemic added, "makes me feel good. I enjoy every good result. I can only hope and believe that I contributed a little bit."
   Blake withdraws -- James Blake, the runner-up in the Sacramento Challenger in October, reportedly has withdrawn from the Brisbane International, which begins Sunday, and the Australian Open, Jan. 15-29, for personal reasons.
   Blake, 32, hopes to begin his year at the SAP Open in San Jose, where he reached the singles semifinals in 2009 and 2003 and won the doubles title in 2004 with Mardy Fish. Next year's tournament is set for Feb. 13-19.
   National junior tournament -- No. 22 seed Catherine Bellis of Atherton defeated Jaclyn Switkes of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the girls 14 quarterfinals at the USTA Winter National Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Also in the girls 14s, No. 31 Jenna Friedel of Mill Valley lost to top-seeded Emma Higuchi of Los Angeles 6-2, 6-1.
   In boys 12 singles, third-seeded Sam Riffice of Roseville beat No. 22 Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento 6-3, 6-0 to advance to the quarters. No. 21 Paul Barretto of Bel Tiburon fell to No. 1 Noah Makarome of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 6-3, 6-3.
   Results of the boys and girls 18s and 16s in Scottsdale, Ariz., were not available.

Serena shuts out ex-Capital Rodionova

   Serena Williams apparently feels pretty good these days.
   The 13-time Grand Slam singles champion demolished Anastasia Rodionova, a former Sacramento Capital, 6-0, 6-0 in 47 minutes Tuesday night in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   It probably didn't hurt that Williams played on the surface she grew up on, hard courts, in her home state. Serena and older sister Venus were raised in Compton in the Los Angeles area but now live in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
   Serena, who will turn 30 in September, is playing in only her third tournament since missing 11 months because of foot injuries and life-threatening blood clots. The Bank of the West Classic is her first tournament in the United States in almost two years.
   On Thursday, the 169th-ranked Williams will meet Russia's Maria Kirilenko, a quarterfinalist last year who beat sixth-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany 6-2, 6-3. Williams defeated Kirilenko 6-3, 6-2 last month in the third round at Wimbledon before losing to Marion Bartoli of France.
   In another upset Tuesday, Japan's Ayumi Morita knocked off seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-3, 7-5.
   Second-seeded Maria Sharapova, last year's runner-up to Victoria Azarenka, opens against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia tonight at 7.  The top four seeds -- No. 1 Azarenka of Belarus, Sharapova, No. 3 Bartoli and No. 4 Samantha Stosur of Australia -- received first-round byes.
   If Williams and Sharapova win, they will meet Friday night in the quarterfinals in a matchup of former No. 1 players. It would also be a rematch of the 2004 Wimbledon final, in which Sharapova, then 17, stunned the two-time defending champion for the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles.