After unexpected drama, Collins wins second title in row

Fiery Danielle Collins exults after winning a point during her three-set victory
over Daria Kasatkina today in San Jose, Calif. Photo by Mal Taam

Daria Kasatkina gathers her thoughts during today's final. Photo by Mal Taam

   SAN JOSE, Calif. — It easily could have been over in 75 minutes.

   Instead, today's final in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic went to three sets that included a nerve-wracking tiebreaker, which was practically a match in itself.

   In the end, No. 7 seed Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., defeated No. 4 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (10), 6-1 in 2 hours, 18 minutes for her second consecutive title. 

   Collins had two championship points with Kasatkina serving at 3-5 in the second set, three in the tiebreaker and two in the final game, finally capitalizing when Kasatkina netted a runaround forehand.

   Kasatkina led 4-0 in the tiebreaker and converted her third set point when Collins netted a forehand.

   "Toward the end of the second set, I became a little bit too much of my own critic," Collins told reporters. "I was being really hard on myself. I had to have a reality check after losing that tiebreak and just say, Let's keep the positive energy going here. Let's not let this get me down.

   "I was actually in a similar situation a couple years ago. I played here against Maria Sakkari. I was up a set and by a lot in the second set, and I ended up losing that match in three sets. It was a heartbreaker because I was in control the whole way through. I feel like that experience gave me so much confidence today. Losing the tiebreak wasn't going to define me as a player. I just had to come back and be stronger."

   Collins did, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the third set. After Kasatkina broke for 1-2, Collins reeled off the last four games.

   "She started 2-0 up and 3-1 (in the third set), and it would be different story if it were 2-all or something," said the 24-year-old Kasatkina, who ousted top-seeded Elise Mertens in the semifinals. "But when the opponent is winning game by game in the third set and you're already pretty tired, it's like the life is leaving your body."

   The 27-year-old Collins, meanwhile, prides herself on her fitness. She extended her winning streak to 10 matches, including her first career title two weeks ago on clay in Palermo.
   Collins will rise eight notches to No. 28 in the world, five spots off her career high in January 2019.

   The first American to reach the Mubadala final in the three editions of the tournament, Collins ultimately overpowered Kasatkina with her serve, return of serve and groundstrokes. The aggressive, fiery Collins pounded 12 aces to Kasatkina's two and won 61.5 percent of the points on her second serve (32 of 52) to Kasatkina's 37.8 percent (17 of 45).

   Both finalists carried scars onto the court at San Jose State University as the tournament marked the record 50th anniversary of women's tour tennis in the San Francisco Bay Area. Collins' are literal, while Kasatkina's are figurative.

   Collins had surgery for endometriosis, a painful disorder in which tissue inside the uterus grows outside of it, in early April and returned less than two months later for the French Open. Doctors removed a cyst the size of a tennis ball from her ovary, as well as material from her bowel and bladder.

   "Before having the surgery, I was just not able to perform consistently tournament after tournament after tournament and have the stamina because I was constantly dealing with many, many issues in that area," Collins, an Australian Open semifinalist in 2019 and French Open quarterfinalist last October, said Saturday. "Now, it's giving me so much confidence knowing that my body is going to be able to show up consistently and I'm not going to be in physical agony or having to pull out of matches because of that issue."

   Collins has gone 14-2 since Wimbledon, reaching (in order) a quarterfinal and a semifinal before her  two titles.

   "It's been so rewarding to feel healthy," she said. "This is the best I've felt in a long, long time. For so many years, I got used to dealing with that. It got slowly and progressively worse, and I thought, Oh, this is a normal thing to be dealing with, and it really wasn't. The surgery has helped me so much. You couldn't pay me millions of dollars to go back to what I was dealing with. 

   "I know that things can change very quickly, so I'm trying to ride out this great period of good health. I'm very fortunate." 

   Collins now can focus on her matches instead of her body.

   "One of the biggest challenges for me in my career was the physical, and it became mental as well because it was like, I just can't do this," said Collins, who won two NCAA singles titles at the University of Virginia. "It's physically impossible. I have to pull out of the match today because I'm throwing up and I have flu-like symptoms and I have a fever and I have fallen over and I can't feel anything in my foot because of sciatic nerve pain."
   Kasatkina reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018, soaring to No. 10 in the world at age 21. One year later, she had plunged to No. 69. 

   "Mostly, it was a mental thing," Kasatkina candidly said Saturday. "I put too much pressure on myself after the success from the 2018 season. I was expecting too much from myself, and that was obviously too much to handle.

   "I had a mental breakdown for a few months. Then it's always difficult to come back because you're competing on the highest level. Just to come back, I needed twice more effort, and that was tough. Actually, the pandemic helped me a little bit because there (were) no tournaments, and I had time to work on it."

    Ranked No. 71 at the end of last year, Kasatkina will improve four places to No. 27. 

    "I've been working a lot, not just a lot but in the right way," she said. "Last year, when the pandemic starts, I spend a lot of time on the court and in the gym. Also, I was doing a lot of work with my mental coach.

   "Hard work pays off, and I was just waiting for the moment when the puzzle (will) be completed. Now I'm happy (with) the way I'm doing, and I will just keep going this way."   

   Kasatkina added that she's trying to focus more on herself.

   "Before, I was studying the matches of my opponents and trying to play more from the opponent," she said, "but now I'm trying to go more from myself, to be dependent on my game, not on the game of the other girl." 

   In today's doubles final, second-seeded Darija Jurak of Croatia and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia beat top-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 6-1, 7-5.

   Jurak, 37, won her eighth WTA doubles title and first with Klepac, 35, who has nine WTA doubles crowns overall.

   Stefani, a former Pepperdine All-American, won the bronze medal in women's doubles with Laura Pigossi in the Tokyo Olympics last week.

   Dabrowski reached the women's doubles final at Wimbledon in 2019 with Xu Yifan of China and won the mixed doubles title in the 2017 French Open with Rohan Bopanna of India and in the 2018 Australian Open with Mate Pavic of Croatia.

   Here are the complete singles and doubles draws.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — No. 2 seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany won her first singles title in over six years, routing unseeded Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt 6-1, 6-1 in 61 minutes on clay. Sherif, who ousted top-seeded Alize Cornet of France in the first round, became the first Egyptian to reach a WTA singles final.

   ATP Tour — No. 5 seed Jannik Sinner, 19, of Italy outlasted unseeded Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in Washington, D.C., to become the youngest ATP 500 champion since the category was created in 2009.

   McDonald, who eliminated reigning champion Nick Kyrgios in the opening round, saved 10 set points in the first set and 16 break points in the match.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., will soar 43 notches to No. 64 after his first ATP final. He climbed to a career-high No. 57 in April 2019 but had right hamstring surgery the following June and missed seven months.

   In the doubles final, No. 4 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan beat No. 2 seeds Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Michael Venus of New Zealand 7-6 (4), 6-4.

   McLachlan, a New Zealand product who represents his mother's native country, won his seventh ATP doubles title overall and second with Klaasen.

   Venus won the bronze medal in men's doubles in Tokyo with Marcus Daniell. Skupski played for the California Dream of World TeamTennis in 2015, the squad's only year of existence.

Bellis ends title drought as teen retires with leg cramps

CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product, won her first title
in four years today. She missed 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing four
operations. 2017 photo by Mal Taam 

   It doesn't get much more ironic than this.

   CiCi Bellis, who sat out for 19 months in 2018-19 while undergoing four operations, won her first title in four years today after her last two opponents broke down physically.

   Sixth-seeded Marta Kostyuk, 18, of Ukraine retired with leg cramps in the opening game of the third set in the final of the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga.

   Bellis, a 21-year-old wild card who was born in San Francisco and grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, won the first set 6-4, and Kostyuk took the second set 7-6 (4) in the first USTA Pro Circuit tournament after the long COVID-19 break.

   In Saturday's semifinals, Bellis led 6-3, 1-0 when Varvara Lepchenko, a 34-year-old American qualifier from Uzbekistan, quit with an upper leg injury.

   Lepchenko, who reached No. 19 in the world in 2012, was coming off a 3-hour, 15-minute victory over unseeded Sachia (pronounced SAH-shuh) Vickery in the quarterfinals and ousted second-seeded Nina Stojanovic in the first round in 3 hours, 33 minutes. 

   Neither Bellis, now based at the USTA National Campus near Orlando, Fla., nor Kostyuk, who reached the third round of the recent French Open and won a $60,000 hardcourt tournament in Cairo in Feburary, had lost a set entering their first career meeting. Kostyuk, in fact, hadn't dropped more than five games in a match. She routed top-seeded Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals after Doi had survived a 3-hour, 9-minute battle in the second round. 

   But Bellis and Kostyuk traded laser-like groundstrokes for 2 hours, 23 minutes in cloudy 75-degree (23.9 Celsius) weather and 68 percent humidity.

   After slugging a down-the-line backhand winner for deuce on Bellis' serve in the first game of the third set, Kostyk collapsed with a cramp above her left knee. She was briefly treated on the court by a trainer, and the cramp subsided.

   Kostyuk tried to continue, but on the next point, she sprawled on the court with a cramp in her right leg. Lying on the court and sobbing, Kostyuk retired.

   The right-handed Bellis, who had three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow, claimed her first title since a $125,000 tournament in Honolulu in November 2016. Playing strictly at the top level of women's tennis, she reached a career-high No. 35 at age 18 in 2017 and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year before arm trouble forced her off the tour in March 2018. Bellis finally returned last November and reached the third round of the Australian Open in January.

   Bellis collected $12,192, a paltry amount for her. More importantly, she will jump 31 places to No. 142 in Monday's new rankings. Kostyuk, who earned $6,518, will improve eight spots to No. 105.

   Fans can be forgiven if they confused the finalists. In addition to being young, hard-hitting baseliners, both wore forest-green Nike dresses and white visors. Kostyuk was the one with blonde hair tied in a bun, four earrings in her left ear and black kinesiotape on her right shoulder. 

   The first set featured four consecutive service breaks and seven in the first nine games. Bellis held at 15 for the set when Kostyuk netted a cross-court forehand.

   Kostyuk led 5-2 in the second set, but Bellis reeled off four straight games to serve for the championship. She was two points from the title at 30-30 but slugged a down-the-line backhand wide and was broken on Kostyuk's forehand cross-court winner.

   Bellis led 2-0 in the tiebreaker but then uncharacteristically committed six unforced errors to drop the set. Serving to open the third set, she fought back from 15-20 to deuce, and it appeared the players were headed for another grueling set. Three points later, however, the match abruptly ended.

   ATP Tour — Unseeded Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), playing in their first tournament together, stunned third-seeded Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, Germans who have won the last two French Opens, 6-2, 6-4 to win the title in Cologne, Germany.

   Klaasen, a 38-year-old South African, and McLachlan, a 28-year-old New Zealand native who plays for his mother's home country of Japan, did not lose a set in their four matches.

   Klaasen won his 17th ATP doubles title and McLachlan his sixth.

Murray downs Djokovic for title, ends year at No. 1

Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 today to win
the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time. 2015 photo
by Paul Bauman

   One former San Jose champion won a title in the ATP World Tour Finals in London today, but another fell short. Barely.
   Top-seeded Andy Murray dismantled second-seeded Novak Djokovic by the surprisingly one-sided score of 6-3, 6-4 to win the crown and end the year at No. 1, both for the first time.
   Murray captured the first two of his 44 career singles titles, tied for 14th in the Open Era, in the SAP Open in San Jose in 2006 and 2007. Those were Murray's only appearances in the tournament, which ended a 125-year run in Northern California after the 2013 edition.
   In today's doubles final, fifth-seeded Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia edged seventh-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., 2-6, 6-1 [10-8].
   Ram won the doubles crown in the 2011 SAP Open with Scott Lipsky, a former All-American at nearby Stanford.
   Murray and Djokovic, both 29, have been rivals since their junior days. Even though Murray, who's one week older, was seeded higher, his victory was surprising. Djokovic was 24-10 against Murray and fresher. Djokovic was coming off a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kei Nishikori, whereas Murray had needed 3 hours, 38 minutes to subdue Milos Raonic 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9), saving a match point in the process.
   Murray admitted after the final that he was tired during the match and stayed calm to conserve energy. He is often feisty on the court.
   Murray ended 2016 with 24 consecutive match victories and five straight titles. This year, he also won his second Wimbledon title, earned his second Olympic gold medal in singles and became a father for the first time.
   Djokovic was trying to win the ATP World Tour Finals for the fifth straight time and sixth overall. He also was bidding for his third straight year-end No. 1 ranking and fifth overall.
   Djokovic won only one title after capturing the French Open in June to complete a career Grand Slam.
   Murray earned $2,391,000 for winning the title, and Djokovic pocketed $1,261,000.

Young shocks Monfils to reach first ATP final

   Unseeded Donald Young of Atlanta stunned second-seeded Gael Monfils of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) early Saturday in the $587,000 PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok to reach his first career ATP World Tour final.
   Young, ranked a career-high 55th in the world, will crack the top 50 regardless of how he does against top-seeded Andy Murray of Great Britain. The fourth-ranked Murray advanced with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Gilles Simon of France. Monfils is ranked ninth.
   Young, who won the 2008 Sacramento Challenger, is 1-1 lifetime against Murray. Both matches have come this year. Young won 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the first round at Indian Wells in March, and Murray coasted 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the recent U.S. Open.
   Both players have won the Aptos Challenger, Murray in 2005 and Young in 2007.      
   NorCal players fall -- It was a rough day for Northern California players.     Maria Sanchez of Modesto lost twice, in a rout and a heartbreaker, Friday; Yasmin Schnack of Elk Grove also fell in the heartbreaker; and former Sacramento State star Kiryl Harbatsiuk lost to a 137-pound player.
   Unseeded Alexa Glatch of Newport Beach routed Sanchez, a wild card, 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Lexus of Las Vegas Open. Then the third-seeded team of Glatch and Mashona Washington of Houston edged the unseeded Sanchez and Schnack 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 tiebreak in the doubles semifinals.
   Meanwhile, qualifier Sanam Singh of India defeated the unseeded Harbatsiuk, from Belarus, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $10,000 USTA Futures of Laguna Niguel. Both players ended their four-year college careers in May. Singh starred at Virginia, reaching the NCAA semifinals in 2009.
   Natomas Men's Challenger in Sacramento -- Top-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa will meet reigning NCAA champion Steve Johnson of USC today in the first round of qualifying for the $100,000 Rely Aid Natomas Racquet Club Challenger.
  Klaasen, ranked a career-high No. 216, and Johnson, coming off two consecutive Futures singles titles in Southern California, are scheduled to play the fourth match on Center Court. Play begins at 10 a.m.
  The other qualifying seeds, in order, are Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia, Jamie Baker of Great Britain, Pierre-Ludovic Duclos of Canada, Carsten Ball of Australia, Simon Stadler of Germany, Alex Bogdanovic of Great Britain and Daniel Kosakowski of Downey.
   Kosakowski, UCLA's top player as a freshman last season, turned pro after winning the $15,000 Park Terrace Pro Tennis tournament in Sacramento in June.