After big upset, Kozyreva falls to fellow college qualifier

   Maria Kozyreva and Sachia Vickery couldn't back up their big victories in the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger.

   Emma Navarro of Charleston, S.C., eliminated Russia's Kozyreva 7-5, 6-3 today in a matchup of college qualifiers to reach the quarterfinals at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club.

   Kozyreva, a fifth-year student at Saint Mary's College in nearby Moraga, Calif., ranked No. 1,246, stunned top-seeded Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, on Wednesday. Navarro, a University of Virginia sophomore, won the NCAA singles title in May. 

   Meanwhile, Usue (pronounced EW-sway) Arconada of Naples, Fla., topped Sachia (pronounced SA-sha) Vickery of Miramar, Fla., 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in a battle of unseeded players.

   Vickery, who reached the singles semifinals and won the doubles title in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, ousted second-seeded Wang Xinyu, the runner-up in last week's $115,000 Columbus (Ohio) Challenger, on Wednesday. 

    Navarro is scheduled to play unseeded Marcela Zacarias of Mexico on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan against qualifier Sophie Chang, a native of Havre de Grace, Md.

    In Friday's other quarterfinals, seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan is set to meet unseeded Louisa Chirico, a former top-60 player from Westchester, N.Y., at 10 a.m., followed by Arconada versus eighth-seeded Liang En Shuo of Chinese Taipei. Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident, reached the 2019 Berkeley final, losing to Madison Brengle. 

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

   BNP Paribas Open — Rising star Jenson Brooksby, 20, of Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area and Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area received wild cards in the tournament, Monday through Oct. 17 in Indian Wells, Calif. Both will debut in the BNP Paribas Open.

   ATP Tour — Top-seeded Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski of Great Britain beat wild cards Brandon Nakashima of San Diego and Sem Verbeek (University of the Pacific, 2013-16) of the Netherlands 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the inaugural San Diego Open. 

No. 1,246 Kozyreva stuns No. 75 Zheng; Volynets upset

Top-seeded Zheng Saisai of China lost to Russian qualifier Maria Kozyreva, a fifth-
year senior at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., today in the first round of the
$60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger. 2019 photo by Mal Taam

   In one of the biggest upsets in memory, qualifier Maria Kozyreva, a college player ranked No. 1,246, shocked top-seeded Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 today in the first round of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger at the Berkeley Tennis Club.

   Russia's Kozyreva, a fifth-year senior at Saint Mary's College in nearby Moraga, is playing in only her seventh professional tournament and first above the $15,000 level.

   China's Zheng (pronounced Jung), 27, won the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in nearby San Jose two years ago for her only WTA singles title and climbed to a career-high No. 34 in March last year.

   Kozyreva is scheduled to play another qualifier, Emma Navarro of Charleston, S.C., on Thursday at about noon for a quarterfinal berth. Navarro, a University of Virginia sophomore who won the NCAA singles title in May, defeated Kyoka Okamura of Japan 7-5, 6-2.

   On a wild day, second-seeded Wang Xinyu of China and fifth-seeded Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek, Calif., 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) east of Berkeley, also lost.

   Sachia (pronounced Sasha) Vickery of Miramar, Fla., ousted Wang, the runner-up in last week's $115,000 tournament in Columbus, Ohio, 7-5, 7-6 (5). Wang served for the second set at 6-5 but was broken at love.

   Vickery reached the singles semifinals and won the doubles title in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger.

   Marcela Zacarias of Mexico outlasted Volynets 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2 in 3 hours, 38 minutes. 

   Volynets, ranked a career-high No. 182, had two set points, one on her serve, before the tiebreaker in the first set, which lasted a whopping 1:41. She has lost eight of her last nine matches.

   After the first round, only one of the top six seeds remains. No. 4 Kurumi Nara needed 3:03 to subdue qualifier Hiroko Kuwata 7-6 (1), 7-5 in an all-Japanese encounter. 

   No. 7 seed Mayo Hibi, a longtime resident of Irvine, Calif., who represents her native Japan, dispatched qualifier Jada Hart, a former UCLA All-American from Colton in Southern California, 6-3, 6-2.

   Hibi, who lived in Foster City in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family from age 2 to 4, reached the Berkeley final in 2019.

   Wild card Ellie Douglas, a former Texas Christian University star from McKinney, Texas, eliminated qualifier Maegan Manasse, a University of California, Berkeley assistant coach and former Bears All-American, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

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

   ATP Tour — Jonathan Erlich, 44, of Israel and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain surprised top-seeded Henri Kontinen of Finland and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan 4-6, 7-6 (4), [10-6] in the opening round of the Sofia (Bulgaria) Open.

   Also, fourth-seeded Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith of Australia edged Andre Goransson (Cal, 2014-17) of Sweden and Hugo Nys of Monaco 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2). 

   Erlich won the Aptos (Calif.) Challenger doubles title in 2013 with countryman Andy Ram and in 2017 with Neal Skupski of Great Britain. Saville took the doubles crown in the 2018 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger with Hans Hach Verdugo of Mexico.

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.