American Brady bags first WTA title with win over Swiss

Jennifer Brady, playing in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, rose
to a career-high No. 40 by winning the inaugural Top Seed Open in Lex-
ington, Ky. Photo by Rob Vomund 

U.S. women, unlike the men, have made big news in the past few years.

Serena Williams has lost her last four Grand Slam finals in straight sets in an attempt to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 major singles titles.

Sofia Kenin, who stunned top-ranked Ashleigh Barty en route to the Australian Open title in January, has skyrocketed to No. 4 in the world at age 21.

Sloane Stephens in 2017 became the second unseeded woman to win the U.S. championships in the Open Era, which began in 1968, and advanced to the French Open final in 2018.

Amanda Anisimova shocked defending champion Simona Halep to reach the semifinals of last year's French Open at 17.

Coco Gauff became a worldwide sensation by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, upsetting five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round, as a 15-year-old qualifier.

Lost amid all the hoopla, Jennifer Brady is quietly rising in the rankings. 

The 25-year-old product of the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., overpowered Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 today in the inaugural Top Seed Open on hardcourts in Lexington, Ky., for her first WTA title.

"There's nothing better than playing at home in America," Brady, who improved to 2-1 against Teichmann and collected $25,000, crowed during the awards ceremony. "Every person loves to play in their country. To win a title on home soil is a great achievement for me and something that I'm going to be very happy about."

Both players were unseeded in the first WTA tournament in North America in almost one year. In fact, two of the three champions since the tour resumed on Aug. 3 after being shut down for almost five months because of the COVID-19 pandemic were unseeded. Also winning titles were unseeded Fiona Ferro of France in Palermo last week and the top-seeded Halep in Prague today.

"I didn't have my coach (Michael Geserer) or trainer with me during the lockdown because they're both based in Germany," Brady said on wtatennis.com. "We had great communication over the past four, five months. They sent me a plan every day. Over the past few months, I've been going nonstop, working and training really hard. Some days were tough, but through most of it, I was pretty motivated and knew what I was doing would help in the long run."

Brady, one of the few Americans whose favorite surface is clay, was playing in her first WTA final. Teichmann, a 23-year-old left-hander, had been 2-0 in WTA title matches, winning on clay in Prague and Palermo last year. 

Neither player had lost a set in the tournament entering the final. Brady surrendered only 25 games in five matches, dropped her serve only three times and saved all four break points against her in the final. Brady faced only one seed, No. 6 Magda Linette, ranked 36th, in the second round.

Both finalists rose nine places in the rankings, Brady to a career-high No. 40 (seventh in the United States) and Teichmann to a career-high-tying No. 54 (second in Switzerland behind No. 8 Belinda Bencic).

Because of Brady's success in Lexington and several U.S. Open withdrawals due to coronavirus concerns, she will be seeded at Flushing Meadows, Aug. 31 to Sept. 13.

Brady has needed time to harness her power and tame her emotions. She played at UCLA for two years (2014-15), helping the Bruins win the NCAA title as a freshman. In Northern California Challengers, she won the singles and doubles title in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and reached the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to defending champion Kenin.

Also in 2017, Brady advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open at age 21 and U.S. Open at 22. She became the first American female qualifier to advance to the last 16 in Melbourne in the Open Era.

Brady recorded her first two top-10 wins this year before the women's and men's tours shut down in March. As a qualifier, she knocked off Barty to reach the quarterfinals in Brisbane in January and No. 6 Elina Svitolina en route to the Dubai semifinals in February. Brady then played 19 exhibition matches during the hiatus.

The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Brady converted only 33 percent of her first serves in the first set against the 5-foot-6 (1.70-meter) Teichmann, who was born in Barcelona and lived there until she was 14, and 44 percent overall. But Brady won 81% of those points (25 of 31) and 62% on her second serve (24 of 39).

Brady broke serve on Teichmann's mis-hit forehand to lead 5-3 in the first set, then capitalized on her fifth set point. Brady earned the only break of the second set in the opening game on Teichmann's long forehand.

Teichmann, who earned $14,000 as the runner-up, also lost in the doubles final. Fourth-seeded Hayley Carter, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Luisa Stefani of Brazil beat unseeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Teichmann 6-1, 7-5 for their second WTA title. The winners split $9,000, and the runners-up shared $5,040.

Carter and Stefani starred at North Carolina and Pepperdine, respectively. Carter won the doubles title in the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger with Ena Shibahara, a native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and former UCLA standout who plays for Japan.

Brady beats Gauff, 16, to reach first WTA final

Jennifer Brady, playing in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, will face
Jil Teichmann of Switzerland in the final of the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky.
 Both players are unseeded. Photo by Rob Vomund

This week's Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky., featured plenty of star power.

Four Grand Slam singles champions — Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens — inhabited the top quarter of the draw, and 16-year-old U.S. phenom Coco Gauff occupied the bottom quarter.

Meeting in Sunday's final (8 a.m. PDT, Tennis Channel), however, will be two rising unseeded players.

Jennifer Brady, a 25-year-old former UCLA star from Boca Raton, Fla., overpowered Gauff 6-2, 6-4 to reach her first WTA final. 

Gauff had ousted second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, the runner-up in San Jose, Calif., last August, in the second round and eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur, an Australian Open quarterfinalist in January, in the quarters.

Jil Teichmann, a 23-year-old left-hander from Switzerland, dismissed Shelby Rogers, a 27-year-old wild card from Charleston, S.C., 6-3, 6-2. Rogers was coming off a three-set victory over top-seeded Serena Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, on Friday.

Teichmann, who was born in Barcelona and lived there until she was 14, is 2-0 in WTA finals, winning on clay in Prague and Palermo last year, and 1-1 against Brady.

Neither finalist has lost a set in four matches in the first WTA tournament in North America in almost one year. Brady has dropped 17 games and Teichmann 22. 

"I don't have an answer for that, why I don't lose any sets," Teichmann, who also reached the doubles final, said in an on-court interview. "I just feel very good. I'm playing very consistent, and I feel great on court. I guess that's the main reason."

Brady played at UCLA for two years (2014-15), helping the Bruins win the NCAA title as a freshman. She won the singles and doubles titles in the 2014 Redding (Calif.) Challenger and reached the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Open and U.S. Open.

Brady won 85 percent of the points (22 of 26) on her first serve in her first career match against Gauff and faced only one break point, which she saved. Brady had eight aces and two double faults. 

Both Brady, a semifinalist in Dubai as a qualifier in February, and Gauff, who won the title in Linz, Austria, last October as a lucky loser, will ascend to career-high rankings on Monday. Brady is guaranteed to rise six places to No. 43, and Gauff will improve five notches to No. 48.

In another first-time matchup, Teichmann converted only 46% of her first serves (to Rogers' 74%) but won 80 percent of those points (20 of 25). She will jump at least nine places in the rankings to tie her career high of No. 54.

Rogers made numerous unforced errors in the match but will return to the top 100 for the first time since April 2018, vaulting 21 places to No. 95. 

Rogers reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 French Open and climbed to a career-high No. 48 the following January. However, she hurt her left knee in a first-round loss at Indian Wells in March 2018, had surgery and sat out for one year.

In the doubles semifinals, unseeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Teichmann edged top-seeded Alexa Guarachi, a native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., who plays for Chile, and Desirae Krawczyk, a left-hander born in Palm Desert, Calif., 6-2, 3-6 [10-4].

Bouzkova and Teichmann will play fourth-seeded Hayley Carter, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Luisa Stefani of Brazil after the singles final. Carter and Stefani starred at North Carolina and Pepperdine, respectively. 

Carter won the doubles title in the 2018 Stockton, Calif., Challenger with Ena Shibahara, a native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Japan.

Serena falls to No. 116 Rogers; Gauff, 16, rallies; Bellis out

Serena Williams lost to wild card Shelby Rogers 1-6, 6-4,
7-6 (5) today in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Top Seed
Open in Lexington, Ky. File photo by Paul Bauman

Serena Williams lost to a player ranked in triple digits for the first time in more than eight years today.

Of course, Shelby Rogers is not really that caliber.

Rogers, a wild card ranked No. 116, stunned Williams, seeded first and ranked ninth, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in an all-American quarterfinal in the inaugural Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky.

"It's every kid's dream when they're growing up watching her play to do something like that," the 27-year-old Rogers, a former top-50 player rebounding from knee surgery, said in an on-court interview. "Weird circumstances, weird setting, but a win is a win, and I know that we're all just happy to be back playing. It's great to see everyone fit and playing well." 

There is little seating at the site, which isn't a problem because no fans are allowed at the tournament, the first on the WTA tour in North America in almost one year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament featured four Grand Slam singles champions (Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens), all in Rogers' quarter of the draw.

Rogers is scheduled to face unseeded Jil Teichmann of Switzerland for the first time on Saturday at 8 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). Teichmann, 23, needed seven match points to subdue CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton, 6-2, 6-4.

Teichmann, who has not lost a set in three matches, will be Rogers' third left-handed opponent this week.

"I'm not sure I've ever done that before," said Rogers, who beat lefties Misaki Doi of Japan in the first round and Leylah Fernandez, a 17-year-old qualifier from Canada, in the second round. "It's definitely rare."

After the Rogers-Teichmann match, Coco Gauff will meet Jennifer Brady for the first time in a showdown of unseeded Americans.

Gauff, a 16-year-old phenom ranked No. 53, defeated Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, seeded eighth and ranked a career-high 39th, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Gauff trailed 2-4 in the second set but won 10 of the last 11 games.

Brady, ranked No. 49, drubbed unseeded Marie Bouzkova, a Czech ranked one notch higher, 6-1, 6-2. Brady, who reached the Dubai semifinals as a qualifier in February, has lost only 11 games in her three matches this week.

Williams, a 38-year-old part-time resident of Silicon Valley, suffered her first loss to a player ranked No. 100 or below since falling to No. 111 Virginie Razzano of France in the first round of the 2012 French Open.

Rogers, meanwhile, recorded her third victory over a top-10 player. She defeated No. 8 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in the second round at Montreal in 2014 and ousted No. 4 Simona Halep in the first round of the 2017 Australian Open.

Rogers reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2016 and climbed to a career-high No. 48 the following January. However, she suffered a knee injury in a first-round loss at Indian Wells in March 2018, had surgery and sat out for one year.  

All three of Williams' matches in the tournament went to three sets, including her emotional win over Venus Williams on Thursday.

Against Rogers, Serena Williams led 3-1 in the tiebreaker and netted a putaway forehand that would have made it 4-1. Rogers won the next three points to lead 5-3. 

Williams made it 4-5 with a swinging forehand volley but netted a backhand to give Rogers two match points. Williams saved the first one with a service winner but then slugged a backhand long. 

"I was definitely a little bit overwhelmed in the first set with the pace, heavy spin and serve," Rogers admitted after playing Williams for the first time and reaching her first WTA semifinal in more than four years. "I just tried to make a few more balls, make one more, one more, run down a few more."

Rogers converted only 45 percent of her first serves in the match.

"The serve was a struggle for me today, but the second serve came through when I needed it," she said. "Then (on the second) match point, I made a first serve, so that's all that matters, I guess."

Gauff, coming off a three-set victory over second-seeded and 11th-ranked Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday, reached her second WTA semifinal. She won the title in Linz, Austria, last October as a lucky loser.

Gauff, who advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January, is guaranteed to rise to a career-high No. 48 on Monday. 

Jabeur won the French Open girls singles title in 2011 and reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Australian Open in January, ending former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki's career in the third round.

Bellis survived all six match points with Teichmann serving at 5-3 in the second set and finally broke on a double fault. But Teichmann, who has one of the best returns-of-serve in women's tennis, broke serve for the sixth time to close out the match. 

"That was tough," Teichmann said of the next-to-last game. "I was serving very well from this side, but obviously when you serve for the match, it's a bit different. You start thinking a bit, and she was starting to play a bit more aggressive. She hit a few lines, and I was hitting a little bit out, so it was a very close game. I'm happy to close it in the next game."

Teichmann lost the first two games of the match but won the next nine en route to her first WTA hardcourt semifinal. Bellis converted only 22 percent of her first serves in the first set and 43 percent overall.

"I started a little bit slow, and CiCi started very well," said Teichmann, who will rise at least five places to No. 58, four spots off her career high in July 2019. "I just knew I had to get into a rhythm, and I was lucky to get it in the third game. After that, I played very consistent." 

Teichmann, who was born in Barcelona and lived there until she was 15, and Bellis met for the first time as professionals. Bellis routed Teichmann 6-2, 6-1 in the 2015 French Open girls quarterfinals. 

Curiously, Teichmann decided to play in Lexington rather than defend her title on clay, her favorite surface, in Prague. Her other WTA singles title also came last year on clay, in Palermo.

Bellis was seeking her first WTA semifinal since the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, a five-minute drive from her childhood home, in August 2017. The 5-foot-7 (1.68-meter) right-hander missed almost two years, from March 2018 to November 2019, while undergoing three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow.

Lexington was the fifth tournament of Bellis' comeback. Ranked a career-high No. 35 in August 2017, she will jump from No. 302 to No. 250 after reaching her first WTA quarterfinal since Doha in February 2018.

Serena subdues Venus; Andreescu pulls out of U.S. Open

The Williams sisters met for the 31st time today, but this one was unlike any of the others.

Rather than competing in front of a raucous crowd at the U.S. Open, for instance, they played with no fans in attendance at the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky., because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top-seeded Serena Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a more intense match than usual between the sisters to reach the quarterfinals of the first WTA tournament in North America in almost one year. 

Serena won the last four games, breaking serve on a backhand passing shot down the line to lead 5-4 and holding serve on Venus' long forehand for the victory.

"I said I really need to try to win this for my game and confidence, so I really tried to focus on those last two games," Serena said in a post-match interview. 

Serena added that she enjoys the low-key atmosphere this week.

"There are no crowds, so it's super-relaxing," she said.

In today's match, ninth-ranked Serena blasted 14 aces and committed six double faults. Venus, ranked No. 67, had six aces and 11 double faults.

It was the earliest meeting between the sisters since their first one in 1998, a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory by Venus in the second round of the Australian Open. They were supposed to play each other in the second round of last year's Italian Open, but Serena withdrew because of a left knee injury.

Serena, 38, improved to 19-12 against Venus, 40, with 10 victories in their last 12 matches.

Serena won three singles titles and Venus two in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford before the tournament moved to nearby San Jose as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in 2018. Venus made her professional debut indoors in Oakland at 14 in 1994.

Serena is scheduled to play Shelby Rogers, a 27-year-old wild card from Charleston, S.C., for the first time on Friday not before 9:30 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). Rogers, ranked No. 116, defeated qualifier Leylah Fernandez, a 17-year-old left-hander from Canada, 6-2, 7-5 to reach a WTA quarterfinal for the first time in more than three years.

Rogers advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2016 French Open and attained a career-high No. 48 in 2017. She had knee surgery in May 2018 and missed the rest of the season.

Fernandez, the runner-up in Acapulco in February as a qualifier, ousted seventh-seeded Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, in the first round.

CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton, dominated Jessica Pegula, the 26-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, 6-3, 6-2. 

Bellis, playing in her first tournament since reaching the third round of Australian Open in January, reached her first quarterfinal since Doha in February 2018. The 5-foot-7 (1.68-meter) right-hander then underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow. Ranked as high as No. 35 in 2017, she will jump from No. 302 to at least No. 250 on Monday.

Bellis avenged a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Pegula in the first round at Auckland in January in their only previous meeting. Pegula advanced to the final, in which she lost to Serena Williams.

Bellis is set to play unseeded Jil Teichmann, a 23-year-old left-hander from Switzerland, for the first time on Friday at 8 a.m. Teichmann, ranked No. 63, dispatched fifth-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-2.

The only remaining singles seeds are Williams and No. 8 Ons Jabeur, a 25-year-old Tunisian who will meet 16-year-old U.S. phenom Coco Gauff in the bottom half of the draw at about 2 p.m.

U.S. Open – Bianca Andreescu withdrew from the U.S. Open, meaning the Aug. 31-Sept. 13 tournament in New York will have two new singles champions.

"Unforeseen challenges, including the Covid pandemic, have compromised my ability to prepare and compete to the degree necessary to play at my highest level," Andreescu, ranked sixth, wrote on Instagram.

Andreescu became the fourth woman in the top seven to pull out of the U.S. Open, joining No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 7 Kiki Bertens. The men's defending champion, Rafael Nadal, also has withdrawn because of coronavirus concerns.

Andreescu, 20, has not played a match since October because of a knee injury and the pandemic.

Novak Djokovic, a three-time U.S. Open champion, confirmed he will play in the tournament.

Gauff takes out No. 2 seed to reach Lexington quarters

Add Aryna Sabalenka to Coco Gauff's list of highly ranked victims.

Gauff, a 16-year-old U.S. sensation, topped Sabalenka, seeded second and ranked 11th, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 in a ragged match today to reach the quarterfinals of the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky.

Gauff broke serve for 5-4 in the third set on a running forehand passing shot down the line in the first WTA tournament in North American in almost one year.

Both players broke serve seven times in the 2-hour, 48-minute battle. Sabalenka committed 14 double faults and Gauff 10 in their first career meeting.

Gauff already has wins over two top-10 players, No. 4 Naomi Osaka and No. 8 Kiki Bertens. Gauff won Linz (Austria) as a lucky loser last October for her first career title. 

Gauff will return to the top 50 on Monday, rising at least three spots to No. 50. She attained a career high of No. 49 in February after advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Sabalenka reached the final of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., last August, then won the U.S. Open doubles title with Elise Mertens of Belgium.

Gauff is scheduled to play Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, seeded eighth and ranked No. 39, for the first time Friday.

Jabeur, 25, lost the first four games to qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus but recovered to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Jabeur, only 5-foot-6 (1.67 meters), had 10 aces to none for the 6-foot (1.82-meter) Govortsova, who was playing a five-hour drive from her adopted hometown of Huntsville, Ala. 

Jabeur won the French Open girls singles title in 2011 and reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Australian Open in January, ending former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki's career in the third round. 

Govortsova, a 31-year-old mother, was seeking her first WTA quarterfinal since 2014. She has plunged from a career-high No. 35 in 2008 to No. 135.

In the other quarterfinal in the bottom half of the draw, 49th-ranked Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic will meet 48th-ranked Jennifer Brady of Boca Raton, Fla., for the first time.

Bouzkova, who ousted third-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain in the first round, defeated Anna Blinkova of Russia 6-4, 6-2. Brady, a semifinalist as a qualifier at Dubai in February, bounced sixth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-3. 

The quarterfinals in the top half of the draw will be determined Thursday.

Top-seeded Serena Williams, 38, is set to face Venus Williams, 40, not before 9:30 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). Serena leads the head-to-head series 18-12 with nine wins in the last 11 encounters.

San Francisco Bay Area product CiCi Bellis will meet American Jessica Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, not before 11 a.m. In their only previous meeting, Pegula prevailed 6-0, 6-4 in the first round at Auckland in January en route to the final, in which she lost to Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4.

Serena survives, will face Venus in Lexington

Serena Williams, playing her first match in six months, came
within five points of losing to Bernarda Pera today. 2018 photo
by Mal Taam

   Serena Williams figured to have some trouble today.

   Not only was she playing her first match in six months, she faced left-hander Bernarda Pera for the first time. 

   The top-seeded Williams came within five points of losing but rallied to defeat the 60th-ranked Pera, a 25-year-old American born in Croatia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the inaugural Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky.

   Fans are not allowed at the tournament, the first in North America in almost one year, because of the COVID-10 pandemic.  

   "It was a really calm atmosphere, really chill," the ninth-ranked Williams, a 38-year-old part-time resident of Silicon Valley, said on wtatennis.com. "I can't say I disliked it. It was different; I've been through so many things in my career. I think I won today because I was calm for once, so that was really helpful."

   Williams won the singles title in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014 before the tournament moved to nearby San Jose as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in 2018.

   Williams is scheduled to face Venus Williams, 40, for the 31st time on Thursday. Serena Williams leads the head-to-head series 18-12 with nine victories in the last 11 matches.

   This will be the earliest meeting between the Williams sisters since their first one in 1998, a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory by Venus in the second round of the Australian Open. They were supposed to play each other in the second round of last year's Italian Open, but Serena withdrew with a left knee injury.

   In a matchup of former No. 1 players and Bank of the West singles and doubles champions, Venus Williams dispatched Victoria Azarenka, 31, of Belarus 6-3, 6-2.

   Venus Williams made her professional debut indoors in Oakland, Calif., at 14 years old in 1994. She reached the singles final of the Bank of the West Classic eight times, winning in 2000 and 2002. 

   Two teenage sensations, Coco Gauff and Leyla Fernandez, also advanced today.

   Gauff, 16, of Delray Beach, Fla., defeated qualifier Caroline Dolehide, a 21-year-old American who advanced to last year's U.S. Open doubles semifinals with Vania King, 7-5, 7-5.

   Gauff is playing in her first tournament since the Australian Open, in which she beat Venus Williams and defending champion Naomi Osaka en route to the round of 16.

   Fernandez, a 17-year-old qualifier from Canada ranked No. 120, ousted seventh-seeded Sloane Stephens, a Fresno, Calif., product who won the 2017 U.S. Open, 6-3, 6-3. 

  Fernandez, a 5-foot-4 (1.62-meter) left-hander, won last year's French Open girls singles title and reached the Acapulco final as a qualifier in the last week of February. The week after Acapulco, she upset Stephens 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 in the second round at Monterrey in the last tournament before the tours shut down.

   Stephens fell to 1-6 this year. She has tumbled from a career-high No. 3 in July 2018 to No. 37.

   Gauff, ranked No. 53, is set to face Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, seeded second and ranked No. 11, for the first time on Wednesday at about noon PDT (Tennis Channel). Sabalenka reached the San Jose final last August, losing to China's Zheng Saisai. 

   Fernandez will meet U.S. wild card Shelby Rogers, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 winner over Misaki Doi of Japan, on Thursday.

   CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton, dismissed American lucky loser Francesca Di Lorenzo 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes. Fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova, an 18-year-old rising star from Aventura, Fla., withdrew with a shoulder injury.

   Bellis, a right-hander continuing her comeback from three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow, will play hard-hitting American Jessica Pegula, who eliminated former world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 on Monday.

   Bellis and Pegula, the 26-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, will meet for the second time. Pegula prevailed 6-0, 6-4 in the first round at Auckland in January en route to the final, in which she lost to Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4.

   Also today, Anna Blinkova of Russia defeated qualifier Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, 2-6, 6-4, 3-1, retired.

   Ahn, who reached the round of 16 in last year's U.S. Open, was playing in her third three-set match in three days. Her two qualifying matches lasted 3 hours, 3 minutes and 2 hours, 1 minute. Today, Ahn quit after 2 hours, 7 minutes.

Bouzkova ousts third-seeded Konta in Lexington

Johanna Konta lost to Marie Bouzkova for the
second consecutive tournament. File photo
by Paul Bauman

   So far, little has changed for Marie Bouzkova and Johanna Konta since the WTA Tour shut down in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

   Bouzkova, a 22-year-old Czech, dismissed the third-seeded Konta, 29, of Great Britain, in straight sets for the second consecutive tournament today.

   Bouzkova defeated the 15th-ranked Konta, who won the 2016 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the rain-delayed inaugural Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky., the first WTA tournament in North America in almost one year. 

   In the last tournament before the shutdown, Bouzkova beat the second-seeded Konta 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals on hardcourts in Monterrey, Mexico, before losing to top-seeded Elina Svitolina, ranked seventh, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in Bouzkova's only WTA final.

   The 48th-ranked Bouzkova, a semifinalist as a qualifier in Toronto last August in her first Premier 5 appearance, will play either Anna Blinkova, a 21-year-old Russian ranked No. 61, or qualifier Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate who reached the round of 16 in last year's U.S. Open.

   In a late match, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, the runner-up to Zheng Saisai in San Jose, Calif., last August, overpowered American Madison Brengle, who won Northern California Challengers in 2018 and 2019, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

   Brengle, who has dropped from a career-high No. 35 in 2015 to No. 80, has had success against powerful players. She is 1-1 against Serena Williams and 3-1 against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, including a second-round victory there in 2017.

   The 11th-ranked Sabalenka, 22, of Belarus will meet either 16-year-old U.S. sensation Coco Gauff or U.S. qualifier Caroline Dolehide.

   Also today, unseeded American Jessica Pegula outlasted Vera Zvonareva, a 35-year-old wild card from Russia, 6-1 5-7, 6-4. Zvonareva, the Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up in 2010, has plunged from a career-high No. 2 that year to No. 267.

   Pegula, the 26-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, will play either fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova, an 18-year-old rising star from Aventura, Fla., or CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton.

  Anisimova won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento, Calif., Challenger at 15. Bellis, the 2017 WTA Newcomer of the Year, will continue her comeback from three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow. 

   In the final round of qualifying, the top-seeded Ahn defeated Jovana Jovic (born Jaksic), a 26-year-old Serb living in Sacramento, Calif., 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. 

   Tuesday's blockbuster schedule (Tennis Channel) features the top-seeded Williams. Times are EDT.