Venus, Serena reach final; so does Federer

Venus Williams became the oldest Grand Slam singles
finalist since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994.
2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Venus Williams reached her first Grand Slam singles final in eight years today, beating fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   The 13th-seeded Williams, 36, became the oldest Grand Slam singles finalist since 37-year-old Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994. The unseeded Vandeweghe, 25, was playing in her first major semifinal.
   Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome, which saps energy and causes joint pain, in 2011. She will seek her first major singles title since Wimbledon in 2008 against second-seeded Serena Williams, who routed unseeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 6-2, 6-1 in 50 minutes.
   Venus is 11-16 against Serena, including 2-6 in Grand Slam finals. Serena beat Venus 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 in the 2003 Australian Open final. Serena also won their last meeting in a major final, which came at Wimbledon in 2009.
   Russian hackers released confidential records last September showing that both Williams sisters received legal exemptions to use prohibited substances between 2010 and 2015. Serena was treated for a blood clot in her lung in 2010.

Serena Williams will try to break the Open Era record of
22 Grand Slam singles titles she shares with Steffi Graf
and regain the No. 1 rankings. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Serena, 35, is trying to win a record seventh Australian Open singles title, break the Open Era record of 22 majors she shares with Steffi Graf and regain the No. 1 ranking. Margaret Court holds the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles crowns.
   Serena owns three singles titles in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford (2011, 2012 and 2014) and Venus two (2000 and 2002).
   No. 17 Roger Federer defeated No. 4 Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 in an all-Swiss men's semifinal. The 35-year-old Federer, who missed the last six months of 2016 with a knee injury, improved to 19-3 against Wawrinka and became the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall in the 1974 U.S. Open.
   No. 9 Rafael Nadal will face No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov on Friday at 12:30 a.m. Nadal is 7-1 against Dimitrov, who won the last meeting 6-2, 6-4 in the Beijing quarterfinals last October on an outdoor hardcourt.
   Third-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford 1997-98) advanced to the doubles final with a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory over unseeded Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. 

Roger Federer became the oldest man to reach a Grand
Slam singles final since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall in
the 1974 U.S. Open. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   The 38-year-old Bryan twins will meet fourth-seeded Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia. They beat Aussie wild cards Marc Polmans and Andrew Whittington 6-4, 6-4.
   Kontinen and Peers defeated the Bryans in straight sets en route to consecutive titles in Paris and the ATP World Tour Finals in London last November.
   The Bryans have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, including six in the Australian Open. But their last major crown came in the 2014 U.S. Open.
   The Bryans recently announced their retirement from Davis Cup competition after 14 years with the U.S. team. They hold the American record for doubles victories by a team, having gone 24-5. They clinched the last of the United States' record 32 Davis Cup titles in 2007 against Russia in Portland, Ore.
   Top-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix and Mike Bryan, who grew up in Camarillo in the Los Angeles region, withdrew from their mixed doubles quarterfinal against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and Chris Guccione of Australia. It was the second consecutive walkover for Svitolina and Guccione. 

Lucic-Baroni gains first major semifinal in 18 years

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, playing in last year's U.S. Open, has
overcome a turbulent past to reach the Australian Open semi-
finals at age 34. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The last time Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached a Grand Slam semifinal, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky dominated the news.
   Eighteen years later, Lucic-Baroni did it for the second time. She surprised fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, the U.S. Open runner-up last September, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 today in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Pliskova, the Brisbane champion in the first week of January, had won nine consecutive matches.
   After today's upset, the 79th-ranked Lucic-Baroni kneeled on the court and sobbed. She then broke down during her on-court interview with Rennae Stubbs.
   "I know this means a lot to every player to reach the semifinals, but to me, this is overwhelming," said Lucic-Baroni, a 34-year-old Croat who knocked off third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round. "I will never, ever, ever forget this day or the last couple of weeks.
   "This has truly made my life and everything bad that happened OK. Just the fact that I was this strong and that it was worth fighting for, it's really incredible."
   As a teenager, Lucic-Baroni was a prodigy along with Martina Hingis and Venus Williams. Lucic-Baroni became the youngest player to win an Australian Open title when she took the 1998 women's doubles crown at 15 years, 10 months with Hingis. At 17, Lucic-Baroni defeated Monica Seles en route to the Wimbledon semifinals in 1999.
   But Lucic-Baroni's career was derailed by problems with her father, who she has said physically abused her and tampered with her prize money. From 2003 through 2009, she did not play in a Grand Slam tournament.
   "There have been more beatings than anyone can imagine," Lucic-Baroni once said.
   Countered Marinko Lucic at the time: "I never used excessive force, and if I did give her the occasional slap, it was because of her behavior. I did what I believed was best for the child."    
   Lucic-Baroni has not advanced past the first round in seven appearances in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. She will face No. 2 seed and six-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams in the second semifinal on Wednesday night (California time) on ESPN2.
   Williams, seeking an Open Era-record 23rd major singles title, dismissed No. 9 seed Johanna Konta of Great Britain 6-2, 6-3 in their first meeting. Williams and Konta have won four of the last six Bank of the West titles between them.
   Williams is 2-0 against Lucic-Baroni, but they have not met since 1998.
   In the first semifinal at 7 p.m., No. 12 Venus Williams will play unseeded fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe. Williams won their only meeting 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of last year's Italian Open in Rome on clay.
   No. 4 Stan Warwinka will take on No. 17 Roger Federer in an all-Swiss men's semifinal on Thursday at 12:30 a.m. (ESPN). Federer, who missed the last six months of 2016 with a knee injury, leads the head-to-head series 18-3.
   In the other men's semifinal, No. 9 Rafael Nadal will face No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov on Friday at 12:30 a.m.
   Nadal topped No. 3 Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal since he won the 2014 French Open for his 14th major singles title.
   Dimitrov, nicknamed "Baby Fed" because his playing style is similar to Federer's, dismissed No. 11 David Goffin 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to gain his second Grand Slam semifinal.
   Nadal is 7-1 against Dimitrov, who won the last meeting 6-2, 6-4 in the Beijing quarterfinals last October on an outdoor hardcourt.

Istomin shocks Djokovic; Gibbs to face Serena

Denis Istomin lines up a backhand in the
final of the 2012 SAP Open in San Jose.
Istomin lost to Milos Raonic. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   ESPN2 commentator Brad Gilbert called it one of the biggest men's upsets in history.
   Denis Istomin, a 30-year-old wild card from Uzbekistan ranked No. 117, shocked second seed and six-time champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Wednesday (PST) in the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   It was Djokovic's earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament since he fell to Marat Safin in the second round at Wimbledon in 2008 and only his second loss to a player ranked outside the top 100 in the past seven years. He fell to No. 145 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the first round of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro last August.
   Del Potro, a right-hander with a two-handed backhand, has had three operations on his left wrist and one on his right wrist since beating Roger Federer to win the 2009 U.S. Open.
   Djokovic also lost to Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, in the third round at Wimbledon last year amid what he called "private issues," believed to be with his wife, Jelena.
   Gilbert said Istomin's victory ranks with losses by seven-time champions Roger Federer and Pete Sampras in the second round at Wimbledon. Federer fell to No. 116 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in 2013, and Sampras lost to No. 145 George Bastl of Switzerland in 2002.
   Veteran San Francisco Bay Area fans know Istomin well. In the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, he reached the 2012 final (losing to Milos Raonic), 2010 semifinals and 2013 quarterfinals. In the latter matches, Istomin fell to eventual champion Fernando Verdasco and Raonic, respectively.
   Istomin will face 30th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in the third round of the Australian Open. Raonic, seeded third, becomes the favorite to reach the final in the bottom half of the draw. 
   There were also big upsets in women's singles and men's doubles on Wednesday.
   Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a Croat who will turn 35 in March, ousted No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the runner-up to Dominika Cibulkova in the 2013 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, 6-3, 6-2.
   Querrey and Donald Young of Atlanta surprised second seeds and defending champions Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil 6-3, 7-6 (5). Querrey, seeded 31st in singles, is scheduled to play Murray's younger brother, top-ranked Andy, in the third round today not before 7 p.m. PST (ESPN2).

Nicole Gibbs serves in the fourth round at Indian
Wells last March. Gibbs lost to Petra Kvitova.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Meanwhile, Nicole Gibbs (Stanford 2011-13) equaled her best Grand Slam singles result as she advanced to the third round. Her reward is a matchup with No. 2 seed and six-time champion Serena Williams.

   Gibbs, who also reached the third round of the 2014 U.S. Open, improved to 4-0 against fellow American Irina Falconi with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

   Gibbs, a resident of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area, converted six of a whopping 18 break-point opportunities. Falconi, 26, put in only 46 percent of her first serves and committed six double faults. She had one ace.
   Williams dismissed Lucie Safarova, the 2015 French Open runner-up, 6-3, 6-4. It was Williams' 10th victory in as many matches against the Czech left-hander, who will turn 30 on Feb. 4.

   Williams needed three match points to subdue Safarova, who survived nine of them against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in the first round.

   Safarova battled a bacterial infection, reactive arthritis, a torn abdominal muscle, a left wrist injury and food poisoning from August 2015 to May 2016.

   Gibbs and Williams have met once. Williams won 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic in 2012, between Gibbs' sophomore and junior year at Stanford. She turned pro in 2013 after winning her second straight NCAA singles title.

   Gibbs ousted No. 25 seed Timea Babos of Hungary in the first round of the Australian Open in a matchup of 23-year-olds. 

   Babos, at No. 28, is the third-highest-ranked player Gibbs has beaten. She toppled No. 24 Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., in the second round at Indian Wells last year and No. 25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the second round of the 2014 U.S. Open. Gibbs also upset No. 29 Kristina Mladenovic of France in the second round at Miami last year.

   In other first-round doubles matches on Wednesday:

   --No. 11 seeds Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones) and Xu Yifan of China defeated Jessica Moore and Storm Sanders of Australia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
   --Jonathan Erlich, 39, of Israel and Scott Lipsky (Stanford, 2000-03), 35, of Irvine in the Los Angeles area lost to Karen Khachanov and Andrey Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 6-4. Erlich won the 2008 Australian Open with countryman Andy Ram.

Date-Krumm, 44, rallies to shock Lisicki at Stanford

Kimiko Date-Krumm, 44, stunned Sabine Lisicki, the Wimbledon runner-up
two years ago, after trailing 6-1, 4-1 (two service breaks). Photo by Mal Taam

   STANFORD, Calif. -- The legend of Kimiko Date-Krumm continues to grow.
   The 44-year-old Japanese qualifier overcame a huge deficit to shock Sabine Lisicki, the 2013 Wimbledon runner-up from Germany, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 late tonight in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   Date-Krumm trailed the 25-year-old Lisicki 6-1, 4-1 (two service breaks) but fought back to serve for the match. Date-Krumm earned three match points at 40-0, but Lisicki saved the first two. On the third, a Date-Krumm forehand smacked the tape and plopped over the net for a winner.
   "In the beginning, it was not easy to adjust to her power," said the 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter), 117-pound (53-kilogram) Date-Krumm, who coincidentally is married to a German race car driver. "I just tried my best and focused on the ball."
   Lisicki, 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters), owns two women's serving records. She fired a 131-mph (210.8-kph) missile in a first-round loss to Ana Ivanovic in last year's Bank of the West Classic and blasted 27 aces in a match in Birmingham, England, seven weeks ago.
   Lisicki, ranked 24th, had been 3-0 against Date-Krumm. In their first meeting since 2011, Lisicki had eight aces and six double faults tonight to Date-Krumm's none and three, respectively.
   Date-Krumm reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon in the mid-1990s and climbed to a career-high No. 4 in the world 20 years ago. Burned out, she retired at 26 years old for 11 1/2 years. Here's my 2011 story on Date-Krumm.
   Injuries dropped Date-Krumm's ranking below 200 in June, relegating her to tennis' minor leagues. She advanced to the semifinals in Stockton and the quarterfinals in Sacramento last month, raising her ranking to No. 173 entering Stanford.
   Date-Krumm will play fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, a 6-foot-1 (1.86-meter) Czech who received a first-round bye, in the Bank of the West for the second straight year on Thursday. Pliskova won 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round in 2014 to even her career record against Date-Krumm at 1-1..
   Earlier tonight, Angelique Kerber faced a dangerous first-round match.

Fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber, last year's runner-up,
dismissed Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-3 in 65 minutes. The
match was expected to be closer. Photo by Mal Taam

   Yes, the 2014 Bank of the West runner-up was 2-0 against her opponent, Daria Gavrilova. But in their last meeting, Kerber prevailed in a tough three-setter in the second round at Sydney in January.
   Futhermore, this was Kerber's first match in one month. She lost to eventual finalist Garbine Muguruza in the third round at Wimbledon.
   Wary of the pitfalls, the fifth-seeded Kerber dismissed Gavrilova 6-1, 6-3 in 65 minutes.
   "I played against her twice before, and it was always tough, so I knew that I should play very well to beat her," said Kerber, who also beat Gavrilova 6-3, 7-5 in the second round at Brisbane the week before Sydney. "And it's always tough to play a match after such a long time. I'm actually very happy about my performance tonight."
   Kerber, a 27-year-old left-hander from Germany, seeks her fourth title of the year after winning Charleston on outdoor clay, Stuttgart on indoor clay and Birmingham on grass. Ranked as high as No. 5 in October 2012, she has fallen to No. 14.
   It didn't hurt Kerber's chances of winning Stanford when defending champion Serena Williams withdrew Friday with a right elbow injury.
   Gavrilova won the U.S. Open girls title in 2010 and attained a junior ranking of No. 1 in the world that year. She tore her right ACL in November 2013, underwent surgery and missed the first half of 2014. In her first tournament back, the 5-foot-5 (1.66-meter) Gavrilova won the doubles title in the Sacramento Challenger with Storm Sanders of Australia.

Daria Gavrilova, shown Tuesday night,  beat second-ranked
Maria Sharapova in Miami in March and reached the Rome
semifinals as a qualifier in May. Photo by Mal Taam

   Gavrilova, who beat second-ranked Maria Sharapova in Miami in March and reached the Rome semifinals as a qualifier in May, has climbed to No. 41.
   The 21-year-old Moscow native is awaiting Australian citizenship. Until then, she represents Russia in WTA tournaments and Australia in Grand Slam events.

   Kerber will meet 17-year-old Ana Konjuh of Croatia on Thursday in the second round. Konjuh, who beat Saisai Zheng of China 6-3, 6-4, became the WTA's youngest titlist in nine years when she won Nottingham on grass in June.
   During the day session, eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina, 20, defeated qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko, who will turn 29 on Saturday, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a 2-hour, 31-minute battle of Ukrainians. Svitolina, who reached the French Open quarterfinals in June, trailed 5-3 in the third set.

   Bondarenko took a year and a half off the tour, beginning in 2012, to give birth to daughter Karin and spend time with her new family. Karin and her father, Denis Volodko, were in the stands on Tuesday, according to tennisnow.com.

   Svitolina will face local favorite Nicole Gibbs, a 22-year-old qualifier, in Wednesday night's late match. Gibbs won the 2012 and 2013 NCAA singles titles before turning pro out of Stanford.

   Varvara Lepchenko, a Bank of the West semifinalist last year, edged Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Lepchenko, a 29-year-old native of Uzbekistan, became a U.S. citizen in 2011.

   CiCi Bellis, 16, of neighboring Atherton ended her first Bank of the West Classic with an opening-round doubles loss. Second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain defeated wild cards Bellis and Jacqueline Cako, a 23-year-old former All-American at Arizona State, 6-4, 7-6 (4). 

   It was Medina Garrigues' first WTA match since she was named the Co-Female MVP of World TeamTennis for the California Dream. The Sacramento-based team lost to the host Austin Aces in the Western Conference Championship on Thursday in its inaugural season.

   Cako (pronounced CAY-ko) asked Bellis to play doubles after her original partner, Sachia Vickery of Miramar, Fla., suffered an injury in a first-round qualifying loss. Vickery reached the singles quarterfinals in last year's Bank of the West Classic as a 19-year-old qualifier.
   Bellis, who made headlines by stunning 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of last year's U.S. Open, lost to qualifier Misaki Doi, 24, of Japan 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Monday in the opening round of singles at Stanford.  

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC

At Stanford

First-round singles

   Varvara Lepchenko, United States, def. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
   Ana Konjuh, Croatia, def. Saisai Zheng, China, 6-3, 6-4.
   Elina Svitolina (8), Ukraine, def. Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
   Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia, def. Vitalia Diatchenko, Russia, 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.
   Angelique Kerber (5), Germany, def. Daria Gavrilova, Russia, 6-1, 6-3.
   Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japan, def. Sabine Lisicki, Germany, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. 

First-round doubles 

   Anbel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja (2), Spain, def. CiCi Bellis and Jacqueline Cako, United States, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
   Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and Alicja Rosolska (3), Poland, def. Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, and Andrea Petkovic, Germany, 4-6, 7-6 (4) [12-10].
   Yi-Fan Xu and Saisai Zheng, China, def. Klaudia Jans-Ignacik, Poland, and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia, 6-4, 3-6 [10-4].

Wednesday's schedule

Stadium Court

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Andrea Petkovic (6), Germany, vs. Mona Barthel, Germany.

(Not before 1 p.m.)

   Carla Suarez Navarro (3), Spain, vs. Alison Riske, United States.
   Raquel Kops-Jones and Maria Sanchez (4), United States, vs. Mona Barthel and Sabine Lisicki, Germany.

(Not before 7 p.m.)

   Madison Keys (7), United States, vs. Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia.
   Elina Svitolina (8), Ukraine, vs. Nicole Gibbs, United States.

Court 6

(Starting at 2 p.m.)

   Chin-Wei Chan, Taiwan, and Darija Jurak, Croatia, vs. Vitalia Diatchenko, Russia, and Anna Tatishvili, United States.

French Open Day 6 recap: No. 8 Suarez Navarro falls

No. 28 seed Flavia Pennetta, defending her title
at Indian Wells in March, beat No. 8 Carla Suarez
Navarro on Friday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- No. 28 seed Flavia Pennetta, a 33-year-old Italian, dismissed No. 8 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in the third round.
   Pennetta had lost in the first round of her two previous tournaments, to 10th-ranked Andrea Petkovic in Madrid and then-No. 19 Elina Svitolina in Rome.
   Pennetta has never advanced past the fourth round of the French Open in 12 appearances.
   Match of the day -- No. 29 seed Alize Cornet of France reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in 11 appearances, beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. 
   The 25-year-old Cornet "celebrated as if she had won the tournament, falling onto her back, letting out a scream and then bursting into tears," the Associated Press reported.
   Notable -- No. 2 seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova ended No. 26 Samantha Stosur's winning streak at seven matches with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Stosur, the 2010 runner-up to Francesca Schiavone, had lost only five games in two matches in Paris.
   Top-seeded Serena Williams is scheduled to face No. 27 Victoria Azarenka today in the third round. Williams saved three match points in a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (1) victory over Azarenka in the third round at Madrid three weeks ago.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 2 Roger Federer (2009 champion), No. 4 Tomas Berdych, No. 8 Stan Wawrinka, No. 12 Gilles Simon, No. 13 Gael Monfils, No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 20 Richard "Blow A" Gasquet.
   Men's seeded loser -- No. 21 Pablo "Jose" Cuevas.
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 2 Sharapova (2012 and 2014 champion), No. 7 Ana Ivanovic (2008 champion), No. 9 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 13 Lucie Safarova, No. 19 Svitolina, No. 21 Garbine Muguruza, No. 28 Pennetta, No. 29 Cornet.
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 8 Suarez Navarro, No. 11 Angelique Kerber, No. 20 Sabine Lisicki, No. 26 Stosur.
   Stars and stripes -- Steve Johnson lost to Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, leaving Jack Sock as the only U.S. man left in singles. Sock, 22, is set to play Borna Coric, 18, of Croatia today in the third round, with the winner likely to meet Rafael Nadal -- who has won nine French Open singles titles, including the last five -- in the round of 16.
   Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan and second-seeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada and Sock reached the third round of men's doubles. However, left-handers Austin Krajicek and Donald Young lost to ninth-seeded Rohan Bopanna of India and Florin Mergea of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
   Fast facts -- Only four of the top eight women's seeds remain halfway through the third round: No. 1 Williams, No. 2 Sharapova, No. 4 Petra Kvitova and No. 7 Ivanovic. In contrast, all of the top nine men's seeds are still alive. 
   Northern California connection -- In addition to the Bryans, former Stanford stars, advancing in men's doubles, Abigail Spears and Scott Lipsky, another ex-Cardinal, won their first-round mixed doubles match. But fifth-seeded Bob Bryan and Caroline Garcia of France lost to Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., 3-6, 7-5 [10-8].
   Quote -- Cornet: "At last, I'm into the second week at Roland. I've been waiting for this for 11 years."

French Open Day 4 recap: Lucic-Baroni upsets Halep

No. 3 seed and 2014 French Open runner-up
Simona Halep, shown en route to the title
at Indian Wells in March, lost to Mirjana
Lucic-Baroni today in the second round
Roland Garros. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a 33-year-old former prodigy from Croatia, continued her resurgence with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over No. 3 seed and 2014 runner-up Simona Halep of Romania in the second round.
   Lucic-Baroni, who sat out from 2003 through 2009 amid personal problems, also ousted Halep to reach the round of 16 in last year's U.S. Open as a qualifier.
   Lucic-Baroni has accused her father, Marinko, of physical abuse and tampering with her prize money. "There have been more beatings than anyone can imagine," she once said.
   Countered Marinko Lucic: “I never used excessive force, and if I did give her the occasional slap, it was because of her behavior. I did what I believed what was best for the child.” 
   Match of the day -- Germany's Benjamin Becker, who will turn 34 on June 16, outlasted 32nd-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-4, 0-6, 1-6, 7-5, 10-8.
   Notable -- Samantha Stosur, the 26th seed and 2010 runner-up, extended her winning streak to seven matches with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over French wild card Amandine Hesse. Stosur has lost only five games in two matches.
   Nicolas Mahut, a 33-year-old Frenchman, eliminated No. 24 seed and 2014 semifinalist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 2 Roger Federer, No. 4 Tomas Berdych, No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 8 Stan Wawrinka, No. 12 Gilles Simon, No. 13 Gael Monfils, No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 21 Pablo Cuevas, No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber.
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 19 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 24 Gulbis, No. 28 Fabio Fognini, No. 32 Fernando Verdasco.
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 2 Maria Sharapova, No. 7 Ana Ivanovic, No. 8 Carla Suarez Navarro, No. 9 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 11 Angelique Kerber, No. 13 Lucie Safarova, No. 19 Elina Svitolina, No. 20 Sabine Lisicki, No. 21 Garbine Muguruza, No. 26 Stosur, No. 28 Flavia Pennetta, No. 29 Alize Cornet.
   Women's seeded loser -- No. 3 Halep.
   Stars and stripes -- Steve Johnson beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the second straight time.
   Advancing to the second round in doubles were top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan, second-seeded Jack Sock and Canadian Vasek Pospisil, Austin Krajicek and Donald Young, and Varvara Lepchenko and China's Saisai Zheng.
   Fast facts -- Kimiko Date-Krumm and Francesca Schiavone, who won their first-round doubles match, are a combined 78 years old. Date-Krumm, 44, reached the singles semifinals at Roland Garros 20 years ago, and Schiavone won the singles title five years ago.
   Northern California connection -- Four members of the California Dream, the new Sacramento-based franchise in World TeamTennis, played first-round doubles matches.
   California's Bob and Mike Bryan, seeded first in men's doubles, ended a rare two-match losing streak with a 7-6 (8), 6-2 decision over Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan.
   Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and the Dream's Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain outclassed Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1.
   And Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and California's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan lost to Florian Mayer and Frank Moser of Germany 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1).
   In the first round of mixed doubles, Raquel Kops-Jones, a San Jose resident and former Cal star, and Robert Farah of Colombia defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6 (4), 6-3.
   Quote -- Lucic-Baroni: "I feel like I missed my best years, for sure. There is nothing I can do (about it) right now. There is no point of thinking about it too much. Just enjoying right now where I am."

Open Day 7 highlights: Wozniacki tops Sharapova



   Match of the day -- In a battle of former No. 1 players, 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark outslugged fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in high humidity in 2 hours, 37 minutes.

   Wozniacki, 24, advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2012 Australian Open. Only one of the top six women's seeds, No. 1 Serena Williams, remains alive entering the second week.
   Upset of the day -- The men's draw, unlike the women's, has gone largely according to form. No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain became the first top-10 seed to fall, succumbing to No. 26 Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the third round.
   Notable -- Belinda Bencic, 17, of Switzerland became the youngest U.S. Open quarterfinalist since her mentor, Martina Hingis, in 1997. Bencic ousted ninth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki, practicing during the 2012 Austral-
ian Open, beat Maria Sharapova in a battle of former
No. 1 players. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Second-seeded Roger Federer lost the first 10 points in his 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marcel Granollers of Spain in the third round. Federer, a five-time U.S. Open champon, trailed 2-5 (one service break) in the first set when thunderstorms delayed the match for two hours.
   Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a 32-year-old qualifier who had shocked second-seeded Simona Halep in the third round, lost to 13th-seeded Sara Errani 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. The 5-foot-4 1/2 (1.64-meter) Errani had four winners and nine errors to the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Lucic-Baroni's 46 and 69, respectively.
   Men's seeded winners -- Federer, No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 14 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 20 Gael Monfils and Simon.
   Men's seeded losers -- Ferrer, No. 12 Richard Gasquet, No. 18 Kevin Anderson and No. 19 Feliciano Lopez.
   Women's seeded winners -- Wozniacki and Errani.
   Women's seeded losers -- Sharapova, Jankovic and No. 14 Lucie Safarova.
   Northern California connection -- Unseeded Americans Scott Lipsky, a 33-year-old former Stanford star, and Rajeev Ram surprised third-seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 to reach the men's doubles quarterfinals. Nestor, who will turn 42 on Thursday, has won eight Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and the 38-year-old Zimonjic six.
   Michaela Gordon, 15, of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area dominated Miriam Kolodziejova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of girls singles. 
   Fast fact -- Wozniacki plans to run in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2.
   Quote -- Wozniacki, on taking a break from marathon training during the U.S. Open: "I have a pretty big tournament here that I kind of want to try and win."

U.S. Open Day 5 highlights: No. 2 Halep stunned

Second-seeded Simona Halep lost to Mirjana Lucic-
Baroni, a 32-year-old qualifier, 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the
third round. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a 32-year-old qualifier from Croatia and former prodigy, shocked second-seeded Simona Halep of Romania 7-6 (6), 6-2 to reach the round of 16.
   The 5-foot-11 (1.81-meter) Lucic-Baroni saved three set points at 2-5 in the first set against the 2014 French Open runner-up and Wimbledon semifinalist.
   Entering the U.S. Open, Lucic-Baroni was winless in six tournaments since May. One of the losses came against San Jose resident Raquel Kops-Jones, a doubles specialist then ranked No. 1,055 in singles, in the first round of qualifying for the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford last month.
   Lucic-Baroni once appeared destined for stardom. She became the youngest player to win an Australian Open title when she took the 1998 women's doubles crown at 15 years, 10 months with Martina Hingis.
   At 17, Lucic-Baroni upset world No. 4 Monica Seles to reach the Wimbledon singles semifinals in 1999. She was the lowest-ranked player (No. 134) at the time to reach a Grand Slam semifinal but has been surpassed.
   Lucic-Baroni's career was derailed by problems with her father, who she has said physically abused her and tampered with her prize money.
   "There have been more beatings than anyone can imagine," Lucic-Baroni once said.
   Marinko Lucic countered: “I never used excessive force, and if I did give her the occasional slap, it was because of her behavior. I did what I believed what was best for the child.”   

No. 19 seed Venus Williams fell to No. 13 Sara Errani
6-0, 0-6, 7-6 (5). 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Match of the day -- No. 13 seed Sara Errani of Italy edged No. 19 Venus Williams, the 2000 and 2001 U.S. Open champion, 6-0, 0-6, 7-6 (5). Williams, 34, served for the match at 5-3 in the third set and came within two points of victory four times.
   Errani, only 5-foot-4 1/2 (1.64 meters), had never won more than three games in a set in three matches against the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Williams.
   Notable -- Belinda Bencic, 17, of Switzerland knocked off No. 6 Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-1, 7-5. Bencic, formerly ranked No. 1 in the juniors, is playing in the U.S. Open for the first time. Kerber, a 26-year-old left-hander, reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open in 2011 and Wimbledon in 2012.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 2 Roger Federer, No. 4 David Ferrer, No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 12 Richard Gasquet, No. 14 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 18 Kevin Anderson, No. 19 Feliciano Lopez, No. 20 Gael Monfils and No. 26 Gilles Simon.
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 11 Ernests Gulbis, No. 15 Fabio Fognini, No. 25 Ivo Karlovic and No. 32 Joao Sousa.
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 5 Maria Sharapova, No. 9 Jelena Jankovic, No. 10 Caroline Wozniacki, Errani and No. 14 Lucie Safarova.
   Women's seeded losers -- Halep, Kerber, No. 18 Andrea Petkovic, Williams, No. 22 Alize Cornet, No. 26 Sabine Lisicki and No. 28 Roberta Vinci.
   U.S. report -- Remaining are three American women (No. 1 Serena Williams, Uzbekistan native Varvara Lepchenko and wild card Nicole Gibbs) and two U.S. men (No. 13 John Isner and Sam Querrey).
   All play in the third round today. Williams meets Lepchenko, Gibbs faces No. 11 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, Querrey takes on No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, and Isner goes against No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
   Northern California connection -- Eighth-seeded Kops-Jones and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia lost to Anastasia Rodionova of Australia and Robert Farah of Colombia 4-6, 6-3 [10-5] in the first round of mixed doubles. Cabal and Farah, seeded 16th in men's doubles, lost to Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland in the second round.
   In an all-American encounter, ex-Stanford star Scott Lipsky, 33, and Rajeev Ram, 30, topped 16-year-old wild cards Michael Mmoh and Francis Tiafoe 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of men's doubles.
   Sam Riffice, a 15-year-old product of Roseville in the Sacramento area, lost to 15th-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the first round of boys qualifying. Here's a link to my recent profile of Riffice and fellow Roseville juniors Keenan and Aidan Mayo: http://norcaltennisczar.blogspot.com/2014/08/neighborly-advice-keep-eye-on-roseville.html
   Fast fact -- Three record holders for the world's fastest serve played, and all lost. Sam Groth (163.7 mph, or 263.4 kph, in the 2012 Busan, South Korea, Challenger for the unofficial men's record) succumbed to Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Karlovic (156 mph, or 251 kph, in the 2011 Davis Cup for the official men's record) lost to Marcel Granollers 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4. And Sabine Lisicki (131 mph, or 210.8 kph, in last month's Bank of the West Classic for the women's mark) fell to Sharapova 6-2, 6-4.
   Quote -- A tearful Lucic-Baroni on her triumph: "This is incredible. I believed the whole time. After so many years, my God, this is just incredible. Every painful moment was worth it.”

Lucic-Baroni, with troubled past, upset at Stanford

   The sad story of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni continued to play out on Saturday at Stanford.
   The former prodigy, now 32, lost to doubles specialist Raquel Kops-Jones of San Jose 6-2, 7-6 (8) in the first round of qualifying for the Bank of the West Classic.
   Lucic-Baroni, from Croatia, was seeded third at No. 127 in the world. Kops-Jones, 31, is ranked No. 1,038 in singles but No. 13 in doubles.
   Lucic-Baroni became the youngest player to win an Australian Open title when she took the 1998 women's doubles crown at 15 years, 10 months with Martina Hingis.
   At 17, Lucic reached the 1999 Wimbledon singles semifinals. She was the lowest-ranked player (No. 134) at the time to reach a Grand Slam semifinal but has been surpassed.
   Lucic-Baroni's career was derailed by problems with her father, who she has said physically abused her and tampered with her prize money.
   "There have been more beatings than anyone can imagine," Lucic-Baroni once said.
   Marinko Lucic countered: “I never used excessive force, and if I did give her the occasional slap, it was because of her behavior. I did what I believed what was best for the child.”
   Kops-Jones, who won last year's doubles title in the Bank of the West Classic with Abigail Spears of San Diego, will play fifth-seeded Paula Kania of Poland today for a berth in the singles main draw.
   Also advancing was Stanford sophomore Carol Zhao. The 19-year-old Canadian edged second-seeded Katerina Siniakova, an 18-year-old Czech ranked No. 123 in the world, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
   Siniakova captured the girls doubles title at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year with countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova.
   Top-seeded Alexsandra Wozniak, a Canadian who won the 2008 Bank of the West, defeated another Stanford sophomore, Caroline Doyle of San Francisco, 7-5, 6-3.
   Sixth-seeded Sachia Vickery of Hollywood, Fla., outplayed 15-year-old Michaela Gordon of nearby Los Altos Hills 6-4, 6-1.

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC
At Stanford
First-round qualifying

   Raquel Kops-Jones, United States, def. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (3), Croatia, 6-2, 7-6 (8).
   Petra Martic (7), Croatia, def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, Spain, 6-4, 6-2.
   Aleksandra Wozniak (1), Canada, def. Caroline Doyle, United States, 7-5, 6-3.
   Carol Zhao, United States, def. Katerina Siniakova (2), Czech Republic, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

   Paula Kania (5), Poland, def. Daria Gavrilova, Russia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   Naomi Osaka, Japan, def. Alla Kudryavtseva (4), Russia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
   Sachia Vickery (6), United States, def. Michaela Gordon, United States, 6-4, 6-1. 
   Marina Shamayko, Russia, def. Mari Osaka, Japan, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Today's schedule

Stadium
(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Petra Martic (7), Croatia, vs. Naomi Osaka, Japan.

   Paula Kania (5), Poland, vs. Raquel Kops-Jones, United States.

   Aleksandra Wozniak (1), Canada, vs. Sachia Vickery (6), United States.

Court 6 
(Starting at noon)

   Marina Shamayko, Russia, vs. Carol Zhao, Canada.