Stephens, Bryan brothers win Miami Open titles

   It doesn't take long for Sloane Stephens to find her form.
   In only her fifth tournament after undergoing foot surgery last year, the unseeded Stephens won the U.S. Open for her first Grand Slam championship.
   A letdown was inevitable, but Stephens took it to extremes, losing her next eight matches. In her third tournament since then, she captured the Miami Open today.
   Stephens, a 25-year-old Fresno product seeded 13th, beat Jelena Ostapenko, a 20-year-old Latvian seeded sixth, 7-6 (5), 6-1 for the second-biggest title of her career.
   Like Stephens, Ostapenko won her first Grand Slam title last year as an unseeded player, taking the French Open crown.
   Stephens improved to 6-0 in finals and will crack the top 10 for the first time on Monday, rising three spots to No. 9.
   Stephens, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., converted 7 of 8 break-point opportunities and Ostapenko 5 of 8. The hard-hitting Ostapenko ripped 25 winners to Stephens' six but committed 48 unforced errors to Stephens' 21.
   In the men's doubles final, fourth-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan topped unseeded Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev of Russia 4-6, 7-6 (5) [10-4].
   The Bryans, ex-Stanford All-Americans who will turn 40 on April 29, won their fifth Miami championship, 37th Masters 1000 crown and 115th title as a team. However, it was their first title since Atlanta last July and first Masters 1000 crown since Rome in May 2016.
   The Bryans have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles but none since the 2014 U.S. Open.
   Khachanov, 21, and Rublev, 20, were playing in their first final together.

Stephens, Ostapenko to meet for Miami title

   Sloane Stephens and Jelena Ostapenko, both of whom shockingly won Grand Slam singles titles last year, will meet for the first time in the Miami Open women's final on Saturday.
   The 13th-seeded Stephens, a 25-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident who grew up in Fresno, defeated wild card and two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 today. Azarenka was playing in only her second tournament since Wimbledon last July because of a custody battle involving her 1-year-old son, Leo.
   The sixth-seeded Ostapenko, a 20-year-old Latvian, beat qualifier Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., 7-6 (1), 6-3. Ostapenko saved a set point against the two-time NCAA singles champion and 2016 University of Virginia graduate.
   Ostapenko and Stephens won the French Open and U.S. Open, respectively, last year as unseeded players. Ostapenko captured her first tour-level title at Roland Garros three days after turning 20. At Flushing Meadows, Stephens was playing in only her fifth tournament after undergoing foot surgery.
   ESPN2 will televise the Miami women's final on Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT.
   Also Saturday, ex-Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan will play in their third consecutive doubles final. The fourth seeds and four-time Miami champions beat unseeded Ben McLachlan, a former Cal star, and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 7-5, 6-4.
   McLachlan, a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, and Struff advanced to the Australian Open final in January in their first tournament together.
   The Bryan twins, who will turn 40 on April 29, will meet Karen Khachanov, 21, and Andrey Rublev, 20. The unseeded Russians dismissed Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles region and Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native living in Las Vegas, 6-3, 6-1 in 44 minutes.
   The Bryans, runners-up at Acapulco and Indian Wells this month, seek their first Masters 1000 championship since the 2016 Italian Open and their first title of any kind since Atlanta last July.

Stephens routs Kerber in Miami quarterfinals

   Sloane Stephens dominated a two-time Grand Slam champion for the second straight day.
   But this time, there was a catch.
   The 13th-seeded Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, dispatched 10th-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-2 today in 61 minutes in the Miami Open quarterfinals.
   Kerber, who won the Australian Open and U.S. Open champion and reached No. 1 in 2016, had less than 24 hours to recover from her two-hour, 51-minute victory over qualifier Wang Yafan of China.
   "I was really feeling a little bit tired today," Kerber, who has reached the quarterfinals or better in all six of her tournaments this year, admitted on wtatennis.com. "I mean, of course it was windy, it was tricky, but I have played so many matches in the last three months that I was feeling it a little bit today in my body. ... I was always one step too far away from balls, and then I make the mistakes."
   Meanwhile, the 12th-ranked Stephens reached her first semifinal since winning the U.S. Open last September for her first Grand Slam title. The 25-year-old resident of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will crack the top 10 for the first time on Monday.
   "Finally. Oh my God," Stephens, who climbed to a career-high No. 11 in October 2013, said with a laugh. "I'm so tired of (tournament emcees) being like, "Career-high ranking, No. 11.' Like, finally I can move in there.
   "It's awesome. Obviously something I have wanted to do for a while, and ... it's really not easy. Getting to No. 11 was hard, and so getting into the top 10 is pretty special. I'm super excited about that."
   Only one month ago, Stephens trudged to Acapulco with eight consecutive losses since her stunning run to the U.S. Open title. She proceeded to reach the Acapulco quarters and then the third round at Indian Wells, losing to eventual runner-up Daria Kasatkina.
   In the fourth round at Miami, Stephens beat third-seeded Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 6-4 in one hour, 28 minutes on Monday. Over the past 12 months, Stephens has gone 22-5 in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and 0-9 elsewhere.
   Stephens will meet another two-time Grand Slam champion, wild card Victoria Azarenka, in Thursday's semifinals. Azarenka -- who won the Miami in 2009, 2011 and 2016 -- beat fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-3.
   Azarenka, formerly ranked No. 1, is playing in only her second tournament since Wimbledon last July because of a custody battle over her 1-year-old son, Leo.
   The 6-foot (1.83-meter) Azarenka, who's five inches (12.7 centimeters) taller than Stephens, leads their head-to-head series 3-1. But Stephens won the last meeting 6-1, 7-5 in the second round at Indian Wells this month. Each of Azarenka's victories has come in straight sets in the Australian Open.
    The other women's semifinal matchup will be determined Wednesday. No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine is scheduled to face No. 6 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia at 10 a.m. PDT, and No. 8 Venus Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., will meet qualifier Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., at 4 p.m. ESPN2 will televise both matches.
   Williams won the Miami title in 1998, 1999 and 2001.
   Men's Futures -- Four Europeans who starred at Northern California universities met in the doubles final of the $25,000 USTA Men 's Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas in the Los Angeles area on Sunday.
   Unseeded former Cal teammates Andre Goransson of Sweden and Florian Lakat of France topped second-seeded Bernardo Saraiva (University of San Francisco) of Portugal and Sem Verbeek (Pacific) of the Netherlands 6-2, 7-6 (3).
   The singles final featured an all-Los Angeles area matchup. No. 7 seed J.C. Aragone of Yorba Linda beat No. 4 seed and 2014 champion Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks 6-2, 6-4.

Ex-Stanford star Gibbs routed on big stage

Nicole Gibbs, serving in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian
Wells last week, lost to fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza
6-1, 6-0 on Sunday in Miami. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Nicole Gibbs had been working for this her whole life.
   The 23-year-old former Stanford All-American was playing on the Stadium Court in the featured night match in a big tournament against a Wimbledon finalist.
   Unfortunately for Gibbs, fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain crushed the wild card 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes on Sunday in the third round of the Miami Open.
   "Every athlete's dream to play on center under the lights," Gibbs tweeted. "Every athlete's nightmare for that to be the outcome. But (emoji) happens."
   The 22-year-old Muguruza, who lost to Serena Williams in last year's Wimbledon final, won 85 percent of the points on her first serve (18 of 21) against Gibbs and saved the only break point she faced.
   Gibbs had extended two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to 6-4 in the third set in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells last week as a qualifier.
   At 6 feet (1.82 meters), Muguruza and Kvitova are six inches (15.2 centimeters) taller than Gibbs.
   Gibbs, who lost in the first round of qualifying in Miami last year, will have to be content with $36,170 in prize money and 65 ranking points.
   Combined with the $67,590 she pocketed in Indian Wells, Gibbs earned more than $100,000 in the two tournaments.
   Gibbs also will improve her career-high ranking from No. 74 to about No. 70 when the new rankings are released next Monday. She began this year at No. 119.

Querrey quickly exits Miami Open; Bryans advance

Adrian Mannarino, playing last week in Indian Wells,
upended 29th-seeded Sam Querrey in the second
round of the Miami Open. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Sam Querrey is already out of the Miami Open.
   One day after losing in the first round of doubles, the 29th-seeded Querrey fell to Adrian Mannarino of France, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday in the second round of singles.
   Querrey, a 28-year-old San Francisco native living in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, received a first-round bye. He fell to 0-2 lifetime against Mannarino, a 27-year-old left-hander from France.
   Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area and Querrey lost to Spanish left-handers Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation) 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the first round.
   It was the third consecutive first-round loss for Johnson and Querrey since a runner-up showing in Memphis.
   The Lopez pair reached the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells last week.  
   Fourth-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, trying to win their third straight Miami Open doubles title and fifth overall, beat Inigo Cervantes and David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round.
   The Bryans, 37-year-old ex-Stanford All-Americans, will play Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain and Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the second round.

Roundup: Miami, Bank of the West, World TeamTennis

Ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs, playing last week in the BNP Paribas
Open in Indian Wells, upset No. 27 Kristina Mladenovic on Friday
in the second round of the Miami Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Wild card Nicole Gibbs, who starred at Stanford, ousted No. 27 seed Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour, 19 minutes on Friday in the second round of the Miami Open.
   As a qualifier in the Australian Open in January, the 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs had lost to the 6-foot (1.86-meter) Mladenovic 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the second round in their only previous meeting.
   Gibbs, a 23-year-old resident of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area, reached the fourth round at Indian Wells last week as a qualifier. She will face another 22-year-old 6-footer, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, on Sunday.
   The fourth-seeded Muguruza, the runner-up to Serena Williams at Wimbledon last year, outlasted 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours, 46 minutes on Friday.
   Gibbs is 1-0 against Muguruza, who retired from their second-round qualifying match in New Haven in 2012 while trailing 6-2, 1-0.
   U.S. wild cards Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky, a 34-year-old former Stanford All-American, lost to Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., resident who plays for the Philippines, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of doubles.
   Bank of the West Classic -- Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska have entered the July 18-24 tournament at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   Williams has reached the Bank of the West final seven times, winning the title in 2000 and 2002. She is ranked 13th.
   Radwanska, the runner-up to Cibulkova in the 2013 Bank of the West Classic, is ranked second.
   Tickets to the Bank of the West Classic can be purchased online at bankofthewestclassic.com or by phone at (866) WTA-TIXS.
   World TeamTennis draft -- Three of the four members of the Orange County Breakers have strong Northern California ties.
   In addition to Gibbs and Lipsky, Orange County drafted Dennis Novikov of Milipitas in the San Francisco Bay Area. Novikov led UCLA to the NCAA final as a sophomore in 2013 before turning pro. The Breakers also picked Ally Kudryavtseva of Russia.
   Washington, meanwhile, appeared destined to win their sixth straight WTT title. Not only do the Kastles return International Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Hingis, future Hall of Famer Leander Paes, San Francisco native Sam Querrey, co-WTT Female MVP Anastasia Rodionova and Madison Brengle, they added ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan and recently retired Mardy Fish.

Bay Area's Bellis, Novikov fall in Miami Open

CiCi Bellis, 16, of Atherton lost to Monica Puig of
Puerto Rico in the first round of the Miami Open.
2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   San Francisco Bay Area residents CiCi Bellis and Dennis Novikov lost today in the first round of the Miami Open.
   Bellis, a 16-year-old wild card from Atherton, fell to Monica Puig, 22, of Puerto Rico 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on the Stadium Court in a match that ended at midnight EDT.
   Novikov, a 22-year-old qualifier from Milpitas, succumbed to Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-1, 7-6 (5).
   Both Bellis and Puig faced 15 break points. Puig saved 10 and Bellis eight.
   Bellis, an amateur, will plunge from No. 219 in the world to about No. 262 when the next rankings are released on April 4.
   She reached the third round of the Miami Open last year, routing then-No. 32 Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-1 in the second round before losing to Serena Williams 6-1, 6-1. Williams went on to win the title for the eighth time.
   Bellis made international headlines in 2014 by stunning 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the U.S. Open. Cibulkova had advanced to the Australian Open final that year, falling to Li Na.
   Puig, who reached the Sydney final in January as a qualifier before losing to two-time Grand Slam singles champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, will face 13th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the second round.
   Azarenka, who received a opening-round bye, will be playing her first match since upsetting Williams on Sunday for her second title in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   Novikov made his Miami Open debut this year. He turned pro in 2013 after leading UCLA to the NCAA final as a sophomore.

Gibbs advances in Miami; Bellis, 16, to face Puig

Nicole Gibbs, serving in last year's U.S. Open, continued
her strong play today in Miami. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Wild card Nicole Gibbs, a former Stanford star, continued her strong year with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan today in the first round of the Miami Open.
   It was the first victory in Miami for Gibbs. The 23-year-old resident of Marina del Ray in the Los Angeles region lost in the first round of qualifying last year in her Miami debut.
   As a qualifier in her previous two tournaments this year, Gibbs reached her second career quarterfinal, in Monterrey, Mexico, and the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   Gibbs also advanced to the second round of the Australian Open in January as a qualifier before losing to 28th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-1, 7-6 (4).
   The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs, ranked a career-high No. 74, will get another shot at the 6-foot (1.86-meter) Mladenovic, ranked No. 29, in the second round in Miami. Mladenovic, seeded 27th, received a first-round bye.
   Putintseva, a 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Moscow native, is ranked No. 58.
   CiCi Bellis, 16, of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, is scheduled to play Monica Puig of Puerto Rico in the first round on Wednesday on the Stadium Court after the 4:30 p.m. (PDT) match between Juan Martin Del Potro and Guido Pella, both from Argentina.
   It will be the first meeting between Bellis and Puig, ranked No. 219 and No. 67, respectively.
   Bellis routed then-No. 32 Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-1 in the second round in Miami last year before losing to Serena Williams 6-1, 6-1. Williams went on to win the title for the eighth time.
   Dennis Novikov, 22, of Milpitas in the Bay Area advanced to the men's main draw with a 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory over Marco Trungelliti of Argentina.
   Novikov, ranked No. 153, will face No. 70 Dusan Lajovic of Serbia for the first time today. Novikov is making his Miami debut this year.

Bryans edge Pospisil-Sock for Miami title

   Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are developing a nice rivalry with Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock.
   The top-seeded Bryans edged second-seeded Pospisil and Sock 6-3, 1-6 [10-8] on Saturday to win their fourth Miami Open title.
   The 36-year-old Bryans evened their record against Pospisil and Sock at 2-2, including a loss two weeks ago in the Indian Wells quarterfinals. The teams met for the first time in last year's Wimbledon final, won by Pospisil and Sock 7-5 in the fifth set in their initial tournament together.
   The Bryans, former Stanford All-Americans, have won 33 Masters 1000 crowns and 105 titles as a team.
   All of the Miami doubles finalists except Pospisil live in Florida, which has no state income tax. Pospisil, a 24-year-old Canadian, lives in the Bahamas.
   The Bryans grew up in Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, and the 22-year-old Sock is from Lincoln, Neb.    

Tursunov loses to nemesis; Gibbs reaches final

Denis Istomin rallied to beat Dmitry
Tursunov for the third straight time.
2013 photo by Paul Bauman

   Denis Istomin is giving Dmitry Tursunov fits.
   After the 29th-seeded Tursunov pulled out the first set on Saturday, Istomin reeled off nine consecutive games in a 6-7 (8), 6-0, 6-3 victory in the second round of the Sony Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.
   Istomin converted 71 percent of his first serves, fired 19 aces and committed only two double faults. Tursunov, meanwhile, put in only 50 percent of his first serves and had eight aces against 14 double faults.
   It was the fourth meeting between the Moscow natives this year and sixth overall. Istomin, who plays for Uzbekistan, has won the last three encounters after losing the first three against Tursunov, who plays for Russia but trains in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay.
   Istomin will face top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who dismissed former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3.
   USTA Pro Circuit -- Unseeded Nicole Gibbs, a former Stanford star from Santa Monica, defeated qualifier Louisa Chirico of Harrison, N.Y., 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3 to reach the final of the $25,000 Innisbrook (Fla.) Women's Open.
   Gibbs, the 2012 and 2013 NCAA singles champion, will meet Grace Min of Boca Raton, Fla., today for the title. Min, who won the Innisbrook title in 2012, beat qualifier Gioia Barbieri of Italy 7-6 (5), 6-2.  

COLLEGE RESULTS

Women

   No. 36 Pepperdine 4, No. 72 Santa Clara 2: http://www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-tennis/2013-14/releases/20140323hb8prh
   Sacramento State 7, Eastern Washington 0; Sac State 7, Portland State 0: www.hornetsports.com/sports/wten/2013-14/releases/201403223mnez1
   BYU 5, Saint Mary's 2: http://www.smcgaels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=101598&SPID=12531&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209441619&DB_OEM_ID=21400  

Men

   Saint Mary's 4, BYU 3: http://www.smcgaels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=101589&SPID=12530&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209441675&DB_OEM_ID=21400 
   Loyola Marymount 5, USF 2: http://usfdons.com/news/2014/3/22/MTEN_0322145222.aspx 

Djokovic ends 'drought' with Miami title

   By Novak Djokovic's lofty standards, it was a drought.
   The world's No. 1 player had lost in the semifinals of two consecutive tournaments before coming to Key Biscayne, Fla. But he rectified that situation by retaining his title in the Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday.
   Djokovic beat fourth-seeded Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6 (4) to equal Pete Sampras with three Sony Ericsson titles. Only Andre Agassi, with six, has won more men's crowns.
   Djokovic improved to 20-2 this year and 90-8 since the beginning of 2011. He didn’t lose a set in six matches at Key Biscayne.
   “I’m playing at the peak of my form … the best tennis that I have played,” Djokovic, who improved to 8-5 against Murray, told reporters. “I have to use that as much as I can."
   Djokovic also avenged a loss to Murray in the 2009 final at Key Biscayne.
   “He doesn’t have many holes in his game,” said Murray, who won his first ATP World Tour title at 18 years old at the 2006 SAP Open in San Jose and repeated the following year. “When you play against him, it takes normally six, seven, eight shots, like 15-, 16-shot rallies, to win a lot of points. You have
to be very patient, pick your moments to go for the right shots. That’s why he’s been so good the last 18 months.”
   Djokovic was playing in his third tournament since outlasting Rafael Nadal in an epic 5-hour, 53-minute battle for the Australian Open title in late January. It was Djokovic's third straight Grand Slam title, fourth in the last five Slams and fifth overall. He then fell to Murray in straight sets in Dubai and to 6-foot-10 John Isner, 7-6 in the third set, at Indian Wells.
   After a short rest, Djokovic will begin his clay-court season as he prepares for the French Open, the only major he hasn't won. A title at Roland Garros, May 27-June 10, would continue his quest for the Grand Slam.
   “This is very encouraging for me prior to the clay-court season,” Djokovic said. “I’m going to have
more confidence.”
   Still the one -- Mardy Fish, the Sacramento Capitals' marquee player in World TeamTennis, fell one spot in the world rankings to No. 9 but remains the top American man. Isner also fell one notch, to No. 11.
   Colleges -- Nick Andrews of Folsom in the Sacramento area led the 12th-ranked Cal men (9-7, 2-0 Pacific-12 Conference) to a 5-2 victory over Arizona (5-12, 0-2) in Tucson, Ariz.
   Andrews, ranked 76th nationally, crushed Giacomo Miccini 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and teamed with Christoffer Konigsfeldt to beat Sebastian Ionescu and Sameet Shinde 8-2 in doubles. Andrews and Konigsfeldt are ranked third.
   The ninth-ranked Cal women (15-4, 7-0 Pac-12) breezed to a 7-0 victory over No. 27 Arizona State (10-5, 2-3) in Berkeley.
   The No. 8 Stanford men (12-5, 2-0 Pac-12) ended three-match road swing with a 4-3 win over Utah (11-7, 0-2).

Radwanska upsets Sharapova for big title

   Maria Sharapova seemingly had all the advantages entering Saturday's final against Agnieszka Radwanska in the Sony Ericsson Open.
   Power? A 6-foot-2, Sharapova is six inches taller than Radwanska.
   Pedigree? Sharapova, 24, has played is six Grand Slam singles finals, winning three. Radwanska, 23, has never advanced past the quarterfinals of a major.
   Head-to-head record? Sharapova led 7-1.
   The fifth-seeded Radwanska, however, outsteadied No. 2 Sharapova to win 7-5, 6-4 in Key Biscayne, Fla., for the biggest title of her career. Radwanska, from Poland, committed only 10 unforced errors to Sharapova's 45.
   “She was very consistent, got that extra ball back, and I made that extra mistake,” said Sharapova, who fell to 0-4 in Key Biscayne finals and  0-3 in finals this year. “When I had my chances at break point, I didn’t take them. When she had them, she did.”
   Sharapova's backhand continued to let her down. It also plagued her in a 6-3, 6-0 loss to first-time Grand Slam singles finalist Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open in January.
   Sharapova still isn't the player she was before undergoing shoulder surgery in October 2008. She still seeks her first title since last August.
   Radwanska, meanwhile, has won five titles since then. She is 0-4 against Azarenka this year and 26-0 against everyone else.
   Radwanska said she has been more relaxed since Polish Fed Cup captain Tomasz Wiktorowski replaced her father, Robert, as her traveling coach one year ago.   
   “It’s good just to separate those things like being a father, being a coach," Radwanska, the first Polish champion in Miami history, said after the semifinals. But at home I’m still practicing with my dad, so it’s not really a big change. It’s working, so it’s good.”
   Men's final -- In a battle of past Miami champions, top-ranked Novak Djokovic will meet No. 4 Andy Murray for the men's title today at 10 a.m. PDT (CBS).
   Djokovic, who's 7-5 against Murray, won the title last year and in 2007. Murray beat Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 in the 2009 final.
   The rivals have met twice this year. Djokovic prevailed in a five-set epic lasting 4 hours, 50 minutes in the Australian Open semifinals en route to the title and Murray subsequently winning 6-2, 7-5 in the Dubai semifinals.
   Colleges -- The sixth-ranked Stanford women (13-0, 6-0 Pacific-12 Conference) made it five shutouts in a row with a rain-shortened 4-0 victory over No. 28 Arizona (12-6, 2-3) at Stanford.
   The match between the No. 9 Cal women (14-4, 6-0 Pac-12) and No. 27 Arizona State (10-4, 2-2) in Berkeley was postponed by rain until today at noon.
   The No. 59 Sacramento State women (12-9, 7-0) extended their Big Sky Conference winning streak to 89 matches spanning 11 years by winning 5-2 at Montana (10-7, 3-2) and 7-0 at Montana State (4-9, 2-2).
   The host Sac State men (6-10) won their third straight match, 5-2 over UC Riverside (6-12) in a nonconference contest indoors.
   In Honolulu, the UC Davis women (6-11) won 4-3 against Hawaii Pacific (12-4) but the UCD men (3-11) fell 6-3 to the Sea Warriors (10-3).