French Open Day 13 highlights: Murray ousts Wawrinka

No. 2 seed Andy Murray beat No. 3 Stan Wawrinka,
the defending champion, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 today to
reach his first French Open Final. 2015 photo by
Paul Bauman

   Five highlights from Day 13 of the French Open in Paris:
   1. No. 2 seed Andy Murray topped No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, the defending champion, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to reach his first French Open final.
   Murray became the first British man to advance to the final at Roland Garrros since Bunny Austin in 1937 and the 10th man in the Open era, which began in 1968, to gain the final at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
   Murray, a two-time Grand Slam champion, will face top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final (6 a.m. PDT on NBC). Djokovic, seeking to become the eighth man to achieve a career Grand Slam in singles, dismissed No. 13 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
   Djokovic is 23-10 lifetime against Murray, who won the last meeting 6-3, 6-3 in the Italian Open final three weeks ago. But Djokovic was coming off tough matches against Kei Nishikori in the semifinals and Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and playing with a bruised ankle.
   Murray is one week older than Djokovic; they turned 29 last month.
   Murray went undefeated in two appearances in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., winning his first career ATP World Tour title there 10 years ago at 18 and repeating in 2007.
   2. No. 1 seed Serena Williams and No. 4 Garbine Muguruza will meet for the title on Saturday (6 a.m. on NBC) in a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final, which Williams won 6-4, 6-4.
   Williams, battling a thigh injury, downed unseeded Kiki Bertens, playing with an injured lower left leg, 7-6 (7), 6-4 to end the Dutchwoman's winning streak at 12 matches. Williams saved a set point in the first set.
   Muguruza beat No. 21 seed Samantha Storsur of Australia 6-2, 6-4.
   Williams will attempt to win her 22nd Grand Slam singles title, which would tie Steffi Graf for second all time behind Margaret Court with 24, and Muguruza her first.
   Williams, 34, is 3-1 against Muguruza, 22, but in their only meeting on clay, Muguruza romped 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the 2014 French Open.
   Muguruza could become the second Spanish woman to win the title at Roland Garros. International Tennis Hall of Famer Arantxa Sanchez Vicario triumphed in 1989, 1994 and 1998.
   Both Williams and Muguruza have won titles in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. Williams prevailed in singles in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and Muguruza in women's doubles with countrywoman Carla Suarez Navarro in 2014.
   3. No. 5 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, 38-year-old former Stanford stars, reached their second consecutive French Open men's doubles final with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over No. 9 Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Alexander Peya of Austria.
   The Bryans will face No. 15 Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation) of Spain in Saturday's final. Feliciano Lopez, a 34-year-old left-hander, and Marc Lopez, 33, eliminated No. 3 seeds and defending champions Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
   The Bryans have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, including the French Open in 2003 and 2013, but none since the 2014 U.S. Open.
   Lopez and Lopez, who saved six match points in the quarterfinal win over 2014 champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, will try to become the first Spanish team to win the men's doubles title at Roland Garros since Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez in 1990.
   Neither Lopez has won a Grand Slam title, although Marc has been in two men's doubles finals with countryman Marcel Granollers, including the 2014 French Open.
   4. Fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic became the first French team to reach the women's doubles final at Roland Garros since Gail Chanfreau and Francoise Durr won their second straight title 45 years ago in 1971.
   Garcia and Mladenovic beat unseeded Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. In the other semifinal, seventh seeds and 2013 champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia downed unseeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-2.
   Krejcikova and Siniakova, both 20, had ousted three seeded teams: No. 16 Chang Chia-Jung and Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan in the first round, No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India in the third round and No. 6 and 2011 champions Andrea Hlavakova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.
   Hsieh won the 2014 title with Peng Shuai of China.    
   5. Unseeded Hingis and Leander Paes of India completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles with a 4-6, 6-4 [10-8] victory over second-seeded Mirza of India and Ivan Dodig of Croatia.
   Hingis, a 35-year-old Hall of Famer, has won 22 Grand Slam titles (five in singles, 12 in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles) despite retiring twice because of injuries and a two-year suspension for cocaine use. Her last three major women's doubles crowns have come with Mirza.
   Paes, a 42-year-old future Hall of Famer, has won 18 Grand Slam championships (eight in men's doubles and 10 in mixed doubles).
   Both Hingis and Paes are tied for 11th all time in total major titles. They also own career Grand Slams in men's and women's doubles, respectively.

Washington tops Austin for fifth straight WTT title

Posing with the King Trophy are (women, left to right) Madison Brengle, Martina
Hingis and Anastasia Rodionova and (men, left to right) coach Murphy Jensen,
owner Mark Ein, Sam Querrey and Leander Paes. CameraworkUSA

   The Washington Kastles winning today's World TeamTennis Finals was about as surprising as an NFL player getting arrested.
   Or Tiger Woods having a crummy round.
   Nothing against the Austin Aces, mind you. They're a swell team.
   But a squad with International Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Hingis, future Hall of Famer Leander Paes and 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Sam Querrey? Plus WTT Co-Female MVP Anastasia Rodionova and top-50 player Madison Brengle? Playing at home? Come on. These guys and gals are the 1927 Yankees of WTT.
   Washington defeated Austin 24-18 in extended play for its fifth straight WTT title, breaking the record of the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals (1997-2000), and sixth in seven years. The Kastles' six overall crowns tie the mark of the Capitals, who also triumphed in 2002 and 2007.
   "It's just a beautiful moment to share," said the 42-year-old Paes, who was named the Finals MVP. "I've had a really long career and done some really special things, and this is way up there with the best of them.
   "I'd like to dedicate this MVP award to every single Kastles member, not only on the court but behind the scenes, and every single Kastles fan."
   Kastles coach Murphy Jensen called the latest title, which came in WTT's 40th season, "a dream come true. It's so different; you'd think this'd get old hat, but it doesn't. It was a bigger challenger because players were coming and going during the season, but to get them all to perform the way they did against an extremely tough team says a lot about our organization."
   Washington (12-4) won the first four sets, but Elina Svitolina of Austin (13-3) beat Brengle 5-3 in the final set. That sent the match into extended play, and Brengle won the next game to continue the Kastles' dominance.
   Austin routed California 25-14 on Thursday night in the Western Conference Championship, ending the Dream's inaugural season.

WASHINGTON KASTLES 24, AUSTIN ACES 18 (EP)

In Washington, D.C.

   Mixed doubles -- Martina Hingis and Leander Paes (Kastles) def. Alla Kudryavtseva and Teymuraz Gabashvili 5-2.
   Women's doubles -- Hingis and Anastasia Rodionova (Kastles) def. Elina Svitolina and Kudryavtseva 5-4.
   Men's doubles -- Paes and Sam Querrey (Kastles) def. Gabashvili and Jarmere Jenkins 5-3.
   Men's singles -- Querrey (Kastles) def. Gabashvili 5-4.
   Women's singles -- Svitolina (Aces) def. Madison Brengle 5-3.
   Extended play -- Brengle (Kastles) def. Svitolina 1-0.

Wimbledon Day 13 recap: Djokovic passes legends

Novak Djokovic won his ninth Grand Slam singles title, passing
Ivan Lendl, Ken Rosewall, Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and
Fred Perry on the all-time list. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Men's final -- Novak Djokovic is rising rapidly among the all-time greats, and the end is nowhere in sight.
   Djokovic, who arguably has the greatest return of serve in history, defeated Roger Federer in the final for the second straight year, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-3, to move into eighth place for most Grand Slam singles titles. With No. 9, Djokovic passed Ivan Lendl, Ken Rosewall, Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and Fred Perry. If Djokovic wins the upcoming U.S. Open -- a distinct possibility -- he will tie Bill Tilden.
   Djokovic has racked up five titles in the Australian Open, three at Wimbledon (tying him with his coach, Boris Becker) and one in the U.S. Open.
   The 28-year-old Serb might never reach Federer's record of 17 Slams, but who's going to stop him from climbing the ladder in the next three years? Maybe Rafael Nadal, but he is in a prolonged slump at age 29. Conceivably 20-year-old Nick Kyrgios, who already has beaten Federer and Nadal. But Federer will be 34 next month. And Djokovic is 19-8 against Andy Murray and 17-4 against Stan Wawrinka.
   Watch out Tilden, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg (11 Slams each), Roy Emerson (12), and Nadal and Pete Sampras (14 each).      
   Mixed doubles final -- Seventh-seeded Leander Paes of India and Martina Hingis of Switzerland drubbed fifth-seeded Alexander Peya of Austria and Timea Babos of Hungary 6-1, 6-1. Hingis also won the women's doubles title with Sania Mirza of India on Saturday.
   Stars and stripes -- An American won the boys singles title for the second straight Grand Slam tournament. Unseeded Reilly Opelka, who's 6-foot-10 (2.08 meters) at 17 years old, beat 12th-seeded Mikael Ymer of Sweden 7-6 (5), 6-4 after Tommy Paul took the French Open crown last month.
   Opelka fell short of sweeping the boys titles as he and Japan's Akira Santillan, seeded fourth, lost to eighth-seeded Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam and Sumit Nagal of India 7-6 (4), 6-4.
   Fast facts -- Djokovic evened his career record against Federer at 20-20. Djokovic also has reached 15 of the past 20 major finals, winning eight.
   Northern California connection -- Hingis has won all three Bank of the West Classic events in which she has played. She claimed the singles championship in 1996 in Oakland and swept the singles and doubles titles (with Lindsay Davenport) at Stanford in 1997.
   Quote -- Federer: "Novak played not only great today, but the whole two weeks, plus the whole year, plus last year, plus the year before that."

Aussie Open Day 14: Djokovic wins fifth Melbourne title

Novak Djokovic, shown at Indian Wells in 2012, wore down
Andy Murray in four sets for his eighth Grand Slam singles title.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Men's final -- Novak Djokovic became the first man in the Open era (since 1968) to win five Australian Open singles titles as he wore down Andy Murray 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 today in 3 hours, 40 minutes at Melbourne Park.
   The first two sets lasted 2 hours, 32 minutes, but Djokovic won the last nine games of the match. In the second and third sets, he stumbled around the court several times but quickly recovered. Djokovic later attributed the lapses to fatigue.
   Murray, meanwhile, won only 34 percent of the points on his second serve, which averaged just 83 mph (134 kph).
   Djokovic, just beginning his prime at 27, tied Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall with eight Grand Slam singles crowns.
   Murray, a two-time Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist, fell to 0-4 in Australian Open finals. He spent last year rebounding from "minor" back surgery in September 2013.
   Notable -- Martina Hingis won her first Grand Slam title since coming back from retirement, teaming with 41-year-old Leander Paes of India to beat defending champions Kristina Mladenovic of France and 42-year-old Daniel Nestor of Canada 6-4, 6-3 in mixed doubles.
   Hingis, 34, has won 16 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, including nine in the Australian Open. She returned to competition in 2013 to play doubles only.  
   Stars and stripes -- U.S. men have gone 45 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments without winning a singles title. Andy Roddick is the last to accomplish the feat, in the 2003 U.S. Open.
   Robby Ginepri, 32, is the only active American man to have reached a major semifinal. He lost to Andre Agassi in five sets in the 2005 U.S. Open semis.
   Ginepri, a right-hander, broke his left elbow in 2010 when he fell off his bicycle trying to avoid a squirrel and underwent surgery. Ranked a career-high No. 15 in December 2005, he is now No. 222.
   Northern California connection -- Murray won the first of his 31 career Grand Slam or ATP World Tour titles in San Jose at 18 in 2006 and repeated the following year. He never returned, and the tournament folded after 2013. Murray also won the Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos at 18 in 2005. Djokovic has never played in Northern California.
   Fast facts -- Djokovic has captured four of the last five Australian Open titles. This was the third time he and Murray have met in the Melbourne final; Djokovic won in straight sets in 2011 and in four sets in 2013.
   Djokovic has won the last five meetings against Murray and eight of the last nine. The exception was the 2013 Wimbledon final as Murray became the first British man in 77 years to capture the title.
   Murray was born one week before Djokovic, who said they have known each other since they were "11 or 12."
   Quote -- Murray, when asked if he thought Djokovic stumbled intentionally: "I would hope that wouldn't be the case."

Capitals' playoff opponent has plenty of Aces

   Now that the Sacramento Capitals have reached the World TeamTennis playoffs for the first time since 2008, they face a daunting challenge.
   Sacramento faces the star-studded St. Louis Aces in the Western Conference finals today at 2 p.m. in Charleston, S.C.
   Both teams finished the regular season 8-6, but St. Louis will have part-time marquee player Mark Philippoussis and new addition Tamira Paszek, according to Capitals coach Wayne Bryan.
   Philippoussis, a 34-year-old Australian, reached two Grand Slam singles finals and a career-high No. 8 in the world before retiring five years ago with bad knees. Paszek, a 20-year-old Austrian, advanced to her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal at Wimbledon this month.
   St. Louis also features this year's WTT Female MVP, Liezel Huber, and Male Rookie of the Year, Jean-Julien Rojer. The awards were announced Friday.
   The Aces lost Lindsay Davenport, last year's WTT Female MVP, just before their season opener because she's pregnant with her third child. Her doctor told her to skip the 2011 campaign.
   Leading the Capitals is Vania King, who ranked third among nine WTT regulars in women's singles and third among 19 in women's doubles. She was named the 2009 WTT Female MVP for Springfield (Mo.) and won two Grand Slam women's doubles titles last year.
   Awaiting the winner of today's match is the Washington Kastles, who improved to 15-0 with a 25-13 victory over the Boston Lobsters on Friday in the Eastern Conference final in Charleston. In Sunday's WTT Finals, the Kastles will try to become the first undefeated team in WTT's 36-year history.
   Washington swept the other three WTT awards this season. Leander Paes was named the Male MVP for the second time in three years, Arina Rodionova was chosen as the league's Female Rookie of the Year, and Murphy Jensen received Coach of the Year honors.
   Rodionova is the younger sister of ex-Capital Anastasia Rodionova.
  
  
 

Kastles rout Capitals, remain unbeaten

  Entering Monday night's match, the Washington Kastles led the Eastern Conference of World TeamTennis, and the Sacramento Capitals were tied for first place in the Western Conference.
   Don't be deceived, though. Washington was 10-0 and Sacramento 6-4.
   As the records suggested, the host Kastles proved far superior, rolling to a 25-14 victory. For the first time this season, Sacramento lost all five sets (two in tiebreakers).
   WTT rookie Arina Rodionova, the younger sister of former Capital Anastasia Rodionova, crushed Vania King 5-0 in the fourth set to give Washington a 20-10 lead.
   The Kastles' full-time roster also features Leander Paes, who has won 12 Grand Slam doubles crowns (six men's and six mixed); Rennae Stubbs, who has captured six Grand Slam doubles titles (four women's and two mixed); and Bobby Reynolds, last season's WTT Male Rookie of the Year after leading the league in men's singles.
   Washington's part-time marquee players? Venus and Serena Williams.
   Sacramento remained tied for first place, but now there's a three-way logjam with the Kansas City Explorers and St. Louis Aces. The top two teams in each conference advance to the WTT playoffs, Friday through Sunday in Charleston, S.C.
   The Capitals probably must win two of their three remaining regular-season matches, all against losing teams, to reach the postseason for the first time since 2008.
   Sacramento visits the Springfield (Mo.) Lasers (4-7) on Tuesday night before hosting the Boston Lobsters (5-7) Wednesday night and Springfield on Thursday night.

   Washington 25, Capitals 14

   Mixed doubles -- Rennae Stubbs and Leander Paes, Wash., def. Vania King and Mark Knowles, Capitals, 5-4.
   Women's doubles -- Arina Rodionova and Rennae Stubbs, Wash., def. King and Yasmin Schnack, Capitals, 5-3.
   Men's doubles -- Paes and Bobby Reynolds, Wash., def. Knowles and Dusan Vemic, Capitals, 5-3.
   Women's singles -- Rodionova, Wash., def. King, Capitals, 5-0.
   Men's singles -- Reynolds, Wash., def. Vemic, Capitals, 5-4.