Zheng, 2019 San Jose champ, heads $60K Berkeley field

Zheng Saisai plays in the semifinals of the 2019 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic
in San Jose, Calif. She went on to win the title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Zheng Saisai, who won her only WTA singles title in San Jose in 2019, heads the field in next week's Women's $60,000 Challenge at the Berkeley (Calif.) Tennis Club.

   Zheng (pronounced Jung), 27, of China is ranked No. 83 after reaching a career-high No. 34 in March 2020. She has won four WTA doubles titles, including Stanford in 2015 with countrywoman Xu Yifan. A French Open finalist in 2019 with compatriot Duan Yingying, Zheng has been ranked as high as No. 15 in doubles.

   The top-ranked Berkeley entries behind Zheng are No. 135 Wang Xinyu, 19, of China and No. 157 Arina Rodionova, 31, of Australia. Rodionova, a Russia native, advanced to the quarterfinals of the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger.

   Entries also include:

   —2019 Berkeley runner-up Mayo Hibi, a longtime resident of Irvine, Calif., who represents Japan.

   —Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area. The USTA Girls 18 national champion in 2019, Volynets qualified for Wimbledon this year before losing to Romanian veteran Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round.

   —Alycia Parks, 20, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., whose 129-mph (208-kph) serve in the recent U.S. Open tied Venus Williams' women's record in a Grand Slam tournament.

   All Berkeley players must have proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. They will be screened daily. Spectators are not required to be vaccinated or wear masks but must maintain social distancing. 

   Admission is free until Tuesday at noon, $15 from then through Friday and $20 on Saturday and Sunday. Play will start at 10 a.m. through Saturday and 11 a.m. for the finals on Sunday, Oct. 3.

   The Berkeley Tennis Club has a rich history. Nestled in the hills, it was founded in 1906. Past members include International Tennis Hall of Famers Don Budge, Helen Wills Moody, Helen Jacobs and Hazel Wightman. Plaques in their honor line the interior and exterior of the clubhouse. 

   Hall of Famers Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Stan Smith and Billie Jean King have played at the BTC, and King is an honorary lifetime member. The USTA Girls 18 National Championships were held at the BTC until the tournament moved to its current site in San Diego in 2010. 

   Sofia Kenin won the 2018 Berkeley Challenger and hoisted the Australian Open trophy 18 months later. Ranked as high as No. 4, the 22-year-old American is now No. 7.

   WTA Tour — No. 5 seed Lauren Davis of Boca Raton, Fla., defeated Volynets 6-2, 7-6 (6) to reach the quarterfinals of the $115,000 Tennis Ohio Championships in Columbus. The 27-year-old Davis, only 5-foot-2 (1.57 meters), has been ranked as high as No. 26. 

   ATP Tour — No. 1 seeds Henri Kontinen of Finland and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan beat Matt Reid of Australia and Ken Skupski of Great Britain 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the first round of the Moselle Open in Metz, France.

   Reid, 31, has won four Northern California doubles titles, three with countryman John-Patrick Smith and one with compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis.

   Alternates Hunter Reese of Knoxville, Tenn., and "Yosemite" Sem Verbeek (University of the Pacific, 2013-16) of the Netherlands edged Jonny O'Mara of Great Britain and Divij Sharan of India 6-3, 3-6 [10-8]. 

   O'Mara and fellow Briton Joe Salisbury advanced to the final of the 2018 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger, losing to Reid and Kokkinakis.

   In Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, No. 4 seeds Andre Goransson (Cal, 2014-17) of Sweden and Andrea Vavassori of Italy nipped Andre Begemann of Germany and Nathaniel Lammons of Dallas 6-4, 4-6 [11-9] in the opening round.

   Goransson and Lammons reached the final of last week's €132,280 ($155.700) Szczecin (Poland) Challenger, falling to Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Andres Molteni of Argentina 2-6, 6-2 [15-13].

   ATP Challenger Tour — Chung Yunseong and Hong Seong-chan of South Korea topped No. 3 seeds Christian Harrison of Bradenton, Fla., and Dennis Novikov of San Jose, Calif., 5-7, 7-5 [15-13] in the first round of the $52,080 Tennis Ohio Championships in Columbus.

   Chung and Hong survived three match points at 6-9 in the match tiebreaker and one more at 10-11. They converted their fourth match point.

NorCal's Jovic reaches doubles semis in $60K Rome, Ga.

Jovana Jovic (formerly Jaksic), a 27-year-old Serbian,
is based in Sacramento, Calif. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman 

   Olga Govortsova of Belarus and Jovana Jovic (formerly Jaksic), a 27-year-old Serbian living in Sacramento, Calif., defeated Americans Francesca Di Lorenzo and Maria Sanchez, a 31-year-old Modesto, Calif., product, 7-6 (5), 6-4 today in a quarterfinal matchup of unseeded teams in the $60,000 Rome (Ga.) Challenger.

   Sanchez was playing in only her second doubles event since last March.

   Govortsova, 32, and Jovic are scheduled to meet unseeded Americans Catherine Harrison and Sophia Whittle on Friday. Harrison and Whittle beat top-seeded Quinn Gleason and Ingrid Neel of the United States 6-0, 7-6 (6).

   The top seed also lost in singles as four qualifiers — Emina Bektas and Robin Montgomery, 16, of the U.S.; Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico; and Irene Burillo Escorihuela of Spain — reached the quarterfinals. Montgomery is scheduled to face Burillo Escorihuela, 23, on Friday.

   The only remaining singles seed is No. 5 Usue (pronounced EW-sway) Arconada of the U.S.

   Bektas ousted the top-seeded Govortsova 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, and Ana Sofia Sanchez eliminated Gabriela Talaba of Romania 6-4, 7-5 in a battle of left-handers.

   Talaba, a former All-American at Texas Tech, and Bektas, who starrred at Michigan, won the singles and doubles titles, respectively, in the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger in 2019.

   Talaba, a former Texas Tech All-American, took out second-seeded Renata Zarazua in the opening round. In last year's French Open, the 5-foot-3 (1.60-meter) Zarazua became the first Mexican woman in 20 years to win a main-draw singles match in a Grand Slam tournament.

   Bektas is set to play Katherine Sebov of Canada on Friday. Sebov dismantled Alycia Parks of Port St. Lucie, Fla., 6-1, 6-3.

   Sebov and Parks got into a brief shoving match after Sebov's victory in the second round of the $60,000 Las Vegas Challenger in November 2019. Sebov said Parks mocked the Canadian's celebration, and Sebov allegedly squeezed Parks' right thumb during the handshake.

   UTR Pro Tennis Series — Julia Rosenqvist, a senior at the University of California, Berkeley from Sweden, defeated Skyler Grishuk, playing in her hometown, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Rosenqvist improved to 1-1 in the $25,000 singles-only tournament. Grishuk fell to 1-2.

   Hind Abdelouahid (2-2), a former Saint Mary's standout from nearby San Jose, Calif., lost to Veronika Miroshnichenko (2-1), a Loyola Marymount senior from Russia, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

   Vivian Ovrootsky (3-1), 16, of San Jose fell to Anna Shkudun (3-0), a former Syracuse star from Ukraine, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

   In a late match, 15-year-old Priya Nelson (1-2) of Sacramento lost to Megan McCray (3-0), an ex-Oklahoma State standout from Oceanside, Calif., 6-0, 6-2.

Romanian routs ailing U.S. teen for $25K Redding title

Champion Gabriela Talaba, right, and Alycia Parks, clutching her sore right
arm, hold their checks during the awards ceremony. Photo by Paul Bauman

   REDDING, Calif. – It doesn't exactly compare to Simona Halep's Wimbledon crown two months ago, but fellow Romanian Gabriela Talaba's title today was special all the same.
   The third-seeded Talaba routed ailing Alycia Parks, 18, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., 6-1, 6-1 in 62 minutes to win the $25,000 Ascension Project Women's Open on a breezy day at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.
   It was the 24-year-old Talaba's fourth singles title in a professional tournament but first on a hardcourt.

Gabriela Talaba of Romania celebrates after
converting her first championship point.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   "I wanted to win it so bad, and it happened," gushed Talaba, who graduated from Texas Tech in sports management last year. "I'm fortunate to be in this situation right now."

   Halep played the match of her life to dismantle Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in July for her second Grand Slam singles title and first at Wimbledon. After ending 2017 and 2018 ranked No. 1, Halep is now No. 6.
   "Everyone (in Romania) appreciates what she's doing," said Talaba, a 5-foot-8 (1.73-meter) left-hander with a beautiful one-handed backhand. "For her being No. 1 in the world and coming from such a small country (with a population of 19.4 million), it brings so much pride to the people.
   "Of course, it's not only her. There are so many others after her – top 100, top 200. There are probably 10 girls ahead of me, and I'm pretty high-ranked right now."
   Actually, Talaba is ranked 13th in Romania at No. 307. No. 125 Mihaela Buzarnescu, another left-hander, won last year's inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose on the WTA Tour.
   Talaba has crossed paths with Halep once, at a fitness camp in 2014 before enrolling at Texas Tech. Talaba has never hit with the 27-year-old star.
   "I barely got to talk to her," Talaba cracked.

Alycia Parks serves during the final. Gabriela
Talaba praised Parks' serve and said the 18-
year-old American has top-100 potential.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Parks, who turned pro at 16, fell to 0-2 in singles finals. The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) right-hander, who ousted top-seeded Katherine Sebov 6-4, 7-5 in Saturday night's second semifinal, often grabbed her right forearm and shook her right arm during the final. She also iced her right biceps on changeovers.

   "I had this problem a month ago," the unseeded Parks said. "It started bothering me in the quarterfinals. If I play a tougher match, it starts bothering me the next day. It affected me a lot (today) because I couldn't serve."

  Parks had only one ace and committed seven double faults. The wind didn't help, especially considering Parks has a high service toss.
   "Some of my tosses were too far in front," lamented Parks, who also made numerous unforced errors. "Today just wasn't my day."

   Parks said she will play in a $15,000 tournament in windy Lubbock, the home of Texas Tech, next week as planned.
   Talaba, who played all week with a bandage on her left hand to protect a blister on her palm, formulated her strategy against the explosive Parks after watching the American's semifinal.
   "I thought she made more mistakes on the backhand side," said Talaba, who collected $3,935 and improved to 2-0 against Parks, who earned $2,107. "Today, I tried to mix it up because yesterday from what I watched, they were just playing a flat ball all the time back and forth.
   "I tried to slice the return pretty much all the time, then be aggressive on other shots, mixing spin with slice and coming in sometimes. She (plays very well) if I hit flat balls to her, but she doesn't (play) that well when I mix it up. I tried to switch sides, (hitting) not only (to her) backhand or forehand. I think that helped."

Gabriela Talaba prepares to slug her one-handed
backhand. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Talaba was Parks' second left-handed opponent in the tournament. Parks edged American Sanaz Marand, who won the Redding doubles title in 2012 with compatriot Jacqueline Cako, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (5) in 3 hours, 6 minutes on Tuesday in the first round and did not play singles on Wednesday.
   "She doesn't usually get to play lefties, so that was a little bit of an advantage for me," said Talaba, who saved all six break points against her, twice overcoming 0-40 deficits, had one ace and committed no double faults.
   The 522nd-ranked Parks has top-100 potential, according to Talaba.
   "She has a really good serve," observed Talaba. "If she stays a little bit more positive throughout her matches, I think she has a bright future."
   Talaba, who's based in Dallas, will skip the Lubbock tournament and play a $60,000 event in Templeton, Calif., the following week.
   "I want to go farther and farther in the rankings and play in the bigger tournaments, but I miss the place. Probably what I don't miss about it is the wind," Talaba said with a laugh. "But I miss the people, the place. It just brings me really good memories."
   Kunal Patel San Francisco (KPSF) Championships – Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area defeated Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale region 6-4, 6-2 to win the unsanctioned tournament at the Berkeley Tennis Club.
   Johnson, 29, is ranked No. 95, and Kozlov, 21, is No. 546.

Parks, 18, stuns top seed to reach $25K Redding final

Alycia Parks, playing in Berkeley, Calif., in July, beat top-seeded
Katherine Sebov of Canada 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday night to reach the
final of the $25,000 Ascension Project Women's Open in Redding,
Calif. Photo by Paul Bauman

   REDDING, Calif. – It's easy to see why Alycia Parks has been compared to Venus and Serena Williams.
   Like the Williams sisters, Parks is an African-American who skipped the juniors to let her body develop.
   Like Venus, Parks is tall (5-foot-11 or 1.80 meters) and slender. They even look alike facially.
   Like Serena, Parks has a booming serve.
   The unseeded Parks, 18, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., used her serve and laser groundstrokes to overpower top-seeded Katherine Sebov, a 20-year-old Canadian ranked 200th, 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday night to reach the final of the $25,000 Ascension Project Women's Open.
   Parks, ranked No. 522, earned her first victory over a top-200 player and advanced to the second and biggest final of her career. She lost to Chieh-Yu Hsu of Chinese Taipei in the final of a $15,000 clay-court tournament in Shreveport, La., in late June.
   Parks, who turned pro at 16, is scheduled to play third-seeded Gabriela Talaba, a 24-year-old left-hander from Romania, today at noon at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.
   Talaba, who graduated from Texas Tech in sports management last year, outsteadied Jada Hart, a 21-year-old wild card from Colton, Calif., in the San Bernardino area, 6-3, 6-2.
   Hart reached the NCAA singles quarterfinals as a UCLA junior in May and won the 2016 U.S. Open girls doubles title with fellow Bruin Ena Shibahara.
   Talaba, ranked No. 307, reached the first hard-court final of her career. She won clay-court titles in Charleston ($25,000) and Marbella ($15,000) last year and Bucharest ($15,000) in 2017.
   Talaba and Parks will meet for the second time. Talaba triumphed 7-5, 6-0 in the final round of qualifying in a $25,000 clay-court tournament in Bethany Beach, Del., last summer.
   Parks reeled off the last five games against Sebov.
   "I'm known for coming back when I'm down," said Parks, who pounded nine aces and won 83 percent of the points on her first serve (30 of 36). "I just had to re-focus."
   Talaba raced to a 3-0 lead (one service break) against the unranked Hart, who recovered for 3-3.
   "I started being a little bit less aggressive and making a little bit more mistakes, so I changed that and said, 'Well, you have to be more aggressive. You can't just wait for the points to come to you,'" said Talaba, who won nine of the last 11 games. "I tried to force errors, and she made some."
   Talaba broke Hart's serve four consecutive times to lead 5-3 in the first set and 4-1 in the second set. Hart finished with six double faults, including two in a row to trail 3-5 in the first set.
   Talaba, one of the few women with a one-handed backhand, has played all week with a bandage on her left hand to protect a blister on her palm.
   In Saturday's doubles final, second-seeded Emina Bektas of Indianapolis and Tara Moore of Great Britain beat third-seeded Catherine Harrison of Germantown, Tenn., in the Memphis area and Paige Hourigan of New Zealand 6-3, 6-1.
   All except Moore starred in college – Bektas at Michigan, Harrison at UCLA and Hourigan at Georgia Tech.
   In the first round of singles in a $25,000 tournament at Sunderland, Great Britain, last April, Moore trailed 0-6, 0-5 and faced match point against Jessika Ponchet of France before prevailing 0-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
   Kunal Patel San Francisco (KPSF) Championships – Steve Johnson is set to play Stefan Kozlov in the final of the non-sanctioned tournament today at 1:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Tennis Club.
   Johnson defeated Bradley Klahn, a Stanford graduate, 6-4, 7-6 (6) in a matchup of 29-year-old Americans. Kozlov, a 21-year-old American, beat Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, 6-4, 7-5.

Wild card Hart reaches semifinals of $25K Redding

   Jada Hart, who had never won a main-draw singles match in a professional tournament before this week, has reached the semifinals of the $25,000 Ascension Project Women's Open in Redding, Calif.
   Hart, a 21-year-old wild card from Colton, Calif. (east of Los Angeles), beat Pamela Montez, a 28-year-old former UCLA All-American from La Quinta in the Palm Springs area, 6-4, 7-5 today at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. The temperature peaked at 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius).
   Hart advanced to the NCAA singles quarterfinals as a UCLA junior in May and won the 2016 U.S. Open girls doubles title with fellow Bruin Ena Shibahara.
   Hart, who's unranked in singles, will face third-seeded Gabriela Talaba, a 24-year-old Romanian left-hander ranked No. 307, for the first time on Saturday not before 6 p.m.
   Talaba, who starred at Texas Tech, downed Emina Bektas, a 26-year-old former Michigan All-American from Indianapolis, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the semifinals for the third consecutive tournament.
   In the other semifinal not before 8 p.m., top-seeded Katherine Sebov, a 20-year-old Canadian ranked No. 200, will meet Alycia Parks, an 18-year-old professional from Port St. Lucie, Fla., ranked No. 522, for the first time.
   Sebov, the runner-up in two consecutive $25,000 tournaments during the summer, eliminated lucky loser Ellie Douglas, a Texas Christian sophomore from McKinney, Texas, 6-2, 7-5.
   Parks, a finalist in a $15,000 clay-court tournament in Shreveport, La., in June, defeated qualifier Elysia Bolton, the Pacific-12 Conference Freshman/Newcomer of the Year last spring from UCLA, 6-3, 7-5.
   Here are the updated Redding singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule.

Top seed, others survive marathons in $25K Redding

   So much for easing into the tournament.
   Top-seeded Katherine Sebov needed almost three hours to win her first-round match in the $25,000 Ascension Project Women's Open in Redding, Calif.
   Sebov, a 20-year-old Canadian, wore down Tara Moore of Great Britain 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0 in 2 hours, 55 minutes at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.
   Moore, 27, put in only 48 percent of her first serves (48 of 99) and committed 11 double faults.
   In the first round of a $25,000 tournament in Sunderland, Great Britain, in April, Moore trailed 0-6, 0-5 and faced match point against Jessika Ponchet of France before prevailing 0-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
   The Sebov-Moore match was not the longest of the day. Alycia Parks, 18, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., edged Sanaz Marand, a 31-year-old American left-hander, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (5) in 3 hours, 6 minutes. Marand won the Redding doubles title in 2012 with compatriot Jacqueline Cako.
   Also, third-seeded Gabriela Talaba, a Romanian left-hander, needed 2 hours, 32 minutes to subdue Lorraine Guillermo of Walnut in the Los Angeles area 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a battle of former collegiate All-Americans. Talaba, 24, starred at Texas Tech and Guillermo, 26, at Pepperdine.
   Wild card Jada Hart, a 21-year-old resident of Colton (east of Los Angeles), outlasted Luisa Stefani of Brazil 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours, 26 minutes.
   Hart won the 2016 U.S. Open girls doubles title with UCLA teammate Ena Shibahara, and Stefani reached the doubles final in last year's $60,000 Stockton, Calif.,  Challenger with American Quinn Gleason.
   Fourth-seeded Hanna Chang of Fontana in the Los Angeles region had an easier time than the others, defeating wild card Haley Giavara, a Cal freshman from San Diego, 6-0, 7-5.
   Alexa Glatch, a Newport Beach, Calif., native playing on her 30th birthday, beat 18-year-old American Elizabeth Mandlik, the daughter of International Tennis Hall of Famer Hana Mandlikova, 7-5, 6-1.
   Here are the Redding qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws and Wednesday's schedule.

Top seed Brengle rallies to beat qualifier in Berkeley

Madison Brengle has altered her serve because of what she
says is incurable hand and arm pain caused by a reaction to
an anti-doping blood test at the 2016 U.S. Open. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. – Madison Brengle had a simple explanation for how she beat the French Open runner-up at Wimbledon two weeks ago and almost lost to a qualifier ranked No. 526 today.
   "Everybody's good," Brengle observed. "That's all there is to it."
   After ousting 16th-seeded Marketa Vondrousova in the first round at Wimbledon two weeks ago, the top-seeded Brengle gutted out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over 18-year-old fellow American Alycia Parks in the second round of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Women's Challenge.
   Serving at 0-2 in the second set, Brengle saved eight break points and held.
   "'Concerned' is the wrong word," Brengle, ranked No. 83 after reaching a career-high No. 35 in 2015, said after her second consecutive match against a U.S. teenage qualifier. "I will go out and compete and give it my best, and whatever happens happens. This is not the be all, end all."
   Why so many break points? That, too, is simple. Brengle, 29, has altered her serve because of what she says is incurable hand and arm pain caused by a reaction to an anti-doping blood test at the 2016 U.S. Open. She sued the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation in April 2018. The WTA and ITF have not publicly commented on the case.
   Throughout today's match, the explosive Parks jumped all over Brengle's soft, stiff-armed deliveries and rifled returns. Ultimately, though, unforced errors doomed Parks.
   "I kind of lost focus, I guess," said Parks, who easily got discouraged and continually asked her father, Michael Parks, sitting at one end of the court not to comment during the match. "If I (had) stayed focused, I would have (gotten) through that match, for sure."

Alycia Parks, 18, has often been compared to the Williams sisters.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Alycia Parks took the loss philosophically.
   "I'm not disappointed," she insisted. "I never lose; I learn."
   Parks turned pro at 16. In a Palm Beach (Fla.) Post story last December, Michael Parks said his daughter's game was "too good for college. She's a freak-of-nature athlete."
   Parks has often been compared to Venus and Serena Williams. Like the Williams sisters, Parks is an African-American who skipped the juniors to let her body develop. Like Venus, she's tall (5-foot-11 or 1.80 meters) and slender. They even look alike facially. Like Serena, Parks has a booming serve.
   "Serena called me when I was 7 or 8," Alycia Parks recalled in the Palm Beach Post story. "She was saying positive things and telling me to stick with it. Now that I'm here, I'm sure she's proud. ... "
   Brengle suffered a toe injury during the match but said it didn't bother her.
   "I think I just lost a toenail, but that's fine," she said. "Who needs 'em, right? Just paint them and make believe."
   Brengle is scheduled to play unseeded American Gail Brodsky, a 28-year-old mother of two who quit tennis in 2012 and returned early last year, on Friday at noon. They have split four matches, the last one in 2012.
   Also in the top half of the draw, sixth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., will face unseeded Arina Rodionova, a 29-year-old Australian from Russia, for the first time at about 2 p.m. Both players qualified for Wimbledon this month and lost in the first round.

Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, serves during
her 7-5, 6-2 victory over Usue Arconada, whose winning
streak ended at 11 matches. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Ahn, ranked No. 180, ended Usue (pronounced OO-sway) Arconada's winning streak at 11 matches, beating the 20-year-old American 7-5, 6-2 to reach the Berkeley quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
   Ahn, a 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) right-hander, played with her right arm heavily taped to protect a hyperextended elbow. The arm, she said, is "much better than it looks."
   Rodionova, ranked No. 206, outlasted Jovana Jaksic, a 25-year-old Serb living in Sacramento, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3 in 2 hours, 56 minutes despite committing 10 double faults.
   In the bottom half of the draw, second-seeded Sachia (pronounced Sa-sha) Vickery will play unseeded but powerful fellow American Caroline Dolehide for the first time at about noon.
   Also, fifth-seeded Na-Lae Han of South Korea will take on unseeded Mayo Hibi, who grew up in Irvine in the Los Angeles region but plays for her native Japan, at 10 a.m. Hibi, who also advanced to the Berkeley quarterfinals for the second straight year, is 3-1 against Han.
   Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule. Live streaming is available.