Brooksby breakthrough highlights top stories of 2021

Jenson Brooksby waits to return serve during practice at the BNP Paribas Open
in Indian Wells in October. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Amid the ongoing pandemic, it was a banner year in Northern California tennis.

   Two players won prestigious ATP awards, and a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis reached the French Open final.

   A coach with strong NorCal ties helped a WTA player soar into the top 10 and reach the title match in the WTA Finals, and two doubles stars qualified for the season-ending tournament for the first time.

   A Sacramento native helped his team win the NCAA team championship, then snagged the singles title.

   And more.

   Here are my picks for the top 10 stories of 2020 with 10 honorable mentions:

   1. Brooksby voted ATP Newcomer of Year — Jenson Brooksby, a lifelong Sacramento-area resident who turned 21 in October, skyrocketed from No. 307 to No. 56 in 10 months. He reached his maiden ATP Tour final in Newport, R.I., in his first tournament ever on grass, losing to two-time Grand Slam runner-up Kevin Anderson, and the round of 16 in the U.S. Open, steamrolling Novak Djokovic 6-1 in the first set before falling in four sets.

   Fifteen days after the Newport final, Brooksby beat the 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson en route to the semifinals in Washington, D.C. Brooksby also advanced to the Antwerp semis in October as a qualifier.

Mackenzie McDonald lines up a forehand during his first-
round victory over James Duckworth in the BNP Paribas
Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   2. McDonald voted ATP Comeback Player of Year — Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, underwent right hamstring surgery in June 2019 and fell as low as No. 272 in March 2020.

   This year, McDonald reached the round of 16 in the Australian Open, advanced to his first ATP final in Washington, D.C., and climbed to a career-high No. 54 on Nov. 1.

   3. Ex-Capital reaches French Open final — Unseeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic outlasted No. 31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the first Grand Slam final for both players.

   Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis as the world's top junior at 15 in 2006, hurt her left leg late in the second set.

   4. Kontaveit cracks top 10, reaches WTA Finals title match under Tursunov — After hiring coach Dmitry Tursunov in August, Anett Kontaveit of Estonia won four titles, jumped from No. 30 to No. 7 and advanced to the WTA Finals for the first time.  

   Garbiñe Muguruza, seeded sixth, defeated Kontaveit, seeded eighth, 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the season-ending tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico. Tursunov, a 39-year-old Moscow native, trained in Northern California as a junior and professional. 

   5. Shibahara, Olmos qualify for WTA Finals — Doubles specialists Ena Shibahara, who was born in the Bay Area, and Giuliana Olmos, who grew up there, qualified for the season-ending tournament for the first time separately. Second-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Shibahara advanced to the semifinals, while eighth-seeded Sharon Fichman and Olmos were eliminated in round-robin play. 

   Aoyama and Shibahara won a tour-leading five titles, including the Miami Open, in 2021. They also reached the Wimbledon semifinals and Australian Open quarterfinals. Fichman and Olmos won the Italian Open, gained the Australian Open quarterfinals and advanced to the round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Sam Riffice, far left, poses 10 years ago at age 12 with Roger
Federer at the La Quinta Resort in the Palm Springs area. Also
shown are Riffice's coach, Amine Khaldi (second from left), and
Khaldi's friend Steve Mohibi. Photo courtesy of Amine Khaldi

   6. Riffice helps Florida win NCAA title, adds singles crown — Sam Riffice, who was born in Sacramento and grew up in suburban Roseville, won at No. 2 singles and doubles as the top-seeded Gators beat second-seeded Baylor 4-1 in Orlando, Fla., for the NCAA championship. 

   The sixth-seeded Riffice then topped second-seeded Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 for the singles title.

   7. Wimbledon champ commits to Stanford — Samir Banerjee, who won the Wimbledon boys singles title in July, verbally committed to Stanford.

   Banerjee, from Basking Ridge, N.J., defeated Victor Lilov of Raleigh, N.C., 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final. Both players were unseeded.

   8. Cal men's coach retires after 29 years — Peter Wright, a Berkeley native who turned 58 on Dec. 8, amassed a 383-256 record at Cal. He guided the Bears to the NCAA Championships 25 times, including a semifinal berth in 2016, and four appearances in the top 10.

   USC associate head coach Kris Kwinta, a 41-year-old Poland native, was chosen as Wright's replacement.

Fiery Danielle Collins exults after winning a point during the final of the
Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif. Photo by Mal Taam

   9. Collins claims crown in San Jose — No. 7 seed Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., defeated No. 4 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (10), 6-1 to win the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif.

   Collins, who turned 28 on Dec. 13, won her second consecutive title and the second of her career. She had surgery for endometriosis, a painful disorder in which tissue inside the uterus grows outside of it, in early April. Doctors removed a cyst the size of a tennis ball from her ovary.

Emon van Loben Sels poses with his trophy
at the USTA Level 1 Spring Individual Cham-
pionships in Mobile, Ala. Photo courtesy of
Emon van Loben Sels

   10. van Loben Sels ranked No. 1 nationally in 16s — The pandemic gave Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento a needed break last year. He won a USTA Level 2 tournament in Newport Beach, Calif., in February and the Level 1 Spring Individual Championships in March in Mobile, Ala.

   Van Loben Sels' biggest asset is his passion for tennis, according to Kiryl Harbatsiuk, one of his coaches. The high school junior has verbally committed to UCLA.

   Honorable mention — Cameron Norrie, who won back-to-back Northern California Challengers in Tiburon and Stockton in 2017, won the prestigious BNP Paribas Open as the No. 21 seed.

   —Qualifier Mariia Kozyreva, a fifth-year senior at Saint Mary's College in Moraga in the Bay Area, shocked top-seeded Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, in the first round of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger.

   —Katie Volynets, a resident of Walnut Creek in the Bay Area who turned 20 today, won her first professional title to crack the top 200.

   —Former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs retired at 27. The three-time NCAA champion (twice in singles and once in doubles) reached a career-high No. 68 in the world in 2016.

   —Johanna Konta, who won the 2016 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, retired at 30.

   —Unseeded Usue Arconada won the Berkeley Challenger.

   —The Stanford women ended their longest losing streak in 40 years, three matches, with a 6-1 victory over USC in Los Angeles. 

   —Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., reached the doubles final in the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., with Sebastian Gorzny and in the Orange Bowl in Plantation, Fla., with Nicholas Godsick.

   —Van Loben Sels advanced to the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals (with Dylan Tsoi of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento area) in the USTA Boys 16 National Championships in Kalamazoo.

   —Wayne Thiebaud, a world-renowned artist from Sacramento who played tennis until just after his 100th birthday, died on Christmas at 101.

Krejcikova tops ailing ex-Capital for French Open title

   Formerly considered a doubles specialist, Barbora Krejcikova has a new title.

   Grand Slam singles champion.

   The unseeded Czech capped her stunning run in the French Open with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory over ailing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova today in Paris. Afterward, Krejcikova (pronounced Kray-chee-ko-va) looked at the sky in honor of her former coach, countrywoman Jana Novotna, an International Tennis Hall of Famer who died of ovarian cancer at 49 in 2017.

   It was the first Grand Slam singles final for both players. Pavlyuchenkova (the "y" is silent), who will turn 30 on July 2, needed a record 52 attempts to get that far in a major and Krejcikova, 25, only five.

   "I'm just really happy that I was able to handle it mentally," Krejcikova told reporters. "I think that was the biggest key."

  Krejcikova, who saved a match point in her marathon semifinal against Maria Sakkari, became the:

   —Sixth consecutive first-time Grand Slam women's champion at Roland Garros, following (in order) Garbiñe Muguruza, Jelena Ostapenko, Simona Halep, Ashleigh Barty and Iga Swiatek.

   —Third unseeded winner in Paris in five years, joining Ostapenko and Swiatek.

   —First Czech woman to earn the title since Hana Mandlikova 40 years ago. Czech-born Martina Navratilova, representing the United States, won the last of her two French Open singles crowns in 1984. Navratilova presented Krejcikova with the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen.

   Krejcikova also extended her winning streak to 12 matches. She won her first WTA singles title in Strasbourg the week before the French Open.

   Krejcikova, who ascended to No. 1 in doubles in 2018, jumped 18 places to a career-high No. 15 in singles and pocketed $1.69 million. The 31st-seeded Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis as the world's top junior at 15 in 2006, rose 13 spots to No. 19 and collected $907,880. 

   Pavlyuchenkova, serving for the second set at 5-1, hurt her left leg and lost the game. After having her upper thigh wrapped, she broke back for the set.

   In the third set, Krejcikova broke at love to lead 4-3 and held for 5-3. Pavlyuchenkova then saved two championship points to hold for 4-5.

   Krejcikova earned two more championship points in the next game at 40-15. She double-faulted on the first one, but Pavlyuchenkova then slugged a backhand barely long.

   "I didn't expect that this tournament, this Roland Garros, I'll be in the final," said Pavlyuchenkova, the first Russian Grand Slam finalist in six years. "Physically, I wasn't feeling super great, like ready, 100 percent. Still, because of fighting and believing, you can achieve it. That's probably the most important."

   On Sunday, Krejcikova will try to become the first woman to sweep the singles and doubles crowns at Roland Garros since Mary Pierce in 2000. Krejcikova and countrywoman Katerina Siniakova, the second seeds, will face 14th-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix and Swiatek of Poland.

   Krejcikova and Siniakova captured the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018, propelling them to No. 1.

   ATP Tour — No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, 20, of Canada defeated Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 6-4, 7-5 to reach his second consecutive Mercedes Cup final on grass in Stuttgart, Germany. Auger-Aliassime lost to Matteo Berrettini in the 2019 title match.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Unseeded Christopher Eubanks of Atlanta beat wild card Sam Riffice, a 22-year-old native of Sacramento, Calif., playing in his adopted hometown, 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals of the $52,080 Orlando (Fla.) Open on hardcourts.

Krejcikova saves MP, will face ex-Capital for title in Paris

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the
Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 15
in 2006, reached a Grand Slam final in a record
 52 attempts. 2017 photo by Paul Bauman

   Saving a match point, unseeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic outlasted No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 in 3 hours, 18 minutes today in the French Open semifinals in Paris.

   Krejcikova (pronounced Kray-chee-ko-va) survived a match point serving at 3-5 in the third set and needed five match points over two games to subdue Sakkari, the runner-up in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., in 2018.

   Krejcikova, who won her first WTA singles title in Strasbourg the week before the French Open, extended her winning streak to 11 matches. She will face No. 31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia for the first time on Saturday at 6 a.m. PDT (NBC). Both are first-time Grand Slam singles finalists.

   "I just think it's going to be a lot of fun," Krejcikova, ranked No. 33 in singles and No. 7 (formerly No. 1) in doubles, told reporters. "I'm just really going to enjoy it because I was never expecting to actually be this far during the tournament. I'm just going to have fun and enjoy and fight until the end."

   Pavlyuchenkova (pronounced Pav-loo-chen-ko-va), who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis as the world's top junior at 15 in 2006, beat unseeded Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 7-5, 6-3.

   It took Pavlyuchenkova, who will turn 30 on July 2, 52 attempts to reach her first Grand Slam final and Krejcikova, 25, only five.

   "I had my own long special road," said Pavlyuchenkova, the first woman to play more than 50 majors before reaching her first final. "Everybody has different ways. I'm just happy I'm in the final. Trying to enjoy.

   "I think about (winning a Grand Slam tournament) all the time. Been thinking about it since I was a junior, since I was a little kid, since I started playing tennis. That's what you're playing for. That's what you want. It's been there in my head forever."

  Krejcikova also will play in the doubles semifinals with countrywoman Katerina Siniakova on Friday. They won the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018.

   ATP Tour — Taking advantage of a creampuff draw, Sam Querrey reached his first quarterfinal since October 2019. The 33-year-old San Francisco native, playing a qualifier for the second straight match, beat James Duckworth of Australia 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the Mercedes Cup on grass in Stuttgart, Germany.

   In the first round of doubles, German wild cards Andre Begemann and Dustin Brown edged third-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan 6-4, 3-6 [10-8].

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the doubles quarterfinals of the $52,080 Orlando (Fla.) Open on hardcourts, Darian King of Barbados and Jason Kubler of Australia downed 22-year-old wild cards Oliver Crawford of Spartanburg, S.C., and Sam Riffice, a native of Sacramento, Calif., 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Ex-Capital Pavlyuchenkova finally reaches major semi

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had been 0-11 in Grand Slam singles and
doubles quarterfinals. 2017 photo by Paul Bauman

   Until now, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has been known primarily for two things:

   —Having one of the longest names, first and last, in tennis history. It must take her half an hour to sign her name. For autographs, I'd go with "AP."

   —Losing Grand Slam quarterfinals.

   Eleven times, Pavlyuchenkova (the "y" is silent) reached the last eight in a major in singles (six) and doubles. Eleven times, she lost. 

   It appeared that streak would continue today in the French Open when Pavlyuchenkova, seeded No. 31, lost the first set against No. 21 seed Elena Rybakina.

   Pavlyuchenkova, however, prevailed 6-7 (2), 6-2, 9-7 in Paris to become the first Russian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Elena Vesnina five years ago at Wimbledon.

   Pavlyuchenkova played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 15 in 2006 and made her first major quarterfinal appearance 10 years ago at 19 in the French Open. At Roland Garros that year, she led defending champion and eventual runner-up Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 4-1. 

   Rybakina, a Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan, ousted No. 7 seed Serena Williams in the fourth round to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal.

   Pavlyuchenkova, who will turn 30 on July 2, is scheduled to face unseeded Tamara Zidansek for the first time on Thursday. In a battle of first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalists, Zidansek, 23, outlasted No. 33 seed Paula Badosa, a New York-born Spaniard, 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 to become the first Slovenian to reach a major semifinal.

   In the men's semifinals on Friday, No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece is set to meet No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany. 

   Tsitsipas, 22, beat No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5 to reach his third consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, including Roland Garros last October.  

   Zverev, 24, advanced to the French Open semis for the first time with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 victory over unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 22, of Spain. 

   Tsitsipas is 5-2 (1-0 on clay) against Zverev. 

   In the mixed doubles semifinals, Desirae Krawczyk of the United States and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain defeated Giuliana Olmos, a 28-year-old product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who represents Mexico, and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia by walkover.

   In the second round of boys doubles, Victor Lilov of Raleigh, N.C., and Peter Benjamin Privara of Slovakia topped Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., and Chak Lam Coleman Wong of Hong Kong 3-6, 6-4 [10-6]. 

   WTA Tour —No. 10 seed Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland defeated Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, 6-1, retired in the second round of the Nottingham (England) Open. Ahn, who reached the round of 16 in the 2019 U.S. Open, fell to 2-8 this year.

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the first round of doubles in the €132,280 ($161,250) Nottingham Open,  No. 3 seeds Matt Reid of Australia and Ken Skupski of Great Britain edged Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, and Brandon Nakashima of San Diego 6-4, 2-6 [11-9].

Russian surprises Sabalenka, further opening draw

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who played for
the Sacramento Capitals of World Team-
Tennis at 15, has reached the quarterfinals
of every Grand Slam tournament. 2017
photo by Paul Bauman  

   The women's draw in the French Open continued to open up today as Aryna Sabalenka continued to struggle in Grand Slam tournaments.

   No. 31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia stunned the third-seeded Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros in Paris for the second time.

   The 6-foot (1.82-meter) Sabalenka, a potential Grand Slam champion, has never reached the fourth round in the French Open or the quarterfinals of a major. She's still young, however, at 23.

   The highest remaining seed in this year's tournament is No. 4 Sofia Kenin, and No. 7 seed Serena Williams is the only top-10 player left in the bottom half of the draw. Kenin won the Australian Open and reached the French Open final last year. Williams, 39, is making her 12th attempt to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. 

   The 29-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, who has reached the quarterfinals at every Grand Slam tournament (three times in the Australian Open), attributed her success this week to enjoying tennis more than in the past.

   "I know it's a cliché," she told reporters. "I was the first one to laugh at this — players would say, 'I'm going to go and enjoy out there.' I'm like, 'Yeah, right. Go enjoy, of course, good luck.'

   "Now I actually do that. Even today on the court, apart from having pain in my knee and my leg, I was enjoying. I'm trying to embrace this. I'm enjoying much more now every point the tough matches than I used to. I guess that's also why I'm still here in the second week.

   "Also, I feel like I'm fitter. Because I'm enjoying playing tennis, I work harder. You work hard, you enjoy the hard work. I think that's the best combination."

   Both Pavlyuchenkova and Sabalenka have Northern California connections. Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at age 15. Sabalenka reached the final of the 2019 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif.

   Pavlyuchenkova is scheduled to play another Belarusian, No. 15 seed Victoria Azarenka, on Sunday for a quarterfinal berth. Azarenka, who ascended to No. 1 in 2012, dismissed No. 23 seed Madison Keys 6-2, 6-2 in a matchup of players who have reached the U.S. Open final and won the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

   Azarenka is 5-1 against Pavlyuchenkova, whose victory came by retirement.

   All four remaining U.S. men — No. 31 seed John Isner, No. 32 seed Reilly Opelka, Steve Johnson and Marcos Giron — lost to seeds in the bottom quarter of the draw. 

   In the second round of doubles:

   —Hugo Nys of Monaco and Tim Puetz of Germany ousted No. 3 seeds Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4. Nys and Puetz won ATP 250 tournaments two weeks apart in Estoril and Lyon last month.

   —No. 9 seeds Sharon Fichman of Canada and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, defeated Lara Arruabarena of Spain and Caroline Dolehide of the United States 6-4, 6-1. Fichman, 30, and Olmos, 28, are coming off the biggest title of their careers three weeks ago in the Italian Open.

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the doubles quarterfinals of the $52,080 Little Rock (Ark.) Open, No. 2 seeds Dennis Novikov of San Jose and Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal dispatched U.S. wild cards Jackson Allen and Maks Silagy 6-2, 6-3.

Resurgent Muguruza reaches Australian Open semis

Garbine Muguruza excelled in the Bank of the West
Classic at Stanford but has withdrawn from both edi-
tions of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San
Jose, Calif., with injuries. File photo by Paul Bauman

   In a matchup of players with Northern California connections, unseeded Garbine Muguruza beat 30th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Muguruza, who has tumbled from No. 1 in 2017 to No. 32, reached her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2018 French Open. She excelled in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford but has yet to appear in its replacement, having withdrawn from both editions of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., with injuries.
   At Stanford, Muguruza advanced to the semis in 2017, the tournament's last year, and the quarterfinals in 2014 at age 20. Also in 2014, she won the doubles title with fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro.
   Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at age 15. The team announced in 2014 that it was moving to Las Vegas after 28 years in Sacramento and folded one month later after the owner was charged with orchestrating a $150 million Ponzi scheme. He is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
   Muguruza is set to play fourth-seeded Simona Halep, who crushed 28th-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes, today not before 8:30 p.m. PST (ESPN2).
   Muguruza, 26, is 3-2 (3-0 on hardcourts) against Halep, 26. Both players have won two Grand Slam singles titles, taking the Wimbledon and French Open crowns.
   In the other women's semifinal, top-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia will meet 14th-seeded Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., today at 7 p.m. (ESPN2). Barty leads the head-to-head series 4-1.
   On the men's side, seventh-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany beat 15th-seeded Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open champion, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev, 22, is scheduled to meet fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem on Friday at 12:30 a.m. on ESPN2. Thiem knocked off top-seeded Rafael Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion and a four-time runner-up in Melbourne, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6). Nadal was trying to tie Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles.
   Thiem, 26, is 6-2 (2-1 on hardcourts) against Zverev. If Zverev wins the title, he has pledged to donate his prize money of $2,853,100 (U.S.) to the Australian Bushfire Relief Fund.
   In the first men's semifinal, second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic will face the third-seeded Federer on Thursday at 12:30 a.m. (ESPN2). Djokovic has won the Australian Open seven times and Federer six.
   Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 26-23 with four victories in the last five meetings. He's six years younger than the 38-year-old Federer, who saved seven match points and suffered a groin injury in a five-set victory over Tennys Sandgren in the quarterfinals.

Tsitsipas becomes first Greek to reach major semifinal

   It's hard to say what's most impressive about Stefanos Tsitsipas.
   His powerful serve? His flowing one-handed backhand? His poise? His soulfulness?
   The 20-year-old phenom avoided a letdown after ousting Roger Federer, beating 22nd-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) today to reach the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne.
   "I'm just living the dream, living what I've been working hard for," Tsitsipas, seeded 14th, said in an on-court interview. "I feel a bit emotional but not too much because I really worked hard to get here, the semis of a Grand Slam."
   Tsitsipas blasted 22 aces and won 84 percent of the points on his first serve (62 of 74). He became the first Greek and youngest man since Novak Djokovic in the 2007 U.S. Open to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
   Tsitsipas will face second-seeded Rafael Nadal, who dismantled unseeded Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Tiafoe, who turned 21 on Sunday, won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016 at age 18.
   Danielle Collins also backed up a big upset to reach her first major semifinal. In a matchup of unseeded players, the 25-year-old American defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
   Collins was coming off a 6-0, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who won the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles in the 2016 Australian Open.
   Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at age 15.
   Collins will play eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova, who eliminated 15th-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-1, 6-4 to reach her first major semifinal since winning her second Wimbledon title in 2014. Kvitova suffered career-threatening cuts to her left (playing) hand in a knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic in December 2016.
   Kvitova's victory ensures that Simona Halep will be deposed as the world No. 1, wtatennis.com reported. Either Kvitova, Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina or Karolina Pliskova will replace Halep. Only Pliskova has been ranked No. 1.
   In the women's doubles quarters, second seeds and defending champions Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France beat ninth-seeded Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of Sacramento and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-4, 7-5.

Young Americans Tiafoe, Fritz, Anisimova upset seeds

Frances Tiafoe, right, poses with his trophy after beating fellow
American Noah Rubin to win the $100,000 Stockton (Calif.)
Challenger at age 18 in 2016. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The United States' youth brigade is beginning to make a big impact in Grand Slam tournaments.
   For the second time in three days, a U.S. male prospect ousted a top-10 seed in the Australian Open. Also, 21-year-old Taylor Fritz and 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova knocked off low seeds.
   Frances Tiafoe, who will turn 21 on Sunday, stunned 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Kevin Anderson, the fifth seed in Melbourne and runner-up in two of the last five majors, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 today in the second round.
   Anderson led 6-4, 3-0 before Tiafoe "just went to a different place," he told reporters. "I dug insanely deep. ... It's all about competing. Guys are so good, it's just how bad do you really want it? I wanted it real bad."
   Afterward, Tiafoe repeatedly slapped his right biceps and yelled in exultation.
   Anderson, 32, received treatment on his right elbow after the third set.
   On Sunday (California time), 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka, 21, eliminated 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, seeded ninth, in the first round.
   Thomas Fabbiano of Italy beat Opelka 6-7 (17-15), 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-5) in a late second-round match. Opelka pounded 67 aces, the fifth-highest match total ever.
   Fabbiano, only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters), reached the semifinals of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger last August as the top seed.
   Opelka lost in the first round of back-to-back $100,000 Challengers in Northern California last October as the second seed in Stockton and fourth seed in Fairfield.
   Tiafoe, who won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016 at 18, reached the third round of a major for the second time. He will face 34-year-old Italian Andreas Seppi, who shocked Roger Federer to reach the fourth round of the 2015 Australian Open.
   Fritz, who won the $100,000 Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back-to-back at 17 in 2015, topped 30th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in 3 hours, 24 minutes.
   "Tiafoe, Opelka and Fritz are the new Big 3," trumpeted ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert, who could have included extremely athletic Michael Mmoh in a Big 4. "That's the future of American men's tennis."
   Fritz will take on the third-seeded Federer, 37, for the second time. Federer, who seeks his third consecutive Australian Open title and seventh overall, beat 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Briton Daniel Evans, the Aptos champion in 2016 and runner-up to Stanford graduate Bradley Klahn in 2013, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Evans returned from 10-month cocaine suspension last April.
   Federer edged Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the second round at Stuttgart on grass in 2016.
   Anisimova, who won her first professional title in the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2017 at 15, crushed 24th-seeded Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes. Tsurenko advanced to the U.S. Open quarterfinals last September before losing to eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
   Anisimova will play 11th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a 20-year-old Belarusian coached by former Northern California resident Dmitry Tursunov of Russia.
   Meanwhile, fifth seed and Fresno product Sloane Stephens dispatched Timea Babos of Hungary 6-3, 6-1. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, will meet 31st-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia.
   Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 15 in 2006, took out ninth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
   Sixth-seeded Marin Cilic, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Croat, beat 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 7-5, 6-7 (11-9), 6-4, 6-4. McDonald reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last July.
   In the first round of men's doubles, fourth seeds and ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan beat Australian wild cards Alex Bolt and Marc Polmans 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1).
   The 40-year-old Bryans seek their seventh Australian Open men's doubles title but first since 2013. Bolt and Polmans reached the singles final in Fairfield and Stockton, respectively, last October.
   Americans Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, downed 16th-seeded Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
   Sixth-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand eliminated Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Los Angeles, and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Kukushkin lost to Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up to Federer, in the 2014 Aptos final.

Capitals' King scores another upset

   One week after beating a top-10 singles player for the first time, Vania King pulled off another big victory Monday night.
   In a matchup of current and former Sacramento Capitals, the 90th-ranked King knocked off No. 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the second round of the $2.05 million Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
   King, a Long Beach product who has played for the Capitals for the last two seasons, is known primarily as a doubles star. The 22-year-old veteran, quick but lacking power at 5-foot-5, and 5-11 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year and narrowly lost in the U.S. Open final this year.
   But King stunned No. 10 Marion Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up, last week in the second round of the Hansol Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea.
   Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 11th in Tokyo, played for the Capitals in 2006 just after turning 15. The 5-10 Russian, now 20, reached her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinals this year at the French Open and the U.S. Open.
   Next for King is reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, a 6-foot Czech who dispatched Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-3. Kvitova beat King 6-4, 6-2 in the third round of this year's French Open in their only career meeting.
   Tursunov advances -- Folsom resident Dmitry Tursunov, seeded seventh at No. 41 in the world, defeated Paul Capdeville of Chile 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in the first round of the $850,000 Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
   Tursunov, a 28-year-old Moscow native, was coming off a victory in the deciding match for host Russia against Brazil in the Davis Cup two weeks ago. He next faces 20-year-old wild card David Goffin, a 5-4 Belgian ranked No. 276.
   Goffin's countryman, Steve Darcis, beat Tursunov in consecutive weeks last month in the second round at Winston-Salem, N.C.,  and the first round of the U.S. Open.
    Tursunov could face second-seeded Viktor Troicki, who gave Serbia its first Davis Cup title with a victory in the deciding match against France last year, in the quarterfinals. Tursunov is 0-3 lifetime against the 15th-ranked Troicki.
   Schnack loses in qualifying -- Eighth-seeded Yasmin Schnack of Elk Grove lost to Gabriela Dabrowski, 19, of Canada 6-4, 7-5 in the second round of qualifying for the $50,000 Lexus of Las Vegas Open.
   Schnack, 23, and Maria Sanchez of Modesto are scheduled to face second-seeded Kathrin Woerle of Germany and Irena Pavlovic of France today in the first round of the doubles main draw.
   Schnack and Sanchez won the Redding doubles title two weeks ago.