Pegula ends Collins' win streak at 12 matches in thriller

Jessica Pegula needed six match points to subdue
Danielle Collins in the third round in Montreal.
2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Danielle Collins' winning streak ended at 12 matches in a late-night thriller between two hard-hitting Americans.

   Collins saved five match points before falling 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to Jessica "Count" Pegula tonight in the third round of the National Bank Open on hardcourts in Montreal. The 2-hour, 28-minute match concluded at 1:32 a.m. EDT.

   Collins, 27, won Palermo on clay three weeks ago and San Jose on hardcourts last week for her first two WTA titles. She had surgery for endometriosis, in which tissue inside the uterus grows outside of it, in early April and returned less than two months later for the French Open. Doctors removed a cyst the size of a tennis ball from her ovary, as well as material from her bowel and bladder.

   Collins and Pegula are ranked 28th and 30th (sixth and seventh in the United States), respectively.

   Pegula, whose parents own the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres, reached a Northern California Challenger final in 2012 at 18 and semifinal in 2018.

   ATP Tour — In the second round of doubles in Toronto, No. 3 seeds Rajeev "Los Angeles" Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury "Steak" of Great Britain dismissed Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan and Andreas Mies of Germany 6-3, 6-2.

   Juniors — No. 7 seed Dali "Lama" Blanch of Deerfield Beach, Fla., outlasted No. 10 seed Aidan "Pass The" Mayo, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the round of 16 in the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.

   No. 2 doubles seeds Sebastian Gorzny of Fountain Valley in the Los Angeles region and Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., routed No. 16 seeds Brayden Michna of Taylor, Texas, and Nathan Cox of Lake Charles, La., 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

   In the boys 16s in Kalamazoo, No. 2 seed Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento beat unseeded Cayden Wang of Irvine, Calif., 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach Friday's quarterfinals.

   No. 4 seeds Dylan Tsoi of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento area and van Loben Sels topped No. 4 seeds Kaylan Bigun and Meecah Bigun of Phoenix 6-4, 2-6 [10-4] today in the doubles quarterfinals.

   Meanwhile, No. 33 seed Valencia Xu of Livingston, N.J., dominated unseeded Gayathri Krishnan of Cupertino in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 16 in the girls 18s in San Diego. 

   In girls 18 doubles, No. 17 seeds Tsehay Driscoll of La Canada Flintridge in the Los Angeles area and Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose, Calif., beat No. 16 seeds Emma Sun of Newbury Park in the L.A. region and Kathryn Treiber of Hinsdale, Ill., 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the round of 16.

Barty blows big lead; Nadal stunned; Gibbs retires at 27

Ashleigh Barty of Australia fell to 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech
Republic in the Australian Open quarterfinals. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   The home-country drought in the Australian Open will continue for at least another year.

   Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia blew a big lead today and lost to 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals in Melbourne.

   Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, bolted to a 5-0 advantage in the first set while dropping only six points. She led 2-0 in the second set, and Muchova took a medical timeout after winning the next game. 

   "I was a bit lost on the court, and my head was spinning, so I took a break," the 24-year-old Muchova, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal, said in a post-match interview. "And it helped me."

  No Aussie man or woman has won the singles title in the Australian Open since Chris O'Neil on the women's side 43 years ago.

   Muchova is scheduled to meet 22nd-seeded Jennifer Brady of Boca Raton, Fla., on Wednesday (PST) after the 7 p.m. semifinal between third-seeded Naomi Osaka and 10th-seeded Serena Williams (ESPN2). 

   Fans will be allowed to return to the tournament Thursday, ending the five-day COVID-19 lockdown in the state of Victoria.

   Brady, 25, eliminated compatriot and close friend Jessica Pegula, who was unseeded, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to reach her second Grand Slam semifinal. A first-time major finalist is guaranteed.

   Both Brady, a former UCLA All-American, and Pegula, who skipped college, starred in Northern California Challengers. 

   Brady swept the singles and doubles titles in Redding ($25,000) in 2014 at age 19 and advanced to the quarterfinals as the top seed in Sacramento ($60,000) in 2017, losing to defending champion Sofia Kenin.

   Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, reached the Sacramento final in 2012 at 18 and the Stockton semifinals in 2018.

   Muchova edged Brady 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) in the second round on clay at Prague in 2019 in their only previous meeting. 

   Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev advanced to the men's semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow Russian Andrey Rublev, seeded seventh. 

   Medvedev, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 U.S. Open, will play seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, who stunned the second-seeded Nadal 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-5 in 4 hours, 5 minutes. 

   Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion, had lost only once in a Grand Slam match after winning the first two sets. That occurred in the third round of the 2015 U.S. Open against Fabio Fognini. 

   Nadal and Roger Federer remain tied with a record 20 major singles titles.

   Medvedev is 5-1 against Tsitsipas.

   Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, advanced to the semifinals in men's doubles and mixed doubles.

   Defending champions Ram and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat unseeded Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Philipp Oswald of Austria 7-6 (6), 6-2. Daniell, 31, announced last month that he will donate 10 percent of his prize money for the rest of his career to charity.

   Ram and Salisbury are set to face sixth-seeded Jamie Murray, Andy's older brother from Great Britain, and Bruno Soares of Brazil. Murray and Soares won the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2016.

   Both Ram and Murray won a doubles title in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., Ram in 2011 with former Stanford All-American Scott Lipsky and Murray in 2007 with Eric Butorac.

   In mixed doubles, sixth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Ram downed third-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Mate Pavic of Croatia 7-6 (3), 6-3.

   Krejcikova seeks her third consecutive Australian Open mixed doubles crown after triumphing with Ram in 2019 and Nikola Mektic of Croatia last year.

   Kenin undergoes appendectomy — Kenin, last year's Australian Open champion, underwent an emergency appendectomy this week in Melbourne. 

   Kenin, who also won NorCal Challengers in 2017 and 2018, lost to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia last week in the second round of the Australian Open. 

   Gibbs retires — Former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs announced her retirement on Monday at 27. 

   Gibbs, a petite 5-foot-6 (1.54 meters), is ranked No. 172 after climbing to a career-high No. 68 in 2016. She reached the third round of the 2014 U.S. Open and 2017 Australian Open and the final of the 2018 Berkeley Challenger, losing to Kenin in the latter match.

   Gibbs went public with her battle against depression in early 2018 and overcame oral cancer in 2019.

   The personification of feistiness, Gibbs once stomped on her racket face during a match because she didn't like the string tension, and she likely had the most menacing stare in pro tennis.

   Win or lose, Gibbs answered reporters' questions thoughtfully. Whether she was asked about her depression or engagement to her now-husband, no subject was off-limits.

   Gibbs won three NCAA titles, two in singles and one in doubles, in her three years at Stanford.

   A strong social critic on Twitter, Gibbs plans to enroll in law school this fall and eventually work in public service.

Medvedev masters McDonald to reach AO quarterfinals

Mackenzie McDonald had been the only re-
maining U.S. man in the Australian Open.
2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia dispatched Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour, 29 minutes today in the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

   Medvedev, the runner-up in the 2019 U.S. Open, advanced to his first Australian Open quarterfinal. He has won all nine sets in his four career matches against McDonald, who had been the only remaining U.S. man in Australian Open singles.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., equaled his best result in a Grand Slam tournament. He also advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018 before undergoing right hamstring surgery in June 2019 and missing seven months.

   The women's quarterfinals will feature an all-American matchup between 22nd-seeded Jennifer Brady and unseeded Jessica Pegula. 

   Brady, who swept the singles and doubles titles in the 2014 Redding, Calif., Challenger, beat 28th-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-1, 7-5. Vekic reached the semifinals of the 2019 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif.

   Pegula, the 26-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, surprised fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach her first major quarterfinal.

   Pegula advanced to the final of the 2012 Sacramento, Calif., Challenger at 18 and the semifinals of the 2018 Stockton, Calif., Challenger.

   Advancing to the doubles quarterfinals were fifth seeds and defending champions Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain as well as unseeded Sharon Fichman and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the Bay Area who plays for Mexico. 

   Ram and Salisbury topped 10th-seeded John Peers of Australia and Michael Venus of New Zealand 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).

   Ram and Salisbury will meet unseeded Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Philipp Oswald of Austria. Daniell, 31, announced last month that he will donate 10 percent of his prize money for the rest of his career to charity.

   Fichman and Olmos — who had never advanced past the second round in a major, separately or together — dominated unseeded Leylah Fernandez, 18, of Canada and Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-3, 6-2.

   Fichman and Olmos will face third-seeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.

   Krejcikova and Siniakova won the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018. Krejcikova also captured the Australian Open mixed doubles title in 2019 with Ram and last year with Nikola Mektic of Croatia.

   In the second round of mixed doubles, sixth-seeded Krejcikova and Ram are tied with Ena Shibahara and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan 6-4, 3-6. Shibahara and McLachlan, whose mother is Japanese, are natives of the Bay Area and New Zealand, respectively.

McDonald tops Italian, Querrey falls in Australian Open

Mackenzie McDonald practices his serve during the
2017 Fairfield, Calif., Challenger. The product of nearby
Piedmont won the title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated Italian Marco Cecchinato, a semifinalist in the 2018 French Open, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 today in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

   McDonald, only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms), pounded 14 aces and committed just three double faults. Cecchinato, who stunned Novak Djokovic to reach the semis at Roland Garros in 2018, had three aces and eight double faults.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., has tumbled from a career-high No. 57 in 2019, shortly before undergoing right hamstring surgery, to No. 192. He is scheduled to face Croatia's Borna Coric, seeded 22nd and ranked 25th, for the first time on Wednesday (PST). 

   Coric, who reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in the U.S. Open last September, eliminated Guido Pella of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-5. 

   Italy's Lorenzo Sonego, seeded 31st, beat Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Querrey has never advanced past the third round of the Australian Open in 15 appearances. 

   Last fall, Sonego reached the fourth round of the French Open and, as a qualifier, routed Djokovic 6-2, 6-1 en route to the Vienna final, which he lost to Andrey Rublev of Russia.

   On the women's side, Jessica Pegula of Boca Raton, Fla., ousted 12th-seeded Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion (2012 and 2013) and the U.S. Open runner-up last fall, 7-5, 6-4. 

   Pegula, the 26-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, reached the final of the 2012 Sacramento, Calif., Challenger at 18, the semifinals of the 2018 Stockton, Calif., Challenger and the third round of last year's U.S. Open.

   Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) became the first Egyptian woman to win a main-draw match in a Grand Slam tournament, defeating fellow qualifier Chloe Paquet of France 7-5, 7-5.

   Sherif is slated to play another qualifier, Kaja Juvan of Slovenia, on Wednesday. Juvan beat 13th-seeded Johanna Konta, a Briton who won the Stanford title in 2016, 4-6, 2-0, retired (pulled abdominal muscle). 

   Sherif also qualified for the French Open last fall in her tournament debut and extended second-seeded Karolina Pliskova, the runner-up at Stanford in 2015, to 6-4 in the third set in the opening round.

   Struggling Sloane Stephens, a 27-year-old Fresno, Calif., product, lost to 26th-seeded Yulia Putintseva, a 26-year-old Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. There were seven deuces in the last game of the first set.

Osaka declines to play; W&S matches postponed

After Naomi Osaka said today that she would not play Thursday in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, tournament officials postponed all matches until Friday.

"As a sport, tennis is collectively taking a stance against racial inequality and social injustice that once again has been thrust to the forefront in the United States," the USTA, ATP and WTA said in a statement. "The USTA, ATP Tour and WTA have decided to recognize this moment in time by pausing play at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday, August 27. Play will resume on Friday, August 28."

It's unclear if Osaka will play Friday. 

All three NBA playoff games and three major-league baseball games today also were postponed in the aftermath of the shooting. 

Osaka, 22, was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother and grew up in Florida. Although based in Los Angeles, the two-time Grand Slam singles champion plays for Japan. 

"Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman," she tweeted tonight. "And as a black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis. I don't expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction."

Blake, a 29-year-old African-American man, was shot in the back seven times by police in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. He is in intensive care in a Milwaukee hospital and paralyzed from the waist down, his father, Jacob Sr., told CNN. Jacob Sr. said he wasn't sure if the condition is permanent.

"Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach," Osaka wrote. "I'm exhausted of having a new hashtag pop up every few days and I'm extremely tired of having this same conversation over and over again. When will it ever be enough?"

Earlier today, the fourth-seeded Osaka outlasted eighth-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Osaka is scheduled to play 14th-seeded Elise Mertens, a Belgian who dismissed qualifier Jessica Pegula, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., 6-1, 6-3 in 64 minutes.

Osaka and Mertens, 24, have split two career matches. Osaka won the last meeting 6-4, 6-1 in the Osaka semifinals en route to the title last September. 

Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford at 16 in 2014, stunning 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur. 

Mertens reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., in 2018. The tournament replaced the Bank of the West Classic.

In Friday's other women's semifinal, eighth-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain will play unseeded Victoria Azarenka, the 2013 champion in the tournament's traditional home of Cincinnati. 

Konta beat 13th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-3, and Azarenka downed unseeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 7-6 (9), 6-2. Neither Konta, who received a first-round bye, nor Azarenka has lost a set in the tournament.

Azarenka, a 31-year-old mother, is ranked No. 59 after spending most of 2012 at No. 1. Entering the Western & Southern Open, she was 0-3 since last year's tournament.

Azarenka and Konta won the Bank of the West Classic in 2010 and 2016, respectively.

In Friday's men's semifinals, top-ranked Novak Djokovic will face eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, and fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will take on unseeded Milos Raonic of Canada.

Neither Djokovic nor Tsitsipas has lost a set in three matches each this week.

Djokovic improved to 21-0 this year with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in 62 minutes. Bautista Agut eliminated Russia's Daniil Medvedev, the third seed and defending champion, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Djokovic, 33, is 8-3 against Bautista Agut, 32. Djokovic won the last meeting 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in last year's Wimbledon semifinals, but Bautista Agut has won the last three encounters on hardcourts.

Tsitsipas beat unseeded Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) American, 5-6 retired (knee). Raonic saved a match point in a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5 victory over unseeded Filip Krajinovic of Serbia. 

Krajinovic routed second-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-1 in 61 minutes in the second round.

Raonic defeated the Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the third round of the Australian Open in January in their only previous meeting.

Raonic never lost a set in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles before the tournament was replaced on the calendar by Rio de Janeiro after 125 years in Northern California. 

Serena blows lead, falls listlessly in W&S Open

Six-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka
is the United States' best hope to end its
17-year Grand Slam title drought in men's
singles, ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert
said. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

At this rate, Serena Williams will not tie, much less break, Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

The third-seeded Williams lost to 13th-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1 tonight in the third round of the Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

Williams, who will turn 39 next month, led 5-2 in the first set and served for the match at 5-3 in the second set against the 21st-ranked Sakkari on another muggy night. Williams played listlessly throughout the third set, shaking her right arm and holding her racket in her left hand between points late in the set.

Williams was coming off a grueling 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0) victory over qualifier Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands in 2 hours, 49 minutes on Monday.

In two tournaments since the WTA tour resumed on Aug. 3 after a pandemic-induced hiatus of almost five months, Williams has failed to reach the semifinals. She lost to No. 116 Shelby Rogers 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the quarterfinals in Lexington, Ky., two weeks ago.

Williams can tie Court's record by winning the U.S. Open, which begins Monday. It will help that players have a day off between singles matches in Grand Slam tournaments, but Williams has lost her last four major finals in straight sets.

A part-time Silicon Valley resident, Williams won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014. 

Sakkari advanced to the final of the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, which replaced the Stanford tournament, in San Jose, Calif., in 2018, losing to Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania.

Earlier today, two Americans upset high-seeded Europeans to reach the biggest quarterfinals of their careers.

Reilly Opelka, 22, of Delray Beach, Fla., eliminated sixth-seeded Matteo Berrettini, an Italian who advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals last year, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

In the women's draw, qualifier Jessica Pegula, a 26-year-old native of Buffalo, N.Y., ousted fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. 

Opelka and Pegula are the only remaining Americans in the singles draws.

The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Opelka belted 19 aces and committed only one double fault on the fast hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He won 33 of 35 points (94%) on his first serve and 16 of 23 (70%) on his second delivery.

Opelka lost in the first round of the 2018 Stockton and Fairfield (Calif.) Challengers as the second and fourth seed, respectively.

ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert said Opelka is the United States' best hope to end its 17-year Grand Slam title drought in men's singles. 

"You can't coach height, and he moves very well for 7 feet," said Gilbert, a former top-five player who has coached Grand Slam singles champions Andre Agassi, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick (the last U.S. man to win a major title). "He has top-three potential." 

Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, advanced to the final of the 2012 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger at 18 and semifinals of the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger. 

Sabalenka reached the final in San Jose, Calif., last August, losing to Zheng Saisai of China, and won the U.S. Open doubles title with Elise Mertens of Belgium one month later in Flushing Meadows. 

Like Opelka, Milos Raonic has a big serve. The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Canadian dominated Murray, a 33-year-old wild card, 6-2, 6-2. Raonic, 29, pounded 10 aces in a rematch of the 2016 Wimbledon final, which Murray won 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).

Both players have struggled with injuries since then. Murray, who captured the first of his three Grand Slam singles titles in the 2012 U.S. Open, is playing in his first tournament of the year as he continues his comeback from hip operations in 2018 and 2019.

Murray and Raonic combined to go 23-0 with five titles in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic improved to 20-0 this year with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over wild card Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn. Djokovic showed no sign of the neck problem that nagged him in his 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over qualifier Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania on Monday.

Sandgren, who had hip surgery in 2014, reached the final of the 2017 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2018 and 2020.  

Wednesday's quarterfinals are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. on ESPN2. 

On the Grandstand, Pegula will face the 14th-seeded Mertens, followed by third seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev against eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, followed by Djokovic versus unseeded Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. Eighth-seeded Johanna Konta is set to meet Sakkari not before 2 p.m. 

Raonic will play unseeded Filip Krajinovic not before 4 p.m. on Tennis Channel.

On Court 17 starting at 10 a.m. on ESPN2, fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka will meet 12th-seeded Anett Kontaveit, followed by Victoria Azarenka against Ons Jabeur in a matchup of unseeded players. Opelka will take on fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas not before 2 p.m. 

Azarenka and Konta won the Bank of the West Classic in 2010 and 2016, respectively. Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut at Stanford at 16 in 2014, stunning 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur.

Serena subdues Venus; Andreescu pulls out of U.S. Open

The Williams sisters met for the 31st time today, but this one was unlike any of the others.

Rather than competing in front of a raucous crowd at the U.S. Open, for instance, they played with no fans in attendance at the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky., because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top-seeded Serena Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a more intense match than usual between the sisters to reach the quarterfinals of the first WTA tournament in North America in almost one year. 

Serena won the last four games, breaking serve on a backhand passing shot down the line to lead 5-4 and holding serve on Venus' long forehand for the victory.

"I said I really need to try to win this for my game and confidence, so I really tried to focus on those last two games," Serena said in a post-match interview. 

Serena added that she enjoys the low-key atmosphere this week.

"There are no crowds, so it's super-relaxing," she said.

In today's match, ninth-ranked Serena blasted 14 aces and committed six double faults. Venus, ranked No. 67, had six aces and 11 double faults.

It was the earliest meeting between the sisters since their first one in 1998, a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory by Venus in the second round of the Australian Open. They were supposed to play each other in the second round of last year's Italian Open, but Serena withdrew because of a left knee injury.

Serena, 38, improved to 19-12 against Venus, 40, with 10 victories in their last 12 matches.

Serena won three singles titles and Venus two in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford before the tournament moved to nearby San Jose as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in 2018. Venus made her professional debut indoors in Oakland at 14 in 1994.

Serena is scheduled to play Shelby Rogers, a 27-year-old wild card from Charleston, S.C., for the first time on Friday not before 9:30 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). Rogers, ranked No. 116, defeated qualifier Leylah Fernandez, a 17-year-old left-hander from Canada, 6-2, 7-5 to reach a WTA quarterfinal for the first time in more than three years.

Rogers advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2016 French Open and attained a career-high No. 48 in 2017. She had knee surgery in May 2018 and missed the rest of the season.

Fernandez, the runner-up in Acapulco in February as a qualifier, ousted seventh-seeded Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, in the first round.

CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton, dominated Jessica Pegula, the 26-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, 6-3, 6-2. 

Bellis, playing in her first tournament since reaching the third round of Australian Open in January, reached her first quarterfinal since Doha in February 2018. The 5-foot-7 (1.68-meter) right-hander then underwent three operations on her right wrist and one on her right elbow. Ranked as high as No. 35 in 2017, she will jump from No. 302 to at least No. 250 on Monday.

Bellis avenged a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Pegula in the first round at Auckland in January in their only previous meeting. Pegula advanced to the final, in which she lost to Serena Williams.

Bellis is set to play unseeded Jil Teichmann, a 23-year-old left-hander from Switzerland, for the first time on Friday at 8 a.m. Teichmann, ranked No. 63, dispatched fifth-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-2.

The only remaining singles seeds are Williams and No. 8 Ons Jabeur, a 25-year-old Tunisian who will meet 16-year-old U.S. phenom Coco Gauff in the bottom half of the draw at about 2 p.m.

U.S. Open – Bianca Andreescu withdrew from the U.S. Open, meaning the Aug. 31-Sept. 13 tournament in New York will have two new singles champions.

"Unforeseen challenges, including the Covid pandemic, have compromised my ability to prepare and compete to the degree necessary to play at my highest level," Andreescu, ranked sixth, wrote on Instagram.

Andreescu became the fourth woman in the top seven to pull out of the U.S. Open, joining No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 7 Kiki Bertens. The men's defending champion, Rafael Nadal, also has withdrawn because of coronavirus concerns.

Andreescu, 20, has not played a match since October because of a knee injury and the pandemic.

Novak Djokovic, a three-time U.S. Open champion, confirmed he will play in the tournament.

Kenin, 20, clinches U.S. win in Fed Cup playoffs

Sofia Kenin, shown en route to the title in Berkeley (Calif.) last July,
earned her first Fed Cup victory today. She was a late replacement for
Madison Keys, who was upset on Saturday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In less than one year, Sofia Kenin has gone from champion of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger to Fed Cup heroine.
   Kenin, a late replacement for veteran Madison Keys, defeated Timea Bacsinszky, a former top-10 player, 6-3, 7-6 (4) today to give the United States an insurmountable 3-1 lead over Switzerland on an indoor hard court in San Antonio in the Fed Cup World Group playoffs.
   "I'm speechless," the 36th-ranked Kenin, who trailed by a service break twice in the second set, said in an on-court interview. "It's my first win in Fed Cup, and I'm honestly so happy. You guys (the fans) are incredible -- I love the support. You guys really saved me, so thank you."
   Kenin, a 20-year-old Moscow native who moved to the United States as a young child, had been 0-3 in the Fed Cup, all in singles.
   Bacsinszky, 29, reached a career-high No. 9 in May 2016 but underwent surgery on her right (playing) hand in September 2017. Since dropping out of the rankings last September, she has climbed back to No. 111.
   Earlier today, Fresno product Sloane Stephens beat Victorija Golubic 6-3, 6-2 to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. In the last match, Switzerland's Ylena In-Albon and Conny Perrin beat Jennifer Brady and Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2.
   Absent this weekend were top-20 singles players Serena Williams of the United States and Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. They have climbed as high as No. 1 and No. 7, respectively.
   The United States will remain in the elite World Group next year and try to win its 19th Fed Cup title. The Czech Republic ranks second with 10. Switzerland, meanwhile, will stay in World Group II.
   In a gutsy move, U.S. captain Kathy Rinaldi chose Kenin over Keys to play the critical fourth match. Kenin, who also won Northern California Challenger singles titles in 2016 and 2017, is far less experienced and accomplished than the 24-year-old Keys, who won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and reached the U.S. Open final in 2017 (losing to Stephens), but mentally tougher.
   Keys, ranked No. 14, lost to No. 80 Golubic 6-2, 6-3 in the opener on Saturday to fall to 4-5 in Fed Cup singles. Stephens, ranked No. 8, then evened the series with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Bacsinszky.
   Both Brady and Pegula made their Fed Cup debuts.
   Brady swept the singles and doubles titles in the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger in 2014.
   Pegula reached the singles final of the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2012, losing to Modesto product Maria Sanchez, and advanced to the semifinals of the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last October.
   Pegula's parents, Terrence and Kim Pegula, own the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres.

McNally, 17, caps remarkable run in $100K Midland

   Seventeen-year-old wild cards aren't supposed to mow down veteran pros, some ranked in the top 100, and win $100,000 tournaments without losing a set.
   But that's exactly what Caty McNally did in the Dow Tennis Classic in Midland, Mich.
   The Cincinnati native and resident outclassed fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday for her second consecutive title. McNally also won a $25,000 hard-court tournament in Lawrence, Kan., last November.
   "She didn't really start making any errors until about the end of the second set when I started coming back," the 24-year-old Pegula, who suffered her eighth consecutive loss in a WTA or an ITF singles final, told reporters. "She's playing with a lot of confidence and kind of no fear, (and it's) tough to play against someone like that who's young and doesn't really feel the pressure."
   McNally, who has won two doubles titles and reached one singles final in junior Grand Slam tournaments, never lost more than four games in a set in Midland. She knocked off four seeds: No. 7 Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) in the first round, No. 3 and defending champion Madison Brengle in the quarterfinals, No. 1 Rebecca Peterson in the semifinals and Pegula.
   Peterson was ranked No. 57, and Brengle was No. 80, marking McNally's first two victories over top-100 players.
   Brengle won the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last October, and Gibbs reached the final of the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Challenger last July.
   McNally and Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, reached the doubles quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions Olga Govortsova of Belarus and Valeria Savinykh of Russia.
   McNally soared 158 places to No. 253 in the world singles rankings and collected $15,239 for the title. The only younger players ranked ahead of her are 16-year-olds Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine at No. 195 and Whitney Osuigwe of Bradenton, Fla., at No. 220.
   Pegula improved 11 notches to No. 93, cracking the top 100 for the first time, and earned $8,147 as the runner-up. She reached the semifinals in Stockton last year and the final of the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2012.

McNally, 17, stuns top seed to reach $100K Midland final

   The future of U.S. women's tennis is looking better all the time.
   One day after recording her first victory over a top-100 player, 17-year-old Caty McNally beat an even higher-ranked opponent to reach the final in Midland, Mich.
   McNally, a wild card ranked No. 411, shocked top-seeded Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 6-3, 6-3 today in the $100,000 Dow Tennis Classic.
   Peterson, ranked No. 57, reached the third round of last year's U.S. Open and the second round of last month's Australian Open.
   McNally, who has not lost a set in this week's tournament, was coming off a 6-3, 6-4 victory over third seed and defending champion Madison Brengle, ranked No. 80. Brengle won the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last October.
   In addition to McNally, top U.S. prospects include 14-year-old Cori (Coco) Gauff, 16-year-old Whitney Osuigwe, 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova, 18-year-old Claire Liu and 20-year-old Sofia Kenin.
   Gauff reached the second round of singles, losing to Peterson, and the final in doubles in Midland.
   McNally, who lost to Gauff in a third-set tiebreaker in last year's French Open girls final, will play fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula of Boca Raton, Fla. in Sunday's final.
  Pegula, the 24-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, beat qualifier Robin Anderson, a 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) American, 6-4, 6-2.
   Pegula, ranked No. 104, will crack the top 100 for the first time on Monday. She reached the final in Quebec City on the WTA tour, the major leagues of women's tennis, as a qualifier last September and the semifinals in Stockton the following month.
   Pegula also advanced to the final of the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2012, losing to Modesto (Calif.) product Maria Sanchez.
   Anderson won the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger in 2017.
  This will be the second meeting between Pegula and McNally but first on a hard court. Pegula won 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of a $15,000 clay-court tournament in Tampa, Fla., last March.
   In today's doubles final, veterans Olga Govortsova of Belarus and Valeria Savinykh of Russia outclassed Gauff and 18-year-old compatriot Ann Li 6-4, 6-0.
   Govortsova advanced to the singles quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2007 and 2013. The tournament ended in 2017 after 21 years at Stanford and was replaced by the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in nearby San Jose.
   Li advanced to the singles quarters in Stockton last year.

Stockton finals to feature childhood friends, little Lao

No. 4 seed Lloyd Harris of South Africa beat No. 1 seed
Jordan Thompson of Australia in the semifinals of the
Stockton (Calif.) Pro Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Note to readers: If you enjoy my coverage of Northern California tennis, please donate on my homepage. Even $5 or $10 will help. Here's why I need your support. Thank you.
   STOCKTON, Calif. — Even though Lloyd Harris is from South Africa and Marc Polmans plays for Australia, the 21-year-olds became friends as kids.
   Polmans was born in South Africa and lived there until moving to Australia at age 10.
   "We grew up playing together," Polmans said today. "We played all through the under-8s and under-10s. We were always the two who took tennis the most seriously, so we were always practicing together and going to tournaments together. Our parents know each other very well. He's a very close family friend."
   Harris, seeded fourth, and Polmans, seeded eighth, will meet for the singles title on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the $100,000 Stockton Pro Open at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   In the singles final of the Stockton Women's $60K, top-seeded Madison Brengle will play tiny fellow American Danielle Lao, who's unseeded, after the 10:30 a.m. doubles final.
   Harris and Polmans have more in common than their age. Both overcame deficits in the semifinals and have soared in the rankings this year with impressive feats, including their first Challenger singles title. The primary difference between them is size and power. At 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters), Harris is three inches (7.6 centimeters) taller than Polmans.
   Harris beat top-seeded Jordan Thompson of Australia 7-6 (6), 6-2 on a windy day, gaining confidence after rallying from two mini-breaks down at 2-5 in the tiebreaker and saving two set points in the set.
  "I felt like I really stepped up in the second set," said Harris, who took a medical timeout after the first set after tearing skin on his left foot by running through his shoe. "I started playing a lot more aggressive, going for bigger forehands and serving a lot bigger, a lot better. I think that really pulled me over."

No. 8 seed Marc Polmans of Australia
eliminated unseeded Maxime Janvier of
France. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Harris hammered 15 aces to two for the 6-foot (1.83-meter) Thompson, won 81 percent of the points on his first serve (39 of 48) and saved all five break points against him.
   "I served really big, and I hit some really big shots off the ground, and maybe that was the key," said Harris, whose serve has been clocked at more than 136 mph (220 kph).
   Thompson has dropped from a career-high No. 63 in February 2017 to No. 106 after having his tonsils removed last last year. He stunned top-ranked Andy Murray in the first round of a Wimbledon tune-up tournament in June last year.
   Polmans eliminated unseeded Maxime Janvier of France 6-1, 6-4, coming back from 0-3 (one service break) in the second set.
   "I don't think I was doing too much wrong," Polmans said of the deficit. "He came out smoking a few winners off my serve, and I think he came out with a slightly different game plan for the second set. He started ripping as much as he could and coming forward, and it took me a bit by surprise. I tried to adjust and was able to get the break back in the second."

   Janvier, a 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) right-hander, took a medical timeout after holding serve for 4-3 in the second set to have his right forearm treated. He also took one for a left-foot problem during his quarterfinal victory over 2017 runner-up Darian King of Barbados on Friday. Janvier, 21, did not appear hindered by either issue against Polmans.
   Janvier survived 32 aces by second-seeded Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) American, in the first round and four match points against King.
   Polmans is 2-0 against Harris with victories in the final of two hardcourt Futures tournaments in Africa in 2016.
   Harris has skyrocketed from No. 340 in the world on Feb. 26 to No. 121. In three consecutive Challengers over the summer, he won the title in $75,000 Lexington (Ky.), reached the final in $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) and advanced to the quarterfinals in $100,000 Vancouver (British Columbia).
   Harris then qualified for a Grand Slam tournament in only his third attempt, losing in the first round of the U.S. Open. Harris last week shocked Gael Monfils, ranked No. 38 after reaching a career-high No. 6 in 2016, in the first round as a qualifier in Chengdu, China, for his first main-draw victory on the ATP World Tour, the major leagues of men's tennis. Harris then lost to eventual champion Bernard Tomic in a third-set tiebreaker.

   "I'm just working hard regardless on a match day or not, just putting in some extra hours on and off the court," Harris said of his rise. "If it's fitness or mobility or taking better care of my body, I feel like I'm just doing everything a little bit better this year, working on my game and really trying to make some improvements all the time, and that's paid off."

Tiny Danielle Lao rallied to beat fellow American
Jessica Pegula, seeded No. 2. Photo by Paul Bauman

   When he's not playing in a tournament, Harris said he practices for five hours, then does fitness work for 60 to 90 minutes and lifts weights for 30 to 40 minutes.
   Polmans said he moved to Australia with his family — his father, Gavin, is a financial planner, and mother, Nicola, stays at home — for "many reasons. The lifestyle was obviously a lot better in Australia. It's much safer, and the economy is a lot better. Also, the tennis system is a lot wealthier. They have a Grand Slam, so it's a very wealthy country for tennis. When I was young, it was better for schooling as well."
   Polmans reached the Australian Open doubles semifinals last year with Aussie Andrew Whittington and won a preposterous 24 consecutive singles matches in Australia early this year. He claimed the title in the $75,000 Launceston Challenger and three Futures tournaments and advanced to the final of another Futures tourney.
   The streak has helped Polmans cut his singles ranking almost exactly in half, from No. 323 to No. 161, in 2018.
   When asked what his biggest strength is, Polmans replied: "Just compete for every point and make points tough because I don't have the biggest weapons out there. I have to work my opponent from side to side. I have to rely on making points physical. In the future, I hope to play a bigger game style because I think that will be more successful at the next level."
   Polmans is immediately recognizable by his legionnaire's cap, popularized by Ivan Lendl during his International Tennis Hall of Fame career.
   "I've worn it ever since I was 8 years old," Polmans said. "It feels very normal, and I cannot play without it because I don't like the feeling of the sun on my neck. In Australia, the sun is very dangerous. ... It's cool to bring the tradition back."
   Lao, only 5-foot-2 1/2 (1.59 meters) and 115 pounds (52.2 kilograms), beat second seed and countrywoman Jessica Pegula, whose parents own the Buffalo Bills of the NFL and Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.
   "She was playing some of the best tennis I've ever seen in the first set," said Lao, 27, of Arcadia in the Los Angeles area. "She kind of knew where my shots were going to go, and when I pressed her, she came up with a winner.

No. 1 seed Madison Brengle of Dover, Del.,
crushed No. 3 seed Sofya Zhuk, an 18-year-
old Russian, 6-1, 6-1. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   "I took a bathroom break to walk it out a little bit. I think my energy level picked up a bit in the second set, and maybe I found a little opening on her. She had a couple more errors than she did in the first — she played nearly perfect tennis in the first set — and I just capitalized, and maybe she brought her game down a little bit. That's all it takes out here."
   Lao's first-round match, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed by rain. She played twice on Thursday, edging U.S. veteran Sanaz Marand 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (4) in 3 hours, 1 minute and upsetting fourth-seeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour, 41 minutes.
   Lao, a former USC All-American who has qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, relies on intelligence, mental toughness and quickness.
   "I think it's just accepting that I will not hit harder than (bigger players), so I need to find other ways to play a point that I want," said the 218th-ranked Lao, nicknamed "The Little Giant." "Maybe it's a little change in pace, maybe it's with accuracy, and sometimes it's with my foot speed. It just depends on the player and the day. Altogether, it's a mind game. It's about me extracting a strategy that I want to implement and just executing it."
   Brengle, 28, of Dover, Del., crushed third-seeded Sofya Zhuk, an 18-year-old Russian, 6-1, 6-1 in 66 minutes. Zhuk won the Wimbledon girls singles title three years ago.
   Brengle has tumbled from a career-high No. 35 in 2015 to No. 95. The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) right-hander is suing the WTA and International Tennis Federation for requiring an anti-doping blood test in 2016 that she says continues to cause severe pain in her right forearm and hand.
   Brengle, who reached the fourth round of the 2015 Australian Open and beat Serena Williams in 2017, and Lao have split two career matches. In their last meeting, Brengle won 6-4, 6-7 (9), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2014.
   "She really knows how to play the game," Lao said. "She's seen a lot of tennis, and she's super-accurate. She reads matches and players really well. She's a really smart player. She's open to making adjustments and the right adjustments. I think that's what makes her the toughest. She can play a lot of different ways. She's going to compete hard, too."

   In today's men's doubles final, unseeded Darian King of Barbados and Noah Rubin of Long Island, N.Y., beat top-seeded Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia 6-3, 6-4. King and Rubin split $6,200, and Ratiwatana and Rungkat shared $3,600.

   Sunday's ticket prices are $25 for courtside/VIP, $20 for general admission and $10 for children 5-12.

   Here are the Stockton men's singles and doubles draws and Sunday's schedule, plus the women's singles and doubles draws and Sunday's schedule. The men's singles final will be streamed live.

   Here are the singles qualifying and main draws and Sunday's schedule in the $100,000 Northbay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship at Solano Community College in Fairfield, Calif.

Top seed Brengle plays through pain amid lawsuit

Top-seeded Madison Brengle of Dover, Del., beat Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway
6-4, 7-5 today in the first round of the $60,000 Stockton Pro Open.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   STOCKTON, Calif. — Aside from her abbreviated service motion, Madison Brengle looks fine.
   Seeded first at No. 95 in the world, the 28-year-old American scurried around the court as usual in her 6-4, 7-5 win over Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway today in the first round of the $60,000 Stockton Pro Open at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   "She's very smart; she's got a good head," said the 25-year-old Eikeri, ranked No. 254. "She reads the game well and gets everything back. She's a great fighter."
   But Brengle is not fine. Far from it. The right-hander said the last of three anti-doping blood tests in 2016 at the U.S. Open has caused lingering severe pain in her right forearm and hand.
   "This is the test my body never recovered from," Brengle told The New York Times in April, the week before she sued the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation for battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. "This is the one that changed my career, changed my life, more than you can know."
   Stuart Miller, the ITF's anti-doping chief, said in The Times that urine samples are inadequate. The WTA and ITF did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

   Months after the blood test at the U.S. Open, Brengle was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Intense reactions to needles have been an issue in her family for generations, she told the Times. Brengle, who has earned $2.4 million in prize money, seeks damages of more than $10 million.
   "After here, I'm flying back to see my neurologist because I'm playing in an amount of pain I shouldn't have to deal with," Brengle, from Dover, Del., said today. "This nerve disease is incurable, so I'll be doing physical therapy for the rest of my life. I'm in a lot of pain.
   "The majority of it is in my hand. It just burns and burns. It's like putting your hand in an oven for the rest of your life. But I enjoy playing tennis. I don't want to stop."

Qualifier Maegan Manasse, who had right elbow surgery
after her senior year at Cal, defeated Rebecca Marino of
Canada 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The pain has forced Brengle to alter her serve. Ranked a career-high No. 35 in 2015, she has not returned to the top 50 since the 2016 U.S. Open. But last year, she stunned Serena Williams in Auckland and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at the famed tournament. Both were second-round matches.
   In the last three months, Brengle has reached the second round at Wimbledon, won a $60,000 tournament in Landisville, Pa., lost to 19-year-old American Sofia Kenin 7-6 in the third set in the first round of the U.S. Open as a lucky loser, and reached the semifinals of last week's $60,000 tourney in Templeton in Southern California. In the latter tournament, she fell to eventual champion Asia Muhammad 6-4, 6-4.

   "I work really hard with my physical therapist," Brengle said of her success since her diagnosis. "There's a lot that I'm doing, down to my diet. I try not to eat inflammatory food because it's so much burning.
   "Sugar is an inflammatory. I eat a lot of salad, a lot of seafood, a lot of veggies. I've kind of given up desserts, which is probably not the worst thing for me. If it can give me .1 percent improvement, I'm going to try and do it. There's only so much I can control about this, so I will try and do everything that's still in my control.
   "You have good days and bad days. The bad days are really tough, and the good days make it kind of worth it."
   Brengle, the runner-up in the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2013, cited footwork as her greatest strength.
   "I love my (two-handed) backhand," she said, "but if I move well, that keeps me in matches because I'm not able to generate that much (power) with my right arm."
   And if Brengle is told to take another blood test?
   "That's not in the cards," she asserted. "That's not going to happen."

Rebecca Marino battled depression during a five-year
hiatus. She returned in January. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Jessica Pegula, Maegan Manasse and Rebecca Marino have had their own issues.
   Pegula, the runner-up in the inaugural $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2012 and daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, played in just one tournament in 2014 after having knee surgery and did not compete from January to August last year because of injury. She reached her first WTA final in Quebec City last month as a qualifier and, seeded second in Stockton, beat Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 6-0, retired.
   Manasse, a right-hander from Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area, underwent right elbow surgery in August 2017 after her senior year at Cal. As a qualifier, she advanced to the final of a $60,000 tournament in Ashland, Ky., in July and defeated the 6-foot (1.83-meter) Marino 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0 today in 2 hours, 21 minutes in 80-degree (26.7 Celsius) heat.

   Marino, after attaining a career high of No. 38 in 2011, became depressed by cruel tweets from people who had lost money betting on her matches.
   "They'll say, 'You gave that match away; you cost me such-and-such amount of money; you should go burn in hell,' or 'You should go die,' " Marino told The New York Times in 2013. "And oh, my gosh, that is really scary."
   After a five-year hiatus, the sensitive Marino returned to pro tennis in January. Since then, she has won two $25,000 tournaments, including Lubbock (Texas) two weeks ago, and reached the final of another.
   Also today, Robin Anderson edged fifth-seeded Kristie Ahn 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (4) just before an afternoon downpour halted play for the day. The match had been suspended by darkness at 4-4 in the third set on Tuesday. Overall, it lasted 3 hours, 5 minutes.
   Anderson, 25, and Ahn, 26, embraced afterward. They grew up a one-hour drive from each other in New Jersey before starring at UCLA and Stanford, respectively. Both have reached finals recently, the 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) Anderson in Lubbock and the 5-foot-5 (1.68-meter) Ahn in Landisville in August.

Robin Anderson, left, and Maegan Manasse run for cover after
a canopy on an elevated concourse blew onto a court during a
downpour. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Whitney Osuigwe of Bradenton, Fla., defeated qualifier Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area 7-5, 6-1 in a matchup of 16-year-olds.
   Osuigwe (pronouned Oh-sig-way) last year became the first American to win the French Open girls singles title since Jennifer Capriati in 1989.
   In the Stockton men's $100,000 tournament, fourth-seeded Lloyd Harris of South Africa moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Charlotte, N.C.
   Harris advanced to the final of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in August. Kwiatkowski led Virginia to its third consecutive NCAA championship and won NCAA singles title last year as a senior.
   Christopher Eubanks, 6-foot-7 (2.01 meters) from Atlanta, leads fifth-seeded Casper Ruud, a 19-year-old Norwegian, 6-1, 2-2. Eubanks gained the semifinals in Aptos and quarterfinals in last week's $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.
   Daily ticket prices for the Stockton Pro Open are:
   Through Thursday — $15 courtside/VIP, $10 general admission, $5 children 5-12.
   Friday through Sunday — $25 courtside/VIP, $20 general admission, $10 children 5-12.
   Tournament passes cost $70 for courtside/VIP, $50 for general admission and $25 for children 5-12.
   Here are the Stockton men's singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule, plus the women's singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule. The men's tournament is being streamed live.

U.S. rally falls short; Sanchez wins WTA doubles title

Sam Querrey, a late pick by U.S. captain Jim Courier, upset
Marin Cilic of host Croatia today in the Davis Cup semi-
finals. Croatia, however, defeated the United States 3-2.
File photo by Paul Bauman

   The United States, receiving an unexpected boost from Sam Querrey, almost pulled off an amazing comeback today in the Davis Cup semifinals.

   The U.S. came within one set of stunning host Croatia after trailing 2-0 on outdoor clay in Zadar on the Adriatic Sea. However, Borna Coric defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (0), 6-1, 6-7 (11), 6-1, 6-3 in 4 hours, 6 minutes to give Croatia a 3-2 victory. 

   Tiafoe, ranked No. 40, trailed 4-0 and 5-1 in the third set. against Coric, ranked No. 18.

   Coric, 21, was playing in his 16th Davis Cup singles match and Tiafoe, 20, his second after debuting on Friday with a loss to 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Marin Cilic. Coric shocked Roger Federer to win Halle (Germany) on grass in June.

   U.S. captain Jim Courier chose Querrey, a 30-year-old San Francisco native who has struggled this year, over Steve Johnson at the last minute to face Marin Cilic in today's first singles match. Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion and a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, was 6-0 against Querrey and 5-0 against Johnson.

   Querrey, who has plummeted from a career-high No. 11 in February to No. 61, responded with a 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 victory. He trailed 6-1 in the second-set tiebreaker.
   The United States was missing its top two players. Six-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, ranked No. 10, is awaiting the birth of his first child. Jack Sock, ranked No. 17 in singles and No. 2 in doubles, withdrew with a hip injury after winning his second consecutive Grand Slam men's doubles title with Mike Bryan in the U.S. Open.
   Bryan and Ryan Harrison began the United States' comeback on Saturday by edging Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 7-5, 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5) in 4 hours, 41 minutes. Bryan and Harrison came within two points of losing at 5-6 in the fifth set.
   Croatia, slightly smaller than West Virginia with a population (4.2 million) comparable to metropolitan Detroit's, improved to 5-0 against the United States. In the teams' previous meeting, Croatia stunned the U.S. 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in Portland, Ore., in the 2006 quarterfinals.

   Only once in the 118-year history of the Davis Cup has the United States overcome a 2-0 deficit, accomplishing the feat in 1934 against Australia in London. 

   The U.S. has failed to reach the Davis Cup final since winning its record 32nd Davis Cup championship in 2007. Australia is next with 28.
   Croatia, which won its only Davis Cup title in 2005, reached the final for the second time in three years. It will play at defending champion France on Nov. 23-25 in a rematch of the World Cup soccer final in July won by France in Moscow.  

Asia Muhammad, left, and Maria Sanchez won
the doubles title in Quebec City on the WTA
tour. File photo by Paul Bauman

   WTA tour -- Unseeded Americans Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez, a 28-year-old product of Modesto, Calif., surprised second-seeded Darija Jurak of Croatia and Xenia Knoll of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3 to win the doubles title in Quebec City. It was Muhammad's third WTA doubles crown and Sanchez's second.
   Sanchez claimed the singles title in the inaugural Sacramento Challenger in 2012. Muhammad won the doubles crown in Sacramento in 2012 with local product Yasmin Schnack, who retired the following year at 25, and in Berkeley in July with former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs.
   Also today, two U.S. qualifiers who excelled in Sacramento singles lost in their first career WTA finals to 32-year-olds.
   Amanda Anisimova, 17, fell to second-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-2 in Hiroshima. Anisimova, who won her first professional title in last year's Sacramento Challenger at 15 before the tournament moved to Berkeley, became the first player born in 2001 to crack the top 100. She zoomed 39 places to No. 95.
   Jessica Pegula, 24, lost to eighth-seeded Pauline Parmentier of France 7-5, 6-2 in Quebec City. Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, fell to Sanchez in the 2012 Sacramento final.
   Pegula soared 86 spots to No. 141, 18 notches below her career high of No. 123 in 2013 before injuries derailed her career.

U.S. barely survives; Anisimova, 17, gains first WTA final

Ryan Harrison, playing in Sacramento in 2014, and Mike Bryan
won a fifth-set tiebreaker today to keep the United States alive
at Croatia in the Davis Cup semifinals. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The United States still has a chance.

   Not much of one, but a chance nonetheless.

   The U.S. barely avoided elimination today as Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) and Ryan Harrison edged Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic of host Croatia 7-5, 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5) in 4 hours, 41 minutes in the Davis Cup semifinals. Bryan has won a record 18 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and the other three players have earned one each. 

   Croatia leads the best-of-five series, on outdoor clay in Zadar on the Adriatic Sea, 2-1. The winner will face defending champion France on Nov. 23-25 at a site to be determined.
   In Sunday's reverse singles matches, No. 6-ranked Marin Cilic of Croatia will face No. 30 Steve Johnson, and No. 18 Borna Coric of Croatia will meet No. 40 Frances Tiafoe.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Cilic, who will turn 30 on Sept. 28, won the 2014 U.S. Open and reached the final of Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open this year. Coric, 21, shocked Roger Federer to win Halle (Germany) on grass in June.
   Johnson, 28, is 1-3 in Davis Cup singles. Tiafoe, who won the 2016 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, made his Davis Cup debut at age 20 on Friday and lost to Cilic 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
   The United States is missing its top two players, not that they necessarily would make a difference. Six-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, ranked No. 10, is awaiting the birth of his first child. Jack Sock, ranked No. 17 in singles and No. 2 in doubles, has a hip injury after winning his second consecutive Grand Slam men's doubles title with Bryan in the U.S. Open.
   The United States has failed to reach the Davis Cup final since winning the 2007 championship in Portland, Ore. Croatia, which won its only Davis Cup title in 2005, is trying to advance to the final for the second time in three years. The team lost to Argentina 3-2 in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2016.
   Croatia, slightly smaller than West Virginia with a population (4.2 million) comparable to metropolitan Detroit's, is 4-0 against the United States in the Davis Cup. In the most recent meeting, Croatia stunned the U.S. 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in Portland in the 2016 quarterfinals.
   WTA tour -- Two U.S. qualifiers who excelled in the now-defunct Sacramento Challenger reached their first WTA finals today. Both will play 32-year-olds.
   Amanda Anisimova, who won her first professional title last year in Sacramento at 15 years old, knocked off top-seeded Zhang Shuai of China 7-6 (4), 7-5 in Hiroshima.
   Jessica Pegula, the runner-up to Modesto product Maria Sanchez in the inaugural Sacramento Challenger six years ago, outlasted 19-year-old compatriot Sofia Kenin 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in Quebec City.
   Kenin has won Northern California Challengers in each of the past three years (Sacramento in 2016, Stockton last year and Berkeley in July). The Sacramento tournament lost its primary sponsor and moved to Berkeley this year.
   Anisimova, who turned 17 two weeks ago, became the youngest player to reach a WTA final since Donna Vekic of Croatia lost in Tashkent in 2012 and Birmingham in 2013 as a 16-year-old. Anisimova, ranked No. 134, also will become the first player born in 2001 to crack the top 100 on Monday.
   A potential star, Anisimova improved to 12-3 since returning from a four-month injury layoff in San Jose in July and 24-6 overall this season, including 11-4 in WTA main draws. She broke a foot in Miami in March.
   Anisimova is scheduled to face second-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei on Sunday. The 40th-ranked Hsieh, playing her second match of the day, beat Wang Qiang of China 6-4, 6-4.
   Earlier, Hsieh topped fifth-seeded Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in a rain-postponed quarterfinal. Tomljanovic, a Croatia native, withdrew from the final of the 2017 Sacramento Challenger with a shoulder injury.
   Hsieh upset top-ranked Simona Halep in the third round at Wimbledon in July before losing to Dominika Cibulkova.
  Pegula, the 24-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, has been plagued by injuries during her career. Ranked No. 227, she will meet eighth-seeded Pauline Parmentier of France. Parmentier, ranked No. 69, nipped Heather Watson of Great Britain 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
   In the Quebec City doubles semifinals, unseeded Asia Muhammad and Sanchez topped third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk and Giuliana Olmos 3-6, 6-3 [10-7] in an all-American encounter.
   Krawczyk and Olmos, who's from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area, won last year's Sacramento Challenger.
   Muhammad took the Sacramento crown in 2012 with local product Yasmin Schnack, who retired the following year at 25, and in Berkeley in July with former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs.
   Muhammad and Sanchez, who reached the second round of the 2015 U.S. Open together, will play second-seeded Darija Jurak of Croatia and Xenia Knoll of Switzerland for the title.
   Muhammad seeks her third career WTA doubles title and Sanchez her second.

Sanchez falls in Indian Harbour Beach doubles final

Maria Sanchez, who was born and raised in Modesto,
plays doubles in the U.S. Open last September,
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Maria Sanchez, a 26-year-old Modesto product, lost in today's doubles final in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., on the ITF Women's Circuit.
   The unseeded team of Sanchez and Jessica Pegula of Charleston, S.C., fell to second-seeded Julia Glushko of Israel and Alexandra Panova of Russia 7-5, 6-4 in the $75,000 Revolution Technologies Pro Tennis Classic.
   Sanchez won last year's title with Taylor Townsend, the singles runner-up today to Jennifer Brady in an all-American matchup.
   Sanchez was seeking her 17th doubles title on the ITF Women's Circuit, comparable to the minor leagues in baseball, and the 22-year-old Pegula her third. They have not won a title together.
   Sanchez defeated Pegula in the 2012 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area for the first of her two ITF singles titles.
   The two players have contrasting backgrounds. Pegula's parents, Terry and Kim, are billionaires who own the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Sanchez's parents, Luis and Catharine, are schoolteachers.
   Sanchez graduated from USC in real estate in 2011, whereas Pegula turned pro out of high school.

Bellis, 16, falls in last round of U.S. Open qualifying

CiCi Bellis, serving in last month's Sacramento Challenger, lost
to 11th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, last year's Wimbledon girls
champion, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   CiCi Bellis, who pulled off a monumental upset in the 2014 U.S. Open, will not play in the main draw at Flushing Meadows this year.
   Bellis, 16, of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area lost to 11th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, 18, of Latvia 6-3, 6-2 on Friday in the final round of qualifying. Ostapenko won the Wimbledon girls singles title last year.
   In the 2014 U.S. Open, Bellis became the youngest player to win a main-draw singles match since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   And Bellis didn't beat just anybody. She beat a seed. And not just any seed. She stunned 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, last year's Australian Open runner-up to Li Na.
   Meanwhile, two former Sacramento Challenger finalists, Mayo Hibi and wild card Jessica Pegula, advanced to the main draw of the U.S. Open.
   Mayo Hibi, the 2013 Sacramento champion at 17, defeated former top-25 player Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-4, 6-4.               
   Hibi plays for her native Japan but has lived in California since she was 2 1/2. She will face 16th-seeded Sara Errani of Italy on Monday or Tuesday in the first round. Errani reached the final of the 2012 French Open, losing to Maria Sharapova.
   Pegula, the runner-up to Maria Sanchez in the inaugural Sacramento Challenger in 2012, beat 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin 7-6 (8), 6-0 in a matchup of Americans. Pegula's billionaire father, Terry, owns the NFL's Buffalo Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.
    Both Hibi and Pegula will play singles in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. In doubles at the U.S. Open, Pegula reached the third round in 2011 at 17 with Taylor Townsend, then 15, and the second round in 2012 with Madison Keys, then 17.
   Two other U.S. women, 16th-seeded Anna Tatishvili and Shelby Rogers, and one American man, 18-year-old Tommy Paul, survived qualifying. In June, Paul joined John McEnroe (1977) and Bjorn Fratangelo (2011) as the only U.S. boys to win the French Open junior title in the Open era (since 1968).
   U.S. Open National Playoffs in New Haven, Conn. -- Top-seeded Julio Peralta of Chile and Matt Seeberger, a San Francisco native living in Vancouver, British Columbia, won the title to earn a wild card in the main draw of men's doubles at the U.S. Open.
   Peralta, 33, and Seeberger, 31, will make their Grand Slam debuts after defeating Australians Ashley Fisher and Nathan Healey 6-4, 6-3.
   Seeberger joined the pro circuit as a doubles specialist only last year. He won a record eight NCAA titles (three singles, three doubles and two team) at Division III UC Santa Cruz from 2004 to 2007.
   In Friday's women's final, Sacramento-area residents Yasmin Schnack and Katsiaryna Zheltova lost to University of Alabama stars Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe 6-4, 7-5.
   Jansen and Routliffe, the two-time reigning NCAA Division I doubles champions, will receive a wild card in the main draw of women's doubles at Flushing Meadows.