Lu beats Querrey for first win in almost three years

   Yen-Hsun Lu, 37, of Chinese Taipei recorded his first victory in almost three years today, defeating Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 6-3, 6-4 today in the first round of the Miami Open.

   Lu missed 20 months from May 2018 through January 2020 because of a right shoulder injury. Miami — a Masters 1000 tournament, the highest level besides Grand Slam — is only his fifth event since then.

   Lu has plummeted from a career-high No. 33 in 2010 to No. 1,020. He had not won a match since beating Maverick Banes of Australia in the first round of the Seoul Challenger in late April 2018.

   Lu reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2010, shocking Andy Roddick 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 9-5 in 4 hours, 36 minutes in the fourth round. Lu also advanced to the final of the 2007 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, losing to Wayne Odesnik. In 2015, Odesnik was banned for 15 years for a second doping violation.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey has advanced past the third round in Miami only once in 14 appearances, reaching the fourth round in 2013. He has tumbled from a career-high No. 11 in 2018 to No. 63.

   Another San Francisco Bay Area native, qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, defeated former world No. 25 Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil of Canada 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a matchup of players rebounding from surgery in 2019. 

   Pospisil, who underwent back surgery in January 2019, was assessed a point penalty on set point in the first set for verbal abuse. Losing his serve after leading 40-0 apparently set him off, but there was more to it. He told chair umpire Arnaud Gabas that ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi yelled at him for 90 minutes during a players' meeting on Tuesday. Pospisil and Novak Djokovic launched the Professional Tennis Players Association last summer.

   Pospisil won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jack Sock in 2014, reached the singles final of the $100,000 San Francisco Challenger in 2017 and was named the ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2020.

   McDonald, who had right hamstring surgery in June 2019, improved to 14-4 this year. He was the only American man to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open last month.

   McDonald is scheduled to face 18th-seeded John Isner, the Miami champion in 2018, for the first time on Friday. The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner, who drew a first-round bye, is one foot (30.5 centimeters) taller than McDonald.

   In the Miami women's draw, Sloane Stephens, a 28-year-old Fresno, Calif., product who won the 2018 title, topped qualifier "Atlantic" Oceane Dodin of France 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2 for her first victory this year. 

   Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, had lost in the first round of her last four tournaments and in six of her last seven. She has plunged from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 49.

Djokovic heads ATP honor roll for 2020

 2020 ATP AWARDS

   Year-end No. 1 (singles) — Novak Djokovic

   Year-end No. 1 (doubles) — Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares

   Most Improved Player — Andrey Rublev

   Coach of the Year (voted by ATP coaches) — Fernando Vicente (Rublev's coach)

   Newcomer of the Year (voted by ATP players) — Carlos Alcaraz

   Comeback Player of the Year (voted by ATP players) — Vasek Pospisil

   Sportsmanship Award (voted by ATP players) — Rafael Nadal

   Humanitarian Award (by ATP) — Frances Tiafoe

Serena subdues Stephens, earns rematch vs. Sakkari

Serena Williams improved to 6-1 against Sloane Stephens and reached the round
of 16 in the U.S. Open. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   In a matchup of American former U.S. Open champions, third-seeded Serena Williams defeated 26th-seeded Sloane Stephens 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 today in the third round of the Grand Slam tournament in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   Williams pounded 12 aces and Stephens none. Williams had 29 winners and 23 unforced errors to Stephens' 25 and 18, respectively.

   "I don't think she made any errors in the first set," Williams, who improved to 6-1 in the head-to-head series, said in an on-court interview. "She just was playing so clean. I just said, 'I don't want to lose in straight sets. OK, Serena, just get a game, get a game. Next thing I know, I won the second set, and I was like, OK, great.' "

   Williams, who will turn 39 on Sept. 26, won the last of her six U.S. Open singles titles in 2014. She has reached the last two finals in Flushing Meadows, losing to upstarts Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu in straight sets in an attempt to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. Williams also won the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

   Stephens, a 27-year-old Fresno, Calif., product now based in Florida, captured her only Grand Slam title in the 2017 U.S. Open. She also reached the 2018 French Open final, losing to Simona Halep.

   Williams, ranked eighth, is scheduled to face Greece's Maria Sakkari, seeded 15th and ranked 22nd, for the second consecutive tournament on Monday at a time to be announced (ESPN2). 

   Sakkari, the runner-up in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., in 2018, routed 22nd-seeded Amanda Anisimova, a 19-year-old American, 6-3, 6-1 in 55 minutes. Anisimova won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger at 15.

   Sakkari surprised Williams 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the third round of last week's Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows in their only previous meeting.

   Also today, unranked Tsvetana Pironkova, playing in her first tournament since Wimbledon in 2017 after starting a family, beat 18th-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-4, 6-1. Vekic advanced to the San Jose semifinals last summer.

   In the first featured night match, French veteran Alize Cornet beat seventh-seeded Madison Keys, the 2017 runner-up to Stephens at Flushing Meadows and champion of the last Bank of the West Classic, 7-6 (4), 3-2, retired (neck).

   In the men's draw, unseeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada ousted eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

   Pospisil, ranked No. 94 after climbing to a career-high No. 25 in 2014, had back surgery in January 2019 and missed the first six months of the season. He won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2014 with American Jack Sock and advanced to the singles final in the 2017 San Francisco Challenger, falling to China's Ze Zhang.

  The 30-year-old Pospisil — one of three Canadian men in the round of 16 with 12th-seeded Denis Shapovalov, 21, and 15th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, 20 — had not advanced past the second round of a major since reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2015. 

   Pospisil will play 21st-seeded Alex de Minaur, a 21-year-old Australian who eliminated 11th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-4, 0-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. De Minaur leads the head-to-head series 2-0. 

   Frances Tiafoe, 22, dominated Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in a clash of unseeded players to become the only American man in the round of 16. 

   Tiafoe, who won the 2016 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger to crack the top 100 at age 18, will face third-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who lost a five-set epic to Rafael Nadal in last year's final. 

   Medvedev, a 24-year-old Russian who stands 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), has not lost more than four games in a set in three matches this week. He is 2-0 against Tiafoe in tour-level events, including a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory in the first round of the Australian Open in January.  

French Open moved to one week after U.S. Open

Vasek Pospisil said moving the French Open to one week after the U.S. Open
"is madness." 2017 photo by Mal Taam

   The French Open today became the first Grand Slam tournament to be affected by the conoravirus pandemic.
   The French Tennis Federation announced that Roland Garros will move from May 24-June 7 to Sept. 20-Oct. 4.
   Federation president Bernard Giudicelli called it "a difficult yet brave decision in this unprecedented situation."
   The new dates put the clay-court French Open one week after the hard-court U.S. Open, Aug. 31-Sept. 13, and conflict with:
   –Several WTA and ATP tournaments in Asia and Europe.
   –The Laver Cup, Sept. 25-27 in Boston.
   –A combined men's and women's tournament in the Oracle Pro Series at Stanford (Sept. 21-27).
   –A men's Challenger in Tiburon, Calif. (Sept. 28-Oct. 4).
   "This is madness," tweeted Canadian pro Vasek Pospisil, a member of the ATP Player Council. "Major announcement by Roland Garros changing the dates to one week after the U.S. Open. No communication with the players or the ATP .. we have ZERO say in this sport. It's time. #UniteThePlayers"
   Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympic tennis event remain scheduled for June 29-July 12 and July 25-Aug. 2, respectively.
   "While we continue to plan for The Championships at this time," Richard Lewis, the chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, commented on wimbledon.com, "it remains a continuously evolving situation and we will act responsibly, in the best interests of wider society."
   The International Olympic Committee said on olympic.org that it will "protect the health of everyone involved" and "continue to monitor the situation 24/7."

Canada defeats U.S. in Davis Cup for first time

   New format, more frustration for the United States.

   Canada defeated the Americans for the first time today, winning 2-1 in Group F in the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid. It was Canada's maiden victory in 16 meetings against the United States and the first between the nations since 1965.

   Vasek Pospisil topped 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7), and Denis Shapovalov beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 (6), 6-3.

   Shapovalov is ranked No. 15 at age 20. Pospisil, 29, had back surgery in January and returned at Wimbledon. He is No. 150 after reaching a career-high No. 25 in 2014.

   Fritz and Opelka, both 22, made their Davis Cup debuts. They are ranked No. 32 and No. 36, respectively.

   The scheduled doubles match was not played, but Sam Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, and Jack Sock were credited with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Pospisil and Shapovalov.

   Canada, which beat Italy 2-1 on Monday, became the first team to reach the quarterfinals. The United States (0-1) must beat Italy on Wednesday to have a chance of advancing.

   For the first time in the 119-year history of the Davis Cup, nations are competing at one site in the same week instead of going head-to-head at host countries over four weekends throughout the year.

   Competitions between nations have been shortened from the best-of-five matches to the best-of-three. The six group winners and two best second-place finishers advance.

   The United States leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles, but the last one came in 2007. If the Americans fall short again, they will break their drought record.

   In Group A, France defeated Japan 2-1. In the deciding match, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut outlasted Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5.

Pospisil, runner-up in S.F., shocks Murray in BNP

Vasek Pospisil serves in the final of last
month's KPSF Open in San Francisco.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Vasek Pospisil, who reached the final of a minor-league tournament in San Francisco one month ago, stunned top-ranked Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Saturday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
   Pospisil, a 26-year-old qualifier from Canada, has plunged from a career-high No. 25 in 2014 to No. 129. He hired International Tennis Hall of Famer Mark Woodforde as his coach at the end of last season.
   "I feel like I'm on a comeback trail," Pospisil, who lost to qualifier Ze Zhang of China in the final of last month's $100,000 KPSF Challenger in San Francisco said on bnpparibasopen.com. "I had a tough year last year for many, many different reasons. I feel the last couple months I really found my hunger and my motivation to be back on the court training hard again.
   "I felt like a big result was coming, because I believe in my abilities, but just kind of had to put the pieces together again. Obviously to beat the No. 1 player in the world is incredible. It's the biggest win of my career, and I'm just thrilled right now."
   Pospisil reached the third round at Indian Wells for the first time in five appearances. However, he won the 2015 doubles title with American Jack Sock one year after they took the Wimbledon crown.
   Pospisil will face qualifier Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in the third round on Monday. Lajovic surprised 30th-seeded Feliciano Lopez, a 2015 quarterfinalist from Spain, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2).
   Murray, who received a first-round bye, played his first singles match since winning the Dubai title on March 4.
   The 29-year-old Scotsman has had mixed results at Indian Wells. He advanced to the final in 2009, semifinals in 2015 and quarterfinals in 2010 and 2013. But this was the third time in seven years that Murray has lost his opening match in the tournament. He fell in the second round to Donald Young in 2011 and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in 2012. Murray also lost to Federico Delbonis, 7-6 in the third set, in the third round last year.

Qualifier Zhang earns rare title for Chinese men

Zhang Ze reacts after beating Vasek Pospisil to win the $100,000 KPSF Open
in San Francisco. Zhang became only the second Chinese man to capture a
Challenger singles title. Photo by Mal Taam

   When tennis was readmitted to the Olympics in 1988, China began pouring resources into the sport.
   It has paid off handsomely on the women's side.
   China's success started with Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian, who won the doubles gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Then Yan Zi and Zheng Jie captured the Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles titles in 2006.
   But Li Na made the biggest splash by winning the French Open singles title in 2011 and adding the 2014 Australian Open crown. Irreverence added to her appeal, and the tennis world mourned when she retired only nine months after the Melbourne title at age 32.
   Also, Peng Shuai won the 2013 Wimbledon and 2014 French Open doubles titles with Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan.

Zhang defeated Pospisil 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in 2 hours, 21 minutes.
Photo by Mal Taam

   No Chinese men have made a big impact in singles or doubles, but in a nation of 1.38 billion people (18.7 percent of the world's population), it could be only a matter of time until that happens.
   China, which has six WTA and four ATP tournaments, took another step in that direction on Sunday when qualifier Zhang Ze subdued seventh-seeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in 2 hours, 21 minutes to win the $100,000 KPSF Open indoors at the Bay Club SF Tennis Center. Both players are 26.
   After Pospisil sailed a forehand long on Zhang's first championship point, Zhang joyously fell on his back and put his head in his hands in disbelief.
   Zhang, 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters), became the first qualifier of the year and second Chinese man ever to win a Challenger singles title. Wu Di took the Maui crown in January 2016. Zhang had been 0-3 in Challenger finals.

Zhang knocked off three seeds -- No. 2 Taylor Fritz, No. 5 Henri Laak-
sonen and No. 7 Pospisil -- during the tournament. Photo by Mal Taam

   Whereas China has five women in the singles top 100, Zhang leads his countrymen at No. 158.
   "Chinese men improve a lot, but (we're) not great," Zhang, who soared 37 places with the title, conceded earlier in the week. "We try."
   The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Pospisil, who was treated for a leg injury in the third set, was one of three seeds defeated by Zhang. He shocked No. 2 Taylor Fritz, a 19-year-old American, in the first round and knocked off No. 5 Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland in the semifinals.
   Pospisil ascended to a career-high No. 25 in 2014, won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jack Sock later that year and reached the Wimbledon singles quarterfinals in 2015.
   But after plunging from No. 39 to No. 112 last year, Pospisil parted ways with coach Frederic Fontang and hired Mark Woodforde, an International Tennis Hall of Famer who won 12 Grand Slam men's doubles titles (including a record six at Wimbledon). Pospisil, ranked No. 131 entering San Francisco, rose to No. 118.

Pospisil, ranked No. 25 in 2014, hired Hall of Famer Mark Woodforde
as his coach last October after dropping out of the top 100. Photo by
Mal Taam

   Pospisil had combined for 21 aces and one double fault in 56-minute victories over 19-year-old Americans Frances Tiafoe, seeded first, in the quarterfinals and unseeded Michael Mmoh in the semifinals.
   But in the final, Pospisil had six aces and six double faults, put in only 52 percent of his first serves and saved nine of 14 break points.
   Zhang also had six aces but committed only three double faults, converted 67 percent of his first deliveries and saved three of six break points.
   Zhang overcame a 4-1 deficit in the first set of the final and broke for 4-2 in the second set on a putaway backhand volley set up by a punishing forehand down the line. Zhang held at love for 5-2 and earned a break point when Pospisil slugged a cross-court backhand wide. Pospisil then missed his first serve before committing the forehand error for the match.
   Zhang almost swept the singles and doubles titles. No. 1 seeds Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith of Australia edged No. 2 Gong Mao-Xin and Zhang 6-7 (4), 7-5 [10-7].
   Here are the completed KPSF Open singles and doubles draws.

Qualifier Zhang, red-hot Pospisil reach S.F. final

Chinese qualifier Ze Zhang, shown during his first-round upset of No. 2 seed
Taylor Fritz on Tuesday, defeated No. 5 Henri Laaksonen 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the
semifinals of the $100,000 KPSF Open in San Francisco. Photo by Mal Taam

  Chinese qualifier Ze Zhang pulled off another upset Saturday to reach the final of the $100,000 KPSF Open in San Francisco.
   Zhang, who stunned No. 2 seed Taylor Fritz in the first round, defeated No. 5 Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland 6-4, 7-6 (7) indoors at the Bay Club SF Tennis Center.
   Zhang will face red-hot Vasek Pospisil, seeded seventh, for the first time today at 2 p.m. Zhang then will play in the doubles final. Both matches will be streamed live.
   Pospisil dismissed a 19-year-old American sensation in 56 minutes for the second straight day, routing Michael Mmoh 6-1, 6-2. Pospisil avenged a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss to Mmoh in the first round of the $75,000 Maui Challenger two weeks ago in their first meeting.
   After beating top-seeded Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-4 on Friday, the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Pospisil won 23 of 26 points (88 percent) on his first serve and saved all four break points against him. The Canadian had seven aces and one double fault, bringing his two-day totals to 21 and one, respectively.
   The 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Zhang had similar statistics against Laaksonen, winning 33 of 40 points (83 percent) on his first serve and saving two of three break points against him. He had seven aces and four double faults.
   Both Pospisil, ranked No. 131, and Zhang, ranked No. 195, are 26. Posipsil, who reached No. 25 and won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jack Sock in 2014, seeks his fifth Challenger singles title. Zhang is 0-3 in Challenger finals.
   Here are the KPSF Open singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

No. 1 seed Tiafoe, No. 8 Kudla fall in S.F. Challenger

Nineteen-year-old Michael Mmoh, above, will face veteran
Vasek Pospisil, formerly ranked No. 25, tonight in the semi-
finals of the KPSF Open in San Francisco. Mmoh beat Pos-
psil two weeks ago in Maui. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   A 19-year-old American reached the semifinals of the $100,000 KPSF Open in San Francisco, but it's not the top seed.
   Unseeded Michael Mmoh beat countryman Denis Kudla, seeded eighth, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 indoors on Friday at the Bay Club SF Tennis Center. Mmoh trailed 4-2 in the third set.
   No. 7 seed Vasek Pospisil showed the form that took him to No. 25 in the world three years ago, downing Mmoh's best friend, No. 1 Frances Tiafoe, 6-1, 6-4 in 56 minutes.
   Both matches were first-time encounters. That will not be the case when Pospisil and Mmoh meet tonight at 7. Live streaming is available.
   Mmoh defeated Pospisil, a 26-year-old Canadian, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the $75,000 Maui Challenger two weeks ago en route to the quarterfinals.
   This will be the second meeting between Pospisil, ranked No. 131, and Mmoh, ranked No. 193.
   In the bottom half of the draw, fifth-seeded Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland and qualifier Ze Zhang of China advanced with straight-set victories. In the opening round, Zhang shocked second-seeded Taylor Fritz, another 19-year-old American.
   Laaksonen, 24, and Zhang, 26, will meet for the first time. They are ranked No. 124 and No. 195, respectively.
   Pospisil, 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters), blasted 14 aces, committed no double faults and did not face a break point against Tiafoe. Pospisil won 24 of 29 points (83 percent) on his first serve and 12 of 16 (75 percent) on his second delivery.
   Here are the KSPF Open singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Pospisil tops 6-foot-11 Opelka, 19, to gain S.F. quarters

Vasek Pospisil, left, and Jack Sock slap hands during a doubles match
in the 2015 U.S. Open. Pospisil and Sock won the Wimbledon men's
doubles title in 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Vasek Pospisil shouldn't be playing a Challenger in San Francisco this week.
   This, after all, is a guy who:
   --Ascended to No. 25 in the world three years ago at age 23.
   --Reached the Wimbledon singles quarterfinals in 2015.
   --Won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jack Sock in 2014.
   --Helped Canada advance to the Davis Cup semifinals in 2013.
   Alas, the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Pospisil has plunged to No. 133.
   Hello, San Francisco, where Pospisil is joined by recently hired coach Mark Woodforde, a Hall of Fame doubles legend.
   Pospisil, seeded seventh in the $100,000 KPSF Open, on Thursday prevented an all-American sweep of the quarterfinal berths in the top half of the draw.
   Pospisil defeated 19-year-old Reilly Opelka, 6-foot-11 (2.11 meters), 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3 indoors at the Bay Club SF Tennis Center to set up a tantalizing first-time meeting with top-seeded Frances Tiafoe tonight after a 7 o'clock doubles match.
   Tiafoe, also 19, is the youngest player in the top 100 at No. 94 and the only player in the draw to reach the second round of the Australian Open last month. Pospisil lost in the first round of qualifying in Melbourne.
   Opelka stunned then-No. 28 Kevin Anderson en route to the semifinals in Atlanta on the ATP World Tour last August.

Reilly Opelka eyes a backhand volley during the
$100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger last October.
Opelka stunned then-No. 28 Kevin Anderson en
route to the semifinals in Atlanta on the ATP World
Tour last August. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Also in the top half of the KPSF Open draw, eighth-seeded Denis Kudla will take on yet another 19-year-old sensation, Michael Mmoh, for the first time at about 4 p.m.

   Kudla, 24, seeks his third Challenger semifinal of the year and second in two weeks. He fell to Taylor Fritz, still another 19-year U.S. prospect, 7-6 in the third set in last week's $125,000 Dallas Challenger.
   Mmoh, the Saudi Arabia-born son of Nigeria native and former journeyman pro Tony Mmoh, ousted third-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan on Wednesday for his first victory over a current top-100 player. Mmoh defeated Pospisil two weeks ago in the first round of the $75,000 Maui Challenger en route to the quarterfinals.
   Only one seed and one American remain in the bottom half of the KPSF Open draw, and they will meet after the Kudla-Mmoh encounter. Fifth-seeded Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland will face qualifier Eric Quigley.
   Laaksonen reached the semifinals of the Maui Challenger and played on the Swiss Davis Cup team that lost to the United States 5-0 last week in Birmingham, Ala. Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka skipped the first-round series.
   Quigley reached the NCAA singles final in 2012 as a senior at the University of Kentucky, losing to Steve Johnson of USC, and advanced to the semis of the $100,000 Aptos Challenger as a qualifier last August. Aptos is a 90-minute drive south of San Francisco on the Pacific Ocean.
   At 2 p.m. today, Tatsuma Ito of Japan will play qualifier Ze Zhang of China. Ito, a Dallas semifinalist, upset sixth-seeded Peter Polansky of Canada 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4. Zhang topped qualifier Brayden Schnur of Canada 6-4, 6-2 after the ousting second-seeded Fritz in the first round.
   Here are the KPSF Open singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Djokovic continues domination of Nadal

Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-2
today in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open
in Indian Wells. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   At least this one was close for a set and a half.
   Novak Djokovic continued his domination of Rafael Nadal today, beating his rival 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   The top-seeded Djokovic saved a set point while serving at 4-5 in the first set and won the last four games of the second set.
   "I work hard to be able to come up with the best game when it's the most needed," Djokovic, who will meet 12th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada for the title, told reporters. "Obviously, today the first set was decided in one or two points; second set was very close. Midway through the second I broke his serve, and last three games I played very well.
   "So I'm just glad to overcome this challenge that is one of the greatest in sport, as it always is playing against Rafa. I'm taking the positives out of today's performance and hoping that I can finish off this tournament tomorrow with another great performance."
   Djokovic improved to 25-23 against Nadal, a three-time Indian Wells champion who was seeded fourth, in the longest-running rivalry on the ATP World Tour during the Open era.
   However, Djokovic has won the last six meetings, all in straight sets, and 10 of the last 11. Nadal had failed to win more than three games in a set in their previous three matches. The 29-year-old left-hander has slumped since missing the summer of 2014 with a right wrist injury and undergoing an appendectomy that November.

Nadal has lost to Djokovic six straight times
and in 10 of their last 11 matches. 2015 photo
by Paul Bauman 

   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Raonic, blasting serves at up to 146 mph, beat 15th-seeded David Goffin, a 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Belgian, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
   Raonic went undefeated in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011-13).
   Djokovic, seeking his third straight Indian Wells title and record fifth overall, and Raonic will play after Sunday's 11 a.m. women's final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. ESPN will televise both matches.
   Williams and Azarenka have won four of the last six Bank of the West Classic titles at Stanford. Williams triumphed in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and Azarenka in 2010.
   Raonic is 0-2 in finals in Masters 1000 tournaments, the highest level after the Grand Slams. Djokovic will attempt to tie Nadal with 27 Masters 1000 titles.
   Djokovic, who has arguably the best return of serve in history, has lost only one set in five career matches against Raonic. In their last meeting, Djokovic won 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open en route to the title.
   In today's men's doubles final, No. 7 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France topped No. 6 seeds and defending champions Vasek Pospisil of Canada and Jack Sock of Lincoln, Neb., 6-3, 7-6 (5).
   Herbert and Mahut, the reigning U.S. Open champions, became the first French team to win the Indian Wells crown since Arnaud Clement and Sebastien Grosjean in 2004.
   Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe, playing in their maiden tournament together, defeated Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4 [10-6] in the first BNP women's doubles final between unseeded teams since 2009.
   Mattek-Sands won her 18th tour-level doubles title, including two Slams, and Vandeweghe her first. Vandeweghe, a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, lives in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe. The Capitals folded after their 28th season in the California capital in 2013. 

Isner, Young lose in first round; new rankings

   Two former champions in Sacramento-area tournaments were upset Monday on the ATP World Tour.
   Unseeded John Isner, who won a Futures tournament in Shingle Springs in 2007 in his professional debut, lost to qualifier Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9) in the first round of the $2.85 million Valencia (Spain) Open.
    Meanwhile, wild card Donald Young, the champion of the 2008 Sacramento Challenger, fell to lucky loser Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round of the $2.6 million Swiss Indoors Basel.
   Isner and Young are the third- and fifth-ranked Americans at No. 23 and a No. 43 in the world, respectively.
  Pospisil, 21, reached the singles quarterfinals in Tiburon and doubles semifinals in Sacramento and Tiburon last month. He saved a match point against the 6-foot-9 Isner at 7-8 in the tiebreaker before winning on his eighth match point in the 2-hour, 13-minute battle.
   It was the second victory over a top-25 player for the 6-4 Pospisil, who has skyrocketed from No. 339 in the world at the beginning of the year to No. 133. He defeated No. 22 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the first round at Cincinnati in August before losing to Roger Federer.
   Pospisil will meet the winner of the match between top seed and defending champion David Ferrer of Spain and former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco of Spain.
   New rankings -- Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 26 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.
   Mark Knowles, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2001-07, 2009-11) -- No. 43 in doubles (-1), unranked in singles.
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 39 in singles (no change), No. 236 in doubles (-2).
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native -- No. 116 in singles (no change), No. 31 in doubles (no change).
   David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 104 in doubles (+2), No. 660 in singles (+3).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- Career-high No. 131 in doubles (+2), 1,229 in singles (+7).
   Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 194 in singles (-1), unranked in doubles. 
   Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 282 in singles (+-1), No. 550 in doubles (+1).
   Dusan Vemic, Capitals (2010-11) -- No. 496 in doubles (+5), No. 1,519 in singles (+6).
   Kiryl Harbatsiuk, three-time Big Sky Conference MVP (2009-11) at Sacramento State -- No. 763 in singles (no change), No. 1,247 in doubles (+6).

Women

   Vania King, Capitals (2010-11) -- No. 6 in doubles (+1), No. 75 in singles (+2).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 37 in doubles (no change), No. 718 in singles (-2).
   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2011) -- No. 213 in doubles (-5), No. 403 in singles (no change).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- No. 341 in doubles (+36), No. 688 in singles (career high, no change).
       

With less drama, Karlovic tops Fischer again

   This time, Ivo Karlovic didn't have to save any match points.
   Not that there wasn't some suspense.
   The second-seeded Karlovic, a 6-foot-10 Croat, defeated unseeded Martin Fischer, a 5-11 Austrian, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 Friday in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   The third set was closer than the score indicated. Serving at 5-3, Karlovic saved three break points before triumphing on his third match point.
   Had Fischer converted one of the break points, he would have served to even the match at 5-5. Easier said than done against Karlovic, who unleashed a 156-mph serve in March to break Andy Roddick's record of 155.
   Last week in Sacramento, Karlovic survived two match points against him in the first round against Fischer and proceeded to win the title.
   Karlovic will play eighth-seeded Bjorn Phau, perhaps the fastest player in men's tennis, Saturday in a matchup of 32-year-olds in the Tiburon semifinals. Phau, a 5-9 German, eliminated unseeded Laurynas Grigelis, a 20-year-old Lithuanian, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
   Karlovic and Phau apparently play each other every five years. The head-to-head series is tied 1-1, with Phau winning 7-6 (5), 7-5 on a hardcourt in the Bronx, N.Y., in 2001 and Karlovic prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) on clay in Munich in 2006.
   In the other semifinal, top-seeded Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will face third-seeded Sam Querrey of Las Vegas in a matchup of 24-year-olds. Sweeting topped fifth-seeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, and Querrey dispatched unseeded Alex Kuznetsov of Tampa, Fla., 6-1, 6-4.
   Sweeting, a 6-5 native of the Bahamas, is 2-1 lifetime against Querrey, a 6-6 native of San Francisco (across the bay from Tiburon). They have met twice this year, with Sweeting winning on a hardcourt in Delray Beach, Fla., in February and on clay in Houston in April. He went on to win the Houston crown for his only ATP World Tour title.
   WTA tour in Osaka, Japan -- Top-seeded Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan led third-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a former Cal star from Fresno, and Abigail Spears of San Diego 6-0, 2-1 when rain suspended play early Saturday morning PDT in the doubles semifinals at the HP Japan Women's Open. King and Shvedova won the first eight games.

$100,000 FIRST REPUBLIC BANK TIBURON CHALLENGER

 At Tiburon Peninsula Club

 Singles quarterfinals

   Ryan Sweeting (1), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., def. Vasek Pospisil (5), Canada, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Ivo Karlovic (2), Croatia, def. Martin Fischer, Austria, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Bjorn Phau (8), Germany, def. Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania, 6-3, 6-2. Sam Querrey (3), Las Vegas, def. Alex Kuznetsov, Tampa, Fla., 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles semifinals

   Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione, Australia, def. Vasek Pospisil, Canada, and Bobby Reynolds, Acworth, Ga., 6-4, 6-3.

Saturday's schedule

Stadium Court

(Beginning at 11 a.m.)

   Sweeting (1) vs. Querrey (3), Phau (8) vs. Karlovic (2) not before 1 p.m., Kuznetsov and Sweeting vs. Johnson and Querrey.

       

Prospects Pospisil, Grigelis reach Tiburon quarters

   Remember the names: Vasek Pospisil and Laurynas Grigelis.
   Two of the brightest prospects in men's professional tennis, they have skyrocketed about 200 places each in the world rankings this year. On Thursday, they reached the quarterfinals of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   Pospisil, a 21-year-old Canadian, routed Roman Borvanov of Moldova 6-3, 6-0. The 6-foot-4 Pospisil, who beat 22nd-ranked Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the first round at Montreal in August before losing to Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3, has soared from No. 339 at the beginning of the year to No. 135.
   Grigelis, a 20-year-old Lithuanian, outlasted fourth-seeded Bobby Reynolds, a 29-year-old American who reached a career-high No. 63 two years ago, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4. Grigelis lacks Pospisil's size but has a tremendous two-handed backhand. He won the Aptos Challenger at 19 in July and has jumped from No. 404 at the beginning of the year to No. 212. 
   In today's quarterfinals, Pospisil will meet top-seeded Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Grigelis will face eighth-seeded Bjorn Phau of Germany, second-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia will take on Martin Fischer of Austria, and third-seeded Sam Querrey will play fellow American Alex Kuznetsov.
   Querrey, 6-6,  was born across the bay in San Francisco and lived in Santa Rosa until moving to Las Vegas at 8 and Thousand Oaks at 11. Phau, 5-9, is one of the fastest players in tennis.
   Karlovic, 6-10, saved two match points against Fischer in the first round of the Sacramento Challenger last week and went on to win the title. 
   WTA tour in Osaka, Japan -- Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals lost to second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France 6-1, 6-2 in the second round of the $220,000 HP Japan Women's Open Tennis. Bartoli avenged a loss to King three weeks ago in the second round at Seoul, South Korea. It was King's first singles victory over a top-10 player.
   Top-seeded King and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan overwhelmed Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-1 to reach the doubles semifinals. King and Shvedova will face third-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a former Cal All-American from Fresno, and Abigail Spears of San Diego.
   ATP World Tour in Shanghai -- Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan, former Stanford All-Americans, lost to sixth-seeded Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 tiebreak in the doubles quarterfinals of the $3.24 million Shanghai Rolex Masters.
   Fystenberg and Matkowski, the U.S. Open runners-up last month, had dismissed Tommy Robredo of Spain and Dmitry Tursunov of Folsom 6-1, 6-2 in the second round.

$100,000 FIRST REPUBLIC BANK TIBURON CHALLENGER

At Tiburon Peninsula Club

Second-round singles

   Ryan Sweeting (1), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., def. Alex Bogdanovic, Great Britain, 6-2, 6-1. Alex Kuznetsov, Tampa, Fla., def. Uladzimir Ignatik, Belarus, 7-6 (8), 7-5. Sam Querrey (3), Las Vegas, def. Amer Delic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6-4, 6-2. Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania, def. Bobby Reynolds (4), Acworth, Ga., 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4. Vasek Pospisil (5), Canada, def. Roman Borvanov, Moldova, 6-3, 6-0. Bjorn Phau (8), Germany, def. Alejandro Gonzalez, Colombia, 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Alex Kuznetsov, Tampa, Fla., and Ryan Sweeting, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., def. Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (1), Colombia, 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 tiebreak. Steve Johnson, Orange, and Sam Querrey, Las Vegas, def. Brian Battistone and Chris Wettengel, Las Vegas, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4). Vasek Pospisil, Canada, and Bobby Reynolds, Acworth, Ga., def. Treat Conrad Huey, Philippines, and Izak Van der Merwe (2), South Africa, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 tiebreak. Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione, Australia, def. Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania, and Uladzimir Ignatik, Belarus, 6-1, 6-2.

Friday's schedule

Stadium Court

(Beginning at 11 a.m.)

   Sweeting (1) vs. Pospisil (5), Fischer vs. Karlovic (2), Ball and Guccione vs. Pospisil and Reynolds, Querrey (3) vs. Kuznetsov.

Court 1

(Beginning at noon)

   Phau (8) vs. Grigelis.