Quinn loses in Orange Bowl doubles final; Ahn honored

    No. 7 seeds Edas Butvilas of Lithuania and Abedallah Shelbayh of Jordan, beat unseeded Nicholas Godsick of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., 6-2, 6-4 today to win the boys 18 doubles title in the Orange Bowl on clay in Plantation, Fla.

   Butvilas and Shelbayh, opponents in this year's Wimbledon boys doubles final, lost only one set during the week. They reached the quarterfinals of last week's Eddie Herr International Championships in Bradenton, Fla., in their first tournament together.

   Shelbayh is a freshman at the University of Florida, and Quinn has signed to play at Georgia.

   Godsick and Quinn won the Orange Bowl boys 16 doubles title last year. Shelbayh and Daniel Rincon of Spain earned the crown in 2019.

Stanford graduate Kristie Ahn won the WTA's Peachy Kellmeyer Player
Service Award for the second time. 2019 photo by Paul Bauman

   Godsick's mother, Mary Joe Fernandez, won consecutive Orange Bowl singles titles in the 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s (1982-85). A former top-five player in singles and doubles as a professional, Fernandez works as a tennis commentator for ESPN. Godsick's father, Tony Godsick, is Roger Federer's agent.

   WTA Tour — Kristie Ahn, a 29-year-old Stanford graduate, won the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the second time.

   The award, voted on by Ahn's peers, recognizes her work supporting fellow players and wider initiatives on behalf of the WTA. Ahn serves as a player representative on the WTA Board of Directors and was a member of the WTA Players' Council.

   Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain earned the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award. Suarez Navarro overcame Hodgkin's lymphoma to play in five tournaments this year before retiring at 33.

   Ranked as high as No. 6 in singles (2016) and No. 11 in doubles (2015), Suarez Navarro won the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2014 with compatriot Garbiñe Muguruza.

Djokovic tops Zverev, eyes history vs. Medvedev in final

Novak Djokovic needs one more victory to earn the first calendar-
year Grand Slam in 52 years and a record 21st major singles title.
2015 photo by Paul Bauman

  Only Daniil Medvedev stands in the way of history for Novak Djokovic.

  In a match filled with breathtaking rallies, the top-ranked Djokovic defeated No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 tonight in the U.S. Open to move within one victory of becoming the first man to earn a calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.

   Djokovic, who lost the first set for the fourth consecutive match, also can break the record of 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles he shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both of whom missed the U.S. Open with injuries. 

   Djokovic ended the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev's winning streak at 16 matches, including the gold medal in men's singles in the Tokyo Olympics. Zverev, who has denied domestic abuse allegations, ended Djokovic's bid for a Golden Slam in the Olympic semifinals.

   Zverev advanced to last year's U.S. Open final, losing to Dominic Thiem after leading two sets to none.

   In tonight's fifth set, Zverev blew an overhead to trail by two service breaks at 0-4, and Djokovic held for 5-0. Zverev then held serve and converted his fifth break point on Djokovic's double fault for 2-5, but Djokovic broke back for the match.

   On Djokovic's first set point in the third set, Zverev ended a 53-ball rally with an inside-out forehand passing shot. Djokovic put away an overhead on the next point to take the set. 

   Djokovic won the fourth set when he finished a 30-ball rally with a forehand cross-court passing shot.

   Djokovic is scheduled to play the second-seeded Medvedev of Russia on Sunday at 1 p.m. (ESPN).

   The 6-foot-6 Medvedev, 25, eliminated No. 12 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, the first Canadian man to reach the U.S. Open semis, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 to advance to his third Grand Slam singles final. Medvedev rallied from 2-5 in the second set and saved two set points at 4-5.

   Medvedev lost to Nadal in five sets in the 2019 U.S. Open final and to Djokovic in straight sets in this year's Australian Open title match.

  Djokovic is 5-3 against Medvedev, who has won three of the last five meetings.

   Men's doubles — No. 4 seeds Rajeev Ram, a 37-year-old volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat No. 7 seeds Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 for their second Grand Slam men's doubles crown.

   Ram and Salisbury, who also won the 2020 Australian Open, saved four match points against unseeded Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell of Australia in the quarterfinals.

   Ram also owns two Australian Open mixed doubles titles (with Barbora Krejcikova in 2019 and 2021) and an Olympic silver medal in mixed doubles (with Venus Williams in 2016.)

   Salisbury, 29, also advanced to the U.S. Open mixed doubles final with Desirae Krawczyk of Palm Desert, Calif. Seeded second, they are set to play unseeded Giuliana Olmos, an Austria native who grew up in Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area and represents Mexico, and Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador on Saturday. 

   Salisbury is trying to become the first player to win the men's doubles and mixed doubles titles in the same year at the U.S. Open since Bob Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) in 2010.

   Krawczyk, a 27-year-old left-hander, seeks her third consecutive Grand Slam mixed doubles crown. She won the French Open with Salisbury and Wimbledon with Neal Skupski of Great Britain this year.

   Krawczyk and Olmos claimed the doubles title in the last (2017) Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger.

   Soares, 39, was playing in his first tournament since Wimbledon. He had an appendectomy upon arriving in Tokyo for the Olympics.

   Murray, Andy's older brother, and Soares won the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2016. Soares also prevailed at Flushing Meadows last year with Mate Pavic of Croatia.

   Boys doubles — Wild cards Nicholas Godsick of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., surprised No. 3 seeds Sean Cuenin and Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg of France 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

   Godsick's parents are Mary Joe Fernandez, a former top-five player in singles and doubles who now works as an ESPN commentator, and Tony Godsick, Federer's agent.

Fresno's Quinn falls in National boys 18 doubles final

   No. 1 seeds Bruno Kuzuhara of Coconut Creek, Fla., and Ben Shelton of Gainesville, Fla., defeated No. 2 seeds Sebastian Gorzny of Fountain Valley in the Los Angeles area and Ethan "The Mighty" Quinn of Fresno, Calif., 6-4, 6-4 today in the final of the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.

   Quinn won the Orange Bowl boys 16 doubles title with Nicholas Godsick of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, on clay in December.

   Godsick's mother, Mary Joe Fernandez, reached the top five in singles and doubles as a professional. She now works as a tennis commentator on ESPN. Godsick's father, Tony Godsick, is Roger Federer's agent.

   ATP Tour — In the doubles semifinals 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 beat unseeded Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen of Belgium 6-3, 7-5.

   Ram and Salisbury are scheduled to play No. 1 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia on Sunday. Mektic and Pavic edged No. 4 seeds Kevin Krawietz of Germany and Horia Tecau of Romania 7-6 (3), 7-6 (12), saving four set points in the second set tiebreaker and converting their fourth match point.

   Mektic and Pavic have won nine tour-level titles this year, including Wimbledon and the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. They are 4-0 against Ram and Salisbury in 2021.

  Ram and Salisbury, the Australian Open champions in 2020 and runners-up this year, seek their first title of 2021.

   WTA Tour — Kristie Ahn, a 29-year-old Stanford graduate, and Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost in the first round of qualifying in Cincinnati.

Bay Area native Shibahara wins her biggest doubles title

   Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan earned their tour-leading third title of the year and the biggest of their careers today.

   The fifth-seeded Aoyama, 33, and Shibahara, a 23-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, beat eighth-seeded Hayley Carter, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Luisa "Gwen" Stefani of Brazil 6-2, 7-5 in the Miami Open, a WTA 1000 tournament.

   Aoyama, only 5-foot-1 (1.54 meters), and Shibahara were winless in their three previous tournaments after beginning the year with 13 consecutive victories and two titles.

   The Japanese pair improved to 6-1 in WTA finals with a six-match winning streak. The loss came against Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke, then 44, in San Jose in 2019.

   Aoyama and Shibahara have not lost a set against Carter and Stefani — former All-Americans at North Carolina and Pepperdine, respectively — in three matches this year, including the Abu Dhabi final in January.

   Juniors — Top-seeded Juncheng Shang of China downed unseeded Ethan "Allen" Quinn of Fresno, Calif., 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2 to win the Easter Bowl in San Diego.

   Quinn's winning streak ended at 11 matches. He won last week's International Open of Southern California in San Diego.

   In the boys 16 doubles final, Ethan Schiffman of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., in the San Diego area and Emon van Loben Sels of Sacramento, Calif., defeated David "You Don't" Saye of Charlotte, N.C., and Eli "Manning" Stephenson of Louisville, Ky., 6-7 (tiebreaker score not available), 6-1, 6-1.

   Colleges — The Stanford women, who have won the last two NCAA titles and three of the last four, lost to Oregon for the first time in school history and suffered their second consecutive loss for the first time since 2016.

   Uxia Martinez Moral outlasted Sara Choy, a junior from Palo Alto, Calif., 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 on Court 4 to give the No. 46 Ducks (12-5, 5-3 Pacific-12 Conference) a 4-3 victory over the No. 25 Cardinal (10-2, 6-1) in Eugene, Ore.

   Meanwhile, No. 7 Pepperdine handed California its first home loss of the season, 4-3. Shiori Fukuda gave the Waves (13-2) a 4-0 lead with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Valentina Ivanov on Court 3. The Bears fell to 13-4.

   In a men's match, host Stanford routed No. 17 Arizona 5-1 to improve to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-12. The Cardinal's Axel "Uri" Geller defeated No. 63 Jonas "Brothers" Ziverts 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Court 1.

Stanford signee, Fresno resident take ITF crowns

   Alexandra Yepifanova, a Stanford signee from Lake Worth, Fla., and Ethan "Allen" Quinn of Fresno, Calif., won the 18-and-under singles titles today in the ITF Grade 1 International Open of Southern California in San Diego.

   The top-seeded Yepifanova defeated 10th-seeded Reese "Witherspoon" Brantmeier of Whitewater, Wis., 7-6 (7), 6-2, saving two set points in the first set. Quinn, a wild card, beat fifth-seeded Samir Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J., 6-1, 6-4. 

   ATP Tour — Seventh-seeded Rajeev Ram "Tough," a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury "Steak" of Great Britain outplayed Austin "Powers" Krajicek of Plano, Texas, and Franko Skugor of Croatia 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the Miami Open, a Masters 1000 tournament.

   Alternates Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico eliminated "Baltimore" Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14), a New Zealand product who plays for his mother's native Japan, 6-3, 6-4.

   College women —No. 19 Cal edged No. 47 Washington State 4-3 in Berkeley. Hannah "Montana" Viller Moeller beat Pang Jittakoat 6-2, 6-4 on Court 4 to give the Bears (12-3, 5-1 Pacific-12 Conference) an insurmountable 4-1 lead. The Cougars fell to 10-7 and 2-3.

   No. 35 Stanford, which has won the last two NCAA titles and three of the last four, outclassed No. 49 Washington 6-1 at Stanford. The Cardinal's Michaela Gordon, a senior from Saratoga, Calif., near Stanford, edged No. 30 Vanessa Wong 6-4, 6-7 (6) [12-10] on Court 1. Stanford improved to 10-0 and 6-0, and the Huskies dropped to 9-6 and 1-5.

NorCal's Quinn claims Orange Bowl 16s doubles title

   Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., and Nicholas Godsick of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, won the Orange Bowl boys 16 doubles title today.

   The fourth-seeded Quinn and Godsick beat third-seeded Lucas Brown of Plano, Texas, and John Kim of Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area 7-6 (0), 6-4 on clay in Plantation, Fla.

   Quinn won the 16s singles title in the USTA Winter Nationals on clay in Orlando, Fla., in January.

   Godsick's mother, Mary Joe Fernandez, won consecutive Orange Bowl singles titles in the 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s (1982-85). A former top-five player in singles and doubles as a professional, Fernandez now works as a tennis commentator for ESPN. Godsick's father, Tony Godsick, is Roger Federer's agent.

   In the other 16s finals:

   —Fifteenth-seeded Jonah Braswell of Sarasota, Fla., crushed fifth-seeded Ignacio Buse of Peru 6-0, 6-1.

   —Valeria Ray of Doral, Fla., downed Tatum Evans of McLean, Va., 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in a matchup of unseeded players.

   —Vivian Miller of Sullivans Island, S.C., and Maddy Zampardo of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., edged Ahmani Guichard of Seminole, Fla., and Lexington Reed of Orlando 6-4, 3-6 [10-6]. Both teams were unseeded.

   The boys and girls 18s singles semifinals and doubles finals are scheduled for Saturday.

Quinn wins all-NorCal boys 16 final in Winter Nationals

   Sixth-seeded Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., beat fifth-seeded Kurt Miller of Los Gatos, Calif., in the San Jose area 6-2, 6-2 today to win the boys 16 singles title in the USTA National Winter Championships on clay in Orlando, Fla.
   Quinn did not lose a set in seven matches. Miller was coming off a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over third-seeded Michael Zheng of Montville, N.J., on Thursday.
   In the boys 18 doubles final on a hardcourt in Orlando, fourth-seeded Keshav Chopra of Marietta, Ga., and Coy Simon of Charleston, S.C., topped third-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara, Calif., also near San Jose, 4-6, 6-2, retired.
   Chaudhary and Zapp, who won the singles title, will enroll at Stanford and North Carolina, respectively.
   Top-seeded Natalie Block of Plantation, Fla., and Aubrey Nisbet of Wilmington, Del., won the girls 16 doubles crown on clay in Orlando. They wore down unseeded Katie Codd of Carlsbad in the San Diego region and Tomi Main of Seaside, near Monterey, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Codd claimed the singles title.