Stanford's Zhao loses in doubles final of pro tourney

Carol Zhao, a Stanford junior from Canada, was seeded third
in the $25,000 Morgan Run Women's Open in Rancho Santa
Fe with Jessica Pegula. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman  

   Carol Zhao, a Stanford junior from Canada, lost in Saturday's doubles final at the $25,000 Morgan Run Women's Open in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
   Third-seeded Jessica Pegula of Charleston, S.C., and Zhao fell to top-seeded Americans Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-4.
   Zhao was trying to win her third doubles title in a professional tournament and first outside of Canada. She triumphed in $25,000 tournaments in Granby in 2013 with Lena Litvak of the United States and Gatineau last year with Jessica Moore of Australia.
   Zhao reached the NCAA singles final last May, losing to fellow sophomore Jamie Loeb of North Carolina in Waco, Texas. Loeb turned pro in August.
   In the Morgan Run singles final, top-seeded Zhang Shuai will meet unseeded Vania King in a matchup of 27-year-olds.
   Zhang reached the Australian Open quarterfinals as a qualifier last month. She had been 0-14 in Grand Slam tournaments before stunning second-seeded Simona Halep in the opening round in Melbourne.
   King, a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, returned to competition last August after missing almost one year with a herniated disc in her neck. She did not have surgery.
   College men -- Logan Staggs, a sophomore from Tracy, defeated Maciek Romanowicz 6-4, 6-3 on Court 5 to give No. 4 UCLA a 4-3 victory over No. 29 and host Stanford.
   On Court 1, No. 19 Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and UCLA beat No. 4 Tom Fawcettt 6-3, 7-5. McDonald advanced to the semifinals of the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger and quarterfinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger last October.
   The Bruins improved to 9-2, and the Cardinal dropped to 5-6.

Querrey, Bellis lose; Federer pulls out of Indian Wells

Dominic Thiem, playing at Indian Wells in 2014,
dismissed Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-2 in 57 minutes in
the semifinals at Acapulco. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Dominic Thiem emphatically ended Sam Querrey's winning streak at eight matches on Friday.
   Thiem, seeded fourth, overwhelmed the unseeded Querrey 6-2, 6-2 in 57 minutes in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
   Thiem, a 22-year-old Austrian, will meet fifth-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia for the first time in today's final. Tomic, 23, beat unseeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Querrey, a 28-year-old San Francisco native, won his eighth career title but first since 2012 last week in Delray Beach.
   BNP Paribas Open -- Four-time champion Roger Federer, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Feb. 3, has withdrawn from the March 7-20 tournament in Indian Wells.
   Federer had played Indian Wells for 15 consecutive years, winning the title from 2004 through 2006 and in 2012. He has been the runner-up to Novak Djokovic for the past two years. Federer, 34, entered the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters, scheduled for April 10-17.
   ITF Women's Circuit -- Defending champion CiCi Bellis, 16, of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to veteran Vania King of Long Beach 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Morgan Run Women's Open in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
   King, a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, returned to competition last August after missing almost one year with a herniated disc in her neck. She did not have surgery.
   In an all-American doubles semifinal, Bellis and Jacqueline Cako fell to top-seeded Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend 6-1, 6-3.
   Muhammad and Townsend will play third-seeded Jessica Pegula of Charleston, S.C., and Carol Zhao, a Stanford junior from Canada.
   Pegula and Zhao edged unseeded Mayo Hibi, an Irvine product who plays for her native Japan, and Grace Min of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-1, 3-6 [14-12].
   College women -- Freshman Olivia Hauger outlasted Brianna Morgan 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Court 5 to lift No. 1 Cal over No. 7 Florida 4-3 in Berkeley. The Bears improved to 10-0, and the Gators dropped to 5-1.
   College men -- Max de Vroome upset Tom Fawcett on Court 1, leading No. 13 USC over No. 29 and host Stanford 5-2. De Vroome, ranked 65th, topped Fawcett, ranked fourth, 6-5, 2-6, 6-2. The Trojans are 7-2, and the Cardinal is 5-5.

Querrey holds off Fritz; Bellis reaches quarters

Sam Querrey advanced to the semifinals in Acapulco.
2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Sam Querrey dominated the three-week Challenger swing through Northern California in 2014. Taylor Fritz did so last year.
   The native Californians met for the first time on Thursday, with Querrey prevailing 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the hardcourt Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
   Querrey, who at 28 is 10 years older than Fritz, won the title in Delray Beach last week and upset No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan in the second round in Acapulco.
   Fritz reached his first ATP final two weeks ago in Memphis and ousted eighth-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France in the first round in Acapulco.
   Fritz will become the youngest player in the top 100 on Monday, jumping from No. 102 to about No. 82.
   Querrey, originally from San Francisco, swept the Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon Challengers in 2014.
   Fritz, a lifelong resident of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area, won Sacramento and Fairfield (which replaced Napa) last October, and did not play in Tiburon.
   Querrey will play No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem, a 22-year-old Austrian who beat No. 7 seed and 2014 champion Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-5, 6-2, for the first time. Thiem won the title in Buenos Aires on clay two weeks ago, surprising Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
   In the other semifinal, fifth-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. Dolgopolov knocked off top-seeded David Ferrer, a 33-year-old Spaniard who won his fourth Acapulco title last year.  
   ITF Women's Circuit in Rancho Santa Fe -- Defending champion CiCi Bellis, 16, of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area reached the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Morgan Run Women's Open with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.
   Bellis, the runner-up in last week's $25,000 Surprise (Ariz.) Tennis Classic, will face 27-year-old veteran Vania King of Long Beach for the first time. King, a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, took out seventh-seeded Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
   Bellis also advanced to the doubles semifinals with countrywoman Jacqueline Cako.