Novikov doubles title, college tourneys, USTA 30 Indoors

Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay
Area won the doubles title in the Tallahassee (Fla.)
Challenger with Julio Peralta of Chile. 2015 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area and Julio Peralta of Chile on Saturday won the doubles title in the $50,000 Tallahassee (Fla.) Challenger for the second consecutive year.
   The top-seeded pair edged unseeded Peter Luczak, a former Fresno State star, and Marc Polmans of Australia 3-6, 6-4 [12-10] in the final on green clay.
   Novikov also won the Maui Challenger doubles crown in January with Jason Jung, a Los Angeles-area native who plays for Taiwan.
   Quentin Halys of France won the Tallahassee singles title in a battle of top teenage prospects. Halys, 19, defeated Frances Tiafoe, 18, of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2.
   Halys and Tiafoe reached the semifinals of the Tiburon and Fairfield Challengers, respectively, in Northern California last October.
   In the Estoril (Portugal) Open doubles semifinals, fourth-seeded Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, beat second-seeded Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 7-5.
   Butorac, who played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2008, and Lipsky will take on top-seeded Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.
   Huey and Lipsky won the 2015 title.
   Colleges -- The No. 1-seeded Fresno State women beat No. 4 San Jose State 4-2 to reach the final of the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. The Bulldogs, ranked 47th, will face UNLV, seeded third and ranked 72nd, for the title.
   The No. 8-seeded Fresno State men lost to No. 4 UNLV 4-2 in the Mountain West semifinals in Las Vegas.
   The Pepperdine women, seeded first and ranked eighth, pounded third-seeded Saint Mary's 4-0 in Claremont, Calif., to win their fourth straight title in the West Coast Conference Championships.
   The host Sacramento State men and women lost in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Championships at the Gold River Racquet Club. The No. 5-seeded Hornets men fell to No. 1 Weber State 4-1, and the No. 2 Hornets women lost to No. 3 and defending champion Idaho 4-2.
   The Sac State women had reached the Big Sky final for 14 consecutive years, winning 13 straight titles before falling in last year's final.
   USTA 30 Indoors -- Vittorio Fratta of Walnut Creek upset fourth-seeded Thomas Morton of Citrus Heights 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the USTA National Men's, Women's & Mixed 30 Indoor Championships at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center in Gold River.
   In today's men's semifinals, Fratta will face No. 2 seed Calle Hansen, 36, of Newbury Park at 9 a.m., and No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Jan Tiilikainen, 44, of Reno will play No. 3 Tyler Browne, 30, of Walnut Creek at noon.
   Browne, a former Cal standout and now the associate head coach of the Bears men, eliminated 2015 runner-up Ryan Sablan of Martinez 6-4, 6-2.
   Both women's semis are scheduled for 9 a.m. No. 1 seed Evgenia Dockter of Atlanta will face Brooke Biddle of Dallas, and No. 2 seed and defending champion Marisue Jacutin-Mariona of Los Altos will meet Francesca LaO of San Francisco.

Oh, brother: Fresno State men stun Utah State

   In a matchup of coaching brothers, the eighth-seeded Fresno State men stunned top-seeded Utah State 4-2 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Championships in Las Vegas.
   Jeremy Moser clinched the victory for Fresno State, coached by Luke Shields, on Court 6. Moser, a freshman from Switzerland, defeated Andrew Nakajima of Utah State, coached by Clancy Shields, 7-5, 6-4.
   The Bulldogs will play fourth seed and host UNLV today. The Rebels beat fifth-seeded New Mexico 4-2.
   Fresno State also reached the women's semifinals in Fort Collins, Colo. The top-seeded Bulldogs will face fourth-seeded San Jose State after both teams won easily.
   Meanwhile, the top-seeded Pepperdine and third-seeded Saint Mary's women reached the final of the West Coast Conference Championships in Claremont, Calif., with 4-0 victories.
   The Waves, ranked eighth, whipped fourth-seeded Santa Clara, and the Gaels blitzed second-seeded Gonzaga.
   In the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Men's Championships, No. 5 seed and host Sacramento State beat No. 4 Montana 4-2 at the Gold River Racquet Club. The Hornets will take on No. 1 Weber State today.

Cal, Stanford women to meet in NCAA Round of 16

   The Cal and Stanford women are headed to a showdown in the NCAA Championships, while their male counterparts are headed home.
   The third-ranked Cal women advanced to the Round of 16 with a 4-0 triumph over No. 33 Mississippi State on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley.
   Across San Francisco Bay, the No. 14 Stanford women dominated No. 19 Pepperdine 4-1 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   In other women's matches, No. 1 USC women (22-2) trounced Youngstown State 4-0 at USC, and No. 40 Saint Mary's lost to No. 26 Northwestern 4-0 at UCLA. USC's Giuliana Olmos, a junior from Fremont, is ranked 14th nationally.
   Stanford (17-5) and Cal (22-3) will meet in the Round of 16 for the second straight year on Friday at 10 a.m. PDT in Waco, Texas. The Cardinal won 4-3 last May in Atlanta. The Bears swept this year's regular-season series, 4-3 at Stanford on March 1 and 5-2 in Berkeley on April 18.
   On the men's side, No. 23 Stanford and No. 26 Cal each lost 4-1 to top-10 teams playing on their home courts. The Cardinal (18-7) fell to No. 10 Duke in Durham, N.C., and the Bears (19-9) succumbed to No. 9 Texas in Austin, Texas.
   Advancing to the men's Round of 16 with 4-0 victories were No. 3 Virginia, featuring freshman Collin Altamirano of Sacramento, and No. 16 UCLA, with sophomore Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont. McDonald is ranked third and Altamirano 77th.
   On Thursday in Waco, Virginia (25-3) will face No. 17 Columbia (16-5), and UCLA (17-9) will take on No. 1 Oklahoma (26-2).

Jullien of Saint Mary's repeats as WCC Player of Year

   Jenny Jullien of Saint Mary's was named the West Coast Conference Women's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, the league announced this week.
   Jullien, a senior from France, finished the regular season with a 16-2 record at No. 1 singles (7-1 in WCC play).
   Ranked ninth nationally, Jullien became the first competitor to repeat as the WCC Player of the Year since USF's Jenni Heinser earned the honor three times in a row from 2008 to 2010.
   Also named to the All-WCC women's first team in singles were Saint Mary's sophomore Jamie Pawid of Castro Valley, USF sophomore Andrea Ka of France and Santa Clara senior Katie Le of Milpitas. Thyra Taune of Sweden became the second straight USF player to earn WCC Freshman of the Year honors, following Ka.
   On the men's side, Santa Clara senior John Lamble of Saratoga and USF junior Bernardo Saraiva of Portugal were named to the All-WCC first team in singles. Pacific's Miguel Diaz of Castro Valley was chosen as the Freshman of the Year.
   The West Coast Conference men's and women's championships are scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday in San Diego.

Gasp! Stanford men drop NCAA opener

   The unthinkable occurred Friday.
   The Stanford men lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 35 appearances, falling to No. 20 LSU 4-2 in Malibu. The No. 40 Cardinal (12-12) played without injured freshman Trey Strobel at No. 6 singles.
   No. 42 Chris Simpson clinched the victory for LSU (16-11) by beating No. 50 John Morrissey 7-5, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
   Stanford has won 17 NCAA men's team titles but none since 2000, when the Cardinal won its fifth championship in six years.

Riki, left, and Ben McLachlan of Cal.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Meanwhile, the No. 18 Cal men defeated No. 33 Florida State 4-1 in Gainesville, Fla. Senior Riki McLachlan of New Zealand returned from a three-month injury layoff for the Bears, leading 6-2, 2-5 at No. 6 singles when the match was halted because Cal had clinched the overall victory.
   Riki's brother and teammate, Ben, defeated Dominic Cotrone 7-5, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Ben, a junior, is ranked No. 38,  and Cotrone is No. 92.
   The Bears (15-9) will play Denver, which beat host and No. 15 Florida 4-3, today at 1 p.m. PDT.
   The Sacramento State men lost to host and No. 4 USC 4-0. No. 16 Ray Sarmiento of the Trojans led No. 117 Marek Marksoo 7-6 (5) at No. 1 singles when the match was stopped.
   In the women's competition, No. 8 Cal and No. 12 Stanford breezed, but No. 40 Saint Mary's lost.
   Host Cal dominated Stony Brook 4-0. Zsofi Susanyi, ranked fifth in singles, returned for the Bears after suffering an undisclosed injury on April 26. The sophomore from Hungary routed Jackie Altansarnai 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.
   The Bears (17-5) will face No. 25 Auburn, a 4-2 winner over Saint Mary's, today at noon at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
   Host Stanford blanked Miami of Ohio 4-0 behind Nicole Gibbs, the NCAA defending champion in singles and doubles. The junior from Santa Monica crushed Nimisha Mohan 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
   The Cardinal (17-4) will meet No. 22 Rice, which edged No. 53 Pepperdine 4-3,today at 1 p.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

Player with prosthetic arm inspirational in Gaels' loss

Thomas Hunt of Saint Mary's serves against Tom Miller
of Sacramento State on Sunday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO -- Marek Marksoo, the top player for the Sacramento State men, returned from a one-month injury layoff to give the Hornets a dramatic 4-3 victory over Saint Mary's on Sunday.
   But that was only part of the story, as a poignant, inspirational scene unfolded at the far end of the Rio del Oro Racquet Club.
   Thomas Hunt of Saint Mary's performed amazingly well in a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Tom Miller at No. 6 singles. Hunt, a 6-foot-2 freshman from New Zealand, has a prosthetic left arm.
   He tossed the ball in the same place with his left arm every time on his serve and held his racket with his artificial hand while picking up balls. He slugged forehands and backhands with his strong right arm and showed good volleying form on occasional forays to the net. 

Hunt prepares to return serve.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Hunt, who dropped to 8-11 at No. 6 singles, was born without half of his left arm. It ends just above where the elbow should be, and his parents fitted him for a prosthetic arm months after his birth.

   Saint Mary's, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, bolted to a 3-1 lead against Sac State in the regular-season finale for both teams.
   The victory by Miller, a sophomore from England, pulled the Hornets within 3-2, and Sean Kolar tied it with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) win at No. 4 singles.
   Marksoo, a sophomore from Estonia returning from a sprained ankle, then outlasted Jesse Kiuru, a senior from Finland, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 to lift Sac State. Marksoo is ranked No. 117 and Kiuru No. 116. 
   Sac State (15-12) will be seeded first in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, scheduled for Friday through Sunday at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   Saint Mary's (9-14) will compete in the West Coast Conference Championships, which begin Wednesday in San Diego.

OTHER COLLEGE RESULTS

(Last day of regular season)

Men

   No. 60 Santa Clara def. Portland 5-2 in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: No. 75 John Lamble (SC) def. Ratan Gill 6-0, 1-6, 7-5. Team records: Santa Clara 16-9 overall, 4-4 West Coast Conference; Portland 10-10, 2-5.
   No. 71 Pacific def. UC Riverside 4-3 in Riverside. No. 1 singles: Jimmy Roberts (UCR) def. Sem Verbeek 6-4, 6-4. Team records: Pacific 14-8 overall, 4-2 Big West Conference; UC Riverside 3-20, 0-5.
   UC Irvine def. UC Davis 4-3 in Irvine. No. 1 singles: Ryan Cheung (UCI) def. Toki Sherbakov 6-3, 6-4. Team records: UC Irvine 9-16 overall, 5-1 Big West; UC Davis 8-12, 1-5.

Women

   No. 70 Oregon def. No. 58 Santa Clara in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: Nicole Long (O) def. No. 28 Katie Le 6-1, 7-5. Team records: Oregon 13-10, Santa Clara 9-9.

With artificial arm, Hunt plays for Div. I college

   Thomas Alexander Hunt is 8-10 at No. 6 singles for a struggling Saint Mary's team.
   But he might be the most remarkable player in college tennis, especially in Division I.
   The freshman from New Zealand was born without half of his left arm, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in the featured story of Wednesday's sports section.
   Hunt is scheduled to play today when Saint Mary's (9-13, 3-5 West Coast Conference) visits Sacramento State (14-12, 9-1 Big Sky Conference) in the regular-season finale for both teams. The dual match is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the Rio del Oro Racquet Club.
    Hunt's left arm ends just above where the elbow should be. His parents fitted him for a prosthetic arm months after his birth.
   "Some people don't use a prosthetic arm until they are older, and it takes them a while to get used to it," Hunt told the Chronicle. "I'm glad I got mine early because I became very comfortable with it at a young age."
   Hunt grew up on a 2,000-acre farm in a tennis-playing family. Thomas Alexander (he goes by Thomas and Alex) learned how to place the ball in his artificial hand and toss it to serve. He also developed a one-handed backhand.

   Hunt eventually met Lan Bale, a coach and former professional player who had connections with college coaches in the United States, and wound up at Saint Mary's in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

COLLEGE RESULTS
Men

   No. 18 Cal def. No. 42 Stanford 4-3 at Stanford. No. 1 singles: No. 37 Ben McLachlan (C) def. No. 42 John Morrissey (S) 6-2, 6-4. Team records: Cal 13-8 overall, 5-1 Pacific-12 Conference; Stanford 11-10, 3-4.
   UC Irvine def. No. 71 Pacific 4-2 in Irvine. No. 1 singles: Ryan Cheung (UCI) def. Alex Golding 6-2, 6-2. Team records: UC Irvine 8-16, 4-1 Big West Conference; Pacific 13-8, 3-2.
   UC Davis def. UC Riverside 7-0 in Riverside. No. 1 singles: Toki Sherbakov (UCD) def. Jimmy Roberts 6-2, 7-6. Team records: UC Davis 8-11, 1-4 Big West Conference; UC Riverside 3-18, 0-5.
   USF def. Gonzaga 4-3 in San Francisco. No. 1 singles: Alvaro Nazal (G) def. Thai Tu 6-0, 6-2. Team records: USF 12-7 overall, 4-4 West Coast Conference; Gonzaga 7-14, 0-8.

Women

   No. 9 Cal def. No. 12 Stanford 4-3 in Berkeley. No. 1 singles: No. 20 Nicole Gibbs (S) def. No. 7 Anett Schutting 6-2, 6-2. Team records: Cal 15-5 overall, 9-1 Pacific-12 Conference; Stanford 16-4, 8-2.
   No. 58 Santa Clara def. Portland 4-3 in Portland, Ore. No. 1 singles: No. 28 Katie Le (SC) def. Maja Mladenovic 6-3, 6-4. Team records: Santa Clara 12-8 overall, 7-1 West Coast Conference; Portland 8-13, 1-7.
   UC Davis def. Sonoma State 6-1 in Davis. No. 1 singles: Sara Celma (SS) def. Layla Sanders 6-4, 3-2, retired. Note: The Aggies played without their top singles player, Megan Heneghan, who has been plagued by a right foot injury for several weeks. Team records: UC Davis 10-12, Sonoma State 15-10.
   USF def. Gonzaga 6-1 in Spokane, Wash. No. 1 singles: Andrea Ka (USF) def. Katie Edwards 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Team records: USF 13-8 overall, 4-4 West Coast Conference; Gonzaga 9-12, 0-8.