After unexpected drama, Collins wins second title in row

Fiery Danielle Collins exults after winning a point during her three-set victory
over Daria Kasatkina today in San Jose, Calif. Photo by Mal Taam

Daria Kasatkina gathers her thoughts during today's final. Photo by Mal Taam

   SAN JOSE, Calif. — It easily could have been over in 75 minutes.

   Instead, today's final in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic went to three sets that included a nerve-wracking tiebreaker, which was practically a match in itself.

   In the end, No. 7 seed Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., defeated No. 4 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (10), 6-1 in 2 hours, 18 minutes for her second consecutive title. 

   Collins had two championship points with Kasatkina serving at 3-5 in the second set, three in the tiebreaker and two in the final game, finally capitalizing when Kasatkina netted a runaround forehand.

   Kasatkina led 4-0 in the tiebreaker and converted her third set point when Collins netted a forehand.

   "Toward the end of the second set, I became a little bit too much of my own critic," Collins told reporters. "I was being really hard on myself. I had to have a reality check after losing that tiebreak and just say, Let's keep the positive energy going here. Let's not let this get me down.

   "I was actually in a similar situation a couple years ago. I played here against Maria Sakkari. I was up a set and by a lot in the second set, and I ended up losing that match in three sets. It was a heartbreaker because I was in control the whole way through. I feel like that experience gave me so much confidence today. Losing the tiebreak wasn't going to define me as a player. I just had to come back and be stronger."

   Collins did, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the third set. After Kasatkina broke for 1-2, Collins reeled off the last four games.

   "She started 2-0 up and 3-1 (in the third set), and it would be different story if it were 2-all or something," said the 24-year-old Kasatkina, who ousted top-seeded Elise Mertens in the semifinals. "But when the opponent is winning game by game in the third set and you're already pretty tired, it's like the life is leaving your body."

   The 27-year-old Collins, meanwhile, prides herself on her fitness. She extended her winning streak to 10 matches, including her first career title two weeks ago on clay in Palermo.
   Collins will rise eight notches to No. 28 in the world, five spots off her career high in January 2019.

   The first American to reach the Mubadala final in the three editions of the tournament, Collins ultimately overpowered Kasatkina with her serve, return of serve and groundstrokes. The aggressive, fiery Collins pounded 12 aces to Kasatkina's two and won 61.5 percent of the points on her second serve (32 of 52) to Kasatkina's 37.8 percent (17 of 45).

   Both finalists carried scars onto the court at San Jose State University as the tournament marked the record 50th anniversary of women's tour tennis in the San Francisco Bay Area. Collins' are literal, while Kasatkina's are figurative.

   Collins had surgery for endometriosis, a painful disorder 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.

   "Before having the surgery, I was just not able to perform consistently tournament after tournament after tournament and have the stamina because I was constantly dealing with many, many issues in that area," Collins, an Australian Open semifinalist in 2019 and French Open quarterfinalist last October, said Saturday. "Now, it's giving me so much confidence knowing that my body is going to be able to show up consistently and I'm not going to be in physical agony or having to pull out of matches because of that issue."

   Collins has gone 14-2 since Wimbledon, reaching (in order) a quarterfinal and a semifinal before her  two titles.

   "It's been so rewarding to feel healthy," she said. "This is the best I've felt in a long, long time. For so many years, I got used to dealing with that. It got slowly and progressively worse, and I thought, Oh, this is a normal thing to be dealing with, and it really wasn't. The surgery has helped me so much. You couldn't pay me millions of dollars to go back to what I was dealing with. 

   "I know that things can change very quickly, so I'm trying to ride out this great period of good health. I'm very fortunate." 

   Collins now can focus on her matches instead of her body.

   "One of the biggest challenges for me in my career was the physical, and it became mental as well because it was like, I just can't do this," said Collins, who won two NCAA singles titles at the University of Virginia. "It's physically impossible. I have to pull out of the match today because I'm throwing up and I have flu-like symptoms and I have a fever and I have fallen over and I can't feel anything in my foot because of sciatic nerve pain."
   Kasatkina reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018, soaring to No. 10 in the world at age 21. One year later, she had plunged to No. 69. 

   "Mostly, it was a mental thing," Kasatkina candidly said Saturday. "I put too much pressure on myself after the success from the 2018 season. I was expecting too much from myself, and that was obviously too much to handle.

   "I had a mental breakdown for a few months. Then it's always difficult to come back because you're competing on the highest level. Just to come back, I needed twice more effort, and that was tough. Actually, the pandemic helped me a little bit because there (were) no tournaments, and I had time to work on it."

    Ranked No. 71 at the end of last year, Kasatkina will improve four places to No. 27. 

    "I've been working a lot, not just a lot but in the right way," she said. "Last year, when the pandemic starts, I spend a lot of time on the court and in the gym. Also, I was doing a lot of work with my mental coach.

   "Hard work pays off, and I was just waiting for the moment when the puzzle (will) be completed. Now I'm happy (with) the way I'm doing, and I will just keep going this way."   

   Kasatkina added that she's trying to focus more on herself.

   "Before, I was studying the matches of my opponents and trying to play more from the opponent," she said, "but now I'm trying to go more from myself, to be dependent on my game, not on the game of the other girl." 

   In today's doubles final, second-seeded Darija Jurak of Croatia and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia beat top-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 6-1, 7-5.

   Jurak, 37, won her eighth WTA doubles title and first with Klepac, 35, who has nine WTA doubles crowns overall.

   Stefani, a former Pepperdine All-American, won the bronze medal in women's doubles with Laura Pigossi in the Tokyo Olympics last week.

   Dabrowski reached the women's doubles final at Wimbledon in 2019 with Xu Yifan of China and won the mixed doubles title in the 2017 French Open with Rohan Bopanna of India and in the 2018 Australian Open with Mate Pavic of Croatia.

   Here are the complete singles and doubles draws.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — No. 2 seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany won her first singles title in over six years, routing unseeded Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt 6-1, 6-1 in 61 minutes on clay. Sherif, who ousted top-seeded Alize Cornet of France in the first round, became the first Egyptian to reach a WTA singles final.

   ATP Tour — No. 5 seed Jannik Sinner, 19, of Italy outlasted unseeded Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in Washington, D.C., to become the youngest ATP 500 champion since the category was created in 2009.

   McDonald, who eliminated reigning champion Nick Kyrgios in the opening round, saved 10 set points in the first set and 16 break points in the match.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., will soar 43 notches to No. 64 after his first ATP final. He climbed to a career-high No. 57 in April 2019 but had right hamstring surgery the following June and missed seven months.

   In the doubles final, No. 4 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan beat No. 2 seeds Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Michael Venus of New Zealand 7-6 (4), 6-4.

   McLachlan, a New Zealand product who represents his mother's native country, won his seventh ATP doubles title overall and second with Klaasen.

   Venus won the bronze medal in men's doubles in Tokyo with Marcus Daniell. Skupski played for the California Dream of World TeamTennis in 2015, the squad's only year of existence.

Top seed falls in San Jose; McDonald in first ATP final

No. 4 seed Daria Kasatkina ousted No. 1 seed Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-2 today
in the semifinals in San Jose, Calif. Photo by Mal Taam

No. 7 seed Danielle Collins routed qualifier Ana Konjuh 6-0, 6-2 in 52 minutes
for her ninth consecutive victory. Photo by Mal Taam

   SAN JOSE, Calif. — Second-seeded Elena Rybakina exited the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on Friday night, followed by top-seeded Elise Mertens this afternoon.

   Not coincidentally, both played in the Tokyo Olympics last week.

   The 16-hour time change and short turnaround proved to be too much for Belgium's Mertens, who lost in the first round of Olympic singles and doubles, and Kazakhstan's Rybakina, who fell in the bronze-medal match.

   "It was definitely a tough schedule, but to skip the Olympics, that would be a bit tough," Mertens, ranked No. 17 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, told the media with a chuckle after falling to resurgent Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-2 on a hot, hazy day as smoke from Northern California wildfires drifts to the San Francisco Bay Area. "It was my first time, and it was a nice experience. But yeah, in 17 days, I think I was in the U.K., Belgium, Tokyo and then here."

   Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Kasatkina and the other Mubadala finalist, seventh-seeded Danielle Collins, were off last week. Kasatkina, in fact, is playing in her first tournament since narrowly losing in the second round at Wimbledon five weeks ago.

   Kasatkina, a 24-year-old Russian, scored the only break of the first set today on a backhand error by Mertens to lead 5-3 and reeled off the last five games of the match.

   Mertens committed seven double faults in the match, put in only 52.8 percent of her first serves (38 of 72) and faced 14 break points to Kasatkina's one.

   "My energy was a little bit lower," Mertens conceded. "I had a tough one yesterday [6-3, 7-6 (8) over eighth-seeded Yulia Putintseva]. My legs were a little bit heavier."

   Kasatkina, a former top-10 player, has jumped 40 places to No. 31 this year. She said the heat didn't bother her.

   "I spent here already 10 days, and I got used to the heat," said Kasatkina, who was coming off two three-set matches. "At the beginning, it was really tough, but also with the years playing in the U.S., Asia and Australia, where it's super hot, you are getting used to it. It has become easier and easier to play in the heat." 

   Collins, 27, of St. Petersburg, Fla., crushed qualifier Ana Konjuh of Croatia 6-0, 6-2 in 52 minutes to improve to 13-2 since Wimbledon with a nine-match winning streak. She won her first WTA title two weeks ago on clay in Palermo and became the first American to reach the Mubadala final in the three editions of the tournament. 

  Collins put in 70 percent of her first serves (28 of 40) today and won 16 of 17 points on Konjuh's second serve.

   "I don't want to take a lot of credit for the match because my opponent didn't have her best day, so in some ways I feel a little lucky," said Collins, who won the first nine games. "But I made some improvements along the way in this tournament. Today was probably the highest first-serve percentage that I've had, so I'm proud of that. 

    "Part of the reason I was hitting my shots so well today is all the tough opponents I've had to play over the last couple days (Sloane Stephens and Rybakina) and how hard I've had to work for every point. I've played so many hard-hitting opponents who run down ball after ball, so I came out really feeling like I was hitting the ball clean and just played with a lot of confidence the entire way through."  

   Ironically, Konjuh surrendered only two games in the last two sets of her quarterfinal victory over Zhang Shuai. 

   "Overall, (Collins) was too aggressive for me today," said Konjuh, a former top-20 player who has had four right elbow operations. 

   Kasatkina seeks her fifth WTA singles title and third this year in Sunday's 4 p.m. final (Tennis Channel). She is 2-0 against Collins. In their only hardcourt encounter, Kasatkina prevailed 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-1 in the semifinals of the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne in February en route to the title. 

   In doubles, 46-year-old Kveta Peschke's reign in the tournament ended in the semifinals. Top-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani, a former Pepperdine All-American from Brazil, edged Ellen Perez of Australia and Peschke, a Czech who won the first two Mubadala doubles crowns with other partners, 6-3, 4-6 [10-8].

   Dabrowski and Stefani, the bronze medalist in women's doubles in Tokyo, won the last five points. They are set to play second-seeded Darija Jurak of Croatia and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia on Sunday at 2 p.m.

   Here are the updated Mubadala singles and doubles draws.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) became the first Egyptian to reach a WTA final, defeating Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania 7-6 (1), 6-4 on clay in a clash of unseeded players. Buzarnescu won the inaugural (2018) Silicon Valley Classic.

   Sherif, 25, saved a set point in the first set and led 4-0 in the second set. She is slated to play second-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany on Sunday. Petkovic eliminated qualifier Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-4, 6-2.

   In the doubles final, Natela Dzalamidze of Russia and Kaja Juvan of Slovenia beat Katarzyna Piter of Poland and Sherif 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both teams were unseeded.

   ATP Tour — Bay Area product Mackenzie McDonald reached his first ATP final, topping his idol, Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in a battle of 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) unseeded players in the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

   Nishikori advanced to the final of the 2014 U.S. Open and won the Washington title in 2015.

   The 26-year-old McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., is scheduled to face rising star Jannik Sinner, a 19-year-old Italian, for the first time on Sunday at 2 p.m. PDT (Tennis Channel).

   Sinner, seeded fifth and ranked 24th, defeated Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, 7-6 (2), 6-1. The turning point came with Sinner serving at 5-6 in the first set and facing three set points at 0-40. He won the next five points to force a tiebreaker and dominated from there with his powerful serve and groundstrokes.

   Still, Brooksby will crack the top 100 for the first time at No. 99 just over seven months after turning pro. 

   Future Hall of Famer Andy Murray tweeted Friday: "Jenson Brooksby is the sort of player I love to watch...lots of variety..high tennis IQ....great in defence..(fire emoji)"

   No. 4 doubles seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan advanced to the final with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over unseeded Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. 

   Klaasen and McLachlan, a New Zealand product who represents his mother's native country, are set to play No. 2 seeds Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Michael Venus of New Zealand. Skupski played for the Sacramento-based California Dream of World TeamTennis in 2015, the squad's only year of existence.

   Daniell and Venus won the bronze medal in men's doubles in Tokyo.

Collins ousts No. 2 seed in San Jose; Brooksby in top 100

No. 7 seed Danielle Collins extended her winning streak to eight matches,
including her first career WTA title. Photo by Mal Taam

No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina said the 16-hour time change from Tokyo to San Jose,
Calif., was the biggest of her career. Photo by Mal Taam

   SAN JOSE, Calif. — Facing Elena Rybakina's booming serve, Danielle Collins needed all the help she could get.

   The fiery Collins lifted her arms, exhorting the home crowd, twice in the second set of her 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) victory over second-seeded Elena Rybakina tonight in the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   Rybakina, a 22-year-old Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan, led 5-3 in the first set and held two set points against Collins, 27, of St. Petersburg, Fla. Both players finished with five aces, with the 6-foot (1.84-meter) Rybakina serving at up to 119 mph (191.5 kph).

   "I just kept telling myself to do the best that I can," Collins, who won her first career WTA title two weeks ago on clay in Palermo, said after her eighth consecutive victory. "It's easy to get frustrated, but you have to remind yourself, OK, I'm playing one of the best players in the world and certainly one of the best servers in the world. If she's going to hit 119-mph serves, I kind of just have to roll with the punches a little bit and do everything I can to ride it out, and hopefully I'll get a couple free points here and there.

   "So, yeah, mentally (I was) just being persistent and just trying to stay positive and not get too down when she would ace me." 

   The 20th-ranked Rybakina, meanwhile, couldn't match Collins' intensity.

   "I think I was tired, not even like physically," said Rybakina, who lost to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the bronze-medal match of the Tokyo Olympics last week. "It's like reaction, focus because I had (a) tough trip to come here. I think that's why I couldn't focus better in the tiebreaks."

   Rybakina, who reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in the French Open in June, added that the 16-hour time change was the biggest of her career.

   The 36th-ranked Collins, a semifinalist in the 2019 Australian Open and quarterfinalist in last year's French Open, is scheduled to play qualifier Ana Konjuh, a former top-20 player from Croatia, for the first time on Saturday not before 6 p.m. PDT (Tennis Channel).

   Konjuh, who has had four operations on her right elbow, beat unseeded Zhang Shuai of China 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. 

   In the other semifinal, top-seeded Elise Mertens is set to play fourth-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia not before 3 p.m. (Tennis Channel). Kasatkina leads the head-to-head series 2-1.

   Collins and Mertens also reached the semifinals of the inaugural (2018) Silicon Valley Classic but did not play each other.

   Here are the 2021 singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — Unseeded Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt routed No. 8 seed Kristina Kucova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals on clay.

   Sherif, 25, is slated to face unseeded Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu, who won the inaugural (2018) Silicon Valley Classic, on Saturday. Buzarnescu, a 33-year-old left-hander, beat Czech Kristyna Pliskova, the twin sister of seventh-ranked Karolina Pliskova, 7-5, 6-3.

   Sherif also advanced to the doubles final with Katarzyna Piter of Poland. They will meet Natela Dzaladmidze of Russia and Kaja Juvan of Slovenia. Both teams are unseeded.

   ATP Tour — Just over seven months after turning pro, Jenson Brooksby will crack the top 100 in the world.

   The 20-year-old wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area will jump at least 31 places to No. 99 after dismissing No. 11 seed John Millman of Australia 6-1, 6-2 in 67 minutes in the quarterfinals of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

   Millman stunned Roger Federer to reach the quarterfinals of the 2018 U.S. Open and won Northern California Challengers in 2010 and 2015.

   Brooksby is scheduled to meet No. 5 seed Jannik Sinner, 19, of Italy for the first time on Saturday not before 1 p.m. (Tennis Channel). Neither player has lost a set this week.

   Sinner, ranked No. 24, beat unseeded Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach, Calif., in the Los Angeles region 6-4, 6-2. Johnson won the Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in 2012 and 2019.

   In the other semifinal not before 4 p.m. (Tennis Channel), 2015 champion Kei Nishikori is set to play Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product, in a matchup of undersized, unseeded players. McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., dispatched Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., 6-3, 6-2 to reach his second tour-level semifinal. Kudla advanced to the final of the 2015 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.

   Nishikori beat No. 14 seed Lloyd Harris of South Africa 6-3, 7-5. Harris, who won the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, stunned top-seeded Rafael Nadal on Thursday. 

   In the doubles quarterfinals, No. 4 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Tommy Paul of Miami by walkover. Paul won the singles title in the 2019 Tiburon Challenger.

Brooksby upsets No. 15 Auger-Aliassime; Mertens wins

Jenson Brooksby is approaching the top 100 just over
seven months after turning pro. 2021 photo courtesy
of USTA

   Jenson Brooksby continued his meteoric rise today, ousting Felix Auger-Aliassime, seeded second and ranked 15th, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

   Brooksby, a wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area playing in his first ATP 500 tournament, dominated Auger-Aliassime on the baseline and confounded the Canadian with deft drop shots in a matchup of 20-year-olds.

   Auger-Aliassime defeated Roger Federer en route to the semifinals on grass in Halle, Germany, in June and reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon last month.

   Brooksby turned pro in late December and advanced to the final of the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I., last month in the first grass-court tournament of his life. He will rise at least 15 places to a career-high No. 115 after this week.

   Brooksby is scheduled to play No. 11 seed John Millman of Australia on Friday at 11 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). Millman, ranked No. 43, beat 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka of Delray Beach, Fla., 6-3, 7-6 (4).

   Millman stunned Federer to reach the quarterfinals of the 2018 U.S. Open and won Northern California Challengers in 2010 and 2015.

   Also today, No. 14 seed Lloyd Harris of South Africa stunned top-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Harris won the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 6-4, 6-4 in their third meeting since late April.

   McDonald beat reigning champion Nick Kyrgios and No. 13 seed Benoit Paire of France in the first two  rounds. Ivashka knocked off No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the second round.

   Ivashka, 27, defeated McDonald in two European clay-court tournaments in the spring. 

   WTA Tour in San Jose, Calif. — Top-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium outlasted Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   In her first quarterfinal in her last seven tournaments, Mertens will play eighth-seeded Yulia Putintseva, a Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan.

   Putintseva, a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, eliminated Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Tomljanovic reached her first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon last month and the final of the last (2017) Sacramento Challenger.

   Second-seeded Elena Rybakina, another Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, topped Claire Liu, a 21-year-old wild card from Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles region, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2. Rybakina advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in this year's French Open.

No. 7 seed Danielle Collins, above, beat Sloane Stephens, below, in three sets
to reach the quarterfinals in San Jose, Calif. Photos by Mal Taam

   In tonight's featured match (Tennis Channel), seventh-seeded Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., defeated Sloane Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif., 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

   Collins has won her last seven matches, including her first career WTA title two weeks ago on clay in Palermo. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, played in her first tournament in Northern California in nine years.

   Mertens and Collins reached the semifinals of the inaugural (2018) Silicon Valley Classic but did not play each other.

   Here is Friday's schedule.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) became the first Eygptian to reach a WTA quarterfinal, dismissing wild card Alexandra Eala, a 16-year-old left-hander from the Philippines, 6-2, 6-2 on clay.

   Sherif also advanced to the doubles semifinals, teaming with Katarzyna Piter of Poland to beat Katarzyna Kawa of Poland and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4.

Keys, two other seeds fall in second round in San Jose

No. 3 seed Madison Keys, who won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford
in 2017, lost to Zhang Shuai of China tonight in the second round of the Mubadala
Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif. 2017 photo by Mal Taam

   Four seeds played today in the second round of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University, and three lost.

   In the featured night match, Zhang Shuai of China ousted No. 3 seed Madison Keys of Orlando, Fla., 7-5, 7-6 (5) after eliminating 18-year-old British sensation Emma Raducanu in the first round on Monday night. In 2017, Keys won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and reached the U.S. Open final.

   Zhang is scheduled to play qualifier Ana Konjuh of Croatia in Friday's quarterfinals. Konjuh, a former top-20 player rebounding from her second right elbow surgery, defeated No. 9 seed Alison Riske of Nashville, Tenn., 6-1, 6-4 to reach her first WTA 500 quarterfinal in four years. Riske advanced to the Stanford semifinals in 2016 and quarterfinals in 2015.

   In another San Jose quarterfinal, No. 4 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia is set to meet Magda Linette of Poland. Kasatkina downed Caroline Garcia of France 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a battle of former top-10 players. Linette beat No. 6 seed Petra Martic of Croatia 7-5, 7-6 (5). 

   In the first round of doubles, U.S. teenagers Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery dismissed Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove and Rosalie Van Der Hoek of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-2. Krueger, 17, and Montgomery, 16, became the youngest team to compete in the San Francisco Bay Area stop on the women's tour.

   Here are the singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — In the opening round of doubles, Katarzyna Piter of Poland and Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt surprised No. 2 seeds Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Lidziya Marozava of Belarus 7-5, 6-4.

   ATP Tour — Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, outlasted No. 13 seed Benoit Paire of France 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

   McDonald will return to the top 100 for the first time in almost two years, rising at least seven spots to No. 100. He achieved a career-high No. 57 in April 2019 but had right hamstring surgery less than two months later.

Stephens wins in NorCal return; Brooksby upsets Tiafoe

Sloane Stephens overcame a slow start in her first match since July 2 and first
in Northern California in nine years. 2019 photo by Mal Taam

   Sloane Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif., defeated Catherine McNally, 19, of Cincinnati 6-4, 6-2 tonight in the first round of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   Stephens, playing her first match since July 2 at Wimbledon and first in Northern California in nine years, lost the opening four games.

   Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, is scheduled to face No. 7 seed Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., on Thursday. Collins, who reached the semifinals of the inaugural (2018) Silicon Valley Classic and won her first career WTA title two weeks ago in Palermo on clay, beat Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., 6-4, 6-3. 

   In today's most dramatic match, Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia saved two match points in a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Amanda Anisimova, 19, of Aventura, Fla. Anisimova served for the match at 5-3 in the second set.

   Tomljanovic, 28, advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon last month. Anisimova beat Tomljanovic by walkover in the last (2017) Sacramento Challenger at 15 for her first professional title and reached the 2019 French Open semifinals at 17. 

   No. 8 seed Yulia Putintseva, a Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan, beat Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-5, 6-3. Vekic and Putintseva reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Vekic also advanced to the San Jose semifinals in 2019.

   WTA Tour in Cluj-Napoca, Romania — Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt ousted top-seeded Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round of the Winners Open 2021 on clay. 

   ATP Tour — Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, eliminated No. 16 seed Frances Tiafoe, playing in his hometown, 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the first round of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

   In No. 53 Tiafoe, Brooksby beat the highest-ranked player of his brief career and the third in the top 100.

   Tiafoe won the 2016 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger at 18 to crack the top 100 for the first time, which Brooksby figures to do soon. He has skyrocketed from No. 307 to No. 130 since turning pro in late December and will improve at least seven more spots after this week.

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, knocked off reigning champion Nick Kyrgios of Australia 6-4, 6-4.

   In the opening round of doubles, No. 4 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), a New Zealand product who plays for his mother's native Japan, beat Alexander Bublik and Andrey Golubev, Russia natives who represent Kazakhstan, 7-5, 6-2. Bublik won the singles title in the 2017 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger.

   Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Tommy Paul of Miami eliminated wild cards Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, and Jack Sock of Charlotte, N.C., 7-6 (8), 6-2. 

   USTA Pro Circuit — Nineteen-year-old Preston Brown, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) left-hander from Boca Raton, Fla., beat No. 15 seed Connor Farren, a 26-year-old native of Redwood City in the Bay Area, 6-4, 6-3 in final-round qualifying in the $25,000 USTA/Ursula Beck Pro Tennis Classic in Decatur, Ill.

Zhang beats British teenage sensation in San Jose

Zhang Shuai, above, defeated Emma Raducanu, below, on Monday night in the first
round of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif. Photos by Mal Taam

   Zhang Shuai, 32, of China dispatched 18-year-old wild card Emma Raducanu of Great Britain 6-3, 6-2 tonight in the first round of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   Shuai reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open after losing all 14 of her Grand Slam matches. Raducanu last month became the youngest British woman to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon in the Open Era, which began in 1968.

   Earlier today, No. 9 seed Alison Riske defeated CoCo Vandeweghe, a former top-10 player rebounding from foot and hand injuries, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American matchup.

   Vandeweghe reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2012 and 2017. Riske advanced to the Stanford semifinals in 2016 and quarterfinals in 2015.    

   Here are the San Jose singles and doubles draws and Tuesday's schedule.

   ATP Tour — Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, downed Kevin Anderson, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the opening round of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

   Brooksby avenged a 7-6 (8), 6-4 loss to Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) South African formerly ranked No. 5, last month in the final of the Hall of Fame Open on grass in Newport, R.I.

   Kei Nishikori, the 2015 champion, eliminated Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 6-4, 6-3. Querrey, who has tumbled from a career-high No. 11 in 2018 to No. 68, is winless in his last four tournaments.

   USTA Pro Circuit — In first-round qualifying, No. 15 seed Connor Farren, a San Francisco Bay Area native, beat Joshua Peck of Canada 5-4, 6-3 in the $25,000 USTA/Ursula Beck Pro Tennis Classic in Decatur, Ill.

   No. 13 seed Ezekiel Clark of Tulsa, Okla., topped William Griffith, a former University of California, Berkeley standout from Fresno, Calif., 4-6, 7-6 (6) [10-4].

Zverev hammers Khachanov for Olympic gold medal

Alexander Zverev won 87 percent of the points on his first serve
in his win over Karen Khachanov. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev today became the first German to win an Olympic gold medal in men's singles.

   Zverev, 24, dominated No. 12 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-3, 6-1 in 79 minutes in Tokyo in a matchup of 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) players. 

   Zverev, who ended Novak Djokovic's bid for a historic Golden Slam in the semifinals, won 87 percent of the points on his first serve (26 of 30).

   In an all-Russian mixed doubles final, No. 4 seeds Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev edged Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-7 (5) [13-11].

   Pavlyuchenkova (the "y" is silent), the French Open runner-up in June, played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis as the world's top junior at 15 in 2006. Rublev lost to former world No. 2 Tommy Haas in the first round of the 2015 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger at 17.

   WTA Tour — No. 4 seed Ana Konjuh of Croatia, No. 6 seed Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands, Han Na-Lae of South Korea and alternate Emina Bektas of the United States won their final-round qualifying matches in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   Main-draw play will begin Monday at 10 a.m. (Tennis Channel). In the featured 7 p.m. match, 18-year-old wild card Emma Raducanu of Great Britain is set to play Zhang Shuai of China.

   Raducanu last month became the youngest British woman to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon in the Open Era, which began in 1968.

   Here are the singles qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws, and Monday's schedule.

Djokovic, Rybakina lose bronze-medal matches

Novak Djokovic came to the Tokyo Olympics hoping to continue his bid
for a Golden Slam but left empty-handed. 2017 photo by Paul Bauman

   The Olympics didn't work out so well for Novak Djokovic.

   The top-ranked Djokovic, who came to Tokyo hoping to continue his bid for a Golden Slam, lost his cool and the bronze-medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 today.

   Djokovic abused his racket several times, throwing it five rows of seats into the stands at one stage, in the brutal heat and humidity, The Associated Press reported. Citing a left-shoulder injury, he withdrew from the bronze medal match in mixed doubles with Nina Stojanovic.

   Djokovic still can earn the first men's calendar-year Grand Slam since 1969 (Rod Laver) by winning the U.S. Open, Aug. 30-Sept. 12 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   In the women's bronze-medal match, No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina beat No. 15 seed Elena Rybakina, a Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to win Ukraine's first Olympic tennis medal.

   Svitolina, a semifinalist in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, trailed 1-4 in the third set. Rybakina is seeded second in next week's Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   No. 9 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland won the gold medal in women's singles, defeating unseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Bencic trailed by an early service break in the deciding set. 

   WTA Tour — The homecourt advantage did not help Kristie Ahn, Carol Zhao or Katie Volynets. All lost their first-round qualifying matches in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University.

   Han Na-Lae, a 29-year-old left-hander from South Korea, beat the second-seeded Ahn, a 29-year-old graduate of nearby Stanford, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. Ahn reached the 2019 quarterfinals as a qualifier. The tournament was canceled last year because of the pandemic.

   No. 6 seed Lesley Pattinama-Kerkhove of the Netherlands dominated Zhao (Stanford, 2014-16) of Canada 6-2, 6-2.

   And Emina Bektas of Indianapolis defeated Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

   Here are the singles qualifying and main draws and Sunday's schedule.

San Jose qualifying strong; NorCal Challengers canceled

Former world No. 1 Samantha Stosur warms up for her first-round
match in the 2013 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   The qualifying field in next month's Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., announced today, features ex-world No. 1 Samantha Stosur, three other former top-10 players and 2021 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Ajla Tomljanovic.

   Joining Australians Stosur and Tomljanovic (pronounced Tom-yon-o-vich) are France's Caroline Garcia (No. 4 in 2018), Southern Californian CoCo Vandeweghe (No. 9 in 2018) and France's Kristina Mladenovic (No. 10 in 2017).

   Vandeweghe reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2012 and 2017. The tournament moved to San Jose under new sponsorship in 2018. 

   Heading the Mubadala qualifying field is No. 45 Donna Vekic, a Croat who reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals and San Jose semifinals in 2019. Last year's Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic was canceled because of the pandemic.

   The 2021 qualifying field also includes 19-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, a French Open semifinalist in 2019. Anisimova won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 (last) Sacramento, Calif., Challenger, beating Tomljanovic by walkover.

   Qualifying is scheduled for July 31-Aug. 1 at San Jose State University, followed by the main draw Aug. 2-8. Tickets are available at mubadalasvc.com as the tournament celebrates the 50th year of women's tour tennis in the San Francisco Bay Area.

   The main draw features 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, 2017 U.S. Open winner and Fresno, Calif. product Sloane Stephens and 2017 U.S. Open runner-up and Stanford champion Madison Keys. Kenin won Northern California Challengers as a teenager in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

   WTA Tour in Gdynia, Poland— Kateryna Kozlova, 27, of Ukraine defeated Katie Volynets, a 19-year-old wild card from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the first round of the clay-court tournament.

   Volynets recently made her Wimbledon main-draw debut as a qualifier, losing to 30-year-old Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in the first round. 

   Challengers — The Aptos and Tiburon men's Challengers — normally held in August and September, respectively —  in NorCal have been canceled for the second consecutive year.

   "We were in a holding pattern (because of COVID)," Aptos tournament director Rick Kepler said. "When it was time to decide, it was too iffy.

   "I feel like we made a good decision with all the mask stuff now in California. Now we're kind of looking like geniuses."

   In its 32nd year in 2019, Aptos was the longest-running men's Challenger in the United States. The tournament probably will return in 2022, Kepler said.

   According to the Tiburon Challenger's Facebook page: "The requirements mandated by the ATP Challenger Circuit in order to meet the stringent COVID protocols has (sic) created too big an operational and financial roadblock for the (Tiburon Peninsula) Club to undertake hosting the event this year. ... We have already begun preparing for the 2022 Tiburon Challenger."

   NorCal Challengers still scheduled this year are the $60,000 Berkeley women (Sept. 27-Oct. 3), $25,000 Redding women (Oct. 4-10) and $100,000 Fairfield men (Oct. 11-17).

   ATP Tour — In the opening round of doubles on hardcourts in Los Cabos, wild cards and Bay Area natives Mackenzie McDonald and Sam Querrey beat unseeded Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-1, 6-4 in an all-American matchup.

   Jovic takes break — Jovana (Jaksic) Jovic, a 27-year-old Serb living in Sacramento, Calif., is taking the rest of the year off and teaching tennis.

   "I needed a break," said the 323rd-ranked Jovic, whose last tournament was in March.

   Jovic has struggled with back problems since reaching a career-high No. 102 in 2014.

   USTA Pro Circuit — No. 6 seed William Griffith and unseeded Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., won their first-round qualifying matches in straight sets on hardcourts in the $15,000 Edwardsville (Ill.)  Futures. Quinn, 17, is ranked first nationally in the boys 18s. 

French Open quarterfinalists enter San Jose tourney

   Surprise French Open quarterfinalists Elena Rybakina and Paula Badosa have entered the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State University, tournament officials announced today.

   The Aug. 2-8 tournament will mark 50 years of women's tour tennis in the San Francisco Bay Area.

   Rybakina, a 22-year-old Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan, ousted Serena Williams before losing to eventual runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 9-7 in the third set at Roland Garros two weeks ago.

   Badosa, a 23-year-old New York native who plays for Spain, eliminated 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova before falling to Tamara Zidansek 8-6 in the third set in the French Open.

   Also entered in San Jose are Karolina Muchova, a 24-year-old Czech who reached the Australian Open semifinals in February, and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, 24, of Latvia.

   Previously announced entrants are 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, 2017 U.S. Open winner and Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens and 2017 Stanford champion Madison Keys.

   Tournament officials will announce two more direct entries and three additional wild cards in the next few weeks. Rounding out the 28-player singles draw will be four survivors of the July 31-Aug. 1 qualifying event, which is open to the public.

SAN JOSE ACCEPTANCE LIST

(With world ranking)

6. Sofia Kenin, United States

16. Elise Mertens, Belgium

21. Elena Rybakina, Kazakhstan

22. Karolina Muchova, Czech Republic

26. Madison Keys, United States

29. Petra Martic, Croatia

31. Alison Riske, United States

32. Veronika Kudermetova, Russia

33. Paula Badosa, Spain

34. Daria Kasatkina, Russia

35. Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia

36. Zhang Shuai, China

37. Dayana Yastremska, Ukraine

42. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan

43. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia

44. Magda Linette, Poland

47. Shelby Rogers, United States

48. Danielle Collins, United States

69. Sloane Stephens (wild card), United States 

Riffice hot; San Jose tickets on sale; Bryans to play WTT

   Sam Riffice continued his hot streak today.

   The 22-year-old wild card and Sacramento, Calif., native surprised No. 2 seed Jason Kubler, a former top-100 player from Australia, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Tulsa (Okla.) Pro Championships.

   All seeds have been eliminated from the hardcourt tournament. Riffice, now based in Orlando, Fla., will try to advance to his second semifinal in two weeks when he meets lucky loser Gage Brymer of Irvine, Calif., on Friday.  

   Last month, Riffice helped the University of Florida men win their first NCAA team championship and added the singles title. The individual crown gave him an automatic wild card into the U.S. Open, Aug. 30-Sept. 12. 

   WTA Tour — Individual session tickets for the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, Aug. 2-8 at San Jose State University, are available at mubadalasvc.com.

   Early entries include 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, 2017 U.S. Open champion and Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, the champion of the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2017 and runner-up in the U.S. Open one month later. The full field will be announced on Tuesday.

   The Silicon Valley Classic, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic, will mark 50 years of women's tour tennis in the San Francisco Bay Area.

   World TeamTennis — Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98), who retired from the regular tour last August, announced they will play for the San Diego Aviators.

   The season, normally held in league cities in July, is set for Nov. 13-28 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the site of the popular BNP Paribas Open.

   ITF Women's Tour — Fernanda Contreras Gomez and Marcela Zacarias of Mexico overwhelmed Allura and Maribella Zamarripa, 18-year-old identical twins from St. Helena in the Napa Valley, 6-3, 6-0 in 55 minutes in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Palmetto Pro Open on hardcourts in Sumter, S.C.

Ahn beats Volynets, 17, in San Jose qualies

Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford grad-
uate, slugs a backhand in the semifinals
of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Chal-
lenge last Saturday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Fifth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., beat Katie Volynets, a 17-year-old wild card from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, 7-5, 6-0 today in the first round of qualifying for the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State.
   Ahn, a semifinalist in last week's $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge, will face former Pacific-12 Conference rival Danielle Lao, a 28-year-old resident of Arcadia in the Los Angeles area, on Sunday at about 2 p.m. for a berth in the main draw.
   Lao, a 5-foot-2 1/2 (1.59-meter), 115-pound (52.2-kilogram) former USC All-American, topped Mai Hontama of Japan 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Mayo Hibi, who plays for her native Japan but has lived in California since she was 2, drubbed Jovana Jaksic, a Serb living in Sacramento, 6-1, 6-0 in 69 minutes.
   Hibi, the Berkeley runner-up, will face second-seeded Xiyu Wang of China. Wang dominated Ashley Kratzer, the runner-up in the 2017 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, 6-3, 6-1.
   Phenom beats ex-Cal standout – Top-seeded Cori Gauff, a 15-year-old sensation from Delray Beach, Fla., returned to action with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Maegan Manasse, a former Cal All-American from Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles region, in the first round of qualifying for the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.
   Gauff competed for the first time since becoming the youngest player to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.
   Bryan brothers reach final – Top-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan outclassed fourth-seeded Radu Albot of Moldova and Artem Sitak, a Russia native who plays for New Zealand, 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals of the BB&T Atlanta Open.
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98), two-time Atlanta champions, will play second-seeded Dominic Inglot of Great Britain and Austin Krajicek of Bryan, Texas, on Sunday.
   Krajicek reached the singles final in the 2015 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger, losing to John Millman of Australia.
   Cal player falls in pro doubles final – Unseeded Sanaz Marand and Caitlin Whoriskey of the United States defeated wild cards Vladica Babic, a former Oklahoma State All-American from Montenegro, and Julia Rosenqvist, a Cal junior from Sweden, 7-6 (4), 6-4 to win the Braidy Industries $60,000 Women's Tennis Classic in Ashland, Ky.

Sellout crowd sees Federer beat Sock in San Jose

Roger Federer hits a backhand volley during Monday night's exhibition.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Playing in Northern California for the first time, Roger Federer defeated Jack Sock 7-6 (9), 6-4 tonight in a lighthearted exhibition before a sellout crowd of 17,496 at SAP Arena in San Jose.
   The Match for Africa 5 raised $2.5 million for Federer's foundation, which provides access to education for children in southern African countries. Federer's mother, Lynette, is South African.
    At 36, Federer last month became the oldest man or woman to earn the No. 1 ranking. He broke the marks of Andre Agassi (33) and Serena Williams (35).
   "Those are definitely special times in my life and my career," Federer told reporters. "The dream as a little boy was to make it one day to world No. 1, but not at 36 years old -- I can tell you that. It was probably at some point at 25 maybe if things went really well.
   "I had a tough year in 2016 with my knee and stayed positive, was resilient and fought to come back and really believed I could actually win again. I didn't think it was going to be at this level. It's been an unbelievable journey the last 14 months, and my team has been incredible. I'm loving every moment that I can still play on tour because you never know when it's going to end."
   Earlier tonight, Federer and Bill Gates beat Sock and "Today" hostess Savannah Guthrie 6-3.

From left, Jack Sock, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Bill Gates and Roger Fed-
erer pose before Monday night's celebrity doubles match. Photo by Mal Taam

Isner, Dolgopolov enter SAP Open in San Jose

John Isner will bring his booming serve to the
SAP Open in February. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Top-ranked American John Isner will return to the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., after a four-year absence.
   Tournament officials announced the entries of Isner, ranked 14th, and No. 18 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine on Wednesday. The SAP Open, the second-oldest tournament in the United States, will be played for the 125th and last time Feb. 11-17 at HP Pavilion. Rio de Janeiro will replace San Jose on the calendar beginning in 2014.  
   Isner and Dolgopolov will join two-time defending champion Milos Raonic of Canada, former SAP Open champions Lleyton Hewitt (2002) of Australia and Fernando Verdasco (2010) of Spain, and reigning Olympic men's doubles gold medalists Bob and Mike Bryan.
   As was the case this year, the tournament will have no top-10 singles players (unless one or more accepts a late wild card). It had one in 2011 (No. 9 Verdasco), one in 2010 (No. 7 Andy Roddick) and two in 2009 (No. 6 Roddick and No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro). The last top-five player to enter was No. 4 Roddick in 2007. Roddick, a three-time SAP Open champion (2004, 2005 and 2008), retired in September, one week after his 30th birthday.
   Europeans Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have never played in the SAP Open, which is played the same week as a much richer tournament in Rotterdam. Andy Murray, who won his first Grand Slam title in September at the U.S. Open, has not played in the SAP Open since winning the 2006 and 2007 titles at 18 and 19 years old. The inability to attact any of the Big Four and the lack of a American star amid Roddick's decline since 2008 are big reasons for the tournament's impending demise. 
   Isner, 6-foot-9, has played in the SAP Open twice. He fell to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6, (4), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (11) in the 2008 quarterfinals and to countryman Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-5 in second round in 2009.
   A 27-year-old native of Greensboro, N.C., living in Tampa, Fla., Isner turned pro in 2007 after being named an All-American for all four years at the University of Georgia. He has won five career singles titles:   Winston-Salem, N.C., on hardcourt and Newport, R.I., on grass for the past two years each and Auckland on hardcourt in 2010. His reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 U.S. Open for his best Grand Slam result and climbed to a career-high No. 9 last April.   
  Dolgopolov, 24, will make his SAP Open debut. The 5-foot-11 veteran has won two career singles titles,  Umag on clay in 2011 and Washington on hardcourt this past summer, and he advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open.
   Ticket packages and group tickets for the SAP Open are available by calling (408) ACE-2121. Individual session tickets will go on sale in January. For more information, visit www.sapopentennis.com.  

CALENDAR

   Jan. 14-27, 2013 -- AUSTRALIAN OPEN, www.australianopen.org. 2012 champions: Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka, Leander Paes-Radek Stepanek, Svetlana Kuznetsova-Vera Zvonareva.
   Jan. 15 -- Sacramento State men at Stanford in spring season opener for both teams, 1:30 p.m, www.hornetsports.com, www.gostanford.com.
   Jan. 18 -- Stanford women open spring season at Freeman Invitational in Las Vegas and at NCTC Classic in Indian Wells, Calif., times TBA, www.gostanford.com. UC Davis women open spring season vs. Northern Arizona in Tempe, Ariz., 1 p.m., www.ucdavisaggies.com.
   Jan. 19 -- UC Davis men at Santa Clara in spring season opener for both teams, 10 a.m., www.ucdavisaggies.com, www.santaclarabroncos.com.
   Feb. 1 -- Sacramento State women open spring season at Arizona, 12:30 p.m., www.hornetsports.com.
   Feb. 1-3, 2013 -- Davis Cup, first round, Brazil at United States, www.daviscup.com.
   Feb. 9-10, 2013 -- Fed Cup, first round, United States at Italy, www.fedcup.com.
   Feb. 11-17, 2013 -- SAP Open, HP Pavilion in San Jose, www.sapopentennis.com. 2012 champions: Milos Raonic, Mark Knowles-Xavier Malisse.
   March 4-17, 2013 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif., www.bnpparibasopen.com. 2012 champions: Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka, Marc Lopez-Rafael Nadal, Liezel Huber-Lisa Raymond.
   April 26-28 -- Big Sky Conference men's and women's tournament, Gold River Racquet Club, Gold River, Calif., www.bigskyconf.com.

Raonic, Hewitt, Verdasco enter SAP Open

Milos Raonic, serving in this year's SAP Open final in San Jose, will try
to win his third consecutive title in the tournament in February.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Andy Roddick didn't do it. Nor did Andy Murray, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi or John McEnroe.
   Milos Raonic will try to become the first player since Tony Trabert (1953-55) to win the San Francisco Bay Area stop on the men's tour for three years in a row.
   Organizers recently announced that Raonic, former champions Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Fernando Verdasco of Spain and the top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan have entered the 2013 SAP Open, Feb. 11-17 at HP Pavilion in San Jose.
   It will be the 125th and last SAP Open, the second-oldest tennis tournament in the United States. Rio de Janeiro, the site of the 2016 Summer Olympics and a co-host of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament, will replace San Jose on the ATP World Tour beginning in 2014.
   Raonic (pronounced Rau-nitch), a 21-year-old Canadian, defeated Verdasco in the 2011 final for his first ATP World Tour title and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in last year's championship match.
  Roddick (2004-05), Murray (2006-07), Sampras (1996-97) and McEnroe (1978-79) each won the Bay Area tournament twice in a row. McEnroe triumphed five times overall, Roddick three and Murray and Sampras twice each. Agassi prevailed five times but never consecutively.
   Raonic, 6-foot-5 (196 centimeters), is ranked a career-high 13th in the world with three career singles titles. He is 9-0 in singles in San Jose.
   Hewitt, the 2002 SAP Open champion, plans to return for the sixth time. A likely International Tennis Hall of Famer, the 31-year-old veteran ranks fourth among active players with 28 singles titles. He trails Roger Federer (76), Rafael Nadal (50) and Novak Djokovic (33).
   Hewitt has won two Grand Slam singles crowns, the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002. Ranked No. 1 in 2001, he has plummeted to No. 80.
   Verdasco, a 28-year-old left-hander, has played in the SAP Open twice. He won it in 2010, becoming the first Spaniard to do so since Manuel Santana in 1964, and fell to Raonic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in the 2011 final.
   The loss to Raonic was marred by controversy. With Raonic serving on match point, a spectator yelled, and a distracted Verdasco netted the return.
   Verdasco is ranked 24th after reaching a career-high No. 7 in 2009.
   The 34-year-old Bryan twins have won 82 career doubles titles, an Open Era record. Twelve have come in Grand Slam tournaments, tying the all-time mark of Australians John Newcombe and Tony Roche from 1965 to 1976.
   The Bryans also won the Olympic gold medal in men's doubles this summer in London. But they have never won the SAP Open in nine attempts, even though they attended college a few miles up the road at Stanford. They have reached the final only once, losing to former Stanford stars Scott Lipsky and David Martin in 2008.
   The SAP Open has struggled to attract top players and big crowds in recent years. Roddick's career steadily declined after he won his last SAP title in 2008, and he retired in September, one week after his 30th birthday. No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Roddick captured the 2003 U.S. Open for his only major crown.
   France's Gael Monfils, then ranked 13th in the world, was seeded first in last year's tournament but withdrew with a knee injury. Roddick was second and Raonic third. The final drew an announced crowd of 5,682.
   The tournament has been held at HP Pavilion, the home of the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks, since it opened in 1994. That has forced the Sharks to take an extended road trip each February.
   The event began in Monterey in 1889 and also has been held under various names in Berkeley, San Francisco, Alamo and Daly City. Other past champions include legends Don Budge, Jack Kramer, Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors.
   Ticket packages and group tickets are available by calling (408) ACE-2121. Individual session tickets will go on sale in January. For more information, visit www.sapopentennis.com.

Capitals lose thriller as Kastles extend streak

   The Sacramento Capitals fought valiantly but came up short against the surging Washington Kastles on Wednesday night.
   Washington needed six match points to beat visiting Sacramento 21-19 in overtime and extend its World TeamTennis winning streak to 23 matches dating to July 22, 2010.
   The fourth set proved decisive as former Capital Anastasia Rodionova won 5-0 in women's singles to give the Kastles (7-0) a 16-13 lead in a battle of conference leaders. Yasmin Schnack substituted for Asia Muhammad at 0-2 for Sacramento (4-3).
   Schnack and Mark Knowles saved four match points to beat Rodionova and Leander Paes 5-4 in the final set, mixed doubles, to pull the Capitals within 20-18 and send the match to overtime.
   To ensure that the fifth set of matches are meaningful, WTT rules states that if the team leading after four sets doesn't win the final set, the match continues until either the leading team wins one more game or the opponent overtakes the leader.
   Sacramento escaped one more match point in overtime, which ended 1-1.
   Paes, a 39-year-old Indian, has collected 13 Grand Slam doubles titles (seven men's and six mixed) and two WTT Male MVP awards (2009 and last year). Knowles, 40, from the Bahamas, has earned four Grand Slam doubles crowns (three men's and one mixed) and three WTT Male MVP honors (2001, 2005 and 2007).
   Rodionova, a 30-year-old Russian-born Australian, reached the Wimbledon mixed doubles final in 2003. Schnack, 24, from the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, played in her first Grand Slam tournament in June, losing in the first round of women's doubles with close friend and former Capital Vania King.
   The Capitals have an excellent chance to reach the playoffs, Sept. 14-16 in Charleston, S.C. Midway through the regular season, they lead the four-team Western Conference by one-half match over Orange County (3-3), two matches over Kansas City (2-5) and three matches over Springfield (1-6). The top two teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.
   Four of Sacramento's remaining seven matches will be at home, including four of the last five. None of the Capitals' remaining opponents has a winning record, although that will change if Orange County wins Thursday night at Philadelphia (3-4).
   Sacramento will host Orange County on Tuesday night and visit the Breakers the following night. Lindsay Davenport, formerly ranked No. 1 in the world in singles and doubles, is scheduled to play women's doubles and mixed doubles for Orange County on both nights.
   As expected, the Capitals' men have been much stronger than their women. They rank first in the eight-team WTT in men's singles, third in men's doubles, seventh in women's singles and doubles, and fourth in mixed doubles.
   Sacramento's Sam Querrey, who reached No. 17 in the world in January 2011 before undergoing elbow surgery, leads the league in men's singles with a 15-8 (.652) record in games.
   The 6-foot-6 Querrey will end his six-match stint with the team on Sunday, but 6-8 Kevin Anderson of South Africa is scheduled to replace him for the Capitals' last four matches of the regular season. Anderson, ranked 33rd in the world, figures to be just as strong.
   Sacramento will get an unexpected boost on the women's side from CoCo Vandeweghe, who's set to join the team for its last five matches. The 6-foot-1 Vandeweghe, 20, reached the final of last week's Bank of the West Classic at Stanford as a lucky loser and held a set point against five-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams in the title match.
   Part-time Capitals lose -- Anderson and Vandeweghe lost on their respective tours.
   Anderson, a South African seeded fifth, fell to Michael Russell of Houston 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the BB&T Atlanta Open. Russell is one foot shorter than Anderson.
   Wild cards Vandeweghe, playing near her hometown of Rancho Santa Fe, and Mirjana Lucic of Croatia dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to top-seeded Americans Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the first round of the Mercury Insurance Open in the San Diego suburb of Carlsbad. 
   Legends to compete in San Jose -- Legends Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Jim Courier will compete in the Champions Showdown on Nov. 16 at HP Pavilion in San Jose.
   The event is part of the PowerShares Series Tour, formerly the Champions Series, for 30-and-over stars that will visit 12 U.S. cities during its seven-week season in October and November.
   Each PowerShares Series event will showcase four legends playing in one-set semifinals followed by a one-set championship match. The tour also features Pete Sampras, Pat Rafter, Michael Chang, Mats Wilander and Todd Martin.
   Tickets for the Champions Showdown, starting at $45, may be purchased at the HP Pavilion ticket office, Ticketmaster.com or (800) 745-3000 beginning Monday. For more information, visit www.PowerSharesSeries.com.
  Downing named to Super Seniors team -- Martha Downing of Shingle Springs, a suburb of Sacramento, will represent the United States at the 32nd ITF Super Seniors World Team Championships, Sept. 10-23 in Croatia.
   The nation's top men and women from age 60 to 80 will compete against teams from more than 30 countries. Up to 1,000 players are expected to participate.
   Joining Downing on the U.S. team in the Alice Marble Cup for women 60 and over are Tina Karwasky of Glendale, Calif., Kerry Young of Maitland, Fla., and Mary Ginnard of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
   Downing, the playing captain of the two-time defending champion Alice Marble Cup team, has played in six Cup team competitions in England, Turkey, Majorca and Australia, and won 27 national titles. She achieved the No. 1 world ranking in 60 singles in 2009, earning seven gold balls (national titles) that year. Last week, Downing was inducted into the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame.

WORLD TEAMTENNIS

Washington 21, Capitals 19 (OT)

In Washington, D.C.

   Men's doubles -- Leander Paes-Bobby Reynolds (Kastles) def. Mark Knowles-Sam Querrey (Capitals) 5-3.
   Women's doubles -- Asia Muhammad-Yasmin Schnack (Capitals) def. Anastasia Rodionova-Arina Rodionova (Kastles) 5-3.
   Men's singles -- Sam Querrey (Capitals) def. Bobby Reynolds (Kastles) 5-3.
   Women's singles -- Anastasia Rodionova (Kastles) def. Asia Muhammad/Yasmin Schnack (Capitals) 5-0 (Schnack substituted for Muhammed at 0-2).
   Mixed doubles -- Yasmin Schnack-Sam Querrey/Mark Knowles (Capitals) def. Anastasia Rodionova-Leander Paes (Kastles) 5-4 (Knowles substituted for Querrey at 0-1).
   Overtime --Anastasia Rodionova-Leander Paes (Kastles) tied Yasmin Schnack-Mark Knowles (Capitals) 1-1.

PRO RANKINGS

   Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   Kevin Anderson, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 33 in singles (no change), No. 156 in doubles (-3).
   Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 3 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 3 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, Capitals (2012) -- No. 13 in singles (no change), No. 722 in doubles (no change).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- No. 99 in doubles (-4), unranked in singles.
   Bradley Klahn, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 657 in singles (+4), No. 862 in doubles (-149). 
   Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12), three-time World TeamTennis Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) -- No. 73 in doubles (-3), unranked in singles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 35 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012) -- No. 55 in singles (no change), No. 61 in doubles (no change).
   Ryan Sweeting, Capitals (2012) -- No. 117 in singles (-1), No. 848 in doubles (+1).
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 136 in singles (-2), No. 179 in doubles (-6).
   Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 210 in singles (-9), No. 392 in doubles (-3).
   Pedro Zerbini, All-Pacific-10 Conference first team at Cal (2009-11) -- No. 639 in singles (+3), No. 1,003 in doubles (-7).

Women

   Jana Juricova, NCAA singles (2011) and doubles (2009) champion from Cal -- No. 949 in singles (no previous ranking), unranked in doubles.
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- Career-high No. 19 in doubles (no change), No. 710 in singles (+6).
   Asia Muhammad, Capitals (2012) -- No. 185 in doubles (+2), No. 483 in singles (-3).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- Career-high No. 137 in doubles (no change), No. 222 in singles (-2).

   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Capitals (2011-12) -- No. 146 in doubles (-1), No. 454 in singles (+1).
   Romana Tedjakusuma, Tracy resident -- No. 495 in singles (+46), No. 1,140 in doubles (+7).

   CoCo Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 69 in singles (+51), No. 508 in doubles (-7).

TV SCHEDULE

(All times PDT)

   Thursday -- Hamburg (men), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 5:30-11:30 a.m. (live); Bastad (women), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 4-8 p.m. (delay), 8 p.m.-midnight (repeat).
   Friday -- Hamburg (men), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 3-11 a.m. (live), 8-10 p.m. (repeat); Atlanta (men), quarterfinals, ESPN2, 1-6 p.m. (live), Tennis Channel, 6-8 p.m. (live); Bastad (women), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 2-6 p.m. (delay); Carlsbad (women), quarterfinals, ESPN2, 8-10 p.m. (live).
   Saturday -- Hamburg (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 4:30-9 a.m. (live), noon-2 p.m. (repeat), 8-10 p.m. (repeat); Atlanta (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 10 a.m.-noon (live), ESPN2, 4-6 p.m. (live); Carlsbad (women), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 2-4 p.m. (live), ESPN2, 8-10 p.m. (live); Bastad (women), Tennis Channel, 4-8 p.m. (delay). 
   Sunday -- Hamburg (men), final, Tennis Channel, 5-7 a.m. (live), 7-9 a.m. (repeat); Atlanta (men), final, ESPN2, noon-2 p.m. (live), Tennis Channel, 5-7 p.m. (repeat); Carlsbad (women), final, ESPN2, 2-4 p.m. (live); Gstaad (men), final, Tennis Channel, 3-5 p.m. (delay); Bastad (women), final, Tennis Channel, 7-9 p.m. (delay). 

CALENDAR

   Thursday -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals (with Sam Querrey) at Springfield, 5:05 p.m.
   Friday -- Capitals (with Querrey) at Kansas City, 5:35 p.m.
   Sunday -- Springfield at Capitals (with Querrey, CoCo Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   Tuesday -- Orange County (with Lindsay Davenport) at Capitals (with Kevin Anderson, Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 25 -- Capitals (with Vandeweghe) at Orange County, 7 p.m.
   July 27 -- Philadelphia (with Mark Philippoussis) at Capitals (with Anderson, Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 28 -- Boston at Capitals (with Anderson, Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 28-Aug. 5 -- OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT, Wimbledon, www.london2012.com.