Djokovic can tie mark vs. Berrettini in Wimbledon final

Novak Djokovic practices at Indian Wells in 2019.
Photo by Harjanto Sumali

   Novak Djokovic is one victory from tying Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with a record 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles.

   Standing in Djokovic's way is hard-serving Matteo Berrettini.

   The top-ranked Djokovic dismantled No. 10 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 today in the Wimbledon semifinals for his 17th consecutive victory, including the French Open title.

   Djokovic remains on track for the first men's calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969 and the fourth ever. He also can join Steffi Graf (1988) as the only players to achieve a Golden Slam, which includes an Olympic singles gold medal. The Olympics dropped tennis between 1924 and 1988. 

   The seventh-seeded Berrettini defeated 14th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-3, 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam final and become the first Italian to advance that far at Wimbledon. 

   Djokovic improved to 7-0 against Shapovalov, a 22-year-old left-hander with a spectacular one-handed backhand.

   Shapovalov, who lost in the first round of the 2016 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger at 17, converted only one of 11 break-point opportunities. He served for the first set at 5-4, double-faulted to drop the set and double-faulted on break point at 5-5 in the second set.

  The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Berrettini, 25, pounded 22 aces en route to his 11th straight victory. He won Queen's Club on grass in London two weeks before Wimbledon. 

   Djokovic is 2-0 against Berrettini, including a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 decision in the French Open quarterfinals last month. They will meet on grass for the first time. 

   Meanwhile, No. 3 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Elise Mertens of Belgium defeated No. 5 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the women's doubles semifinals.

   Mertens reached the singles semifinals of the inaugural (2018) Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif. Shibahara, a 23-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, played at Wimbledon for the first time this year.

   In the second round of girls doubles, No. 1 seeds Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus and Diana Shnaider of Russia dismissed Clervie Ngounoue, 14, of Washington, D.C., and Alexandra Yepifanova, an incoming Stanford freshman from Lake Worth, Fla., 6-2, 6-2. 

Federer falls to Poland's Hurkacz in Wimbledon quarters

Roger Federer, who will turn 40 on Aug. 8, said he doesn't know if he'll return
to Wimbledon next year. 2017 photo by Mal Taam 

   Roger Federer might have played his last match at Wimbledon.

   The No. 6 seed and eight-time champion lost to No. 14 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-0 today in the quarterfinals. 

   Federer made his only Northern California appearance in a 2018 exhibition in San Jose. He underwent two operations on his right knee last year and had played only eight matches this season before Wimbledon. He said he doesn't know if he'll return to Wimbledon next year. 

   "I need to take a few days," Federer, who will turn 40 on Aug. 8, told reporters. "We'll take some time tonight, see how I feel, and then we'll see what I can do to get in better shape and be more competitive.

   "I'm happy I made it as far as I did here. Of course I'd like to play again, but at my age, you're never sure what's around the corner."

   Hurkacz, 24, had never advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament before this fortnight. He is scheduled to face No. 7 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy on Friday in a matchup of 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) players, ensuring a first-time major finalist. 

   Berrettini, 25, eliminated No. 16 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 20-year-old Canadian, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 to reach his second major semifinal. Berrettini lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the last four of the 2019 U.S. Open.

   Hurkacz and Berrettini have split two career matches, both on hardcourts.

   Nadal, 35, chose not to play at Wimbledon or in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, citing the need to recover after a demanding clay-court season.

   In Friday's other semifinal, top-ranked Novak Djokovic is set to play No. 10 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada. 

   Djokovic dismantled unseeded Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Shapovalov, a 22-year-old left-hander, topped No. 25 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 to reach his first major semifinal.

   Djokovic is 6-0 against Shapovalov. They will meet on grass for the first time.

   Shapovalov lost in the first round of the 2016 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger at 17 years old.

   In the men's doubles quarterfinals, No. 6 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 defeated No. 3 seeds and defending champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

   Simone Bolelli of Italy and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina beat No. 14 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan 7-6 (0), 6-4, 6-3.

   No. 4 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina dispatched unseeded Andre Goransson (Cal, 2014-17) of Sweden and Casper Ruud of Norway 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Granollers reached the singles final of the 2018 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger. Goransson, 27, played in his first Grand Slam tournament. 

   Meanwhile, No. 5 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan advanced to the women's doubles semifinals with a 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory over No. 16 seeds Marie Bouzkova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. Shibahara, a 23-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, is making her Wimbledon debut this year.

   In the third round of mixed doubles, No. 7 seeds Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Desirae Krawczyk, a native of Palm Desert, Calif., eliminated alternates Arthur Fery, who recently completed his freshman year at Stanford, and Tara Moore of Great Britain 7-6 (5), 6-3. 

   No. 9 seeds Kevin Krawietz of Germany and Kveta Peschke, a Czech who will turn 46 on Friday, defeated No. 5 seeds Ram and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix by walkover. Peschke has won both women's doubles titles in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif. — with Latisha Chan of Chinese Taipei in 2018 and Nicole Melichar, a Czech-born American, in 2019. 

   In junior matches:

   —Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay outlasted Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 in the first round.

   —No. 6 seeds Bruno Kuzuhara of Coconut Creek, Fla., and Quinn beat wild cards Billy Blaydes and William Jansen of Great Britain 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round.

   —Clervie Ngounoue, 14, of Washington, D.C., and Alexandra Yepifanova, an incoming Stanford freshman from Lake Worth, Fla., edged Nikola Bartunkova, 15, and Barbora Palicova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6 [15-13] in a clash of unseeded teams.

Stephens, second-seeded Pliskova exit early in Paris

Jelena Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open at 20,
beat second-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-2 today in the
second round at Roland Garros. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Sloane Stephens' tailspin continued today with her earliest loss in the French Open since 2011.

   Stephens, the 29th seed and 2018 runner-up, fell to 87th-ranked Paula Badosa of Spain 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the second round in Paris. 

   Stephens, a 27-year-old Fresno, Calif., product now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., made her earliest exit from Roland Garros since losing in the first round in her tournament debut and fell to 4-11 this year. The 2017 U.S. Open champion has not reached a quarterfinal since last year's French Open in June.

   Ranked a career-high No. 3 in 2018, Stephens is projected to drop four spots to No. 38 after Roland Garros.

   Badosa, who won the 2015 French Open girls singles title, reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 22-year-old New York native is scheduled to play unseeded Jelena Ostapenko, the women's singles champion at Roland Garros in 2017 at 20, on Saturday. 

   Ostapenko, a 23-year-old Latvian, ousted second-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 in 69 minutes. 

   Pliskova, formerly ranked No. 1, also lost in the second round of the U.S. Open last month. The runner-up in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, she retired from the Italian Open final two weeks ago with a left thigh injury.

   After two rounds of the French Open, only three U.S. women — fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin, 25th-seeded Amanda Anisimova and unseeded Danielle Collins — remain in singles.

   In the men's draw, top-ranked Novak Djokovic routed Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 23 minutes to improve to 33-1 in 2020. Djokovic was defaulted from the U.S. Open for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball. 

   Djokovic, who won the 2016 French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, has lost only 10 games in two matches in this year's tournament. 

   Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain topped ninth-seeded Denis Shapovalov, a 21-year-old Canadian, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 in 5 hours. Shapovalov, who reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in the U.S. Open, served for today's match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the fifth set.

   The 27-year-old Carballes Baena, ranked No. 101, beat a top-10 player, advanced to the third round of a major and won a five-set match for the first time.

   The only American men left in singles are 27th-seeded Taylor Fritz and 20-year-old qualifier Sebastian Korda, the son of 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda of the Czech Republic.

   In the first round of women's doubles, seventh-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan crushed Bernarda Pera, a Croatia-born American, and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-1 in 43 minutes. Shibahara, 22, was born in Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and starred at UCLA.

  Former USC teammates Kaitlin Christian, from Orange, Calif., and Giuliana Olmos, a Bay Area product who plays for Mexico, defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia and Katarina Zavatska of Ukraine 6-3, 6-2.

   Top-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic eliminated Maria Sanchez, a 30-year-old Modesto, Calif., product now based in Los Angeles, and Astra Sharma of Australia 6-1, 6-4.

Diego digs deep to reach first Masters 1000 final

   It would have been easy for Diego Schwartzman to suffer a letdown after shocking Rafael Nadal on Saturday.

   Instead, the 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter), 141-pound (64-kilogram) Argentine gutted out a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4) victory over Denis Shapovalov of Canada today in the semifinals of the Italian Open in Rome.

   Shapovalov, seeded 12th, served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, which lasted 1 hour, 27 minutes. Schwartzman, seeded eighth, ultimately prevailed in 3 hours, 15 minutes to reach his first Masters 1000 (the highest level besides the Grand Slams) final. 

   Schwartzman, ranked 15th, is scheduled to face top-ranked Novak Djokovic on Monday not before 8 a.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). If the 28-year-old Schwartzman wins, he will crack the top 10 for the first time. If he loses, the 14th-ranked Shapovalov, 21, will do the same.

   "I have two dreams tomorrow," Schwartzman said on atptour.com. "One is winning a tournament like this, and the second one is (being in the) top 10. I need to play more than my 100 percent. I don't want to say (it will be) impossible, because it's not. I know I can beat him, but it's going to be very difficult."

   Djokovic, who won the last of his four Italian Open titles in 2015, beat unseeded Casper Ruud, a semifinalist in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger in 2018 at 19, 7-5, 6-3 to improve to 30-1 this year. 

   Djokovic, 33, advanced to his 10th Italian Open final. He is 4-0 against Schwartzman, including a 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 win in the Rome semifinals last year. 

   Top-seeded Simona Halep is set to play second seed and defending champion Karolina Pliskova in the women's final at 5:30 a.m. PDT in a showdown of 28-year-olds and former world No. 1s.

   Halep, the Rome runner-up in 2017 and 2018, outlasted ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 for her 13th consecutive victory and 18th in her last 19 matches. Both players have been ranked No. 1 and won two Grand Slam singles titles, coming at the French Open and Wimbledon.

   Pliskova, the runner-up in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, outplayed 12th-seeded Marketa Vondrousova, a finalist in last year's French Open at 19, 6-2, 6-4 in an all-Czech affair. Vondrousova, a left-hander, had left-wrist surgery last summer and sat out for the rest of the year. 

   The second-ranked Halep, who will turn 29 on Sunday, is 7-4 against Pliskova, ranked fourth, but Pliskova has won three of the last four encounters. They have split two clay-court matches, including Halep's 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win in the semifinals of the 2017 French Open.   

   In today's men's doubles final, fourth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina edged unseeded Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-4, 5-7 [10-8] for their third title of the coronavirus-shortened season.

   Granollers, the singles runner-up in the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger in 2018, won his second Italian Open title in his fourth Rome final. He took the 2012 crown with compatriot Marc Lopez.

   Top-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic claimed the women's doubles title, dominating unseeded Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany and Raluca Olaru of Romania 6-2, 6-2. Hsieh and Strycova improved to 21-1 this year with four titles.

Shapovalov frustrates Fritz with five-set win

Denis Shapovalov, a 21-year-old Canadian, reached
 the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the second time.
2016 photo by Paul Bauman 

   Taylor Fritz was in position to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

   Instead, Denis Shapovalov rallied to advance that far in a major for the second time.

   In a matchup of rising stars, the 12th-seeded Shapovalov defeated the 19th-seeded Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 in 3 hours, 26 minutes in the U.S. Open.

   Fritz, a 22-year-old Southern Californian ranked 25th, served for the match at 5-3 in the fourth set at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   "He was playing incredibly well today, and I think we both deserved to win," Shapovalov, a 21-year-old Canadian with a sensational one-handed backhand, said in an on-court interview. "It was great tennis, and I think I just got a little bit lucky.

   "I stayed with him in the fourth set, when he was in control, and I saw him get a little bit tight. I tried to make him play as much as possible, then I got a little bit lucky on the set point and read it correctly to hit a good forehand.

   "I figured I needed to make a change for the fifth set, and I picked up my intensity and level."

   Less than one year after losing to U.S. veteran Tim Smyczek in the first round of the $100,000 Fairfield, Calif., Challenger in 2016, Shapovalov reached the fourth round of the 2017 U.S. Open at 18.

   Fritz, the son of former top-10 player Kathy May and ex-pro Guy Fritz, won his first two Challenger titles in Sacramento, Calif., and Fairfield in consecutive weeks at 17 in 2015.

   Shapovalov, ranked 17th, is scheduled to play Belgium's David Goffin, seeded seventh and ranked 10th, for the second time on Sunday. Goffin, only 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters), prevailed 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) in the second round in Tokyo last fall.

   Goffin beat 26th-seeded Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-1, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the fourth consecutive year. With another victory, Goffin will have advanced to the quarterfinals of every major.

   In a thriller that ended at 1:10 a.m. EDT Saturday, 27th-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia saved six match points in a 6-7 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory over fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. The battle lasted 4:36.

   Top-ranked Novak Djokovic dispatched 28th-seeded Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in their second meeting in two weeks. 

   Djokovic dismissed Struff 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of last week's Western & Southern Open in Flushing Meadows. Djokovic also defeated Struff in four sets in the first round of the Australian Open in January.

   Djokovic, a three-time U.S. Open champion, improved to 26-0 this year and 29-0 dating to November.

   Sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion and two-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist, beat unseeded Jessica Pegula, a 26-year-old American making her first appearance in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament, 6-4, 6-3.

   Kvitova reached the quarterfinals of the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2017 in her only Northern California appearance. The tournament moved to San Jose as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in 2018.

   Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, advanced to the final of the 2012 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger at 18 and semifinals of the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.

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

   New format, more frustration for the United States.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No. 3 seed Smyczek beats Canadian phenom in Fairfield

Tim Smyczek returns serve during his 6-2, 6-4 victory over
17-year-old Denis Shapovalov in the first round of the
$100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   FAIRFIELD, Calif. — With his shaggy blond hair, 17-year-old Denis Shapovalov looks like a surfer dude from Southern California.
   Actually, he's a Canadian tennis phenom who was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Russian parents.
   All Shapovalov did this past summer was win the Wimbledon boys singles title, stun then-No. 19 Nick Kyrgios in the first round in Shapovalov's hometown of Toronto and take the U.S. Open boys doubles crown (with countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime).
   It was easy to see why on Monday in the first round of the $100,000 Fairfield Challenger. Shapovalov, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander, at times displayed a devastating serve and sensational one-handed backhand against No. 3 seed Tim Smyczek. But Shapovalov made too many errors and lost 6-2, 6-4 at Solano Community College.
   "I went into the match and certainly wasn't taking it lightly," said the 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Smyczek, a 28-year-old Milwaukee native living in Tampa, Fla. "I know he's capable of playing at a really high level, and I think he's going to be really good one day. He didn't play well today, but he had flashes of some really high-level tennis."

Shapovalov won the Wimbledon boys singles title,
stunned then-No. 19 Nick Kyrgios in Shapovalov's
hometown of Toronto and took the U.S. Open boys
doubles crown (with countryman Felix Auger-Alia-
simme) this past summer. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Smyczek, who shocked 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner to reach the third round in Miami as a qualifier in the spring, will play Joris De Loore of Belgium on Wednesday for a quarterfinal berth.
   De Loore beat 6-foot-5 (1.96 meter) Keegan Smith, an 18-year-old wild card from San Diego who's headed for UCLA, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
   De Loore ousted top-seeded Bjorn Fratangelo of Boca Raton, Fla., in the first round of last week's $100,000 Stockton Challenger before losing to eventual runner-up Noah Rubin of Long Island, N.Y.
   All three Fairfield seeds in action on Monday advanced. Also winning were No. 5 Alessandro Giannessi of Italy and No. 8 Maximilian Marterer of Germany.
   Top-seeded Frances Tiafoe of Boca Raton is scheduled to play Blaz Rola, a 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) left-hander from Slovenia, in the first round for the second consecutive week today.
   Tiafoe defeated Rola, the 2013 NCAA singles champion from Ohio State, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 en route to the Stockton title.
   Here are the Fairfield singles qualifying, singles main and doubles main draws and today's schedule.

Mmoh wins showdown to reach Tiburon main draw

Michael Mmoh, shown last month in the U.S. Open, will meet
fellow American Tennys Sandgren today in the first round of
the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The first meeting in what could develop into one of the world's top rivalries went to Michael Mmoh.
   The 18-year-old American beat second-seeded Denis Shapovalov, a 17-year-old Canadian, 6-4, 6-4 on Monday in the final round of qualifying for the $100,000 Wells Fargo Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   Tiburon is located across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
   Mmoh, a 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) right-hander with a two-handed backhand, won the USTA boys 18 national singles title last month to earn an automatic wild card in the U.S. Open. He lost to 55th-ranked Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round at Flushing Meadows.
   Shapovalov, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander with a one-handed backhand, took the Wimbledon boys singles crown in July and stunned 19th-ranked Nick Kyrgios in the opening round at Toronto later that month.
   Mmoh will face 25-year-old countryman Tennys Sandgren, a semifinalist at last week's $50,000 Columbus (Ohio) Challenger, for the second time today after a 10 a.m. match.
   Sandgren, a former Tennessee All-American, defeated Mmoh 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of a $25,000 Futures tournament in Los Angeles in January.
   The Tiburon main draw began Monday. All four seeds in action won, but only No. 6 Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., coasted. No. 2 Bjorn Fratangelo and No. 4 Frances Tiafoe, both of Boca Raton, Fla., and No. 8 Quentin Halys of France survived in three sets.
   Kozlov, Tiafoe and Halys, a Tiburon semifinalist last year, are teenagers. Fratangelo, a quarterfinalist the past two years, is 23.
   Highlighting today's schedule, No. 3 seed and defending champion Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., will play qualifier Brydan Klein of Great Britain after a 10 a.m. match, and No. 1 seed Benjamin Becker of Germany will face Tommy Paul, yet another U.S. teenager, not before 3 p.m.
   Becker, 35, reached the Columbus final as the top seed but lost to Danish wild card Mikael Torpegaard 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. Torpegaard, a junior at Ohio State, was playing on his home court.
   The Tiburon Challenger is being streamed live. Here are the singles qualifying draw, singles main draw, doubles main draw and today's schedule.

Teen stars to meet for main-draw berth in Tiburon

Michael Mmoh serves during his first-round
loss to French veteran Jeremy Chardy in the
recent U.S. Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Years from now, San Francisco Bay Area fans might boast that they saw the first match between Michael Mmoh and Denis Shapovalov.
   Two of the top teenagers in the world, they will meet today in the final round of qualifying for the $100,000 Wells Fargo Bank Tiburon Challenger. The 10 a.m. match at the Tiburon Peninsula Club could be streamed live.
   Mmoh, an 18-year-old American, eked out a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory over Erik Crepaldi of Italy on Sunday. The second-seeded Shapovalov, 17, of Canada beat Swedish wild card Andre Goransson, a senior at nearby Cal, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
   Mmoh, a 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) right-hander with a two-handed backhand, won the USTA boys 18 national singles title last month. That gave him an automatic wild card in the U.S. Open, in which he lost to French veteran Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round.
   Shapovalov, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander with a one-handed backhand, took the Wimbledon boys singles crown in July. He stunned 19th-ranked Nick Kyrgios in the first round at Toronto later that month and reached the semifinals of the $75,000 Gatineau (Canada) Challenger in August.
   Shapovalov is ranked No. 248 (fifth in Canada), and Mmoh is No. 356 (31st in the United States).
   Meanwhile, Australian veteran Matt Reid knocked off top qualifying seed Alessandro Giannessi of Italy 7-6 (3), 7-5.
   In Giannessi's previous two tournaments, he reached the second round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier before losing to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets and won the $120,000 Szczecin (Poland) Challenger on clay.
   Reid took advantage of a favorable draw to gain the Tiburon semifinals in 2014 as a qualifier. He also has advanced to the last two doubles finals in the tournament with countryman Carsten Ball.
   Filip Bergevi, another Swedish wild card and Cal senior, and Stanford junior Tom Fawcett lost to seeds in qualifying.
   Main-draw play will begin today not before 11:30 a.m. Four seeds will be in action during the day: No. 2 Bjorn Fratangelo of Boca Raton, Fla., No. 4 Frances Tiafoe of Boca Raton, No. 6 Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and No. 8 Quentin Halys of France. All except Fratangelo, 23, are teenagers.
   Halys reached the semifinals last year, and Fratangelo has advanced to the quarterfinals the last two years.
   Here are the singles qualifying draw, today's schedule, singles main draw and doubles main draw.

U.S. prospect Mmoh to make NorCal pro debut

Michael Mmoh, 18, unleashes a forehand in
a first-round loss to French veteran Jeremy
Chardy in the recent U.S. Open. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Michael Mmoh, one of the United States' top prospects, is scheduled to make his Northern California pro debut today.
   Mmoh, who won the USTA boys 18 national title last month, will play Luke Bambridge of Great Britain at 10 a.m. in the first round of qualifying for the $100,000 Wells Fargo Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   "Michael is one of the most athletic people you will ever see on a tennis court," fellow U.S. prospect Reilly Opelka, a close friend of Mmoh's, told The New York Times last September. "There is nothing he can't do out there."

   By winning the USTA boys 18s in Kalamazoo, Mich., Mmoh earned an automatic berth in the main draw of the U.S. Open. He lost to 55th-ranked Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

   Mmoh, the 18-year-old son of former ATP journeyman Tony Mmoh from Nigeria, also won a $25,000 Futures tournament in Bakersfield, Calif., in March.

   The top two qualifying seeds in Tiburon, 145th-ranked Alessandro Giannessi of Italy and 247th-ranked Denis Shapovalov of Canada, received first-round byes. 

   In Giannessi's last two tournaments, he reached the second round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier before losing to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets and won the $120,000 Szczecin (Poland) Challenger on clay.

   Shapovalov, 17, also had an outstanding summer. He won the Wimbledon boys singles title, stunned 19th-ranked Nick Kyrgios in the first round at Toronto before losing to former world No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov and reached the semifinals of the $75,000 Gatineau (Canada) Challenger.

   The top entries in the main draw of the Tiburon Challenger, which begins Monday, are No. 97 Benjamin Becker of Germany, No. 110 Bjorn Fratangelo of Boca Raton, Fla., and No. 112 and defending champion Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla.

   Here are the qualifying draw and today's schedule.