Townsend takes out Wimbledon champ Halep

   For the fourth consecutive match, Taylor Townsend won after dropping the first set.

   This one, however, was special.

   The 23-year-old qualifier from Atlanta knocked off fourth-seeded Simona Halep, the reigning Wimbledon champion, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) today in the second round of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   "It's been a really long journey," the 116th-ranked Townsend, a left-hander who played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 17 in 2013, told reporters. "You flood with emotions of the things you've been through – positive, negative ... 

   "It's just confirmation more for myself that I'm on the right path, doing the right things. You keep your head down and keep working, and you see what happens."

   Townsend, who had never won more than four games in a set in three career matches against Halep, is scheduled to play another Romanian, unseeded Sorana Cirstea, on Saturday. The 29-year-old Cirstea, ranked 106th after reaching a career-high No. 21 in 2013, defeated Aliona Bolsova of Spain 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
   Wild card Kristie Ahn, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate, needed eight match points to defeat Russia's Anna Kalinskaya, a 20-year-old qualifier, 6-2, 6-3. Kalinskaya ousted 11th-seeded Sloane Stephens, the U.S. Open champion two years ago, on Tuesday.
   Ahn, who lives a 30-minute drive from Flushing Meadows in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., set up a rematch against unseeded Jelena Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open two days after turning 20 and last year became the first Latvian woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
   Ahn shocked the top-seeded Ostapenko 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the first round on clay at Bogota in April in their only other career meeting.
   Coco Gauff, a 15-year-old U.S. sensation, outlasted Timea Babos, ranked No. 112 in singles and No. 3 (formerly No. 1) in doubles, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to become the youngest player to reach the third round of the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   Gauff will meet top seed and defending champion Naomi Osaka, who eliminated Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-4 in a blockbuster match on Saturday.
    Jenson Brooksby, an 18-year-old qualifier from Carmichael in the Sacramento area, lost to 17th-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-2 in 3 hours, 4 minutes.
   Brooksby, who will jump from No. 394 to No. 271 after the U.S. Open, led 4-0 in the second set and served for it at 5-4. He plans to enroll at Baylor in January but could turn pro instead.
   Basilashvili trained with Dmitry Tursunov, now the coach of 13th-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, at the Gorin Tennis Academy in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay.
   Tim Smyczek, 31, ended his career with a first-round doubles loss. In a matchup of U.S. wild-card teams, Martin Damm, 15, and Toby Kodat, 16, defeated Mitchell Krueger and Smyczek 7-6 (6), 7-5.
   In other opening-round men's doubles matches:
   –Luke Bambridge of Great Britain and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) edged Americans Thai-Son Kwaitkowski and Noah Rubin 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
   –No. 10 seeds Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat unseeded Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, 6-4, 6-2.
   In the first round of mixed doubles, Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of San Jose and Fabrice Martin of France nipped seventh-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Oliver Marach of Austria 2-6, 6-4 [10-8].
   Here are the U.S. Open men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles draws and Friday's schedule.

Smyczek, a consummate professional, to retire at 31

Diminutive Tim Smyczek, playing in the 2016 Fairfield (Calif.)
 Challenger, reached a career-high No. 68 in 2015. He is best
known for his sportsmanship during a five-set loss to Rafael
Nadal in the Australian Open that year. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Tim Smyczek attained a career-high ranking of No. 68 in the world in 2015.
   That's nothing to scoff at, especially for someone 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms).
   But in terms of class and professionalism, Smyczek was top-10 material.
   The 31-year-old Dallas resident plans to retire after playing doubles in the U.S. Open, which begins Monday.
   "I went into this year knowing it would be my last," Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check), who starred in Northern California tournaments, said in a podcast on Aug. 15. " ... When I got married (to Ana Pier on Nov. 21, 2015), it became a little harder for me to travel. Then when we had a daughter (Valentina, on Aug. 16, 2018), it became exponentially harder for me to travel. My wife and daughter have traveled with me a little bit, but it's a tough life for both me and them.
   "I knew it was time, and I also know I want to have a career outside of tennis. I'm 31 years old, and at some point, you're just kind of delaying the inevitable. I figured this fall was as good a time as any."
   Sick of traveling and wanting to be "intellectually challenged," Smyczek said he will begin a two-year Master of Business Administration program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He has not attended college but said an undergraduate degree is not required.
   Smyczek, who missed almost three months in the spring with an injury, has plunged to No. 310. He earned $2,059,479 in career prize money and compiled victories over 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Ivo Karlovic, 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner and 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Sam Querrey.
   Smyczek's earnings, though significant, are deceptively high because of traveling and coaching expenses. By comparison, the U.S. Open men's and women's singles champions each will pocket $3.85 million. Each runner-up will collect $1.9 million.
   Smyczek – who grew up in frigid Milwaukee, of all places – is best remembered for his sportsmanship late in a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the second round of the 2015 Australian Open.
   With Nadal, suffering from nausea and dizziness, serving at 6-5, 30-0, in the fifth set, a fan yelled as the Spaniard tossed the ball on his first delivery, distracting him. The serve sailed long, but Smyczek allowed Nadal to take another first serve.
   "I'll always remember that (match)," Smyczek said on the podcast. "A couple of months later in Miami, I was a huge nerd and got ahold of a photo of us shaking hands after the match, and I asked Rafa to sign it. I'll put that up in my office someday."
   Smyczek also reached the third round of the 2013 U.S. Open as the last remaining American man, the semifinals on grass in Newport, R.I., on the ATP World Tour in 2018 and three ATP quarterfinals. One of those quarterfinal appearances came in San Jose in 2011 as a qualifier.
   In Northern California Challengers, Smyczek won the Tiburon singles title in 2015 and was the runner-up twice in singles (2013 Sacramento and 2014 Napa) and twice in doubles (2013 and 2014 Napa). Overall, he won seven singles and two doubles titles on the Challenger tour, all in the United States.
   Because of his size, Smyczek had to train extra hard. He wasn't going to blow anyone off the court with his serve, so he had to be prepared to play long points.
    Smyczek, though, wasn't always so professional.
   "In 2008, I had been on the tour for two or three years," Smyczek recalled. "Craig Boynton, who's still out there coaching, has been a bit of a mentor to me and one of my dear friends. He sat me down at a Challenger somewhere and said, 'What are your goals for tennis?' I told him, and he looked at me and said, 'Do you really think you're doing enough to get there?'
   "I was taken aback a little bit. When I was a young pro, I wasn't the most professional. I was the first one to go out and have a few beers after I lost and do that until I played the next week.
   "I just had a little bit of an 'aha' moment with him and had to come to terms with the fact that if I wanted to reach my goals, the only way I was going to have a chance was to work harder than most. Ever since that point, I can rest easy that I worked as hard as possible. That's probably what made it possible for me to have a 12-, 13-year career."
   Following up on Smyczek's goals, podcast moderator and New York Times reporter Ben Rothenberg noted that juniors invariably aspire to win Grand Slam titles.
   "Very early in my professional career, I kind of forgot about winning Slams," Smyczek replied with a laugh. "Goals are supposed to be realistic. I always wanted to be top 30. I didn't quite get there, but there were a few times when I was actually quite close. Maybe not numerically, but around those times, I might have lost five or six times in a year where I either served for the match or had match points.
   "That was one (goal). I had some monetary goals as well. Those are kind of what get you up in the morning, right? If I set a goal and said I wanted to be top 100, and I reached it and didn't set a new one, I probably would have retired shortly thereafter."
   Smyczek was all business on the court – staying composed and rarely, if ever, arguing with officials –  and thoughtful off it. He was generous with his time with reporters and wrote thank-you notes to host families on personalized stationery.
   Smyczek expressed mixed feelings about having played professional tennis.
   "I don't want to insult people who love tennis and tennis is their life, (but) it hasn't been that way for me," Smyczek said. "I've always loved competing, just kind of suffering on court and embracing the battle of tennis. The actual tennis part has always seemed less important to me.
   "That's probably a function of me being not as talented as a lot of other guys. You can tell that Roger (Federer) just loves tennis, and I would, too, if I could do what he can. ... "
   Similarly, Smyczek conceded that retirement will be bittersweet.
   "I'm sure I will end up being sad at some point," he said. "I don't know whether that will be a few weeks from now or a few months from now. I know that's coming, but right now I'm really excited to get going with school, get off the road and be around every day with my wife and daughter. I couldn't be happier."

'Lefty Andy Murray' advances to Stockton semis

   STOCKTON, Calif. — If Michael Mmoh is right, Cameron Norrie has a very bright future.
   When it was suggested to Mmoh that the left-hander's game resembles his British countryman Andy Murray's, Mmoh replied: "Lefty Andy Murray is a pretty good comparison. He has a really good backhand and a pretty good forehand. He's very talented at moving you around the court and really dictating that baseline, so he'll just push you from corner to corner. He can do that all day. He has very good precision."
   That doesn't necessarily mean Norrie, who will face Mmoh today in the semifinals of the $100,000 Stockton Challenger, will ascend to No. 1 and win three Grand Slam singles titles like Murray.
   Norrie, 22, is far behind Murray at the same age. Murray won the first of his 45 ATP titles, 14th in the Open era (since 1968) and fourth among active players, in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose at 18 years old in 2006 and repeated in 2007. Norrie is ranked No. 136 and could crack the top 100 by the end of the year. That would be an impressive feat, considering he turned pro only four months ago after his junior year at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
   Norrie, seeded eighth, beat Tennys Sandgren, seeded second, 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Friday at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   The third-seeded Mmoh, 19, of Bradenton, Fla., led 34-year-old Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov, a former top-20 player who has been plagued by injuries, 6-3 when Tursunov retired with a hamstring injury.
   It's the third consecutive tournament in which Tursunov, who trained in Northern California from age 12 into his 30s, has retired and the second straight because of a hamstring problem.
   In the other semifinal, sixth-seeded Darian King of Barbados will meet unseeded veteran Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., for the first time.
   King, 25, defeated fourth-seeded Stefan Kozlov, 19, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-4, 6-4. Smyczek, 29, eliminated Elias Ymer, a 21-year-old Swede, by the same score.
   Both King and Smyczek qualified for the U.S. Open in August and lost in the first round.   
   Sandgren, 26, of Gallatin, Tenn., in the Nashville area was the only top-100 player in the Stockton Challenger at No. 97. Top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans, a Belgian who lost to Ymer in the first round, dropped from No. 92 when the draw came out last Saturday to No. 101 in the latest rankings on Monday.
   Norrie's victory wasn't really an upset. He improved to 3-0 against Sandgren, including a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the final of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger on Sunday.
   "I think I've had a little bit of luck (against Sandgren)," the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Norrie said modestly. "I've been winning the long rallies against him, and that's what he usually does well. That's paid dividends, and I've been coming forward when I've needed to and knocking off some volleys when he's on the run and slices. I've been staying positive and staying tough."
   Sandgren led 4-1 (one service break) in the second set, but Norrie broke back for 3-4 when Sandgren sailed a high backhand volley long. Both players then held serve to force the tiebreaker, in which Norrie bolted to a 5-1 lead and held on for the match.
   "He played a good game to break me (early in the second set)," said Norrie, who reached the second round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier before losing to eventual semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta. "I felt like I was playing well. I just tried to focus on the present. Then I fought back and played a very good tiebreaker and served really well. It's the best I've served the last two weeks. I'm feeling really good about the match."
   Mmoh, the son of former journeyman pro Tony Mmoh from Nigeria, skipped college and turned pro last year. He was happy that his match against Tursunov lasted only 39 minutes.
   Mmoh was coming off a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Mackenzie McDonald, who grew up in Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, on Thursday. Mmoh saved two match points in the 2-hour, 34-minute battle.
   "I had a super-long match yesterday and was pretty sore this morning," conceded Mmoh, who was named after Michael Jordan and has much of his namesake's athleticism. "Having a 30-minute match or whatever it was is going to help me the rest of the tournament and if I decide to play Fairfield (next week) as well."
   Norrie is 2-0 against Mmoh, including a 7-5, 6-2 win last week in the Tiburon quarterfinals.
   "I need to be a little more aggressive and take my chances," said the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Mmoh, ranked No. 156. "I don't think I'm going to have a lot of success just putting the ball in play and hoping he's going to miss because he can make a ton of balls. I'm going to look to use my firepower and take it upon him."
   Here are the Stockton singles and doubles draws and today's schedule. The tournament is being streamed live.
   Also, here are the singles qualifying draw and today's schedule for the $100,000 Northbay Healthcare Men's Pro Championships at Solano Community College in Fairfield, Calif.

Top seed, defending champ ousted in 100K Tiburon

   Tom Fawcett's first Challenger main-draw victory was a big one.
   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) wild card, a Stanford senior, shocked top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 today in the first round of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.
   It was Fawcett's first win over a top-100 player. Bemelmans, a 29-year-old left-hander, is ranked No. 92. He won a $25,000 tournament in Burlingame, a one-hour drive south of Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area, last October and reached the third round at Wimbledon in July as a qualifier.

   However, Bemelmans was playing in his first tournament since losing in the first round of the U.S. Open to 16th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France in late August. Bemelmans' rustiness showed, as he made numerous forehand errors.
   Three other seeds, including defending champion Darian King of Barbados, lost today at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   Bay Area native Mackenzie McDonald knocked out the sixth-seeded King 7-5, 6-3. McDonald, a 22-year-old former UCLA star, has reached the Tiburon semifinals in each of the past two years. He fell to King 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in last year's semis.
   Lucky loser Jan Choinski of Germany ousted fifth-seeded Ramkumar Ramanathan of India 6-1, 6-2, and qualifier Deiton Baughman, a 21-year-old American, surprised seventh-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 17-year-old Canadian phenom, 6-2, 6-2.

   McDonald will face Denis Kudla, who avenged a loss to Tim Smyczek in the scintillating 2015 Tiburon final. Kudla, 25, beat his friend and fellow American 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3. Like Choinski, Smyczek was a lucky loser.
   In the last match of the day, second-seeded Tennys Sandgren downed qualifier Sekou Bangoura 6-4, 6-4 in an all-American encounter.
   Bangoura also qualified for Tiburon two years ago and ousted fourth-seeded Dustin Brown of Germany in the opening round. Bangoura then lost to McDonald 7-6 in the third set in the second round.
   Brown is 2-0 against current world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Both wins have come on grass, including a second-round meeting at Wimbledon in 2015.

   Fawcett, from Winnetka, Ill., pounded eight aces and committed four double faults. Bemelmans had one ace and six double faults.

   Fawcett broke serve to lead 5-3 in the third set on a Bemelmans forehand error. Fawcett, rather than fold under pressure, held serve at 30 with a service winner for the match.

   Fawcett will play Frank Dancevic, a 33-year-old Canadian, in the second round. Dancevic, ranked No. 356 after climbing to a career-high No. 65 in 2007, beat U.S. wild card Alexander Sarkissian 7-6 (5), 6-4.
   Here are the singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule.

Mmoh mauls Rubin in matchup of U.S. prospects

Michael Mmoh, shown in last year's Tiburon final, coasted to a 6-1, 6-2 victory
over Noah Rubin today. Photo by Getty Images

   Michael Mmoh had little trouble with Noah Rubin this time.
   In a matchup of top U.S. prospects, the fourth-seeded Mmoh routed Noah Rubin 6-1, 6-2 in 1 hour, 6 minutes today in the first round of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.
   Mmoh, last year's runner-up to Darian King of Barbados, won all 20 points on his first serve against Rubin, 21, at the Tiburon Peninsula Club in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Rubin, the 2014 Wimbledon boys champion, defeated Mmoh 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of last year's $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger in their only previous meeting. Mmoh aggravated an abdominal strain at 2-2 in the first set. Rubin, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 150 pounds (68 kilograms), went on to lose to U.S. phenom Frances Tiafoe in the final.
   Mmoh, the 19-year-old son of former journeyman pro Tony Mmoh, will play Tobias Kamke, the 2010 Tiburon champion, on Wednesday in the second round. Kamke, a 31-year-old German, dismissed Christian Garin of Chile 6-3, 6-1 in one hour.
   Meanwhile, Mitchell Krueger of Orlando, Fla., defeated Sam Groth of Australia 6-4, 7-5. Groth, unofficially the world's fastest server, had eight aces and five double faults.
   In the final round of qualifying, Sekou Bangoura of Bradenton, Fla., defeated 2015 champion Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
   However, Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) advanced to the main draw as a lucky loser when Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area withdrew with an ankle injury.
   Novikov reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles final (with Quentin Halys of France) last year.
   Smyczek will play fellow American and friend Denis Kudla on Tuesday in a rematch of the 2015 final, a thriller won by Smyczek.
   Here are the singles qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws, and Tuesday's schedule. Live streaming of the tournament is available.

Ex-champ Smyczek seeded first in Tiburon qualies

   Two years is an eternity in pro tennis.
   Just ask Tim Smyczek.
   The American veteran, who won the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger in 2015, is seeded first in qualifying for this year's tournament.
   Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check), a 29-year-old Milwaukee native now based in Tampa, Fla., is scheduled to play Christopher O'Connell, a 23-year-old Australian, on Saturday not before 1 p.m. at the Tiburon Peninsula Club. Play begins at 10 a.m.
   The 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Smyczek is ranked No. 189 after reaching a career-high No. 68 in April 2015. O'Connell is No. 311.
   Smyczek, a consummate pro, is best known for his sportsmanlike gesture in a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the second round of the 2015 Australian Open. With Nadal, suffering from stomach cramps and dizziness, serving for the match at 6-5, 30-0 in the fifth set, Smyczek allowed the Spaniard another first serve after a fan yelled during his toss to cause a fault.
   The Tiburon qualifying draw also features former San Francisco Bay Area college stars Andre Goransson and Florian Lakat (both Cal), Bernardo Saraiva (USF) and John Lamble (Santa Clara), as well as Stevie Gould, ranked No. 1 in the Northern California 18s, of nearby Corte Madera.
   The main draw begins Monday.
   Here are the singles qualifying draw and Saturday's schedule.

Smyczek: Prospects could end U.S. Slam title drought

American veteran Tim Smyczek, playing in last month's $100,000
Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger, has faced almost all of the United
States' top prospects. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   This is the last of a three-part series on the bright future of U.S. men's tennis.
   The last American man to win a Grand Slam singles title was Andy Roddick seemingly an eternity ago in the 2003 U.S. Open.
   Tim Smyczek might have played the next one.
   The United States has 10 men age 21 or younger, all with impressive credentials, ranked among the top 350 in the world. Smyczek, a 28-year-old U.S. veteran, has played eight of them a combined 22 times.
   Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) discussed four phenoms — Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Jared Donaldson and Michael Mmoh — during last month's $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger.
   All, according to Smyczek, are potential Grand Slam champions.
   "Yeah, they all have potential, but we all know that's not what it's about," cautioned Smyczek, who was seeded third in Fairfield and lost in the second round of Joris De Loore of Belgium. "When players Andy Murray's age were in the juniors, there were probably 10 to 15 guys that had potential to win Grand Slams, and two or three have (succeeded).
   "I think every one of those (U.S. prospects) has a huge upside, but it's silly to say, 'Oh, yeah, he's going to win a Grand Slam someday.' They all have huge potential, but who knows about Slams? It's tough to predict."

   Smyczek, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms), is ranked No. 133 after reaching a career-high No. 68 early last year. He is best known for his gentlemanly gesture in a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the second round of last year's Australian Open. With Nadal serving for the match at 6-5, 30-0 in the fifth set, Smyczek allowed the Spanish star an extra first serve after a fan had yelled during his toss and caused a fault.

Taylor Fritz serves during last year's Fairfield
Challenger, which he won. Fritz, 19, leads U.S.
players 21 or younger at No. 73 in the world.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Smyczek is 1-1 against Fritz, 1-2 versus Tiafoe (pronounced Tee-AH-foe), 3-3 against Donaldson (who has won the last three meetings) and 1-1 versus Mmoh.
   Fritz, who turned 19 on Friday, leads the young Americans at No. 73 in the world. He won last year's Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back to back.
   Tiafoe, 18, and Donaldson, 20, are next at No. 102 and No. 109, respectively. Both recently cracked the top 100 for the first time, Tiafoe by winning last month's $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.
   Mmoh, 18, is ninth at No. 281. He reached the final of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger as a qualifier in October and the semifinals in Stockton the following week while battling a strained abdominal muscle.
   Interestingly, the four players' rankings correspond to their heights. Fritz is 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters), Tiafoe and Donaldson are 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters), and Mmoh is 6-foot-1 (1.85 meters).
   Smyczek hesitated when asked which of the 10 young Americans in the top 350 impresses him the most.
   "It's a good question," he said. "Each one does some different things really well. Taylor Fritz obviously has had the most success, but he might be a little one-dimensional. He kind of has one speed — he hits the ball hard. If he gets backed into a corner, he hits the ball harder. I think he'll learn to play some defense a little better, and I also think he'll learn to come forward when it's the right time. Right now, he doesn't volley great, but he'll probably develop that part of his game going forward.

   "Frances is playing some really good tennis," Smyczek continued before Tiafoe lost in the second round in Fairfield and the first round the following week in Las Vegas. "He can do a lot of different things well. He moves well, he serves very well, and he can turn defense into offense really quickly. I've been very impressed with Frances, especially lately.

Frances Tiafoe reaches for a forehand while winning last month's $100,000
Stockton Challenger. Tiafoe, 18, "can turn defense into offense really
quickly," Smyczek said. Photo by Paul Bauman

   "The other guys, they're all progressing at their own rates. It's important for them to remember that. It's good to have competition among each other, and they'll help each other get better and climb up the rankings. At the same time, everybody goes at their own pace. Right now, Taylor Fritz might be the highest-ranked one. Maybe a year from now, Tiafoe will pass him up. It's hard to tell, but as a group, the under-21 guys are exciting to watch, for sure."
   Tiafoe has been known to lose his temper on the court, but Smyczek said it's not a major issue.
   "He doesn't get enough credit for controlling his emotions. He's not a basket case or anything like that. He's not breaking rackets every match or anything. I think he'll get better at thinking his way through matches and might learn to play a bit more cerebral-type tennis, but I don't think his emotions are really a liability," Smyczek suggested.

Jared Donaldson eyes a backhand in last year's
$100,000 Sacramento Challenger, in which he
was the runner-up to Fritz. Donaldson, 20, stun-
ned 14th-ranked David Goffin en route to the
third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier this
past summer. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Donaldson, meanwhile, upset four top-50 players in top-level tournaments over the summer:

    —No. 33 Fabio Fognini of Italy en route to the round of 16 in Toronto as a qualifier.

    —No. 47 and former top-10 player Nicolas Almagro of Spain before losing 6-4 in the third set to No. 4 Stan Wawrinka in the second round at Cincinnati.
    —No. 14 David Goffin of Belgium and No. 32 Viktor Troicki of Serbia before falling to No. 23 Ivo Karlovic, 6-foot-11 (2.11 meters), in the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier.
   "I always thought very, very highly of (Donaldson) because he's played some really, really good tennis against me," Smyczek said. "I've seen him play some not-so-good tennis against other people. This summer, he really started to come into his own. He had a couple of really big wins at the tour level, and it culminated at the U.S. Open."
   Assessing the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter), 160-pound (73-kilogram) Donaldson's strengths and weaknesses, Smyczek said: "First of all, as he gets a little older, he's probably going to put a little meat on his bones. He's pretty skinny, and some of those guys can be real susceptible to injuries, but he travels with a trainer. I think he's doing a lot of the right things in that respect.
   "His serve is good when it's on. He might start to work on becoming a little more consistent with his serve, but when he's serving well, it's a huge weapon. He moves well. His forehand is very, very big when he's set, stationary. His backhand is rock solid. He doesn't volley well yet, but his coaches are Taylor and Phil Dent. I don't know about Phil, but Taylor (was) a pretty good volleyer, so I think they'll probably be working on that as well."
   Phil, a 66-year-old Australia native, and Taylor Dent, a 35-year-old Southern California native, are father-son former pro players.

Michael Mmoh, 18, shows his athleticism en route
to the semifinals of the recent Stockton Challenger.
Mmoh also reached the final of the $100,000 Tibur-
on (Calif.) Challenger as a qualifier the previous
week. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Phil Dent climbed to No. 17 in singles, falling to Jimmy Connors in the 1974 Australian Open, and No. 9 in doubles, winning the 1975 Australian Open with countryman John Alexander. Suffice it to say Dent could volley.
   Taylor reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 2003 and at Wimbledon in 2005, and advanced to the singles semifinals of the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He peaked at No. 21 in singles and No. 170 in doubles before back surgery derailed his career.
   Mmoh's Nigerian-born father, Tony, also played professionally, although his best singles ranking was No. 105 in 1987.
   "Michael is one of the most athletic people you will ever see on a tennis court," Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) U.S. prospect and close friend of Mmoh, told The New York Times last year. "There is nothing he can't do out there."
   Both of Smyczek's matches against Mmoh have been battles. Smyczek won 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5 in the first round of qualifying at Indian Wells in March. They met again in the Tiburon semifinals, and Mmoh saved a match point in a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over third seed and defending champion.
   "I tend to be pretty high on the guys that beat me," Smyczek cracked, "and he played some really, really good tennis in Tiburon. The last time I played him, he was very, very defensive. His game was to run and play defense and let guys miss. I was surprised in Tiburon how offensive he played at times. That's a huge improvement in his game.
   "He's extremely physical for his age, way beyond his years in that sense. His serve has developed very well. Yeah, I think he can be extremely good, too."

   Smyczek also discussed Stefan Kozlov two years ago after losing to the U.S. phenom 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in the semifinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger. It was their first career meeting and Kozlov's first victory over a top-100 player. He was 16 years old at the time, and Smyczek was ranked No. 99.

Eighteen-year-old Stefan Kozlov, playing in
Tiburon last month, "can be a top-10 player
one day," according to former world No. 17
Sam Querrey. Photo by Paul Bauman

   "He plays a real unconventional style ... " observed Smyczek, who has beaten the
6-foot (1.83-meter) Kozlov in straight sets in both of their subsequent matches. "He uses the slice a lot — (including on) the forehand, which you don't see much — and he's good at sneaking into the net and knocking volleys off. You don't see the variety that he brings very much."
   In the Sacramento final, Kozlov lost to
6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Sam Querrey, a U.S. Davis Cup veteran, 6-3, 6-4. Afterward, Querrey predicted stardom for Kozlov.
   "He's got every shot in the book," declared Querrey, now ranked No. 29 after reaching a career-high No. 17 in 2011. "If he keeps on the path he's on, he can be a top-10 player one day."
   Now 18, Kozlov is ranked a career-high
No. 144, up from No. 351 at the beginning of 2016. He has beaten three top-100 players this year: No. 39 Steve Johnson and No. 96 Benjamin Becker on grass and No. 75 Damir Dzumhur on hardcourt.
   The other U.S. men age 21 or younger in the top 350 are No. 135 Ernesto Escobedo and No. 169 Noah Rubin (both 20), No. 229 Tommy Paul and No. 276 Opelka (both 19) and No. 342 Mackenzie McDonald.
   McDonald, a 21-year-old native of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, turned pro in June after a sensational junior year at UCLA. Only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 145 pounds (66 kilograms), he became the first man since Matias Boeker of Georgia 15 years ago to sweep the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
   Fritz, Tiafoe and the other U.S. prospects hope to end the Grand Slam singles title drought for a once-dominant nation that now has no one in the top 20.
   "It would mean a lot to me," Tiafoe, the U.S.-born son of African immigrants, said in Stockton. "I'm just happy there's a bunch of good guys that are coming up with me so there's no real pressure on one person.
   "Noah, Stefan — Mmoh's been playing great — Tommy and Fritz and Donaldson ... there are so many guys under 21 playing well. I hope all of us can come up as a group in the top 20, top 10 one day, just like back in the day, how it used to be, how it needs to be."

No. 1 seed Tiafoe, No. 3 Smyczek ousted in Fairfield

Quentin Halys, 19, of France stretches for a forehand during his
victory over top-seeded Frances Tiafoe, 18, in the second round
of the $100,000 Fairfield Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- Well, it was nice while it lasted.
   Top-seeded Frances Tiafoe's stay in the top 100 in the world rankings will last one week after his 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 loss to fellow teenager Quentin Halys on Wednesday in the second round of the $100,000 Fairfield Challenger at Solano Community College.
   Tiafoe, who rose 17 places to No. 100 by winning the $100,000 Stockton Challenger last week, will drop only about three notches when the new rankings are released Monday. But now he's on the verge of having to qualify for Australian Open in January rather than getting straight into the main draw.
   Tiafoe isn't worried about his slip in the rankings.
   "That's alright," said the 18-year-old native of Hyattsville, Md., a semifinalist in Fairfield last year. "It's not a big deal. I've just got to keep working and getting better because obviously my goal is to be higher than 80 or 90 in the world. Hopefully I'll be top 20 or top 10 one day, so I'm working toward that."
   It was a bad day for highly seeded Americans against Europeans. Also, No. 3 Tim Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) lost to hard-serving Joris De Loore of Belgium 6-4, 7-6 (5).

   Tiafoe hopes to make big runs in $50,000 Challengers next week in Las Vegas and the week of Oct. 31 in Charlottesville, Va., then end his season.

Tiafoe fell to 0-5, including two junior matches, against Halys. "I haven't
really found any answers for him yet," Tiafoe said. Photo by Paul Bauman

   "I'll play until I feel I'm secure in the top 100 and secure for the Australian Open," said Tiafoe, who led No. 20 seed and then-No. 1 American John Isner two sets to none in the first round of the U.S. Open in August before losing in a fifth-set tiebreaker. "If I have to keep playing until Champaign (Ill., the season-ending Challenger in mid-November), I will, but I'm trying to make it not so many events.
   "It's been a long season, and I'm really tired. It's definitely tough to bring good tennis if I have to do it a lot of weeks, so I'm trying to focus on the next couple (tournaments)."
   Tiafoe's loss to Halys (pronounced Ah-LEECE) was hardly shocking. The 19-year-old Frenchman entered the match 4-0 against Tiafoe, having beaten him twice in the juniors (saving one match point) and twice on clay this year. Halys also was fresher after losing to qualifier Brydan Klein of Great Britain in the first round in Stockton. Plus, Tiafoe had an unfavorable schedule in Fairfield.
   "I mean, it's tough," Tiafoe moaned. "I played Sunday, had one day off and played Tuesday and Wednesday. I was hoping for a Tuesday-Thursday. Obviously, I wasn't so interested in the doubles match (later Wednesday), but luckily we were able to win."
   Tiafoe, playing half-heartedly at times, and Darian King of Barbados survived a match point and edged qualifiers Michael Kwong of Australia and Matt Seeberger, a 32-year-old San Francisco native and former UC Santa Cruz star, 4-6, 7-5 [10-8] in the opening round.

Joris De Loore of Belgium beat a highly seeded
American in the early rounds for the second
consecutive week. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In singles, Tiafoe escaped one match point serving at 4-5 in the third set when Halys, ranked No. 170, netted a low slice backhand. But after Tiafoe held for 5-5, Halys held his serve and broke Tiafoe for the match.
   From 30-30 in the last game, Tiafoe netted a backhand and had an opportunity for a forehand putaway, but it clipped the tape and went wide. Tiafoe furiously smashed his racket on the court three times.
   Halys, who reached the second round of the Australian Open and French Open this year, said his "game plan was to be very aggressive because I knew he was very confident from the last few weeks and he's in good shape now. I know him since a very long time and we always have tough matches (except the first one). Today it went my way."
   The 6-foot-3 (1.91-meter), 166-pound (76-kilogram) Halys pounded 12 aces, committed eight double faults and saved 12 of 14 break points against him.
   "He has a good serve," Tiafoe observed. "He can hit big at any time. He's pretty erratic. He doesn't really give you much rhythm. He'll miss shots, and you'll be like, 'Wow, it's bad,' and he'll hit some shots where you're like, 'Wow, it's really good.' He's definitely tough to play, and I haven't really found any answers for him yet."
   De Loore, ranked No. 184, upset a highly seeded American in the early rounds for the second consecutive week. He ousted top-seeded Bjorn Fratangelo in the first round in Stockton before losing to eventual runner-up Noah Rubin, 20, of the United States.
   Against the 134th-ranked Smyczek, De Loore blasted 13 aces and had only one double fault. He put in 71 percent of his first serves, won 85 percent of the points on his first serve (41 of 48) and saved five of six break points against him. De Loore, who moves well at 6-foot-3 (1.90 meters), also displayed impressive groundstrokes.

Smyczek, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters), lost to the hard-serving
De Loore, who's 6-foot-3 (1.90 meters). Photo by Paul Bauman

   "If I keep serving like this, every game (opponents) have to be at their best to beat me," said De Loore, who has defeated three top-100 players this year. "The return is one of the points I have to work on, but today I returned good."
   The key point in the match came at 5-5 in the second-set tiebreaker. Returning Smyczek's second serve, De Loore slugged a forehand cross-court passing shot. De Loore then hammered an ace for the match.
   "That 5-all point in the tiebreaker -- I was actually getting a weak reply when I could get him jammed to his forehand side -- but that one, he took a rip on, and it panned out for him," said Smyczek, who pounded seven aces despite being only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters).
   In Friday's quarterfinals, De Loore will meet No. 5 seed Alessandro Giannessi of Italy, and Halys will play No. 8 Maximilian Marterer of Germany. The other quarterfinals will be determined today.
   Marterer, a 21-year-old left-hander, withstood 20 aces to beat 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter Reilly Opelka, a 19-year-old American wild card, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5. Opelka was playing in his first tournament since retiring from his second-round qualifying match in the U.S. Open with his sixth stress fracture in one foot or the other in 18 months.
   "I felt it today," Opelka said.
   Opelka broke through in Atlanta on the ATP World Tour earlier in August, beating then-No. 28 Kevin Anderson, who's 6-foot-8 (2.03 meters), en route to the semifinals.
   Rain is forecast for Friday through Sunday in Fairfield.
   Here are the updated singles and doubles draws and today's schedule. The tournament is being streamed live.

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.

McDonald scores the latest upset in 100K Stockton

Mackenzie McDonald, shown in Tiburon last week, upset
No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek today in the second round of the
$100,000 Stockton Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   STOCKTON, Calif. -- Barring injury, Mackenzie McDonald almost certainly is headed to the top 100 in the world and perhaps the top 50.
   The 21-year-old native of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area staged the latest upset in the $100,000 Stockton Challenger, beating No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., 6-4, 6-4 in gusty wind today to reach the quarterfinals.
   McDonald, who turned pro in June after sweeping the NCAA singles and doubles titles as a UCLA junior, took his victory in stride.
   "I'm a pro now," McDonald, who played in his first professional tournament as a 14-year-old amateur in the Sacramento area, said at the new Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center at the University of the Pacific. "I'm supposed to win matches. That's my job."
   Later, No. 5 seed Denis Kudla and No. 6 Alessandro Giannessi narrowly avoided upsets.
   Kudla, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, saved two match points in a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over wild card and fellow American Brian Baker that lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.
   Baker, 31, has come back from -- brace yourself -- 11 operations (both hips, right elbow, back, sports hernia and four repairs of his right knee).
   Giannessi, an Italian who advanced to the second round of the recent U.S. Open as a qualifier, outlasted Daniel Nguyen of Oxnard in Southern California 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in 2 hours, 54 minutes.
   In Friday's quarterfinals in the bottom half of the draw, McDonald will face Kudla, and Giannessi will take on No. 3 seed Frances Tiafoe, a 7-6 (6), 6-3 winner over qualifier Dennis Nevolo in an all-American matchup.
   No seeds remain in the top half, with the second round scheduled for Thursday. Still alive, however, are last week's finalists in the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger. Champion Darian King of Barbados and 18-year-old Michael Mmoh of Bradenton, Fla., could meet in the quarters.

Tim Smyczek, playing in Tiburon last week, fell
to 0-2 against Mackenzie McDonald with today's
loss. Photo by Paul Bauman

   McDonald, ranked No. 371 after reaching the Tiburon semifinals for the second consecutive year, improved to 2-0 against the 28-year-old Smyczek, who has dropped from a career-high No. 68 in April last year to No. 134.
   Both players are undersized, McDonald at 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and only 145 pounds (66 kilograms) and Smyczek at 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 160 pounds (72 kilograms).
  Smyczek bolted to a 4-1 lead (one service break) in the first set, but McDonald reeled off the next five games and earned the only break of the second set to lead 3-2.
   "I came out and was playing pretty well," said Smyczek, who will turn 29 in December. "Mackie definitely started a little slow. I just benefited from him making a few errors, but he really picked it up.
   "I was struggling with my serve a little bit all day," added Smyczek, who put in only 45 percent of his first serves, "and he's the type of player that if you give him a chance to start on offense, he's going to make it tough on you. I just didn't do a good enough job of making first serves and keeping him from taking the first strike. It was a long day for me in that sense."
   In the first round of doubles, wild cards Sem Verbeek and Jose Chamba Gomez thrilled the local fans by stunning top-seeded Andres Molteni of Argentina and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo of Chile 7-6 (4), 2-6 [10-5].
   Verbeek, from the Netherlands, and Chamba Gomez, from Ecuador, were Pacific teammates last season. Verbeek completed his eligibility in May; Chamba Gomez is a junior.
   Here are:

   --The Stockton singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule.

   --The Redding women's singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule. The $25,000 tournament is being held at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.  

Mmoh, 18, ousts defending champ in 100K Tiburon

Qualifier Michael Mmoh, shown on Tuesday, saved a match point
his 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over third-seeded Tim Smyczek
on Saturday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Michael Mmoh continued his improbable run in the $100,000 Wells Fargo Bank Tiburon Challenger on Saturday.

   Mmoh, an 18-year-old qualifier from Bradenton, Fla., saved a match point in his 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) semifinal victory over No. 3 seed and defending champion Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.

   Serving at 6-5 in the tiebreaker, Smyczek (pronounced Smee-check) netted a makeable backhand volley. The 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) veteran, who's 10 years older than Mmoh, also blew a high putaway backhand volley on break point to trail 3-4 in the third set but broke right back. 

   Smyczek, normally a baseliner, frequently followed punishing groundstrokes to the net against the powerful, athletic Mmoh, who was playing in his first Challenger semifinal.

   The 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter), 187-pound (85-kilogram) Mmoh also escaped three match points in his first-round victory over Tennys Sandgren, who retired with a lower back injury while trailing 2-0 in the third set.

   Mmoh then upset fellow 18-year-old Floridian Stefan Kozlov, seeded sixth, and Florida resident Bjorn Fratangelo, seeded second.  

   Mmoh, ranked No. 356, will face unseeded Darian King, ranked No. 165, for the first time today at about 2 p.m.

   King, 24, of Barbados defeated Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old wild card who grew up across San Francisco Bay in Piedmont, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. 

   McDonald, who turned pro in June after sweeping the NCAA singles and doubles titles as a UCLA junior, served for the match at 5-4 in the third set and was three points from victory at 15-15. But he lost the next three points on a wide forehand volley that he argued and two cross-court backhands to even the set and match. 

   King won the next two games to reach his third Challenger final in three months. He won back-to-back titles, his first on the Challenger tour, in July on clay in Cali, Colombia, and hardcourts in Binghamton, N.Y. Both were $50,000 tournaments.

  In today's doubles final at noon, third-seeded Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith of Australia will play unseeded Quentin Halys, 19, of France and Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the Bay Area. Reid has lost the past two Tiburon finals with countryman Carsten Ball.
   The doubles and singles finals will be streamed live.

   Here are:

   --The Tiburon singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

   --The Stockton men's singles qualifying draw, singles main draw and today's schedule. The $100,000 tournament is being held at the new Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center at the University of the Pacific.

   --The Redding women's singles qualifying draw and today's schedule. The $25,000 tournament is being played at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. 

Mmoh, 18, leads parade of upsets in 100K Tiburon

Qualifier Michael Mmoh, shown Wednesday, stunned
second-seeded Bjorn Fratangelo 6-0, 7-5 to reach his
first Challenger semifinal. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Four of the top five seeds played Friday in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Wells Fargo Bank Tiburon Challenger.
   Only No. 3 Tim Smyczek, the defending champion, survived.
   Michael Mmoh, an 18-year-old qualifier from Bradenton, Fla., stunned No. 2 Bjorn Fratangelo of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-0, 7-5 at the Tiburon Peninsula Club in the San Francisco Bay Area to reach his first Challenger semifinal.
   Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old wild card who grew up in nearby Piedmont, outlasted No. 4 Frances Tiafoe, 18, of Boca Raton 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to gain the Tiburon semifinals for the second consecutive year.
   And Darian King of Barbados ousted No. 5 Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the Bay Area 7-5, 6-2.
   Smyczek (pronounced Smee-check) of Tampa, Fla., beat Mitchell Krueger of Boca Raton 6-2, 6-4.
   Mmoh, the son of former journeyman professional Tony Mmoh from Nigeria, survived three match points in his first-round victory over American Tennys Sandgren. Mmoh led 4-6, 7-6 (5), 2-0 when Sandgren retired with a lower back injury.
   Sandgren, 25, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but double-faulted three times in the long game, including once on match point.
   In today's semifinals, King will face McDonald at about 1 p.m. (live stream), followed by Smyczek against Mmoh. King and Smyczek are each 1-0 against their opponents.
   King defeated McDonald 6-4, 7-5 in 2014 on an outdoor hardcourt in a $15,000 Futures tournament in Mexico. Smyczek topped Mmoh 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5 in the first round of qualifying at Indian Wells in March.
   Here are the Tiburon singles and doubles draws and today's schedule. Also, here are the Stockton singles qualifying draw and today's schedule. The $100,000 tournament is being held at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center at the University of the Pacific.

Fritz, 18, stages big rally to qualify for Australian Open

Taylor Fritz, shown en route to the title in the Fairfield
(Calif.) Challenger in October, overcame a 4-0 deficit
in the third set to reach the men's singles main draw in
a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. Photo by
Paul Bauman 

   Taylor Fritz is at it again.
   Fritz, who won the Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back-to-back shortly before turning 18 on Oct. 28, rallied from a huge deficit to reach the men's singles main draw in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
   Fritz stormed back from 0-4 in the third set to stun 28-year-old left-hander Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in Australian Open qualifying in Melbourne.
   "It was just having the heart and guts to keep going," the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Fritz, from Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area, said on ausopen.com. "A lot of people don't expect their opponent to try so hard when down a double break. I think I caught him a little off guard.
   "It was such a big match qualifying for the Australian Open. I think just my continued pressure on him was what won it for me."
   Zverev, a Moscow native, climbed to a career-high No. 45 in 2009. He was the runner-up to James Blake in the 2012 Sacramento Challenger.
   Fritz, who won last week's Happy Valley (Australia) Challenger, improved to 8-0 this year. His Sacramento and Fairfield titles were part of a 17-match winning streak that began with the U.S. Open boys title.
    In the second round of the Sacramento Challenger, Fritz saved three match points against third-seeded Dustin Brown of Germany. The 31-year-old Brown is 2-0 against Rafael Nadal, with both victories coming on grass.
   Fritz, who has skyrocketed from No. 694 in the world on Oct. 5 to No. 154, might have caught a break in the first round of the main draw. Although he is scheduled to face 25th-seeded Jack Sock of Kansas City, Mo., on Monday (PST), Sock retired from the Auckland final on Friday with flu-like symptoms while trailing Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-1, 1-0.
   Fritz's countryman, 28-year-old Tim Smyczek, also rallied to reach the main draw in Melbourne. The third-seeded Smyczek, who won the Tiburon Challenger last October and got married in November, beat No. 29 Kenny De Schepper of France 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
   Smyczek, 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) to De Schepper's 6-foot-8 (2.03 meters), will meet Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain on Monday in the opening round.
   Smyczek gained worldwide acclaim when he gave Nadal an additional serve late in the fifth set in the second round of last year's Australian Open. Nadal, battling stomach cramps and dizziness, prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-5 in 4 hours, 12 minutes.
   Also in Australian Open qualifying on Friday, No. 32 seed Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area lost to No. 12 Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
   Novikov tweeted: "Unfortunately couldn't qualify today at Aussie open, had my chances but you live and you learn. Onto the next -- Hawaii!"
   On the women's side, No. 2 seed and former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs advanced to the main draw with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ivana Jorovic, 18, of Serbia.
   Gibbs, a 22-year-old resident of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles region, will face Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic on Sunday. The winner will play either No. 28 Kristina Mladenovic of France or Dominika Cibulkova, the 2014 runner-up from Slovakia.

Fritz's rise, Bryans' fall highlight top stories of 2015

Taylor Fritz of the United States won back-
to-back Challengers in Northern California
 at 17 years old. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   This year hinted at the dawn of a new era in U.S. men's tennis.
   It's too soon to write off doubles stars Bob and Mike Bryan, even at age 37. If Daniel Nestor can play at 43 and Leander Paes at 42, so can the Bryans if they so desire. But the former Stanford All-Americans endured their worst season in more than a decade in 2015.
   Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz led a surge of promising American teenagers with back-to-back Challenger titles in Northern California.
   Following are the top 10 stories, plus 12 honorable mentions, in NorCal tennis in 2015:

Top 10

   1. Fritz, 17, coasts to second straight Challenger title
   2. Bryans' long reign at No. 1 ends
   3. Stanford product to head USTA player development
   4. Date-Krumm, 44, rallies to shock Lisicki at Stanford
   5. Ex-Sacramento champ banned for 15 years
   6. Aussie Millman makes Aptos history with title
   7. Altamirano adds NCAA team title to resume
   8. World TeamTennis returns to Sacramento
   9. Roseville's Riffice, 16, sweeps USTA Clay Court titles
   10. Juniors Volynets, Lee win USTA national titles

Honorable mention

   -- Sanchez wins third pro doubles title in three weeks
   -- Tursunov wins Moscow doubles title after long layoff
   -- Bellis falls in Stanford debut
   -- Smyczek gets the breaks in Tiburon thriller
   -- Kalinina overcomes big deficit for Challenger title
   -- Embree pulls off incredible comeback in Redding
   -- Kops-Jones, Sanchez, Bellis, Muljat highlight big day
   -- Bellis, 15, crushes Sanchez for Rancho Santa Fe title
   -- Stanford, Cal women fall in NCAA individual finals
   -- Cal's Manasse rises to No. 1 in nation
   -- Lee wins boys 12 doubles title in Winter Nationals
   -- Roseville's Riffice loses in Easter Bowl final

Fritz, 17, outclasses top seed in Fairfield Challenger

Taylor Fritz, 17, shown en route to the Sacramento title
last week, beat No. 1 seed Tim Smyczek 6-2, 6-3 to gain
the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Fairfield Challenger.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Taylor Fritz took another big step in his promising career on Thursday.
   Playing in his home state, the 17-year-old resident of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area dismissed No. 1 seed Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Fairfield $50,000 Men's Pro Challenger at beautiful In Shape: Fairfield Rancho Solano.
   The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Fritz won 27 of 32 points (84 percent) on his first serve and 11 of 17 points (64 percent) on his second delivery. He had six aces and no double faults, saved both break points against him and converted all three break points against the 100th-ranked Smyzcek, who's 10 years older than Fritz.
   It was Fritz's second career victory over a top-100 player. He beat then-No. 66 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in the first round at Nottingham, England, on grass on the elite ATP World Tour in June.
   Fritz, who will turn 18 on Oct. 28, turned pro in August before the U.S. Open. He took the boys singles title at Flushing Meadows and won last week's $100,000 Sacramento Challenger in only his second tournament at that level.
   Fritz is scheduled to play eighth-seeded Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia today. Kavcic defeated Jason Jung, a native of Torrance in the Los Angeles area who plays for Taiwan, 7-5, 6-3.
   Two other American teenagers advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday. No. 4 seed Jared Donaldson, 19, will face No. 5 Blaz Rola of Slovenia, and Frances Tiafoe, 17, will meet Darian King of Barbados.
   Rola, a 6-foot-4 left-hander, turned pro after winning the 2013 NCAA singles title as a junior at Ohio State.
   Today's featured match at 4 p.m. will be a matchup of 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Germans. No. 3 Dustin Brown, who has a German mother and Jamaican father, will play No. 7 Daniel Brands.
   Both Brown, 30, and Brands, 28, have had success at Wimbledon. Brown stunned Rafael Nadal on Centre Court in the second round this year to improve to 2-0 lifetime against the 14-time Grand Slam singles champion. Brands reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2010.

FAIRFIELD $50,000 MEN'S PRO CHALLENGER
At In Shape: Fairfield Rancho Solano

Second-round singles

   Dustin Brown (3), Germany, def. Tommy Paul, United States, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

   Daniel Brands (7), Germany, def. Alex Kuznetsov, United States, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (7).

   Blaz Kavcic (8), Slovenia, def. Jason Jung, Taiwan, 7-5, 6-3.

   Taylor Fritz, United States, def. Tim Smyczek (1), United States, 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Mitchell Krueger and Tennys Sandgren, United States, def. Philip Bester and Peter Polansky, Canada, 3-6, 6-4 [11-9].

   Johan Brunstrom, Sweden, and Frederik Nielsen (2), Denmark, def. Sekou Bangoura, United States, and Jose Statham, New Zealand, 6-3, 6-2.

   Carsten Ball, Australia, and Dustin Brown (1), Germany, def. Frank Dancevic, Canada, and Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland,6-3, 3-6 [10-6].

Today's schedule

Stadium Court

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Frances Tiafoe, United States, vs. Darian King, Barbados.

   Blaz Kavcic (8), Slovenia, vs. Taylor Fritz, United States.

(Not before 4 p.m.)

   Dustin Brown (3), Germany, vs. Daniel Brands (7), Germany.

Court 1

(Starting at noon)

   Jared Donaldson (5), United States, vs. Blaz Rola (4), Slovenia. 

(Not before 2 p.m.; may be moved to Stadium Court)

   Johan Brunstrom, Sweden, and Frederik Nielsen (2), Denmark, vs. Dean O'Brien and Ruan Roelofse (3), South Africa.

Fairfield top seed dominates suspended match

Top seed Tim Smyczek volleys against Mitchell
Krueger in the Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger. Smy-
czek won all five games in 19 minutes to finish
a suspended match. Photo by Paul Bauman

   FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- If anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt regarding sportsmanship, it's Tim Smyczek.
   In the first round of the Fairfield $50,000 Men's Pro Challenger, the top-seeded Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) trailed fellow American Mitchell Krueger by a service break early in the third set on Tuesday evening.
   Smyczek asked for play to be suspended at 6:41 p.m. because the lights at In Shape: Fairfield Rancho Solano were inadequate, and USTA supervisor Keith Crossland agreed.
   "It wasn't a tactic or anything," the 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Smyczek said today after completing a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Krueger. "I have a little trouble playing under the lights to begin with. I don't have very good eyes. The lights just aren't up to regulations, so the later it got, the harder it was to see the ball. The chair umpires told me the same thing -- they were having trouble seeing the ball. It was a bit lucky for me that it came at a time when I was down a break.
   "Frankly, we probably should have visited the idea of stopping after the second set, but I was on a bit of a roll and didn't even think of it. It was definitely not a tactic. It did work out in my favor, though."
   Smyczek gained worldwide fame in January for his sportsmanlike gesture late in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-5 loss to Rafael Nadal, who was suffering from nausea and dizziness, in the second round of the Australian Open.
   With Nadal serving at 6-5, 30-0, a fan yelled as Nadal tossed the ball on his first delivery and distracted him. The serve sailed long, but Smyczek allowed Nadal to take another first serve.
   In today's featured match, 17-year-old U.S. phenom Frances Tiafoe eliminated eighth-seeded James McGee of Ireland 6-3, 7-5. The 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Tiafoe won 32 of 34 points (94 percent) on his first serve.
   After a McGee serve was called an ace on game point for 4-4 in the second set, the volatile Tiafoe slammed his racket on the court, complained vociferously and asked to see Crossland. Chair umpire Christian Preston refused to summon Crossland and told Tiafoe to play, and Tiafoe calmed down for the rest of the match. 

Krueger said Smyczek "definitely stepped
it up from (Tuesday) night." Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Tiafoe won the prestigious Orange Bowl at 15 in 2013 to become the youngest champion in the tournament's 67-year history. He learned to play at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, a facility in College Park, Md., where his father, an immigrant from Sierra Leone in Africa, worked as a custodian.
   Two Fairfield quarterfinals were set today.
   In the top half of the draw, No. 4 seed Blaz Rola of Slovenia will face No. 5 Jared Donaldson, 19, of Irvine, Calif. Rola, a 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) left-hander, won the 2013 NCAA singles title as a junior at Ohio State and then turned pro.
   In the bottom half, Tiafoe will play Darian King of Barbados. King upset second-seeded Ryan Harrison of Austin, Texas, in the first round. 
   Krueger, who at 21 is six years younger than Smyczek, led 7-6 (5), 2-6, 3-1 when play was suspended on Tuesday. Smyczek reeled off five straight games in 19 minutes, winning 20 of 25 points, to complete the match.    
   "It was the type of (finish) I was hoping for," said the 100th-ranked Smyczek, a Milwaukee product who trains in Tampa, Fla. "I came out ready to go from the first point. I made sure I had a full sweat going before I got out there. I was taking care of my side of the net from the first point."
   Krueger, meanwhile, repeatedly made errors.
   "He did a good job of maybe changing up his game plan, and I came out a little flat," said the 230th-ranked Krueger, who grew up near Fort Worth, Texas, in Aledo and trains in Boca Raton, Fla. "But credit to him. He definitely stepped it up from (Tuesday) night in the five games we played today.
   "He was definitely a lot more aggressive but not giving me a lot of free points. He was still being really solid. I still had my chances, but I gave the break back to him in my first service game. Then it's back even. It's tough. I never really got myself going."

Frances Tiafoe, a 17-year-old U.S. phenom, beat eighth-seeded
James McGee of Ireland 6-3, 7-5. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Krueger did not blame Smyczek for asking Crossland to suspend the match on Tuesday evening.
   "I would have gladly kept playing, but the lights were definitely not great," Krueger said. "It's 100 percent (Smyczek's) right to voice his opinion, and it's up to the supervisor to make the decision.
   "It's not like (Smyczek) did it on purpose. It's completely within the rules. My argument was if we started the third set, you know it's going to run into this problem, and we might as well finish."
   Given that the lights at the club did not meet Challenger regulations, would it have been better to suspend the match after two sets?
   "Yes, in retrospect it might have been," Crossland said, "but the general philosophy I carry is if players are willing to play, I'm willing to let them play. It's a very delicate decision about whether you go stop a match when players prefer to continue to play versus going out there, as I did four games into the third set, and then stop."
   The featured match began at 4:30 p.m., Crossland said, "so sponsors and people who work during the day have the opportunity to come out and watch. It didn't work out as well as it could have."
   The featured match subsequently was moved to 4 p.m. Smyczek will meet another 17-year-old U.S. sensation, Taylor Fritz, on Thursday at that time.
   Fritz, the world's top-ranked junior, dispatched qualifier Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday in the first round. He turned pro in August before the U.S. Open, captured the boys singles title at Flushing Meadows and won his first Challenger title last week in Sacramento in only his second attempt.
   "I haven't gotten to see him play much," said Smyczek, whose strengths are consistency, quickness and mental toughness. "I don't know a whole lot about him, but obviously he's playing very well. He won last week, and he won relatively easy in the first round (in Fairfield).
   "It'll be tough. I'll probably do a little homework and see what I'm up against, but it's kind of the same thing as always -- just taking care of my side of the court. I feel like if I focus on the things I do well, the results take care of themselves."
   Sacramento doubles champions Blaz Kavcic and Grega Zemlja of Slovenia lost in the first round to top-seeded Carsten Ball of Australia and Dustin Brown of Germany 6-2, 6-1. Kavcic and Zemlja beat Brown and countryman Daniel Brands 6-1, 3-6 [10-3] in the Sacramento final.    

FAIRFIELD $50,000 MEN'S PRO CHALLENGER
At In Shape: Fairfield Rancho Solano

First-round singles

   Tim Smyczek (1), United States, def. Mitchell Krueger, United States, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.

Second-round singles

   Jared Donaldson (5), United States, def. Frank Dancevic, Canada, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
   Blaz Rola (4), Slovenia, def. Liam Broady, Great Britain, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
   Frances Tiafoe, United States, def. James McGee (8), Ireland, 6-3, 7-5.
   Darian King, Barbados, def. Peter Polansky, Canada, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

First-round doubles

   Carsten Ball, Australia, and Dustin Brown (1), Germany, def. Blaz Kavcic and Grega Zemlja, Slovenia, 6-2, 6-1.
   Johan Brunstom, Sweden, and Frederik Nielsen (2), Denmark, def. Jason Jung, Taiwan, and Connor Smith, United States, 6-4, 6-2.
   Dean O'Brien and Ruan Roelofse (3), South Africa, def. Ariel Behar, Uruguay, and Ruben Gonzales, Philippines, 4-6, 6-3 [10-6].
   Frank Dancevic, Canada, and Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland, def. Jean-Yves Aubone and Taylor Fritz, United States, 6-4, 6-2.
   Mitchell Krueger and Tennys Sandgren (4), United States, def. Nicolas Barrientos, Colombia, and Darian King, Barbados, 7-5, 6-4.

Thursday's schedule

Stadium Court

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Dustin Brown (3), Germany, vs. Tommy Paul, United States.

   Daniel Brands (7), Germany, vs. Alex Kuznetsov, United States.

(Not before 4 p.m.)

   Tim Smyczek (1), United States, vs. Taylor Fritz, United States.

Court 1

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Mitchell Krueger and Tennys Sandgren, United States, vs. Philip Bester and Peter Polansky, Canada.

   Blaz Kavcic (8), Slovenia, vs. Jason Jung, Taiwan.

(Not before 2 p.m.)

   Johan Brunstrom, Sweden, and Frederik Nielsen (2), Denmark, vs. Sekou Bangoura, United States, and Jose Statham, New Zealand.

(Not before 3 p.m.)

   Carsten Ball, Australia, and Dustin Brown (1), Germany, vs. Frank Dancevic, Canada, and Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland.