U.S. eliminated from Davis Cup despite victory

Sam Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, and Jack
Sock gave the United States a dramatic win over Italy on Wed-
nesday in the Davis Cup Finals. File photo by Paul Bauman

   Despite a dramatic win over Italy, the United States was eliminated from the Davis Cup Finals on Wednesday.
   Twice coming within a tiebreaker of losing, the U.S. rallied for a 2-1 victory in Madrid.
   Sam Querrey, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, and Jack Sock won the decisive doubles match 7-6 (4), 6-7 (2), 6-4 over Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini.
   The contest ended at 4:04 a.m. Madrid time, the latest finish in Davis Cup history and second-latest in tennis history. Lleyton Hewitt's victory over Marcos Baghdatis in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open ended at 4:30 a.m.
   "I don't even know where we are, what time it is, what day it is," U.S. captain Mardy Fish told reporters. "That was pretty special from these guys, for sure."
   Taylor Fritz, ranked 32nd, had pulled the United States even at 1-1 by beating eighth-ranked Matteo Berrettini, a U.S. Open semifinalist in September, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
   "I'm excited for Taylor," Fish said. "That's one of the biggest wins of his life. I'm just happy to be part of it."
   In the opener, 12th-ranked Fabio Fognini defeated 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka, ranked 36th, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
  Fritz and Opelka, both 22, made their Davis Cup debuts on Tuesday in the United States' 2-1 loss to Canada. Querrey and Sock were credited with a victory even though the doubles match wasn't played.
  The winners of the six three-team groups advance to Friday's quarterfinals, along with the two best second-place finishers.
  Canada won Group F with a 2-0 record. The United States finished 1-1, and Italy went 0-2. The Americans needed to beat Italy decisively, surrendering few sets or games, to advance in the new format.
   The United States leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles, but its last one came in 2007. The Americans' 12-year title drought is their longest in the 119-year competition, breaking their previous mark of 11 (1996-2006).

British teenager upsets Sock in Fairfield Challenger

Jack Sock, playing in Indian Wells in 2016, has plunged from a career-high No. 8
in singles in November 2017 to No. 210, partly because of surgery. The 27-year-
old Kansas City, Kan., resident has won three Grand Slam men's doubles titles.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Jack Sock's singles woes continued tonight.
   The former top-10 player, competing in his first Challenger in more than five years, lost to 17-year-old Jack Draper of Great Britain 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the second round of the $108,320 NorthBay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship in Fairfield, Calif.
   Draper, a 6-foot-3 (1.91-meter) left-hander, converted his sixth match point. He took a nasty fall in the tiebreaker while chasing a ball and scraped his knees and palms on the hardcourt at Solano Community College.
   Sock, seeded 14th at No. 210, fell to 1-6 in singles this year. After ascending to No. 8 in November 2017, he went 9-22 in singles in 2018. Then the 27-year-old Kansas City, Kan., resident, who has won three Grand Slam men's doubles titles, underwent surgery for torn finger ligaments last February and missed six months.
   Draper, ranked No. 340, extended his winning streak to seven matches. He has won three singles titles in $25,000 tournaments, all in Great Britain, since the beginning of August.
   Draper will meet another left-hander, 30-year-old Donald Young of Atlanta, in Thursday's featured night match not before 7. Young, ranked No. 233 after climbing as high as No. 38 in 2012, has won four Challenger singles crowns in Northern California.
   Two teenage wild cards from San Diego played earlier matches on the stadium court.
   Brandon Nakashima, an 18-year-old sophomore at the University of Virginia, defeated lucky loser Dennis Novikov, a 25-year-old San Jose product, 6-2, 6-4.
   Novikov replaced 11th-seeded Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, who withdrew because of a right wrist injury.  Kwiatkowski won the 2017 NCAA singles title as a University of Virginia senior and reached the semifinals of the Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger two weeks ago.
   Zachary Svajda, 16, lost to second-seeded Denis Kudla 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Kudla advanced to the third round of this year's U.S. Open, falling to defending champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
   Svajda won the USTA boys 18 singles title in Kalamazoo, Mich., in August to earn an automatic wild card in the U.S. Open. He led 37-year-old Italian Paolo Lorenzi two sets to none in the opening round before suffering full-body cramps and losing in five sets.
   Also today, ninth-seeded Darian King of Barbados outlasted American Sebastian Korda, the 19-year-old son of former world No. 2 Petr Korda, 5-7, 6-0, 7-5.
   Three players named King, all unrelated, are set to play on Thursday in the third round.
   Darian King, 27, will meet fifth-seeded Blaz Rola, a former Ohio State star from Slovenia who won the 2013 NCAA singles crown, at 10 a.m. Kudla, 27, will face Kevin King, a 28-year-old left-hander from Atlanta, at about noon. And top-seeded Steve Johnson, 29, of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area will play Evan King, a 27-year-old left-hander from Chicago, not before 4 p.m.
   Here are the updated Fairfield singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule. Live streaming is available.

Sock, formerly No. 8, set to play in Fairfield Challenger

Jack Sock reacts during an exhibition against Roger Federer last year in San Jose.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Jack Sock, a former top-10 singles player and a three-time Grand Slam men's doubles champion, is scheduled to play in his first Challenger in more than five years next week in Fairfield, Calif.
   Sock, who has plunged from a career-high No. 8 in singles in November 2017 to No. 210, is seeded 14th in the $108,320 NorthBay Healthcare Men's Pro Championship at Solano Community College.
   Steve Johnson, who won his second Aptos (Calif.) Challenger singles title in August, is seeded first at No. 98. Johnson and Sock, U.S. Davis Cup teammates, won the bronze medal in men's doubles in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
   All 16 seeds in Fairfield, 41 miles (66 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, received first-round byes. Johnson and Sock will open in singles on Tuesday or Wednesday. Defending champion Bjorn Fratangelo, a 26-year-old Pittsburgh native, withdrew with an undisclosed injury.
   Sock, 27, of Kansas City, Kan., will play in a Challenger for the first time since losing to Nick Kyrgios in the final of a $50,000 clay-court tournament in Savannah, Ga., in April 2014. Sock won the 2012 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger and reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles final (with compatriot Nicholas Monroe) in the 2011 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger at age 19.
   Sock went 9-22 in singles in 2018, underwent surgery for torn ligaments in a finger on his right (playing) hand last February and missed six months. He is 1-5 in singles this year.
   Collin Altamirano, 23, of Sacramento is scheduled to play wild card Brandon Holt, a USC senior and the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, in the first round. Holt has not lost a set to Altamirano in two career meetings, although one set went to a tiebreaker.
   Altamirano, who in 2013 became the first unseeded player to win the USTA boys 18 singles championship, lost eventual runner-up Alex Bolt of Australia in the second round in the best match of last year's tournament.
   Zachary Svajda, a 16-year-old wild card from San Diego, is set to play 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Michael Redlicki, a 25-year-old Chicago native, in the opening round.
   Svajda won the USTA boys 18 singles title in August to earn an automatic wild card in the U.S. Open and extended Paolo Lorenzi, a 37-year-old Italian, to five sets in the first round.
   Here's the Fairfield singles main draw.

Zverev stuns Djokovic for title; Bryan, 40, sets record

   Even though he's only 21, Alexander Zverev has long been touted as a future Grand Slam champion.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) German reached his first major quarterfinal this year and could go further in 2019, perhaps all the way.
   One day after beating second-seeded Roger Federer in straight sets, the third-seeded Zverev shocked top seed and five-time champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 today to win the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
   Zverev, who began working with International Tennis Hall of Famer Ivan Lendl in August in an effort to improve his Grand Slam results, became the youngest ATP Finals champion since Djokovic 10 years ago at 21.
   Zverev also became the first player to defeat Djokovic and Federer in the tournament, and the first to beat the top two seeds in the semifinals and final of the event since Andre Agassi in 1990.
   "This is the biggest title of my career so far," Zverev, who had lost to Djokovic 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in a round-robin match, told reporters. "This trophy means a lot, everything, to all the players. I mean, you only have so many chances of winning it. You play against the best players only. How I played today, how I won it, for me it's just amazing."
   Djokovic, who had won 35 of his previous 37 matches, was trying to tie Federer's record of six ATP Finals titles.
   "(Zverev) had big serves. I wasn't returning well," said Djokovic, who returned to No. 1 this month after undergoing right elbow surgery in February. "I wasn't making him move too much. I was making way too many unforced errors.
   "From 4-4 in the first set, my game fell apart. But if we put things in perspective, it has been an amazing year and a great comeback."
   Zverev pocketed $2,509,000, and Djokovic collected $1,432,000.

   ATP Finals doubles -- Since pairing for the first time in June, Mike Bryan and Jack Sock have won three titles.
   And we're not talking Umag, Winston-Salem and Chengdu.
   We're talking Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Nitto ATP Finals.
   Bryan (Stanford, 2017-18) and Sock of the United States completed a dream half-season with a 5-7, 6-1 [13-11] victory over Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the title match of the ATP Finals.
   Bryan and Sock, seeded fifth, saved a championship point at 10-11 in the match tiebreaker and converted their sixth championship point when Herbert double-faulted. Herbert and Mahut, the eighth seeds and this year's French Open champions, had routed Bryan and Sock 6-2, 6-2 in 53 minutes on Friday in round-robin play.
   Bryan, 40, became the oldest champion in the history of the ATP Finals and the sixth player to win the title with at least two partners. It was the fifth crown in the tournament for Bryan, who won the others with twin Bob Bryan, and first for Sock, the singles champion in the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger in 2012 and the doubles runner-up in the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2011 with countryman Nicholas Monroe.
   Bob, who's recovering from August hip surgery, and Mike plan to reunite next year. They have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles together but none since the 2014 U.S. Open.
   "I've had a magical partnership with Jack, but his No. 1 focus has always been singles," Mike said in a New York Times story published Tuesday. "He knows he was just filling in until Bob comes back."
   Mike Bryan and Sock became the first team to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same season since Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Todd Woodbridge of Australia in 2003.
   Herbert and Mahut were bidding to become the first French team to win the ATP Finals since Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro in 2005.
   Bryan and Sock shared $479,000; Herbert and Mahut split $279,00.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- Second-seeded Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, beat wild card Roy Smith, a sophomore at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in a matchup of American left-handers to win the $150,000 Oracle Challenger Series -- Houston.
   The match was moved indoors because of rain.
   Klahn won his seventh Challenger singles title, his second this year and the biggest of his career. He rose 20 places to No. 77, 14 spots below his career high in 2014. Klahn underwent his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in 2015.

Zverev booed after beating Fed; Bryan in doubles final

Alexander Zverev, shown in 2016, said he was "really upset"
by the London crowd's reaction after he beat Roger Federer
in the semifinals of the ATP Finals. Photo by Paul Bauman

   For the second time in less than three months, a young player was booed after defeating an icon in a big tournament.
   Third-seeded Alexander Zverev toppled second-seeded Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6 (5) today to reach the final of the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
   Zverev, a 21-year-old German, halted play after hitting a second serve at 4-4 in the tiebreaker when a ballboy accidentally dropped a ball during the point. According to the rules, the point must be replayed. With another first serve, the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev fired an ace.
   The pro-Federer crowd at O2 Arena thought Zverev, the son of the former Soviet pro with the same name, was using gamesmanship.
   "I was a little bit sad at the end with the booing and reaction of the crowd," Zverev, the first German since Boris Becker in 1996 to reach the title match of the ATP Finals, told reporters. "I was very emotional afterwards. The booing went into cheering kind of afterwards, which kind of helped me.
   "I was really upset afterwards in the locker room -- I'm not going to lie. I had to take a few minutes for myself."
   Federer, who made his Northern California debut in a March exhibition in San Jose, supported Zverev afterward.
   "It's unfortunate that this happened," said the 37-year-old Federer, who fell to 3-3 against Zverev. "Sascha doesn't deserve it."
   The controversy was reminiscent of the U.S. Open final in September, when the crowd booed 20-year-old winner Naomi Osaka during the award ceremony after Serena Williams had been assessed a game penalty for her third code violation.
   Zverev is scheduled to face top-seeded Novak Djokovic on Sunday not before 10 a.m. PST (ESPN2). Djokovic, seeking his sixth crown in the tournament, dismissed fourth-seeded Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2 to improve to 35-2 since the start of Wimbledon.
   This is the first time Djokovic has reached the title match in the ATP Finals without dropping a set.
   Djokovic beat Zverev 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in the round-robin phase of the ATP Finals to improve to 2-1 (2-0 on hardcourts) in the head-to-head series.
   In Sunday's doubles final at 7:30 a.m. (Tennis Channel), fifth-seeded Mike Bryan (Stanford, 2017-18) and Jack Sock will meet eighth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France.
    Bryan and Sock, this year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open champions, topped fourth-seeded Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-3, 4-6 [10-4]. Herbert and Mahut, who won the French Open in June, edged second-seeded Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia 6-3, 5-7 [10-5].
   Herbert and Mahut routed Bryan and Sock 6-2, 6-2 in 53 minutes on Friday in round-robin play.
   Bryan, 40, hopes to become the oldest doubles champion in ATP Finals history. He is 4-2 in finals in the tournament, all with twin Bob.
   WTA Tour -- Unseeded Maegan Manasse (Cal, 2014-17) and Jessica Pegula of the United States nipped third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk of the U.S. and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, 1-6, 6-4 [10-8] to win the $150,000 Oracle Challenger Series -- Houston.
   It's by far the biggest title of the 23-year-old Manasse's career and her first with Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula.

Bryan, Sock win ATP Finals opener; Mayo to debut

   Fifth-seeded Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) and Jack Sock of the United States beat third seeds and 2017 runners-up Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-3, 7-6 (5) today in a round-robin opener at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
   Bryan and Sock, this year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open champions, saved a set point with Sock serving at 4-5 in the second set. Kubot double-faulted on match point.
   Mike Bryan's 40-year-old twin, Bob, is recovering from hip surgery in August. They have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles championships and captured four ATP Finals titles (2003, 2004, 2009 and 2014).
   The ATP Finals consists of the top eight singles players and best eight doubles teams of 2018. The four singles players and four doubles teams with the best records after three round-robin matches each advance to Saturday's semifinals.
   Also in Group Knowles/Nestor, top-seeded Oliver Marach of Austria and Mate Pavic of Croatia downed eighth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 7-6 (3). Bryan and Sock are scheduled to play Marach and Pavic on Wednesday at 4 a.m. PST (Tennis Channel).
   In Group Llodra/Santoro, second-seeded Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia are 1-0 with fourth-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil. Sixth-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand are 0-1 with seventh-seeded Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Alexander Peya of Austria.
   USTA Pro Circuit -- Keenan Mayo, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Illinois freshman who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, is scheduled to make his Challenger main-draw debut on his home courts in Champaign, Ill., on Tuesday.
   Mayo, 18, will play fellow qualifier Ryan Shane, the 2015 NCAA singles champion from Virginia, in the first round of the $75,000 JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana.
   Mayo defeated Sem Verbeek, a 24-year-old Dutch left-hander who starred at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) on Sunday in the final round of qualifying.

Nadal quits match; del Potro, Djokovic reach final

Rafael Nadal, playing at Indian Wells last year, retired with right knee
tendinitis with Juan Martin del Potro leading 7-6 (3), 6-2 today in the
U.S. Open semifinals. Photo by Mal Taam

   Note to readers: If you enjoy my coverage of Northern California tennis, please donate on my homepage. Here's why I need your support. Thank you.
   If anyone deserves a break, it's Juan Martin del Potro.
   The No. 3 seed got one today when No. 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal retired with right knee tendinitis with del Potro leading 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the U.S. Open semifinals in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Nadal, a three-time U.S. Open champion, was coming off three consecutive tough matches in oppressive heat and humidity. However, he had two days to rest after the last one.
   Nadal subdued No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia in 4 hours, 23 minutes in the third round, Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in 3 hours, 19 minutes in the fourth round and No. 9 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria in 4 hours, 49 minutes in the quarterfinals. The latter match ended at 2:04 a.m. EDT Wednesday.
   Nadal also retired from his Australian Open quarterfinal against Marin Cilic in January with a right leg injury.
   Del Potro, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) right-hander with a two-handed backhand, stunned Nadal and Roger Federer to win the 2009 U.S. Open but had surgery on his right wrist in 2010 and three operations on his left wrist in 2014-15.
   "It's been horrible for me," del Potro, who considered retirement, lamented in 2015. "One doctor would say something to me; another would say something different. It was difficult to believe one or the other."
   Del Potro, who will turn 30 on Sept. 23, will face No. 6 seed Novak Djokovic on Sunday at 1 p.m. PDT (ESPN). Djokovic, a two-time U.S. Open champion and five-time runner-up, dominated Kei Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up at Flushing Meadows, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
   Djokovic is 14-4 against Del Potro with a three-match winning streak and six victories in their last seven matches.
   Women's singles -- No. 17 seed Serena Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, will try to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles when she meets No. 20 Naomi Osaka, 20, of Japan on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN).
   Osaka, who will play in her first major final, defeated Williams 6-3, 6-2 in the first round at Miami in March in their only previous meeting. It was Williams' second tournament since giving birth to her first child on Sept. 1, 2017, and enduring life-threatening complications.
   Men's doubles -- Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) won his 18th Grand Slam men's doubles title, breaking the record he shared with John Newcombe.
   No. 3 seeds Bryan and Jack Sock of the United States outclassed No. 7 Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-3, 6-1 in 74 minutes for the crown in a matchup of the last two Wimbledon championship teams.
   Bryan, 40, and Sock claimed their second consecutive Grand Slam title. Bryan's twin brother, Bob, underwent hip surgery on Aug. 2.
   Boys singles -- Unseeded Jenson Brooksby, 17, of Carmichael in the Sacramento area beat 14th-seeded Brandon Nakashima of San Diego 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
   Brooksby also defeated Nakashima 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to win last month's USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich, and 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Easter Bowl at Indian Wells in March en route to the title.
   Brooksby, who plans to enroll at Texas Christian in the fall of 2019 or in January 2020, is scheduled to play unseeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy on Saturday. Musetti dismantled Daniel Michalski of Poland 6-4, 6-0.

Kerber dominates Serena for first Wimbledon crown

Angelique Kerber rejoices after winning the 2015 Bank of the
West Classic at Stanford. Photo by Mal Taam

   Serena Williams must wait at least one more Grand Slam tournament to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 major singles titles.
   Angelique Kerber, meanwhile, moved within one title of a career Grand Slam.
   Considering this was only Williams' fourth singles tournament since delivering her first child, Kerber's victory in today's Wimbledon final wasn't shocking. But the one-sided outcome -- 6-3, 6-3 in 65 minutes -- was.
   "Serena was off-balance, off-kilter today," analyst Chris Evert said on ESPN's broadcast. "Kerber really pushed her around and absorbed her power. Serena knows she didn't play her best. It just wasn't there today."
   The 11th-seeded Kerber played outstanding defense as usual, keeping the ball in play until the 25th-seeded Williams made an error. Kerber finished with 11 winners and only five errors to Williams' 23 and 24, respectively.
   "The statistics speak for themselves," Evert said. "Angie made only five unforced errors and took advantage of an error-prone Serena. Maybe we expected too much for Serena to play seven matches in only her fourth tournament back."
   The grass surface favored Williams, the more powerful, offensive player.
   "The surface is not conducive to (Kerber's) game," Evert asserted. "I think that makes the win more satisfying for her."
   Kerber needs only the French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam. She reached three major finals in 2016, beating Williams in the Australian Open and Karolina Pliskova in the U.S. Open and losing to Williams at Wimbledon.
   Kerber inevitably suffered a letdown last year, failing to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   "I think without 2017, I couldn't win this tournament," the 30-year-old left-hander told reporters. "I think I learned a lot from last year, with all the expectations, all the things I go through. I learned so many things about myself, about the things around, how to deal with this, how to make my day schedule.
   "I try to enjoy every single moment now, also to find that motivation after 2016, which was amazing. I thought to have such a year again is impossible. But now I just try to improve my game, thinking not too much about the results, trying to be a better tennis player, a better person, yeah, trying to enjoy my tennis again."
   Kerber joined Venus Williams as the only players to beat Serena Williams twice in a Grand Slam final and became the first German woman to win Wimbledon since her idol, Steffi Graf, triumphed for the seventh time in 1996.

Serena Williams prepares to serve at Indian
Wells in 2016. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Williams played in her first Grand Slam final since beating Venus in the 2017 Australian Open.
   "It was a great opportunity for me," said Serena, who will turn 37 in September. "I didn't know a couple of months ago where I was, where I would be, how I would do, how I would be able to come back. It was such a long way to see light at the end of the road, kind of.
   "So I think these two weeks have really showed me that, OK, I can compete. Obviously, I can compete for the long run in a Grand Slam. I can come out and be a contender to win Grand Slams."
   Williams and Kerber combined to win the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford four times in five years. Williams defeated Kerber in 2014 for her third title in the tournament, and Kerber beat Pliskova for the 2015 crown.
   The Bank of the West Classic ended a 21-year run at Stanford in 2017, but Williams plans to play in its replacement, the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State. Kerber, however, is not entered in the July 30-Aug. 5 tournament.
   Although Williams failed to tie Court's record, Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) equaled John Newcombe's mark of 17 Grand Slam men's doubles titles.
   No. 7 seeds Bryan and Jack Sock of the United States topped No. 13 Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
   It was Bryan's first major title without his twin brother Bob, who's out with a hip injury, and first since the 2014 U.S. Open. By reaching the semifinals, Mike Bryan assured that he will become the oldest man to be ranked No. 1. At 40 years, 78 days, he will break the record of Daniel Nestor, who was 40 years, 5 days old when he was last No. 1 on Sept. 9, 2012.
   Sock also earned the Wimbledon men's doubles crown with Vasek Pospisil of Canada in 2014. In Northern California Challengers, Sock reached the doubles final in Sacramento in 2011 and won the Tiburon singles title in 2012.
   No. 3 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic won their second consecutive Grand Slam title, beating No. 12 Nicole Melichar of Stuart, Fla., and Kveta Peschke, a 43-year-old Czech, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
   No. 12 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 8 Kevin Anderson will meet for the men's singles championship on Sunday at 6 a.m. California time (ESPN).
   Djokovic completed a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 10-8 victory over No. 2 Rafael Nadal in a 5-hour, 15-minute match suspended by curfew after three sets on Friday.
   Djokovic is 5-1 against Anderson with a five-match winning streak. In their last meeting, Djokovic prevailed 6-7 (6), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2015 en route to the title.

U.S. wins doubles, advances to Davis Cup semis

   As expected, the United States won the doubles to clinch a victory over Belgium in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
   But today's match was surprisingly close.
   Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock subdued Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 5-7, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in three hours in Nashville, Tenn., to give the U.S. an insurmountable 3-0 lead and put the United States in the semifinals for the first time since 2012.
   John Isner and San Francisco native Sam Querrey won their singles matches on Friday.
   Both Harrison and Sock -- ranked 17th and 26th in doubles, respectively -- have won one Grand Slam men's doubles title but with different partners. Harrison and Michael Venus of New Zealand took the French Open crown last year, and Sock teamed with Vasek Pospisil of Canada for the 2014 Wimbledon trophy.
   Meanwhile, Gille and Vliegen -- ranked 84th and 98th in doubles, respectively -- made their Davis Cup debut near where they played in college. Gille attended East Tennessee State, and Vliegen went to East Carolina.
   The United States likely will play at nemesis Croatia, which leads visiting Kazakhstan 2-1, in the Sept. 14-16 semifinals.
   Croatia, with a population comparable to Detroit's, is 4-0 against the United States. In the most recent meeting, Croatia stunned the U.S. 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in Portland, Ore., in the 2016 quarterfinals.

Sellout crowd sees Federer beat Sock in San Jose

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

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

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

Federer, Wawrinka to meet in all-Swiss final

Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka advanced to Sunday's final with
straight-set victories in the BNP Paribas Open. Photos by Mal Taam

   Switzerland was not going to be outdone by Russia.
   One day after Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Vesnina set up an all-Russia women's final in the BNP Paribas Open, Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka today advanced to the men's final at Indian Wells.
   No. 9 seed Federer defeated No. 17 Jack Sock of Kansas City, Kan., 6-1, 7-6 (4), and No. 3 Wawrinka outclassed No. 21 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-3.
   Both Federer, 35, and Wawrinka, 31, improved to 3-0 against their opponents. Federer has not lost a set in three matches against Sock, 24. Warwrinka has lost one (on clay) against Carreno Busta, 25.
   For good measure, No. 6 seeds Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan won the women's doubles title with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over unseeded Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova.
   All was not lost for the United States as No. 6 seeds Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., and Raven Klaasen of South Africa edged No. 8 Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-7 (1), 6-4 [10-8] for the men's doubles crown.
   Federer seeks a record-tying fifth Indian Wells title but first since 2012. Wawrinka will play in his first Indian Wells final.
   Federer is 19-3 against Wawrinka with a three-match winning streak. Federer holds a 14-0 advantage on hardcourts, including a five-set victory in the Australian Open semifinals in January en route to the title.
   Kuznetsova, 31, and Vesnina, 30, have split two career meetings. Kuznetsova triumphed on clay in the Estoril (Portugal) semifinals in 2014, and Vesnina won on hardcourt in the second round at Dubai in 2009.
   Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam champion, seeks her first Indian Wells title in her third final. Vesnina advanced to the BNP final for the first time.
   ESPN will televise the women's final on Sunday at 11 a.m. and the following men's final.

U.S. advances to Davis Cup quarterfinals

Jack Sock, above, and Steve Johnson of the United States defeated Adrien Bossel
and Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (5) to clinch the first-round
Davis Cup series. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Even without the Bryan brothers, U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier had numerous attractive options to play doubles against Switzerland on Saturday.
   John Isner and Jack Sock, the Shanghai Masters champions last October.
   Steve Johnson and Sock, the Olympic bronze medalists in Rio de Janeiro last August.
   Johnson and San Francisco native Sam Querrey, who stunned top-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the first round of the 2015 U.S. Open en route to the semifnals.
   The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner and the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, semifinalists in the 2015 Miami Masters.
   Any of the combinations would have done the job against a Swiss team missing 2008 Olympic doubles gold medalists Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
   Courier chose Johnson and Sock, who clinched the first-round series in Birmingham, Ala., by defeating Adrien Bossel and Henri Laaksonen 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (5) for an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Johnson and Sock played together for the first time since Rio.
   Sock won the 2014 Wimbledon men's doubles title with Vasek Pospisil of Canada. The edged the Bryans 7-5 in the fifth set in the final.      
   The United States will play at rival Australia, which beat the Czech Republic 4-1, in the quarterfinals on April 7-9. The U.S. defeated Australia 3-1 on grass in Melbourne in the first round last year before blowing a 2-0 lead and losing to Croatia 3-2 in the quarterfinals in Portland, Ore.
   The United States (32) and Australia (28) rank 1-2 in Davis Cup championships.
   The 38-year-old Bryan twins last month announced their retirement from Davis Cup competition after 14 years with the U.S. squad. They hold the American record for doubles victories by a team, having gone 24-5. The Bryans clinched the last of the United States' Davis Cup titles in 2007 against Russia in Portland.
   Federer, 35, and Wawrinka, 31, chose to rest after the Australian Open. Federer defeated Wawrinka in the semifinals and Rafael Nadal in last Sunday's final. It was Federer's first Grand Slam singles title in five years and record 18th overall. Pete Sampras and Nadal are tied for second place with 14.
   Men's Challenger -- Here are the singles qualifying and main draws and today's schedule in the $100,000 KPSF Open at the Bay Club SF Tennis Center in San Francisco:
   http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2017/7697/qs.pdf
   http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2017/7697/mds.pdf
   http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2017/7697/op.pdf

U.S. leads Swiss subs 2-0 in Davis Cup

John Isner gave the United States a 2-0 lead
over Switzerland in the first round of the
Davis Cup. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   What's the marketing campaign for the United States vs. Switzerland in the first round of the Davis Cup in Birmingham, Ala., this weekend?
   "No Federer! No Wawrinka! No Bryan brothers! Hurry while tickets last!"
   Predictably, the United States took a 2-0 lead on Friday in the best-of-five-match competition. One of the few surprises was that John Isner lost a set.
   Jack Sock, ranked No. 20, gave the United States a 1-0 lead with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 146 Marco Chiudinelli. The Swiss veteran saved five set points in the first set.
   No. 23 Isner then defeated No. 127 Henri Laaksonen 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (1). Laaksonen, 24, was born in Finland to a Finnish mother and Swiss father. Henri uses his mother's maiden name.
   The United States can clinch the series with a victory in today's doubles match and advance to the April 7-9 quarterfinals at Australia. Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, will play Adrien Bossel and Antoine Bellier, a 20-year-old left-hander.
   Querrey and Johnson are ranked No. 80 and No. 99, respectively, in doubles. Bellier is No. 545, and Bossel is unranked.
   Johnson and Querrey reached the semifinals of the 2015 U.S. Open, stunning top-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the first round.
   Federer, 35, defeated Wawrinka in the Australian Open semifinals en route to the title. They chose to rest after Melbourne. The 38-year-old Bryan twins announced last month that they have retired from Davis Cup competition and this could be their last year on the tour.

Djokovic continues domination of Nadal

Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-2
today in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open
in Indian Wells. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   At least this one was close for a set and a half.
   Novak Djokovic continued his domination of Rafael Nadal today, beating his rival 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   The top-seeded Djokovic saved a set point while serving at 4-5 in the first set and won the last four games of the second set.
   "I work hard to be able to come up with the best game when it's the most needed," Djokovic, who will meet 12th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada for the title, told reporters. "Obviously, today the first set was decided in one or two points; second set was very close. Midway through the second I broke his serve, and last three games I played very well.
   "So I'm just glad to overcome this challenge that is one of the greatest in sport, as it always is playing against Rafa. I'm taking the positives out of today's performance and hoping that I can finish off this tournament tomorrow with another great performance."
   Djokovic improved to 25-23 against Nadal, a three-time Indian Wells champion who was seeded fourth, in the longest-running rivalry on the ATP World Tour during the Open era.
   However, Djokovic has won the last six meetings, all in straight sets, and 10 of the last 11. Nadal had failed to win more than three games in a set in their previous three matches. The 29-year-old left-hander has slumped since missing the summer of 2014 with a right wrist injury and undergoing an appendectomy that November.

Nadal has lost to Djokovic six straight times
and in 10 of their last 11 matches. 2015 photo
by Paul Bauman 

   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Raonic, blasting serves at up to 146 mph, beat 15th-seeded David Goffin, a 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Belgian, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
   Raonic went undefeated in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011-13).
   Djokovic, seeking his third straight Indian Wells title and record fifth overall, and Raonic will play after Sunday's 11 a.m. women's final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. ESPN will televise both matches.
   Williams and Azarenka have won four of the last six Bank of the West Classic titles at Stanford. Williams triumphed in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and Azarenka in 2010.
   Raonic is 0-2 in finals in Masters 1000 tournaments, the highest level after the Grand Slams. Djokovic will attempt to tie Nadal with 27 Masters 1000 titles.
   Djokovic, who has arguably the best return of serve in history, has lost only one set in five career matches against Raonic. In their last meeting, Djokovic won 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open en route to the title.
   In today's men's doubles final, No. 7 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France topped No. 6 seeds and defending champions Vasek Pospisil of Canada and Jack Sock of Lincoln, Neb., 6-3, 7-6 (5).
   Herbert and Mahut, the reigning U.S. Open champions, became the first French team to win the Indian Wells crown since Arnaud Clement and Sebastien Grosjean in 2004.
   Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe, playing in their maiden tournament together, defeated Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4 [10-6] in the first BNP women's doubles final between unseeded teams since 2009.
   Mattek-Sands won her 18th tour-level doubles title, including two Slams, and Vandeweghe her first. Vandeweghe, a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, lives in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe. The Capitals folded after their 28th season in the California capital in 2013. 

Sock leads U.S. over Uzbekistan in Davis Cup

Jack Sock, playing doubles in the recent
U.S. Open, won both of his singles matches
in his Davis Cup debut. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In just over two weeks, Jack Sock went from incapacitated to Davis Cup hero.
   Sock, who collapsed during his second-round match in the U.S. Open and retired with severe cramps, led the United States over Uzbekistan 3-1 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, this weekend in his Davis Cup debut.
   The United States will remain in the 16-team World Group in 2016, while Uzbekistan will stay in zonal competition.
   The 29th-ranked Sock defeated No. 62 Denis Istomin 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 today to clinch the Americans' victory. The last match, between Steve Johnson of the United States and Farrukh Dustov, was not played.
   Sock, who will turn 23 on Thursday, beat the 158th-ranked Dustov 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday to tie the series 1-1. Johnson and Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, then outclassed Dustov and Istomin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday for a 2-1 lead.

French Open Day 3 highlights: No. 6 Bouchard exits

No. 6 seed Eugenie Bouchard lost to Kristina Mladen-
ovic in the first round. 2013 photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- You could see this one coming.
   Kristina Mladenovic, playing in her home country, dispatched sixth-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
  Mladenovic, a two-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, eliminated No. 2 seed and 2011 champion Li Na in the first round of last year's French Open.
   Bouchard, a semifinalist at Roland Garros last year, has won just one match in her last six events.
   Notable -- Jack Sock of Tampa, Fla., beat 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-3. It's the second year in a row that Dimitrov, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, has lost in the opening round at Roland Garros. He fell to 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Ivo Karlovic in 2014.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 6 Rafael Nadal (nine-time champion, including last five years), No. 7 David Ferrer, No. 9 Marin Cilic, No. 15 Kevin Anderson, No. 16 John Isner, No. 20 Richard Gasquet, No. 23 Leonardo Mayer.
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 10 Dimitrov.
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 1 Serena Williams (2002 and 2013 champion), No. 4 Petra Kvitova, No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 10 Andrea Petkovic, No. 16 Madison Keys, No. 18 Svetlana Kuznetsova (2009 champion), No. 23 Timea Bacsinszky, No. 32 Zarina Diyas.
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 6 Bouchard, No. 25 Jelena Jankovic. 
   Stars and stripes -- After the first round,  three of seven U.S. men remain (No. 16 Isner, Sock and Steve Johnson), and four of 17 American women are left (No. 1 Williams, No. 16 Keys, Sloane Stephens and Irina Falconi -- all in the top half of the draw).
   Fast fact -- Nadal's No. 6 seeding is his lowest in a Grand Slam tournament since 2005.
   Northern California connection -- Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native and former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, and Johnson defeated Martin Klizan of Slovakia and Philipp Oswald of Austria 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the first round. ... Ex-Stanford standout Scott Lipsky of Irvine and Treat Huey of the Philippines lost to 13th-seeded Marin Draganja of Croatia and Henri Kontinen of Finland 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
   Quote -- French wild card Maxime Hamou on winner Jerzy Janowicz's exaggerated handshake and finger-pointing after the match: "I found it was a little edgy on his part. There is nothing else I have to say at this point. I think a lot of players know him; I did not know him. I know him now."

Querrey, Riffice lose in finals; Altamirano streak ends

Sam Querrey, shown en route to the Sacramento Challenger title
last October, lost to Jack Sock 7-6 (9), 7-6 (2) in the final of the
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships. Photo by Paul Bauman

   From the pros to the colleges to the juniors, Northern Californians endured a rough Sunday.
   But in each case, there was a bright side.
   San Francisco native Sam Querrey lost in the final of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Sacramento's Collin Altamirano suffered his first collegiate singles loss, and Roseville's Sam Riffice fell in the boys 18 final at the Easter Bowl.
   Querrey and Riffice can take consolation in having reached the finals (Riffice also lost in Saturday's doubles final). And No. 4 Virginia, where Altamirano is a freshman, pounded No. 28 Louisville 6-1 to clinch its 12th consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference title and extend its winning streak to nine matches.
   Unseeded Jack Sock defeated the eighth-seeded Querrey 7-6 (9), 7-6 (2) in Houston for his first ATP World Tour singles title. The 22-year-old Sock has four career doubles crowns, including Wimbledon last year with Vasek Pospisil of Canada.
   Sock saved three set points in the first tiebreaker against Querrey. It was the first all-American final since Mardy Fish beat John Isner in Atlanta in 2011.
   Sock was playing in only his third tournament of the year after undergoing surgery for a torn muscle in his hip in December.
   In Charlottesville, Va., eighth-ranked Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Louisville nipped No. 72 Altamirano 3-6, 6-3 [10-5] at the No. 1 position. Altamirano, the USTA boys 18 national champion in 2013 and runner-up last year, fell to 15-1 in singles.
   Virginia has won 134 consecutive conference matches (regular season and tournaments), the longest streak in ACC history in any sport.
   In Indian Wells, top-seeded Taylor Fritz of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area dismantled the 14th-seeded Riffice 6-2, 6-3.
   Fritz, the fourth-ranked junior in the world, will turn 18 on Oct. 28. Riffice, who swept the Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl 16s titles in December, celebrated his 16th birthday on March 1. 

OTHER COLLEGE SCORES
Men

   Fresno State def. Boise State 4-3 in Fresno. Records: Fresno State 14-9, 3-3 Mountain West Conference; Boise State 10-15, 3-3.
   UC Santa Barbara def. Pacific 4-3 in Stockton. Records: UCSB 11-8, Pacific 8-15.

Women

    No. 3 Cal def. Washington State 7-0 and USF 4-0 in Berkeley. Records: Cal 18-3, 8-1 Pacific-12 Conference; Washington State 12-12, 0-10; USF 11-8.
   No. 13 Stanford def. No. 16 Pepperdine 6-1 at Stanford. Records: Stanford 15-4, Pepperdine 13-5.
   No. 39 Fresno State def. No. 73 San Diego State 4-1 in San Diego. Records: Fresno State 15-4, 5-0 Mountain West; San Diego State 11-10, 2-2.
   No. 56 San Jose State def. Academy of Art 6-1 in San Jose. Records: San Jose State 12-6, Academy of Art 11-4.  

Pennetta, 33, shocks Sharapova at Indian Wells

Maria Sharapova lost to defending champion Flavia Pennetta
3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Flavia Pennetta is still going strong at age 33.
   The No. 15 seed and defending champion from Italy ousted No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
   Pennetta has beaten Sharapova three consecutive times and leads the head-to-head series 3-2. All five meetings have gone to three sets. Sharapova, 27, has won two of her 34 career singles titles at Indian Wells (2006 and 2013).
   Meanwhile, qualifier Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine knocked off a seed for the third straight round, outlasting No. 6 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4 after defeating No. 9 Andrea Petkovic and No. 20 Alize Cornet.
   Pennetta, the highest remaining seed in the bottom half of the draw, will play No. 24 Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Also, Tsurenko will face Serbia's Jelena Jankovic, the 18th seed and 2010 champion.
   In the top half of the draw, No. 1 seed Serena Williams will meet No. 27 Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, and No. 3 Simona Halep of Romania will take on No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
   Bacsinszky extended her winning streak to 15 matches, including the titles in Monterrey and Acapulco.
   On the men's side at Indian Wells, No. 2 seed Roger Federer dismissed Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4 in the third round to avenge a loss to the Italian in the same round of the Australian Open in January.
   Federer, bidding for an unprecedented fifth Indian Wells title, will face unseeded American Jack Sock for the first time in the round of 16. Sock, playing in his first tournament of the year after undergoing hip surgery in mid-December, surprised 15th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.
   Sock has lost the first set in all three of his matches. At 22, he already has won two Grand Slam titles, mixed doubles in the 2011 U.S. Open with Melanie Oudin and men's doubles at Wimbledon last year with Vasek Pospisil of Canada.
   In a match that ended at 12:43 a.m. today, top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan edged Marin Draganja of Croatia and John Peers of Austria 6-7 (8), 6-4 [10-7].
   The 36-year-old Bryan twins, who starred at Stanford, will meet eighth-seeded Pospisil and Sock in the quarterfinals in a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final. The Bryans seek their third straight Indian Wells crown in their native Southern California.       

Fish falls in return; Serena to play after boycott

Mardy Fish, shown in 2013, played his first singles match
in more than 18 months on Thursday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Everyone except Brett Favre, it seems, is making a comeback in the BNP Paribas Open.
   Mardy Fish began the parade on Thursday with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3) loss to fellow American Ryan Harrison in the first round at Indian Wells. Harrison saved two match points serving at 4-5 in the third set against the former part-time Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis.
   It was the 33-year-old Fish's first singles match and second overall in more than 18 months. The former world No. 7 battled an irregular heartbeat and severe anxiety during his layoff.
   Tonight, Serena Williams is scheduled to make her first appearance at Indian Wells since a racially charged incident in 2001. The top seed and two-time champion, who received a bye in the opening round, will face Monica Niculescu of Romania in the second round. Tennis Channel will televise the match at 7 p.m. PDT.
   Also, Jack Sock (hip surgery) of Tampa, Fla., and reigning U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic (shoulder injury) of Croatia are set to make their season debuts today and Saturday, respectively.
   Meanwhile, Austrian left-hander Jurgen Melzer, yet another 33-year-old, beat Dennis Novikov, 21, of San Jose 6-4, 6-4 in a first-round matchup of qualifiers. Novikov had knocked off two seeds in qualifying to reach the main draw at Indian Wells for the first time.
   College result -- Utah State defeated Pacific 4-2 in Stockton. The Tigers (2-11) swept the doubles and won on Court 2 with Miguel Diaz. On Court 1, Dennis Baumgartner outclassed Alex Hamilton 6-3, 6-2 to help the Aggies improve to 14-4.

Ex-Stanford star Klahn rises to No. 2 in U.S.

Bradley Klahn replaced Sam Querrey as the No. 2 American
behind John Isner. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   In both a tribute to Bradley Klahn and sad comment on the state of U.S. men's tennis, the former Stanford star became the second-ranked American man less than two years after turning professional.
   Klahn, a 23-year-old left-hander from Poway in the San Diego area, this week dropped two places from his career high of No. 63 in the world after losing in the first round in Key Biscayne, Fla.
   However, San Francisco native Sam Querrey plunged 12 more spots to No. 74 after falling in the second round at Key Biscayne. Querrey, ranked a career-high No. 17 in January 2011, now ranks fourth among Americans behind No. 9 John Isner, Klahn and No. 71 Donald Young.
   Two more American men are ranked in the top 100: 21-year-old Jack Sock at No. 92 and 24-year-old Steve Johnson at No. 98. Sock turned pro out of high school, but Johnson won two NCAA singles titles (2011-12) and led USC to four team championships (2009-12).
   Klahn won the NCAA singles crown as a sophomore in 2010, underwent surgery for a herniated disk as a junior and graduated in economics in 2012.
   Young, a 24-year-old left-hander from Atlanta, has won four Challenger singles titles in Northern California: Aptos in 2007, Sacramento in 2008 and 2013, and the inaugural Napa tournament last year.
   Once touted as the future of U.S. men's tennis, the undersized Young has never won a title on the ATP World Tour. However, he gained the final at Bangkok in 2011 (losing to Andy Murray) and rose to a career-high No. 38 in early 2012.  
   Meanwhile, Milos Raonic, who won the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose from 2011 through 2013, cracked the top 10 for the first time. The 23-year-old Canadian rose two notches to No. 10 after reaching the quarterfinals in Key Biscayne.  
   Dmitry Tursunov, a 31-year-old Russian who trains in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, returned to the top100 in doubles for the first time since September 2011. Tursunov, who has been plagued by injuries, improved 12 places to No. 96 after advancing to the second round in Key Biscayne with Oliver Marach of Austria.
   Tursunov reached the doubles semifinals in the 2008 French Open to attain a career-high ranking of No. 36. He is ranked No. 32 in singles, down from his career high of No. 20 in 2006.

PRO RANKINGS

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

Men

   Bob Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Bradley Klahn, 23 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 65 in singles (-2), No. 135 in doubles (-2).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 39 in doubles (-2), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 74 in singles (-12), No. 115 in doubles (-1).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 31 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 32 in singles (-2), No. 96 in doubles (+12).

Women

   Mallory Burdette, 23 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- No. 238 in singles (-19), No. 1,143 in doubles (-6).
   Nicole Gibbs, 21 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- No. 182 in singles (+10), No. 405 in doubles (+1).

   Macall Harkins, 28 years old, Redding resident -- No. 368 in doubles (-10), No. 712 in singles (-25).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 31 years old, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 15 in doubles (+3), No. 1,091 in singles (+3).

   Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, born and raised in Modesto -- No. 99 in doubles (+1), No. 244 in singles (+1).