Fritz saves two match points, upsets Zverev in BNP

Taylor Fritz, shown in his second-round victory
over Brandon Nakashima, reached his first ATP
Masters 1000 semifinal. Photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 31 seed Taylor Fritz, playing in his native Southern California, survived two match points and stunned No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) today in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

   Fritz, who won the Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers in Northern California back-to-back at 17 in 2015, overcame a 2-5 deficit in the third set to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. 

   "I was really down and out, but I found a way to put myself into it," Fritz, who was born in Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area and lives in Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles region, said in an on-court interview. "I really wanted to make him have to close me out, and I was able to get back into the match. Normally, you would be so nervous in those situations and in the third-set tiebreak, but I felt so confident being aggressive, going after my game. It feels really great to play well with the pressure on."

   Fritz is scheduled to face No. 29 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia on Saturday after the 1:30 p.m. semifinal between No. 21 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain and No. 23 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria (Tennis Channel). Basilashvili surprised No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal.

   Norrie won the Tiburon and Stockton Challengers in NorCal back-to-back in 2017.

   In Sunday's women's final, No. 27 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus is set to meet No. 21 seed Paula Badosa of Spain. 

   Azarenka, who won Indian Wells in 2012 and 2016 and the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2010, outlasted No. 24 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a matchup of Grand Slam champions.

   Badosa, a quarterfinalist in this year's French Open and Tokyo Olympics, outclassed No. 12 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-3, 6-3 to gain the biggest final of her career.

   USTA Pro Circuit — Unseeded Maria Mateas of Chapel Hill, N.C., beat No. 3 seed Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Florence (S.C.) Open on hardcourts. 

Stephens, Tiafoe stage big upsets as Wimbledon begins

Sloane Stephens, a Fresno, Calif., product, ousted two-time Wimbledon champion
Petra Kvitova today. 2018 photo by Mal Taam

   Two players with Northern California ties, one woman and one man, scored major upsets on the first day of Wimbledon.

   In a matchup of Grand Slam singles champions, Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens ousted No. 10 seed Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 today. Also, Frances Tiafoe, who won the 2016 Stockton, Calif., Challenger at 18, dispatched No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, the French Open runner-up two weeks ago, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

   Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had not played on grass in two years. She withdrew from Bad Homburg, Germany, last week because of a foot injury.

   Since Kvitova won her second Wimbledon title in 2014, the Czech has not advanced past the fourth round at the All England Club in five attempts.

   Stephens, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2013, has tumbled from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 73. She is set to play lucky loser Kristie Ahn, a 29-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., on Wednesday.

   Ahn, who has dropped from a career-high No. 87 in 2019 to No. 117, rallied from a break down twice in the third set and saved a match point in a 2-6, 7-6 (3), 8-6 victory over Heather Watson of Great Britain.

   Ahn, who advanced to the fourth round of the 2019 U.S. Open, prevailed in 3 hours, 3 minutes for her first Wimbledon main-draw victory. She and Stephens will meet for the first time at the tour level and the first time overall since 2009. Ahn has not lost a set in two minor-league matches against Stephens.

   Watson won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in 2016 with Henri Kontinen of Finland and the doubles crown of the 2012 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford with Marina Erakovic of New Zealand.

   Tiafoe, ranked No. 57, earned his first victory over a top-five player in 12 attempts. Tsitsipas had not played on grass since losing to Thomas Fabbiano of Italy in the first round at Wimbledon two years ago.

   Two qualifiers who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area fell in the opening round.

   Mackenzie McDonald, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018, lost to No. 25 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3). 

   Katie Volynets, making her Wimbledon main-draw at 19, bowed out against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-4, 7-5.

Djokovic overcomes big deficit for French Open crown

Novak Djokovic joined Rod Laver and Roy Emerson as the only men
to win each major tournament at least twice. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   As incredible as Novak Djokovic's physical skills are, his mental toughness is at least as impressive.

   The combination has produced probably the greatest player ever.

   Coming off a grueling victory over 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, the top-ranked Djokovic defeated upstart Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 today in 4 hours, 11 minutes in the final at Roland Garros in Paris.

   Djokovic, 34, came back from two sets down in a Grand Slam final for the first time and became the first man to win a French Open final after losing the first two sets since Gaston Gaudio of Argentina in 2004. Dominic Thiem also accomplished the feat in the U.S. Open last September.

   "I'm very proud, very happy," Djokovic, who joined Rod Laver and Roy Emerson as the only men to win each major tournament at least twice, told reporters. "I don't want to stop here. Hopefully, I can keep on (winning) here at Roland Garros, at least one or two more times."

   Djokovic claimed his 19th Grand Slam singles title, one short of the record held by Roger Federer, who will turn 40 in August, and Nadal, 35, and moved halfway to the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Laver in 1969. Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to win the Australian Open in February.

   Djokovic is 27-23 against Federer and 30-28 against Nadal.

   Djokovic also lost the first two sets against rising star Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round, making him the first man in the professional era to win a Grand Slam tournament after twice trailing two sets to none, according to the International Tennis Federation. The third set of his 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over Nadal was perhaps the most electrifying ever played. 

   The fifth-seeded Tsitsipas, 22, was trying to become the first Greek to win a major singles title. He showed no sign of nerves in the first two sets and fought valiantly until the end.

   "I'd like to thank the Greek fans and my team, who are constantly behind me, for my dreams," Tsitsipas said. "This is a long journey."

   In the fifth set today, Djokovic broke serve to lead 2-1, and Tsitsipas saved two break points to hold for 3-4. Djokovic, serving at 5-4, converted his second championship point. 

   In the opening set, Djokovic saved a set point while serving at 4-5 and broke serve at 15 for 6-5. Tsitsipas broke back at 15 and led 4-0 in the tiebreaker. Djokovic fought back to earn a set point at 6-5, but Tsitsipas reeled off the next three points for the set. 

   Tsitsipas broke serve in the opening game of the second set, went up a double break at 5-2 and closed out the set with an ace. Djokovic then took one of his two allotted locker room breaks and had a talk with himself.

   "There's always two voices inside," he said. "There is one telling you that you can't do it, that it's done, it's finished. That voice was pretty strong after that second set. So I felt that that was a time for me to actually vocalize the other voice and try to suppress the first one that was saying I can't make it. I told myself I can do it. Encouraged myself. I strongly started to repeat that inside of my mind, tried to live it with my entire being."

   Djokovic took a 3-1 lead in the third set on his fifth break point of the game and served out the set. Tsitsipas then took a medical timeout to receive back treatment.

   Djokovic led 4-0 with two service breaks in the fourth set and held on for the victory. 

   Earlier today, Barbora Krejcikova became the first woman to sweep the French Open singles and doubles titles since Mary Pierce in 2000. Krejcikova and fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova, seeded second, beat 14th-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix and Iga Swiatek, last year's singles champion at 19, of Poland 6-4, 6-2.

Nadal, Djokovic set up showdown for French Open title

Rafael Nadal, practicing at Indian Wells last year, will play for
his 13th French Open crown. Photo copyright by Harjanto Sumali

   Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal struggled to put away gritty opponents today but survived to set up a dream French Open final.

   The top-ranked Djokovic had the tougher battle, subduing fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1 in 3 hours, 54 minutes in Paris.

   Djokovic, who held a match point serving at 5-4 in the third set, improved to 37-1 (including his U.S. Open default) this year. He reached the French Open final for the first time since completing a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2016 and the fifth time overall.

   "Novak showed once again what an incredible athlete he is and his ability on the courts," Tsitsipas, 22, said on atptennis.com. "It was difficult, for sure, playing him. He is one of the most difficult opponents I've faced in my entire life. I have huge respect for that. He gave me a really difficult time on the court.

   "Unfortunately, toward to end of the match, an injury that I had during my match in Rome came back. It was difficult to close the match in a fighting way, in a fighting spirit. But I tried my best despite all of this. I'm happy that I came back from two-sets-to-love down and tried to stay in the match as long as possible."

   Nadal, ranked second, eliminated 12th-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (0) in 3 hours, 9 minutes after leading 3-1 in the third set.

   Schwartzman was coming off a 5-hour, 8-minute victory over third-seeded Dominic Thiem, who won his first Grand Slam title in the U.S. Open last month.

   The 28-year-old Schwartzman, who's listed at 5-foot-7 (1.70 meters) and 141 pounds (64 kilograms), will crack the top 10 for the first time on Monday, rising six places to No. 8.

   Nadal improved to 10-1 against Schwartzman, who shocked the Spanish star 6-2, 7-5 three weeks ago in the Italian Open quarterfinals. 

   Djokovic, 33, and Nadal, 34, will meet for the 56th time on Sunday at 6 a.m. PDT (NBC). Either Nadal will tie 39-year-old Roger Federer's men's record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles, or Djokovic will pull within one of Nadal.

Novak Djokovic, practicing at Indian Wells last year, is one
of two players to beat Rafael Nadal in the French Open.
Photo copyright by Harjanto Sumali

   Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 29-26, but Nadal owns advantages of 17-7 on clay (8-7 in the last 15 encounters), 6-1 in the French Open and 2-0 in Roland Garros finals (both in four sets). Djokovic and Robin Soderling are the only players to beat Nadal in the French Open.

   Most notably, Nadal has won 12 French Open singles titles, including the last three, to Djokovic's one. 

   "To play against Novak, I need to play my best," said Nadal, who has not lost a set in the tournament. "Without playing my best tennis the situation is very difficult. I know this is a court that I have been playing well on for such a long time, so that helps. At the same time, he has an amazing record here, too, being in the final rounds almost every single time. 

   "He is one of the toughest opponents possible. But I am here to keep trying my best. I like to play in this scenario. I know I have to make a step forward. I think I did one today. But for Sunday, it is not enough. I need to make another one. That's what I'm looking for. I am going to work hard to try to make that happen."

   Djokovic acknowledged that Nadal "has lost twice in his entire career on this court. Obviously, the conditions are different than the ones that we are used to playing in May and June. That could be better for me, obviously the ball not bouncing as high over the shoulder as he likes it usually.

   "Regardless of the conditions, he's still there, he's Rafa, he's in the final, and we're playing on clay. Best-of-five playing him in the final at Roland Garros, I know that feeling."

   Women's final — Fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin, 21, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and unseeded Iga Swiatek, 19, of Poland will meet for the first time as professionals on Saturday at 6 a.m. PDT (NBC).

   Kenin, who won her first Grand Slam title in the Australian Open early this year, and Swiatek, the 2018 Wimbledon girls singles champion, took contrasting routes to the final. 

   Four of Kenin's six matches have gone to three sets. Swiatek, meanwhile, has not lost more than five games in a match, including a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of top seed and 2018 champion Simona Halep in the fourth round. 

   Swiatek defeated Kenin, who was born in Moscow and moved to the United States as a young child, 6-4, 7-5 in the third round of the French Open girls event in 2016. Kenin proceeded to win Northern California Challengers in Sacramento that year at 17, Stockton in 2017 and Berkeley in 2018.

Kenin, Tsitsipas avenge losses to reach semis in Paris

Sofia Kenin, playing in the 2018 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger, beat
fellow American Danielle Collins 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 today in the French
Open. Kenin had been 0-3 against Collins. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sofia Kenin and Stefanos Tsitsipas gained revenge today to reach the French Open semifinals.

   The fourth-seeded Kenin beat unseeded Danielle Collins 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in an all-American matchup in Paris. Collins, an Australian Open semifinalist last year, suffered from an apparent stomach ailment in the third set.

   Kenin, who won her first Grand Slam title in this year's Australian Open, had never won a set against Collins in three career meetings. 

   The fifth-seeded Tsitsipas, from Greece, outclassed 13th-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 in a clash of 22-year-old rising stars. Rublev defeated Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 10 days ago in the Hamburg final.

   Both Kenin, 21, and Collins, 26, have excelled in Northern California. Kenin won Challengers in Sacramento in 2016 at 17, Stockton in 2017 and Berkeley in 2018. Collins reached the final of the inaugural (2018) Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., on the WTA Tour.

   Rublev also is no stranger to NorCal. He lost to former world No. 2 Tommy Haas in the first round of the 2015 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger at 17.

   Kenin will face seventh-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic on Thursday after the 6 a.m. (PDT) semifinal between unseeded Iga Swiatek, 19, of Poland and qualifier Nadia Podoroska of Argentina (Tennis Channel).

   Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion and a French Open semifinalist in 2012, dismissed unseeded Laura Siegemund, who won the U.S. Open doubles crown with Vera Zvonareva last month, 6-3, 6-3. 

   Kvitova, a 30-year-old left-hander, is 2-0 (1-0 on clay) against Kenin. Kvitova suffered career-threatening cuts to her left hand in a December 2016 attack at her home in the Czech Republic and missed more than four months.

   Tsitsipas, a semifinalist in last year's Australian Open, will take on top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who won the 2016 French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, on Friday. 

   Djokovic defeated 17th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in a rematch of their infamous fourth-round encounter in the U.S. Open last month. Djokovic was defaulted after losing his serve to trail 5-6 in the first set and accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball in anger. It's the 33-year-old Serb's only loss in 37 matches this year.

   Djokovic, who's right-handed with a two-handed backhand, played today with tape on his neck to address a nagging problem and took a medical timeout for a left-arm issue after losing the first set.

   "I definitely didn't feel great coming onto the court today," Djokovic said on atptour.com. "I don't want to take away anything from his good performance. Especially for a set and a half, he was the better player, dictating play. I was very neutral.

   "I didn't have much energy really ... in my legs or movement or game itself. It took me about a set and a half to really get comfortable and start really playing the way I should."

   Countered Carreno Busta: "Every time the (match) gets complicated, he asks for medical assistance. He has been doing this for a long time. I knew what would happen at the U.S. Open, what would happen here and what will continue to happen."

   Djokovic is 3-2 (1-0 on clay) against Tsitsipas with straight-set victories in their last two meetings, both on hardcourts.

   In the women's doubles quarterfinals, 14th-seeded Alexa Guarachi of Chile and Desirae Krawczyk of the United States eliminated seventh-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan 6-0, 6-4.

   Each player except Aoyama was born in the U.S. and played in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Shibahara, 22, was born in Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and starred at UCLA. 

   Guarachi and Krawczyk — former standouts at Alabama and Arizona State, respectively — were coming off a straight-set victory over top-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

   Krawczyk won the doubles title in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger with Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the Bay Area who plays for Mexico.

   In the third round of boys singles, seventh-seeded Dominic Stephan Stricker of Switzerland beat ninth-seeded Arthur Fery, a Stanford freshman from Great Britain, 6-4, 6-3.

   Fery and compatriot Felix Gill outplayed Dev Javia of India and Li Hanwen of China 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of doubles.

French Open quarterfinals to feature rematches

Novak Djokovic, practicing at Indian Wells last year, will play
Pablo Carreno Busta in a rematch of their infamous U.S. Open
encounter last month. Photo by Harjanto Sumali

   Rematches will be the theme of Wednesday's quarterfinals in the French Open.

   Most notably, top-ranked Novak Djokovic will face 17th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain. Djokovic was defaulted from the U.S. Open last month for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball after Carreno Busta had broken serve to lead 6-5 in the fourth round. Djokovic has won their three other meetings, including two on clay.

   Djokovic, who won the 2016 French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, dispatched 15th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 today in Paris to improve to 35-1 this year. Carreno Busta outclassed qualifier Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the French Open quarterfinals for the second time.

   Also Wednesday, fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will take on 13th-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia in a matchup of 22-year-old rising stars. Rublev topped Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 eight days ago to win the Hamburg title on clay and improve to 3-1 in the head-to-head series.

   Tsitsipas beat 18th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-2 today to become the first Greek man to reach the French Open quarterfinals.

   Rublev, who had never won a match at Roland Garros before this year, outdueled Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in 3 hours, 54 minutes for his ninth consecutive victory. 

   On the women's side, fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin will play either 30th-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia or unseeded Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla. That match was postponed by rain. 

   Kenin is 2-0 against Jabeur and 0-1 against Collins this year. Kenin — who won Northern California Challengers in 2016 at 17, 2017 and 2018 — defeated Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open en route to her first Grand Slam title and 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the third round of the U.S. Open. Collins clobbered Kenin 6-3, 6-1 in the second round in Adelaide on a hardcourt.

   Kenin advanced today by frustrating France's Fiona Ferro, the Palermo champion in the first tournament after the WTA Tour resumed in early August, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 to reach her first quarterfinal on clay. 

   Kenin cried after the match in front of a sparse crowd. Only 1,000 spectators are allowed each day at Roland Garros because of a surge in coronavirus cases in France.

   "I was just super proud of myself," Kenin, whose only tune-up match for the French Open was a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Victoria Azarenka in the Italian Open, said on wtatennis.com. "Yes, there (were) a lot of emotions. I was just super happy that I won. The crowd wasn't the best, which is understandable, but still I wish it (had) been a little bit different. 

   "I'm super happy that I'm in the quarters. I usually don't play (well) on clay. In the juniors, I hated the clay. Last year, I started to like it for the first time."

   Seventh-seeded Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion and a French Open semifinalist in 2012, and unseeded Laura Siegemund, the reigning U.S. Open doubles champion with Vera Zvonareva, will meet after winning in straight sets. Kvitova trounced Siegemund 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the 2015 U.S. Open in their only previous encounter.

   In a showdown between this year's Grand Slam doubles champions, seventh-seeded Mate Pavic of Croatia and Bruno Soares of Brazil outlasted third-seeded Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. 

   Ram, who was named a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley in June, and Salisbury won the Australian Open, and Pavic and Soares claimed the U.S. Open. 

   In the second round of boys singles, ninth-seeded Arthur Fery, a Stanford freshman from Great Britain, crushed Mario Mansilla Diez of Spain 6-1, 6-0 in 47 minutes.

Another Italian teenager scores big upset in Rome

Third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece lost to 19-year-old wild card Jannik
Sinner of Italy in three sets today in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome.
2019 photo by Mal Taam

   An Italian teenage man pulled off a major upset in the Italian Open for the second consecutive day today.

   One day after 18-year-old qualifier Lorenzo Musetti stunned 10th-seeded Stan Wawrinka, 19-year-old wild card Jannik Sinner ousted third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-1, 6-7 (9), 6-2 in the second round in Rome. 

   Sinner, ranked No. 81, led 6-1, 5-2, but the 22-year-old Tsitsipas, ranked sixth, won four straight games to serve for the second set and saved two match points in the tiebreaker.

   Sinner recorded his second victory over a top-10 player. He knocked off No. 10 David Goffin in the second round in Rotterdam in February.

   Sinner, who reached the second round of last year's Aptos, Calif., Challenger one week after winning the Lexington, Ky., title, is set to face 15th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria on Friday for a quarterfinal berth.

   Dimitrov, a 2014 Rome semifinalist who climbed as high as No. 3 in 2017, demolished Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes. Dimitrov won 24 of 25 points on his first serve.

   Another Italian wild card, 28-year-old Stefano Travaglia, surprised unseeded Borna Coric, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last week, 7-6 (2), 7-5. Travaglia, ranked No. 84, is scheduled to take on countryman Matteo Berrettini, seeded fourth, on Friday.

   Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, playing his first match since getting defaulted from the U.S. Open on Sept. 6, outclassed Italian wild card Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-2.

   Djokovic, a four-time Italian Open champion, next will meet fellow Serb Filip Krajinovic, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Italian qualifier Marco Cecchinato.

   Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, playing his first official match since winning Acapulco in February, overwhelmed Spanish countryman Pablo Carreno Busta, a U.S. Open semifinalist, 6-1, 6-1 in 73 minutes. 

   Nadal, seeking his third consecutive Rome title and 10th overall, will play the winner of Thursday's match between 13th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada and Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.

   Both sixth seeds lost today. Marin Cilic, an Italian Open semifinalist in 2018 and a two-time Rome quarterfinalist, routed Goffin 6-2, 6-2. Qualifier Danka Kovinic of Montenegro dominated Belinda Bencic, playing her first match since February, 6-3, 6-1.

   Top-seeded Simona Halep, a two-time Italian Open runner-up, beat Italian wild card Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-4 for her 10th straight victory and 15th in her last 16 matches.

   In a matchup of former world No. 1s and Bank of the West Classic champions at Stanford, Victoria Azarenka eliminated 40-year-old Venus Williams 7-6 (7), 6-2.

   Azarenka has won 13 of her last 14 matches, losing to Naomi Osaka in the U.S. Open final, after going 0-3 since August 2019.

   Williams lost in the first round for the third consecutive tournament and fell to 1-7 this year. Her only victory is over Azarenka in the opening round in Lexington last month.

Kvitova, Osaka advance to Aussie final; so does Nadal

Petra Kvitova reached her first Grand Slam
final since 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Petra Kvitova, who was severely injured in a 2016 knife attack, today reached her first Grand Slam final since 2014.
   Seeded eighth, Kvitova outslugged unseeded Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., 7-6 (2), 6-0 and became the first Czech woman to advance to the Australian Open final since Jana Novotna lost to Monica Seles in 1991.
   The roof on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne was closed at 4-4 in the first set because of 104-degree (40.0 Celsius) heat.
   Kvitova, who captured the Sydney title two weeks ago, extended her winning streak to 11 matches. She has not lost a set in six Australian Open matches.
   Collins crushed second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who won the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles in the 2016 Australian Open, 6-0, 6-2 in the fourth round.
   Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion, suffered career-threatening cuts to her left (playing) hand in the December 2016 attack at her home in the Czech Republic.
   In her only Northern California appearance, Kvitova reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 and last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Collins, a two-time NCAA singles champion from the University of Virginia, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2017 Sacramento Challenger and the semifinals of last year's inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose.

Naomi Osaka will try to win her second consecutive
major title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan prevented an all-Czech final, beating seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
   Pliskova ousted Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the third set and saving four match points. Williams rolled her left ankle on the first match point.
   Osaka, 21, will seek her second consecutive Grand Slam singles title when she meets Kvitova for the first time on Saturday at 12:30 a.m. California time (ESPN).
   Osaka's first big win came in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic. As a 16-year-old qualifier playing her first main-draw match on the WTA tour, Osaka saved a match point and ousted 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur. Pliskova reached the Stanford final the following year, losing to Kerber.
   Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion and a three-time runner-up in Melbourne, outclassed 14th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, a 20-year-old Greek, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 in a men's semifinal.
   "It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely," Tsitsipas told reporters. "He gives you no rhythm. He plays just a different game style than the rest of the players. He has this, I don't know, talent that no other player has. I've never seen a player have this. He makes you play bad."
   Nadal will face either top-ranked Novak Djokovic, a six-time Australian Open champion, or 28th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France for the title on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. (ESPN).
   In the men's doubles semifinals, fifth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France outclassed unseeded Ryan Harrison of Austin, Texas, and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, 6-4, 6-2.
   Herbert and Mahut, who are trying to complete a career Grand Slam in men's doubles, will meet 12th seeds and 2017 champions Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia for the title.

Tsitsipas becomes first Greek to reach major semifinal

   It's hard to say what's most impressive about Stefanos Tsitsipas.
   His powerful serve? His flowing one-handed backhand? His poise? His soulfulness?
   The 20-year-old phenom avoided a letdown after ousting Roger Federer, beating 22nd-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) today to reach the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne.
   "I'm just living the dream, living what I've been working hard for," Tsitsipas, seeded 14th, said in an on-court interview. "I feel a bit emotional but not too much because I really worked hard to get here, the semis of a Grand Slam."
   Tsitsipas blasted 22 aces and won 84 percent of the points on his first serve (62 of 74). He became the first Greek and youngest man since Novak Djokovic in the 2007 U.S. Open to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
   Tsitsipas will face second-seeded Rafael Nadal, who dismantled unseeded Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Tiafoe, who turned 21 on Sunday, won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016 at age 18.
   Danielle Collins also backed up a big upset to reach her first major semifinal. In a matchup of unseeded players, the 25-year-old American defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
   Collins was coming off a 6-0, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who won the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles in the 2016 Australian Open.
   Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at age 15.
   Collins will play eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova, who eliminated 15th-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-1, 6-4 to reach her first major semifinal since winning her second Wimbledon title in 2014. Kvitova suffered career-threatening cuts to her left (playing) hand in a knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic in December 2016.
   Kvitova's victory ensures that Simona Halep will be deposed as the world No. 1, wtatennis.com reported. Either Kvitova, Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina or Karolina Pliskova will replace Halep. Only Pliskova has been ranked No. 1.
   In the women's doubles quarters, second seeds and defending champions Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France beat ninth-seeded Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of Sacramento and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-4, 7-5.

Results of Orange Bowl finals

ORANGE BOWL
In Plantation, Fla.
Boys finals

18 singles

   Miomir Kecmanovic (9), Serbia, def. Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Greece, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5).

18 doubles

   Yuta Shimizu and Yunosuke Tanaka, Japan, def. Ergi Kirkin, Turkey, and Alexei Popyrin, Australia, 7-5, 7-6 (2).

16 singles

   Sebastian Baez (9), Argentina, def. Karl Friberg (3), Sweden, 6-2, 6-1.

16 doubles

   Sebastian Baez, Argentina, and Miguel Fernando Pereira (3), Chile, def. Nicaise Muamba, Canada, and Brian Shi (2), Jericho, N.Y., 6-2, 6-3.

Girls finals

18 singles

   Bianca Andreescu (9), Canada, def. Kayla Day (6), Santa Barbara, 7-6 (7), 6-4.

18 doubles

   Pranjala Yadlapalli, India, and Tamara Zidansek (5), Slovenia, def. Eleni Christofi, Greece, and Anastasia Detiuc, Moldova, 6-2, 6-2.

16 singles

   Maria Carle (2), Argentina, def. Gabriela Tatarus, Romania, 6-2, 7-6 (7).

16 doubles

   McCartney Kessler, Calhoun, Ga., and Emma Kurtz, Atlanta, def. Ania Hertel, Poland, and Mihaela Marculescu (4), Romania, 6-3, 4-6 [10-6].