Kerber shocks Serena for first Grand Slam title

Angelique Kerber poses with a stuffed bear, the symbol
of California and San Francisco-based Bank of the West,
after winning the title at Stanford last August.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Less than six months after winning the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, Angelique Kerber earned her first Grand Slam title in stunning fashion.
   Kerber, who lost in the first round of last year's Australian Open and survived a match point in the opening round this year, shocked Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 today in Melbourne.
   "When I was match point down (in the first round), I actually had one leg in the plane back to Germany," Kerber, fighting back tears of joy, told the crowd afterward. "I got a second chance, and I took that chance to be here in the finals to play against Serena. I'm really honored to be in this final and to win it. My dream came true tonight.
   "My whole life I was working really hard, and now I'm here, and I can say I'm a Grand Slam champion, and it sounds really crazy. These have been the best two weeks of my life."
   Kerber, seeded seventh, played her trademark outstanding defense against Williams and showed unusual composure in her first major final.
   The top-seeded Williams, meanwhile, was jittery in her attempt to tie Steffi Graf -- Kerber's fellow German, idol and mentor -- for second place with 22 Grand Slam singles titles. Margaret Court of Australia has 24.
   Williams, who committed 46 unforced errors to Kerber's 13, succumbed to nerves and a gritty, inspired opponent for the second straight Grand Slam tournament.
   Trying to complete the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Graf in 1988, Williams lost to unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci, playing in her first major semifinal at age 32, in the U.S. Open in one of the biggest upsets in sports history.

Serena Williams displays the Bank of the West trophy
after beating Kerber for the 2014 title. Tri Nguyen/
TryNguyenPhotography.com

   Kerber, a 28-year-old left-hander, broke Williams' serve to lead 4-2 in the third set on her fifth break point of the game. Kerber then held serve at love for 5-2, but the title would not come easily.
   Williams, 34, fought back to serve at 4-5. From deuce, she netted a cross-court forehand and floated a forehand volley long to end the 2-hour, 8-minute battle.
   Kerber, who became the first German woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Graf in the 1999 French Open, tossed her racket and fell flat on her back along the baseline with her arms outstretched above her head. Once she rose, Williams graciously walked to Kerber's side of the net, gave her opponent a warm smile and embraced the euphoric champion.
   "Angie, congratulations," Williams, the defending and six-time Australian Open champion, said during the awards ceremony. "You really deserved it. Let me be the first to congratulate you. I hope you enjoy this moment."
   Williams, who smiled and laughed with Kerber during the ceremony, was the happiest loser of a Grand Slam final in memory. It helps when you've won 21 of them, but she also might have been relieved that she won't have to relive the pressure of pursuing a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2016.
   Williams had been 5-1 against Kerber with a four-match winning streak. In their last meeting before today, Williams triumphed 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic for her third Stanford title. Kerber led 5-1 in the first set and had two set points at 5-2.
   In last year's Bank of the West final, Kerber defeated 6-foot-1 (1.86-meter) Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Williams, citing a right elbow injury, withdrew before the Aug. 3-9 tournament.
   Kerber will rise from No. 6 to a career-high No. 2 behind Williams when the new rankings are released on Monday.

Jamie Murray, shown at the U.S. Open last Septem-
ber, and Bruno Soares won their first Grand Slam
men's doubles title today. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   The Australian Open men's doubles final followed Kerber's dramatic victory. Seventh-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil, playing their first Grand Slam tournament together, outlasted unseeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
   It was the maiden Grand Slam men's doubles title for both Murray, who was playing in his third straight major final, and Soares. The left-handed Murray will turn 30 on Feb. 13, and Soares will be 34 on Feb. 27.
   Murray won the doubles title in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose in 2007 with American Eric Butorac, and younger brother Andy Murray took the singles title.
   Nestor, 43, and Stepanek, 37, were the oldest men's doubles finalists in a Slam in the Open era. Nestor has won eight majors in the event and Stepanek two. Both have captured the Australian Open once, Nestor in 2002 with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Stepanek in 2012 with Leander Paes of India.
   Stepanek swept the singles and doubles titles in the 2009 SAP Open. He played doubles with Tommy Haas of Germany.
   Andy Murray is scheduled to play Novak Djokovic for the Australian Open men's singles title on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. PST (ESPN).
   Murray, who had said it would be too stressful for him to watch Jamie's final, made a surprise appearance in the players' box during the awards ceremony and filmed the trophy presentations on his cellphone.

Open Day 7 highlights: Wozniacki tops Sharapova



   Match of the day -- In a battle of former No. 1 players, 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark outslugged fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in high humidity in 2 hours, 37 minutes.

   Wozniacki, 24, advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2012 Australian Open. Only one of the top six women's seeds, No. 1 Serena Williams, remains alive entering the second week.
   Upset of the day -- The men's draw, unlike the women's, has gone largely according to form. No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain became the first top-10 seed to fall, succumbing to No. 26 Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the third round.
   Notable -- Belinda Bencic, 17, of Switzerland became the youngest U.S. Open quarterfinalist since her mentor, Martina Hingis, in 1997. Bencic ousted ninth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki, practicing during the 2012 Austral-
ian Open, beat Maria Sharapova in a battle of former
No. 1 players. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Second-seeded Roger Federer lost the first 10 points in his 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marcel Granollers of Spain in the third round. Federer, a five-time U.S. Open champon, trailed 2-5 (one service break) in the first set when thunderstorms delayed the match for two hours.
   Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a 32-year-old qualifier who had shocked second-seeded Simona Halep in the third round, lost to 13th-seeded Sara Errani 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. The 5-foot-4 1/2 (1.64-meter) Errani had four winners and nine errors to the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Lucic-Baroni's 46 and 69, respectively.
   Men's seeded winners -- Federer, No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 14 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 20 Gael Monfils and Simon.
   Men's seeded losers -- Ferrer, No. 12 Richard Gasquet, No. 18 Kevin Anderson and No. 19 Feliciano Lopez.
   Women's seeded winners -- Wozniacki and Errani.
   Women's seeded losers -- Sharapova, Jankovic and No. 14 Lucie Safarova.
   Northern California connection -- Unseeded Americans Scott Lipsky, a 33-year-old former Stanford star, and Rajeev Ram surprised third-seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 to reach the men's doubles quarterfinals. Nestor, who will turn 42 on Thursday, has won eight Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and the 38-year-old Zimonjic six.
   Michaela Gordon, 15, of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area dominated Miriam Kolodziejova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of girls singles. 
   Fast fact -- Wozniacki plans to run in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2.
   Quote -- Wozniacki, on taking a break from marathon training during the U.S. Open: "I have a pretty big tournament here that I kind of want to try and win."

Bryans fall from No. 1 after 90-week run

   Because of a fluke in the schedule, former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan lost their No. 1 world ranking in doubles Monday after 90 consecutive weeks.
   Replacing the 34-year-old Bryan twins, who now share third, were Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Daniel Nestor of Canada. At 39 years, eight months, Nestor is the oldest player to be ranked No. 1 in doubles. Mirnyi is 34.
   "I was not really aware of the points count this week," Mirnyi told atpworldtour.com, "but I am certainly conscious of our consistency and the good work that we've been able to put in during the last year and a half." 
   The Bryans, who won the 1998 NCAA doubles title, dropped because of a calendar shift. Their points from winning last year's Mutua Madrid Open fell off the computer one week early. Last December, they  broke John McEnroe's record of 270 total weeks at No. 1.
   Both Mirnyi, 6-foot-5, and Nestor, 6-foot-3, have Sacramento connections. Mirnyi was tutored by Sacramento State men's coach Slava Konikov, a Belarus native, and Nestor was named the World TeamTennis Male Rookie of the Year in 2003 as a member of the Sacramento Capitals.
   Nestor and former partner Nenad Zimonjic were the last players to knock the Bryans from the top, surpassing them in August 2010.
   Nestor ranks fifth all-time with 116 weeks at No. 1 in doubles, and Mirnyi is tied for 16th at 40 weeks. Mirnyi was last ranked No. 1 in April 2007.
   The pair has won six titles, including the French Open and the ATP World Tour Finals, since joining forces at the beginning of last year.
   Men's Challenger in Busan, South Korea -- Taiwan's Jimmy Wang, who trains in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, lost to sixth-seeded Danai Udomchoke of Thailand 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) in the first round of the $75,000 Busan Open.
   Pro rankings -- Following are this week's rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 3 in doubles (-2), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 3 in doubles (-2), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 9 in singles (no change), No. 99 in doubles (+2).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- Career-high No. 83 in doubles (+2), unranked in singles.
   Kiryl Harbatsiuk, three-time Big Sky Conference MVP (2009-11) at Sacramento State -- No. 786 in singles (+2), No. 1,258 in doubles (+3).
   Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12), three-time World TeamTennis Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) -- No. 76 in doubles (-2), unranked in singles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 41 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.
   David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 178 in doubles (-4), No. 774 in singles (+5).
   Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 343 in singles (+3), unranked in doubles.
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native -- No. 76 in singles (no change), No. 32 in doubles (-8).
   Jean-Julien Rojer, Capitals (2012) -- No. 35 in doubles (+3), unranked in singles.
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 88 in singles (-2), No. 226 in doubles (-1).
   Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 192 in singles (no change), No. 389 in doubles (-3).
   Pedro Zerbini, Pacific-10 All-Conference first team at Cal (2009-11) -- Career-high No. 773 in singles (+4), No. 1,373 in doubles (-25).

Women

   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- Career-high No. 24 in doubles (+1), No. 719 in singles (+2).
   Asia Muhammed, Capitals (2012) -- No. 184 in doubles (-1), No. 416 in singles (-7).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- Career-high No. 148 in doubles (+7), career-high No. 277 in singles (+64).

   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Capitals (2011-12) -- No. 149 in doubles (-2), No. 374 in singles (-3).

   Coco Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 156 in singles (-2), No. 291 in doubles (+2).

Federer wins 6th ATP Finals; USTA 40 Hard Courts set

   A disappointing year ended on a high note for Roger Federer.
   After failing to win a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002, the fourth-seeded Federer defeated sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 Sunday for a record sixth title in the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
  "I know it's one of my greatest accomplishments," Federer, who earned $1.63 million, told reporters. "This definitely is an amazing finish again to the season. I've never finished so strong."
   The 30-year-old Federer, who had shared the record with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras, played in his 100th career final and won his 70th title. He ended the year with a 17-match winning streak that also included titles in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland, and Paris.
   In this year's Wimbledon quarterfinals, Tsonga became the first player to beat Federer after trailing two sets to none. It appeared the 26-year-old Frenchman might pull off another comeback in London when Federer failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set and squandered a match point in the tiebreaker.
   But Federer -- who also blew a two-sets-to-none lead, and wasted two match points, against Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals -- broke for 5-3 in the third set and served out the match at love.
   "He's the best player indoors for the moment," said Tsonga, who pocketed $740,000. "He's maybe the best player ever, because he's really quick. He's playing well. That's it."
   Third-seeded Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Daniel Nestor of Canada beat eighth-seeded Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, both of Poland, 7-5, 6-3 for the doubles title.
   Mirnyi and Nestor, who went undefeated in the elite tournament and split $287,500, both have Sacramento ties. Mirnyi once worked with Sacramento State men's coach Slava Konikov, and Nestor was named World TeamTennis' Male Rookie of the Year in 2003 as a member of the Sacramento Capitals.
    Nestor, 39, won his fourth doubles title in the ATP World Tour Finals in five years. He triumphed with longtime Capital Mark Knowles in 2007 and Nenad Zimonjic in 2008 and 2010. Mirnyi, 34, won the 2006 crown with Jonas Bjorkman.
   Fyrstenberg and Matkowski, who divided $140,000, became the first Poles to reach the singles or doubles final of the year-end tournament since Wojtek Fibak, the runner-up in singles in 1976 in doubles in 1978 and 1979.
   USTA 40 Hard Courts -- Three players from the San Francisco Bay Area are seeded in the USTA National Men's and Women's 40 Hard Court Championships, which begin today in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, Calif.
   Oren Motevassel of Sunnyvale is seeded second in singles, Jeff Greenwald of Corte Madera third and Curtis Dunn of San Francisco eighth.
   Defending champion Jeff Tarango, 43, of Manhattan Beach is seeded first. The former Stanford All-American reached No. 10 in the world in doubles in 1999 and No. 42 in singles in 1992.
   Tarango is perhaps best known, however, for walking off the court during his third-round match at Wimbledon in 1995 in a dispute with chair umpire Bruno Rebeuh. As if that wasn't bizarre enough, Tarango's wife at the time, Benedicte, then slapped Rebeuh twice.
   San Diego's Gretchen Magers, the top seed and defending champion in women's singles, seeks her sixth title in the tournament. Magers, 47, climbed to No. 13 in the world in singles in the 1980s.
   Brett Joelson, who played for the Capitals last year, and Brian Joelson of Beaverton, Ore., will try to win their ninth consecutive title in father-son doubles.