Venus stunned in return; Gibbs upsets Keys

Venus Williams, playing in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic
at Stanford, lost to qualifier Kurumi Nara on Friday in the sec-
ond round in Indian Wells. It was Williams' first appearance
in the tournament in 15 years. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Venus Williams' long-awaited return to Indian Wells lasted one match.
   Playing in the prestigious tournament for the first time in 15 years, the 10th-seeded Williams suffered a stunning 6-4, 6-3 loss to qualifier Kurumi Nara of Japan on Friday in the second round. All seeds in the BNP Paribas Open received first-round byes.
   Williams, who at 6-foot-1 (1.85 meters) is one foot (30.5 centi- meters) taller than Nara, took her loss in stride.
   "It was enough of a fairy tale to come here and play," Williams, 35, told reporters. "A win would have been nice, but that means I have to come back and play next year. I would definitely love to come back."
   Williams' younger sister, Serena, returned to Indian Wells last year for the first time since a racially charged incident involving both in 2001.
   Serena, seeded No. 1 this year, dismissed qualifier Laura Siegemund of Germany 6-2, 6-1 in 63 minutes.
   Venus Williams was the highest of nine women's singles seeds to lose Friday. No. 23 Madison Keys, a semifinalist in the 2015 Australian Open at 19 years old, fell to qualifier Nicole Gibbs of Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area.
   It was Keys' first match since she suffered a left leg injury in a fourth-round loss to Zhang Shuai in the Australian Open in January.
   Gibbs, a 23-year-old ex-Stanford All-American, will face unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan on Sunday in the third round. Shvedova beat 11th-seeded Lucie Safarova, last year's French Open runner-up to Serena Williams, 6-3, 6-4.
   Safarova was playing in only her second match since October after battling a bacterial infection.
   On the men's side, wild card Mackenzie McDonald, a UCLA junior from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to qualifier Vincent Millot of France 6-1, 6-3 in the first round.
   In the opening round of men's doubles, Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles region and San Francisco native Sam Querrey fell to Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-4, 6-3.
   Johnson and Querrey reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open last September, shocking top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan in the first round.

Tiafoe tops Fritz in battle of U.S. prospects

Frances Tiafoe, playing in the Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger
last October, beat fellow 18-year-old Taylor Fritz in the
first round at Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Taylor Fritz has skyrocketed from No. 694 in the world to No. 80 in less than six months.
   But he still can't solve rival Frances Tiafoe.
   In a battle of 18-year-old U.S. wild cards and potential superstars, Tiafoe defeated Fritz 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 on Thursday in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   Tiafoe and Fritz played during the day session in 16,100-seat Stadium 1, the second-largest tennis facility in the world behind 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   It was the first meeting between Tiafoe, from the Washington, D.C., area, and Fritz, playing in his native Southern California, in a professional tournament. Tiafoe was 3-0 against Fritz in the juniors.
   It was also only the fourth match between male teenagers in Indian Wells. The last was in 2007, when Novak Djokovic beat fellow 19-year-old Evgeny Korolev 6-2, 6-1 in the third round.
   "Just won my first ATP 1000 match at Indian Wells," Tiafoe tweeted. "I couldn't be happier right now, but this is only the beginning. Hopefully many more wins at this level."
   Fritz won Northern California Challengers in Sacramento and Fairfield back-to-back last October. Tiafoe reached the Fairfield semifinals.
   Tiafoe, ranked No. 177, will face 15th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open. All seeds received first-round byes.
   Meanwhile, Dmitry Tursunov's struggles in Indian Wells continued. The 33-year-old Russian, who has a residence in the Sacramento suburb of Folsom, lost to Illya Marchenko of Ukraine 7-5, 7-6 (6).
   Tursunov, a former top-20 player, has failed to advance past the second round in nine appearances in Indian Wells. His powerful groundstrokes tend to sail in the desert air.
   In the opening round of women's doubles, eighth-seeded Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones) of San Jose and Abigail Spears of Colorado Springs, Colo., beat Vera Dushevina of Russia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4.

Gibbs demolishes Dulgheru in Indian Wells

Nicole Gibbs, playing in the 2014 Sacramento
Challenger, earned her first main-draw victory
in Indian Wells tonight. Photo by Rob Vomund

   Nicole Gibbs avenged her French Open loss to Alexandra Dulgheru -- and then some.
   Playing on a hardcourt this time near home in Southern California, Gibbs crushed Dulgheru 6-1, 6-0 in 62 minutes tonight in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   Gibbs, a 23-year-old qualifier from Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area and former Stanford All-American, improved to 15-4 this year (including qualifying matches) with her first main-draw victory in Indian Wells.
   Dulgheru, a 26-year-old Romanian, had no aces, committed seven double faults, and won only 10 of 25 points (40 percent) on her first serve and 3 of 20 (15 percent) on her second delivery.
   Gibbs, meanwhile, had more success on her second serve (winning 10 of 15 points, 67 percent) than on her first (18 of 31, 58 percent).
   Dulgheru dominated Gibbs 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round at Roland Garros last year in their only previous meeting.
   Gibbs, 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), will receive a much-needed day of rest before facing No. 23 seed Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., for the first time on Friday.
   The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Keys, who reached the Australian Open semifinals last year at 19, received a first-round bye.  
   In the final round of men's qualifying, No. 23 seed Noah Rubin of Long Island beat No. 12 Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area 7-5, 6-3.
   Novikov, a 22-year-old former UCLA star, survived Indian Wells qualifying last year and lost to former top-10 player Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the first round of the main draw.
   The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Rubin, 20, reached the second round of the Australian Open in January. He stunned France's Benoit Paire, then ranked 18th, before losing to another Frenchman, qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Rankings movers of the week: Gibbs, Sanchez (both up)

Nicole Gibbs, playing in the U.S. Open
last September, returned to the top 100
in singles. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Former Stanford star Nicole Gibbs returned to the top 100 in singles, and Modesto native Maria Sanchez attained a career high in doubles.
   The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs, who turned 23 on Thursday, climbed nine places to No. 95 by advancing to the quarterfinals in Monterrey, Mexico, last week as a qualifier. She reached her career high of No. 84 last March.
  Gibbs' former Pacific-10 Conference rival Maria Sanchez, 26, rose seven spots to No. 69 in doubles by gaining the Monterrey final with Petra Martic of Croatia.
  Gibbs was a freshman at Stanford when Sanchez was a senior at USC in 2011. Gibbs won three NCAA individual titles, two in singles and one in doubles, before giving up her senior year and turning pro.
   Sanchez was named the Pac-10 Women's Player of the Year in 2011 and graduated in real estate.

WORLD RANKINGS

   Players with Northern California ties ranked in the top 1,000 in the world (change from last week in parentheses): 

Men

   Collin Altamirano, 20-year-old Sacramentan -- No. 813 in singles (+2), 968 in doubles (+3).

   Bob Bryan, 37-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 5 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 37-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 6 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Scott Lipsky, 34-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 43 in doubles (no change).

   Mackenzie McDonald, 20-year-old resident of Piedmont in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 377 in singles (+4), No. 570 in doubles (+1).

Maria Sanchez, shown at the U.S. Open

last September, rose to a career-high
No. 69 in doubles. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Dennis Novikov, 22-year-old resident of Milpitas in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 153 in singles (-1), No. 164 in doubles (+1).

   Sam Querrey, 28-year-old San Francisco native -- No. 36 in singles (no change), No. 39 in doubles (no change).

   Matt Seeberger, 31-year-old San Francisco native and former UC Santa Cruz star -- No. 157 in doubles (no change).

   Dmitry Tursunov, 33-year-old resident of Folsom in Sacramento area -- No. 581 in singles (+2), No. 260 in doubles (no change).

Women

   Kristie Ahn, 23-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 203 in singles (+2), No. 438 in doubles (+1).

   Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones), 33-year-old San Jose resident and former Cal star -- No. 19 in doubles (no change).
   CiCi Bellis, 16-year-old resident of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 231 in singles (-30), career-high No. 329 in doubles (+25).
   Alexandra Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- No. 611 in doubles (+2). 
   Kat Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- No. 611 in doubles (+2).
   Nicole Gibbs, 23-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 95 in singles (+9), career-high No. 125 in doubles (+11).
   Michaela Gordon, 16-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area -- Career-high No. 604 in singles (+12), No. 705 in doubles (-1). 
   Maegan Manasse, 20-year-old Cal junior -- No. 530 in doubles (-2), No. 757 in singles (-2).
   Maria Sanchez, 26-year-old Modesto product -- Career-high No. 69 in doubles (+7), No. 212 in singles (-24).

   Karina Vyrlan, 17-year-old Sacramentan -- Career-high No. 808 in doubles (no change).

   Carol Zhao, 20-year-old Stanford junior -- Career-high No. 171 in doubles (+4), No. 326 in singles (no change).

TV schedule, calendar

TV SCHEDULE

(All broadcasts on Tennis Channel; all times in California)

Thursday

   Indian Wells preview, 10 a.m. (live).

   Indian Wells (men, women), early rounds, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (live).

   Indian Wells (men, women), early rounds, 11 p.m.-10 a.m. Friday (repeat).

Friday

   Indian Wells preview, 10 a.m. (live).

   Indian Wells (men, women), early rounds, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (live).

   Indian Wells (men, women), early rounds, 11 p.m.-10 a.m. Saturday (repeat).

Saturday

   Indian Wells preview, 10 a.m. (live).

   Indian Wells (men, women), early rounds, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (live).

   Sunday

   Indian Wells (men, women), early rounds, midnight-10 a.m. Sunday (repeat).

   Indian Wells preview, 10 a.m. (live).

   Indian Wells (men, women), early rounds, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (live).

CALENDAR

   Through March 20 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif. 2015 champions: Novak Djokovic, Simona Halep, Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock, Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza.

   March 9 -- Fresno State men at UC Davis, 2 p.m.

   March 11 -- UCLA women at Cal, 1:30 p.m.

   March 11 -- USC women at Stanford, 1:30 p.m.

   March 12 -- USC women at Cal, noon.

   March 12 -- UCLA women at Stanford, noon.

   March 12 -- Fresno State women vs. Sacramento State at Rio Del Oro Racquet Club, 3 p.m.

   March 12-13 -- Hornet-Aggie Golden State Invitational (men) at Sacramento State andUC Davis, times TBA.

   March 22 -- Saint Mary's women vs. Sacramento State at Rio Del Oro Racquet Club, 1 p.m.

   April 1 -- Stanford men at UCLA, 3 p.m.

   April 1 -- Cal men at USC, 3 p.m.

   April 2 -- Stanford men at USC, noon.   

   April 2 -- Cal men at UCLA, 3 p.m.

   April 2-10 -- Easter Bowl, Indian Wells, Calif.

   April 3 -- Stanford women at Cal, 11 a.m.
   April 15-17 -- Maze Cup (Northern California vs. Southern California juniors), Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming Club, Portola Valley.

   April 16 -- Stanford men at Cal, noon.

   April 16 -- Cal women at Stanford, noon.

   April 16-17 -- Fed Cup semifinals, World Group playoffs (United States at Australia).

   April 16-17, 23-24 -- NorCal Junior Excellence, Rio Del Oro Racquet Club, Sacramento, Calif.

   April 20-24 -- Pacific-12 Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Ojai, Calif.

   April 27-30 -- Big West Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Indian Wells, Calif. www.bigwest.org.

   April 28-30 -- West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Claremont, Calif.

   April 28-May 1 -- Mountain West Conference Women's Championships, Fort Collins, Colo. www.themw.com.

   April 29-May 1 -- Mountain West Conference Men's Championships, Las Vegas. www.themw.com.

   April 29-May 1 -- Big Sky Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Gold River Racquet Club, Gold River, Calif., www.bigskyconf.com.

   April 29-May 2 -- USTA National Men's, Women's and Mixed 30 Indoor Championships, Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center, Gold River, Calif.
   May 13-14 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Team Championships, first and second rounds at campus sites.

   May 19-24 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Team Championships, round of 16 through finals, Tulsa, Okla.
   May 25-30 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles Championships, Tulsa, Okla. 

   May 22-June 5 -- FRENCH OPEN, Paris. 2015 champions: Stan Wawrinka, Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo, Serena Williams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Mike Bryan.

Gibbs upsets Friedsam to qualify for Indian Wells

Former Stanford All-American Nicole Gibbs improved to 14-4 in singles this year.
2014 photo by Rob Vomund

   Former Stanford All-American Nicole Gibbs continued her strong play this year, qualifying for the prestigious BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   Gibbs, seeded No. 16, toppled No. 1 Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 30 minutes today in the unofficial "fifth Grand Slam." The 22-year-old Friedsam, ranked No. 61, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
   Gibbs, the 2012 and 2013 NCAA singles champion, led 6-4, 4-1 with two service breaks.
   "I was halfway to the locker room, mentally," Gibbs, playing a two-hour drive east of her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Marina del Rey, admitted on bnpparibasopen.com. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to close out those pressure moments. But I found a way to do it in the third set, so I'm pleased."
   Gibbs, who turned 23 on Thursday, improved to 14-4 in singles this year. She has qualified in four of four tournaments, including last week in Monterrey, Mexico, en route to the quarterfinals.
   "I'm feeling really good," said Gibbs, ranked No. 95. "Obviously, I've played a lot of matches; it's just about recovering at this point."
   Gibbs doesn't have much time. She is scheduled to face No. 93 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania in the first round on Wednesday not before 6 p.m. in 8,000-seat Stadium 2, which opened in 2014.
   In the players' only previous meeting, Dulgheru defeated Gibbs 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the French Open last year. This match, however, will be on a hardcourt in Gibbs' home state.
   Gibbs is playing in Indian Wells for the second year. As a wild card in 2015, she lost to Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round.
   Wild card Maria Sanchez, who was born and raised in Modesto, lost to No. 19 Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 in the first round of qualifying on Monday.
   In the first round of men's qualifying, No. 12 seed Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area demolished Facundo Mena of Argentina 6-1, 6-0 in 37 minutes. Novikov won 24 of 27 points (88.8 percent) on his serve and faced no break points.
   Novikov, a 22-year-old former UCLA star, will play No. 23 Noah Rubin of Long Island in the final round of qualifying on Wednesday at about 5 p.m. in Stadium 4.
   Novikov qualified for Indian Wells last year and lost to former top-10 player Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the first round of the main draw.
   Rubin, 20, reached the second round of the Australian Open in January, stunning France's Benoit Paire, then ranked 18th.
   San Francisco native Sam Querrey, seeded 31st in the BNP main draw, has a first-round bye.
   Dmitry Tursunov, a 33-year-old Russian based in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, will meet Illya Marchenko of Ukraine in the first round. The winner will play No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion who's coming off the title in Dubai two weeks ago.
   Wawrinka beat Tursunov 7-6 (2), 6-3, retired (hip) in the first round of the Australian Open in January.
   Wild card Mackenzie McDonald, a UCLA junior from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, will make his Indian Wells main-draw debut against a qualifier.
   College rankings -- The Cal women (12-0) returned to No. 1 in the nation after one week at No. 2 behind Ohio State (13-1).
   The Bears defeated the Buckeyes in the semifinals of the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wis., on Feb. 7.

Sharapova's failed drug test adds to tennis' woes

Maria Sharapova said she was unaware that meldonium
was recently banned. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Professional tennis has had about as good a year as the U.S. Post Office.
   Allegations of a match-fixing coverup involving unnamed top-50 players surfaced hours before the beginning of the Australian Open in January, legendary journalist Bud Collins died at 86 on Friday, and Maria Sharapova announced on Monday that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open.
   Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion and the world's highest-paid female athlete, said at a news conference in Los Angeles that she had tested positive for meldonium.
   The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned the substance this year after placing it on the monitoring list in 2015, The New York Times reported. Sharapova said she did not check an e-mail in December notifying her of the change.
   "I take full responsibility for it," said Sharapova, a former world No. 1 and the runner-up in the 2010 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Sharapova said her family doctor began prescribing meldonium in 2006 for several health issues, including frequent bouts of the flu.
   "I was getting sick very often," she said. "I had a deficiency in magnesium. I had irregular EKG results, and I had a family history of diabetes."
   Sharapova has played in only three tour events and the Fed Cup final in the last eight months because of injuries. She withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she won the title in 2006 and 2013, last week with a left forearm injury.
   Women's qualifying in Indian Wells began on Monday, and the men's and women's finals are scheduled for March 20.
   Sharapova will be suspended provisionally Saturday pending a ruling in the case, The Times said. Sharapova, a 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Russian who will turn 29 in April, could receive no penalty or a suspension of up to four years.
   "I don't want to end my career this way," Sharapova confessed, "and I really hope I will be given another chance to play this game."
   Sharapova was the world's highest-paid female athlete for the 11th straight year in 2015 with earnings of $29.7 million, including $23 million from endorsements and appearances, according to Forbes magazine. She had deals with American Express, Avon, Evian, Head, Nike, Porsche and Tag Heuer in 2015.
   After Sharapova's announcement, Nike suspended the relationship and Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer chose not to renew its contract, which ended on Dec. 31.
   Sharapova has played in the Bank of the West Classic three times, losing to Venus Williams in the 2009 quarterfinals, Victoria Azarenka in the 2010 final and eventual champion Serena Williams in the 2011 quarters.