Former Sacramento doubles champ ousts Kvitova

Daria Gavrilova, left, and Storm Sanders pose with their trophies
after winning the doubles title in the 2014 Sacramento Challenger.
Photo by Rob Vomund

   In her first tournament back after reconstruct- ive ACL surgery, Daria Gavrilova won the doubles title in the 2014 Sacramento Challenger with fellow Australian Storm Sanders.
   Gavrilova hasn't slowed down since.
   The 21-year-old Moscow native upset sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, 6-4, 6-4 today in the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   It was Gavrilova's fourth victory over a top-10 player in the past 12 months. She knocked off Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, both formerly ranked No. 1 in the world, and Lucie Safarova in 2015.
   Gavrilova, the 2010 U.S. Open girls champion, did not play singles in Sacramento in 2014. She was named the 2015 WTA Newcomer of the Year after skyrocketing from No. 233 to No. 36 in the year-end rankings.
   As if Kvitova hasn't had enough trouble in the Australian Open -- the 6-foot (1.82-meter) left-hander lost in the third round or earlier in Melbourne for the fourth straight time after making a semifinal run in 2012 -- she had played only one set this year entering the tournament because of a gastrointestinal illness.
   Meanwhile, Gavrilova teamed with Nick Kyrgios two weeks ago in Perth to give Australia its first Hopman Cup title since 1999.
   "Coming into this match, I was pretty confident that I could beat Petra," Gavrilova said on ausopen.com. "I knew that she didn't have enough matches before. She didn't even play anything before (the Australian) Open. So I thought it was a good chance tonight."
   Gavrilova, 5-foot-5 (1.68 meters), will play another 6-footer, 28th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France, in the third round.
   Mladenovic, who advanced with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory over ex-Stanford All-American Nicole Gibbs, reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open last September.

Gibbs loses in second round of Aussie Open again

Ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs, playing in the 2014
Sacramento Challenger, fell to 28th-seeded Kristina
Mladenovic of France 6-1, 7-6 (4) today in the second
round of the Australian Open. Photo by Rob Vomund

   Give Nicole Gibbs credit for consistency.

   For the second straight year, the 22-year-old former Stanford All-American lost to a low seed in the second round of the Australian Open.

   Gibbs, a 106th-ranked qualifier living in Marina del Rey in the Los Angeles area, fell to No. 28 Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-1, 7-6 (4) today in Melbourne.
   The 6-foot (1.84-meter) Mladenovic, also 22, won the last five points of the tiebreaker against the 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs.
   Gibbs, a direct entrant in last year's Australian Open with a ranking of No. 96, lost to No. 26 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6) in the second round.
   The 30th-ranked Mladenovic, who beat 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova in the first round, will face Australia's Daria Gavrilova, who surprised sixth seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4.
   Mladenovic reached the U.S. Open singles quarterfinals last September and the 2014 Wimbledon doubles final with Timea Babos of Hungary. Mladenovic also won mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the Australian Open in 2014, both with ageless Daniel Nestor of Canada.
   Gibbs, the NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013, advanced to the third round of singles in the 2014 U.S. Open.
   In another Australian Open second-round match, top-seeded Serena Williams dominated Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan 6-1, 6-2. Williams has won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford three times (2011, 2012 and 2014). Hsieh captured the 2013 Wimbledon women's doubles title with Peng Shuai of China.
   On the men's side, Americans Austin Krajicek and Denis Kudla -- the runners-up in the Aptos and Tiburon Challengers, respectively, last year -- lost to seeds in the second round.
   Krajicek, 25, fell to No. 7 Kei Nishikori, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3. The roomed together as juniors at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
   Kudla, 23, bowed out to No. 28 Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Kudla was the only U.S. man to reach the second week of Wimbledon last year, falling to 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia in the fourth round. Seppi stunned Roger Federer in the third round of last year's Australian Open before losing to rising star Nick Kyrgios of Australia in the next round.
   Americans Steve Johnson, the 2012 Aptos singles champion, and Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, defeated Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the opening round of men's doubles.
   Johnson and Querrey advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals last September, ousting top seeds and defending champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the first round.

Halep, Nadal, Venus fall in first round of Aussie Open

Second-seeded Simona Halep lost to qualifier Zhang Shuai
of China 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Australian Open.
2014 photo by Paul Bauman  

   Zhang Shuai's first Grand Slam victory in 15 attempts came against an unlikely opponent.
   The Chinese qualifier, who will turn 27 on Thursday, stunned second-seeded Simona Halep of Romania 6-4, 6-3 today in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Zhang's victory came shortly after 32-year-old Fernando Verdasco, who reached a career-high No. 7 in the world in 2009 and won the now-defunct SAP Open in 2010 in San Jose, ousted fifth-seeded Rafael Nadal 7-6 (6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in a 4-hour, 41-minute battle of Spanish left-handers.
   Earlier, Johanna Konta, a Sydney-born British player, took out eighth-seeded Venus Williams 6-4, 6-2.
   In late first-round matches:
   --Dmitry Tursunov, a 33-year-old Russian who trains in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, retired with a hip injury while trailing No. 4 seed and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (2), 6-3. Tursunov was playing in his first Grand Slam tournament since the 2014 U.S. Open after missing more than a year with plantar fasciitis in his left foot and pain in his left ankle.
   --No. 25 seed Jack Sock outlasted 18-year-old qualifier Taylor Fritz, making his Grand Slam debut, 6-4, 3-6, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American matchup. Fritz, last year's ITF junior world champion, won the Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back-to-back last October at 17.
   --Lleyton Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion who will retire after the Australian Open, beat fellow Aussie James Duckworth 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4. Hewitt, who will turn 35 next month, won the SAP Open in 2002 and reached the final there in 2006.

Fernando Verdasco, awaiting serve in last year's U.S. Open,
ousted fifth-seeded Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Halep, an Australian Open quarterfinalist in the previous two years, withdrew Brisbane two weeks ago with left Achilles' inflammation but advanced to the Sydney semifinals last week.
   Both Zhang (2014) and Halep (2011) are 0-1 in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Verdasco pummeled his serve and groundstrokes to avenge a 5-hour, 14-minute loss to Nadal on the same court, Rod Laver Arena, seven years ago in the Australian Open semifinals. It was the longest match in Australian Open history at the time.
   Nadal, who has won 14 major singles titles, lost in the opening round of a major for only the second time in his career. He fell to Steve Darcis in the first round at Wimbledon in 2013.
   Nadal has failed to reach the fourth round in his last three Slams.
   Konta, 24, was making her Australian Open main-draw debut. Williams, 35, has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, the last one coming at Wimbledon in 2008. In her only Australian Open final, she lost to younger sister Serena in 2003.
   Venus Williams has reached the Bank of the West Classic final seven times, winning in 2000 and 2002 and losing in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2009. She made her pro debut in the tournament at 14 in 1994, when it was held in Oakland.

Qualifier Gibbs advances in Australian Open

Nicole Gibbs, playing in the U.S. Open
last September, beat Klara Koukalova
in the first round of the Australian Open.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   This year's Australian Open is looking a lot like last year's for Nicole Gibbs.

   Which isn't such a bad thing.

    The 22-year-old former Stanford All-American reached the second round in Melbourne for the second straight year on Sunday (PST), beating 33-year-old Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. 

   And for the second straight year, Gibbs will face a low seed in the second round. After losing to No. 26 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6) in 2015, Gibbs will play No. 28 Kristina Mladenovic of France for the first time on Tuesday. 

   The big difference is that Gibbs qualified this year with a ranking of No. 105 after gaining direct entry last year at No. 96. 

   Mladenovic, also 22, dispatched Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova, the 2014 Australian Open runner-up to since-retired Li Na, 6-3, 6-4.

   Gibbs, only 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), didn't have to worry about being overpowered by the 5-5 (1.66-meter) Koukalova. Not so against rising star Mladenovic, who stands 6 feet (1.84 meters).

   Mladenovic, ranked 30th in singles, already has built an impressive resume in all three events. She reached the U.S. Open singles quarterfinals last September and the 2014 Wimbledon doubles final with Timea Babos of Hungary. Mladenovic also won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 2013 and the Australian Open in 2014, both with ageless Daniel Nestor of Canada.

   Gibbs' best Grand Slam result is the third round of singles in the 2014 U.S. Open.

   Meanwhile, Sam Querrey continued to struggle. The 28-year-old San Francisco native, ranked No. 58 after climbing to a career-high No. 17 in 2011, retired while tied with Dusan Lajovic of Serbia at two sets apiece.

   Querrey won the first two sets 7-6 (5), 6-4 and dropped the next two 6-4, 6-2. The reason for his retirement was not immediately available.
    Americans Austin Krajicek and Denis Kudla -- the runners-up in last year's  Aptos and Tiburon Challengers, respectively -- won their openers.
   Japan's Nao Hibino, last summer's Stockton Challenger champion making her Grand Slam debut at 21, lost to Maria Sharapova, the fifth seed and 2008 Australian Open titlist, 6-1, 6-3.

Players to watch in the Australian Open

   The Australian Open begins today at 4 p.m. PST on ESPN2 and continues through Jan. 31. Here are players to watch (seedings in parentheses):

Novak Djokovic, shown en route to the title at Indian Wells
last year, has won four of the last five Australian Opens.
Photo by Paul Bauman

MEN

   Novak Djokovic (1) -- Has won four of last five Australian Opens, including last year, and five overall. Half of his Grand Slam titles have come in Melbourne. Northern California connection: None. 

   Andy Murray (2) -- Two-time Grand Slam singles champion is 0-4 in Australian Open finals. Awaits birth of first child next month. NorCal connection: Won first of his 35 tour-level singles titles (fourth among active players) in now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose at 18 in 2006 and repeated in 2007. Also won Aptos Challenger in 2005.

   Roger Federer (3) -- Won last of his four Australian Open titles six years ago. Hasn't won Grand Slam title since 2012 Wimbledon. Will turn 35 in August. NorCal connection: None.

   Stan Wawrinka (4) -- Captured first of his two Grand Slam singles titles in 2014 Australian Open. NorCal connection: None.

   Rafael Nadal (5) -- Australian Open champion in 2009, Spaniard lost to Djokovic 6-1, 6-2 in last week's Doha final. NorCal connection: None.

   Kei Nishikori (7) -- Two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist is coming off first-round loss to Benoit Paire of France in U.S. Open after reaching 2014 final at Flushing Meadows. Faces German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber, highest-ranked unseeded player at No. 34, in first round. NorCal connection: Lost in second round of SAP Open in all three appearances (2008, 2009, 2011). Brad Gilbert of San Rafael coached Nishikori in 2011.

   Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9) -- Will meet Marcos Baghdatis, 2014 Aptos Challenger champion, in first-round matchup of 30-year-old former Australian Open runners-up. NorCal connection: None.

   Milos Raonic (13) -- Hard-serving Canadian beat Federer 6-4, 6-4 in last week's Brisbane final. NorCal connection: Never lost a set in 13 career matches in SAP Open, winning the last three titles (2011-13) before tournament was discontinued.
   Nick Kyrgios (29) -- Mercurial Australian reached quarterfinals of home Slam last year at 19. Teamed with Daria Gavrilova, who won doubles title in 2014 Sacramento Challenger with fellow Aussie Storm Sanders, to give Australia its first Hopman Cup title since 1999 last week in Perth. NorCal connection: Reached semifinals of 2013 Sacramento Challenger at 18 despite soreness in right (playing) arm.

Serena Williams seeks her 22nd Grand Slam singles title, which would
tie her with Steffi Graf for second all-time. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

WOMEN

   Serena Williams (1) -- Seeks 22nd Grand Slam singles title, which would tie her with Steffi Graf for second place on all-time list behind Margaret Court (24), and seventh Australian Open crown. Withdrew during Hopman Cup in Perth last week because of inflammation in left knee but says it's fine. NorCal connection: Won Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

   Simona Halep (2) -- Australian Open quarterfinalist for past two years. Withdrew from Brisbane last week with left Achilles' inflammation, then advanced to Sydney semifinals before losing to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets. NorCal connection: Lost in first round of 2011 Bank of the West Classic in only appearance at Stanford.

   Garbine Muguruza (3) -- Advanced to first Grand Slam final last year, losing to Williams at Wimbledon. Retired from only match of 2016 last week in Brisbane with plantar fasciitis. NorCal connection: Won doubles title in 2014 Bank of the West Classic with fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro.

   Agnieszka Radwanska (4) -- Australian Open semifinalist in 2014 and four-time quarterfinalist won Shenzhen last week but withdrew from Sydney this week with left leg injury. NorCal connection: Runner-up to Dominika Cibulkova in 2013 Bank of the West Classic.
  Maria Sharapova (5) -- Australian Open champion in 2008 and three-time runner-up, including last year, has yet to play a match in 2016. Right-hander withdrew from Brisbane with left forearm injury. Could face Williams, against whom she is 2-18 with 17 straight losses, in quarterfinals. NorCal connection: Runner-up to Victoria Azarenka in 2010 Bank of the West Classic.

   Petra Kvitova (6) -- Two-time Wimbledon champion has not advanced past third round of Australian Open since reaching 2012 semifinals. Retired from first-round match in Shenzhen last week with virus and withdrew from Sydney for same reason. NorCal connection: None.
   Venus Williams (8) -- Australian Open runner-up in 2003 and quarterfinalist last year, now 35, has tough first-round matchup against Johanna Konta of Great Britain. Konta, 24-year-old Sydney native, reached fourth round of U.S. Open last year (beating top-20 players Muguruza and Andrea Petkovic) as qualifier . NorCal connection: Seven-time Bank of the West finalist, winning in 2000 and 2002 and losing in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2009. Made pro debut in tournament at 14 in 1994, when it was held in Oakland.

   Victoria Azarenka (14) -- Ironically, might be healthiest contender after battling injuries for past two years. Two-time Australian Open champion (2012 and 2013) won Brisbane last week without losing more than three games in a set, but top three seeds (No. 1 Halep, No. 2 Muguruza and No. 3 Sharapova) either withdrew or retired. NorCal connection: Won Bank of the West Classic in 2010.

   Madison Keys (15) -- Australian Open semifinalist last year at 19, powerful right-hander -- surprise -- withdrew from Sydney this week with left forearm injury. NorCal connection: Has lost in second round of Bank of the West Classic in both appearances there (2013 and 2015).

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

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

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

Australian Open TV schedule

(All times PST)

Sunday

   First round, ESPN2, 4 p.m.-4 a.m. Monday (live).

Monday

   First round, Tennis Channel, 4 a.m.-3 p.m.
   First round, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   First round, ESPN2, 6 p.m.-4 a.m. Tuesday (live). 

Tuesday

   First round, Tennis Channel, 4 a.m.-noon.
   First round, ESPN2, noon-3 p.m. (repeat).
   First round, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Second round, ESPN2, 6 p.m.-4 a.m. Wednesday (live).

Wednesday

   Second round, Tennis Channel, 4 a.m.-noon (repeat).
   Second round, ESPN2, noon-3 p.m. (repeat).
   Second round, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Second round, ESPN2, 6 p.m.-4 a.m. Thursday (live).

Thursday

   Second round, Tennis Channel, 4 a.m.-noon.
   Second round, ESPN2, noon-3 p.m.
   Third round, Tennis Channel, 4-8 p.m. (live).
   Third round, ESPN2, 8 p.m.-4 a.m. Friday (live).

Friday

   Third round, Tennis Channel, 4 a.m.-noon.
   Third round, ESPN2, noon-3 p.m.
   Third round, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Third round, ESPN2, 6 p.m.-4 a.m. Saturday (live).

Saturday

   Third round, Tennis Channel, 4-6 a.m. and 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
   Third round, ESPN2, 6-9 a.m.
   Round of 16, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Round of 16, ESPN2, 6-11 p.m. (live).

Sunday, Jan. 24

   Round of 16, ESPN2, midnight-4 a.m. (live).
   Round of 16, Tennis Channel, 4-6 a.m.
   Round of 16, ESPN2, 6-10 a.m.
   Round of 16, Tennis Channel, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 
   Round of 16, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Round of 16, ESPN2, 6-11 p.m. (live).

Monday, Jan. 25

   Round of 16,  ESPN2, midnight-3:30 a.m. (live)
   Round of 16, Tennis Channel, 3:30 a.m.-noon.
   Round of 16, ESPN2, noon-3 p.m.
   Quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Quarterfinals, ESPN2, 6-11 p.m. (live).

Tuesday, Jan. 26

   Quarterfinals, ESPN2, midnight-3 a.m. (live).
   Quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 3 a.m.-noon.
   Quarterfinals, ESPN2, noon-3 p.m.
   Quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Quarterfinals, ESPN2, 6-11 p.m. (live).    

 Wednesday, Jan. 27

   Quarterfinals, ESPN2, 12:30-3 a.m. (live).
   Quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 3 a.m.-noon.
   Quarterfinals, ESPN2, noon-3 p.m.
   Quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 4-6:30 p.m. (live).
   Women's semifinals, ESPN2, 6:30-11 p.m. (live).

Thursday, Jan. 28

   Men's semifinals, ESPN, 12:30-3 a.m. (live).
   Men's and women's semifinals, Tennis Channel, 3-11 a.m. (repeat).
   Men's semifinals, ESPN2, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (repeat).
   Men's and women's semifinals, Tennis Channel, 3-7 p.m. (repeat).
   Mixed doubles semifinals, women's doubles final, Tennis Channel, 8 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Friday (live).

Friday, Jan. 29

   Men's semifinals, ESPN, 12:30-3 p.m. (live).
   Men's and women's semifinals, Tennis Channel, 3-11 a.m.
   Men's semifinals, ESPN2, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
   Men's semifinals.women's doubles final, Tennis Channel, 3 p.m.-midnight

Saturday, Jan. 30

   Women's final, ESPN, midnight-2:30 a.m. (live).
   Men's doubles final, Tennis Channel, 2:30-5 a.m. (live).
   Women's final, ESPN2, 6-8 a.m.
   Men's s,and women's semifinals, Tennis Channel, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
   Women's final, Tennis Channel, 5-9 p.m.
   Mixed doubles final, Tennis Channel, 9-11 p.m. (live). 

Sunday, Jan. 31

   Men's final, ESPN, midnight-3:30 a.m. (live).
   Women's final, Tennis Channel, 3:30-6 a.m.
   Men's final, ESPN2, 6-11 a.m.
   Women's final/men's semifinal, Tennis Channel, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
   Men's final, Tennis Channel, 5-9 p.m.