Bryans reach ATP semis; Klahn falls in Challenger

Bob Bryan serves as Mike Bryan waits at the net during
their first-round victory in the U.S. Open on Aug. 31 in
New York. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Bryan brothers reached the doubles semifinals in the ATP World Tour Finals in London today, but fellow ex-Stanford star Bradley Klahn lost in the singles quarterfinals of the $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger.
   Third-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan beat eighth-seeded Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 6-4 in the last round-robin match for both teams.
   The ATP World Tour Finals consists of the top eight singles players of the year and the top eight doubles teams.
   The 38-year-old Bryan twins, seeking their fifth title in the tournament, finished 2-1 in the four-team Edberg/Jarryd Group. Second-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil went 3-0 to advance. Sixth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil (1-2) and Huey and Mirnyi (0-3) were eliminated.
   Saturday's semifinal matchups will be determined Friday when round-robin play is completed in the Fleming/McEnroe Group. Fifth-seeded Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia lead the standings at 2-0. Fourth-seeded Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation) of Spain and seventh-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., are tied at 1-1. Top-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France are last at 0-2.
   The Bryans, who grew up in Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles but none since the 2014 U.S. Open.
   Klahn, a 26-year-old qualifier from the San Diego suburb of Poway, lost to top-seeded Jared Donaldson, a 20-year-old resident of Irvine in the Los Angeles region, 6-4, 6-4.
   Klahn was playing in his first tournament in almost two years after undergoing his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in February 2015. Today's match was his sixth in six days, including a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tennys Sandgren in 1 hour, 47 minutes on Wednesday.
   Donaldson reached the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier 2 1/2 months ago, shocking 14th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium in the first round.
   The 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Donaldson is ranked No. 109, down from a career-high No. 96 in September. He must return to the top 100 to assure himself of a berth in the main draw of the Australian Open in January.
   Klahn, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander, has dropped out of the rankings after climbing as high as No. 63 in March 2014.

Klahn reaches quarterfinals in comeback tourney

Bradley Klahn, left, chats with Ireland's James McGee during
the 2015 Sacramento Challenger. Klahn, a former Stanford star,
practiced lightly during the tournament while recovering from
his second back operation. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Layoff? What layoff?
   Bradley Klahn hardly looks like someone playing his first tournament in almost two years.
   The 26-year-old qualifier, a former Stanford star, defeated Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 today to reach the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger.
   Klahn, the 2010 NCAA singles champion, missed 21 months after undergoing his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in February 2015. He improved to 5-1 against Sandgren, a 25-year-old former Tennessee All-American.
   Klahn, from the San Diego suburb of Poway, will face top-seeded Jared Donaldson, a Providence, R.I., native now living in Irvine in the Los Angeles area, on Thursday. It will be Klahn's sixth match in six days in the indoor tournament, which features a Saturday final.
   Donaldson, 20, beat qualifier Ryan Shane, who captured the 2015 NCAA singles title as a Virginia junior, 6-2, 6-4.
   Donaldson won his only career match against Klahn, 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the semifinals of the $50,000 Maui Challenger in January 2015, and went on to capture the title.
   As a qualifier in this year's U.S. Open, Donaldson shocked 14th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium en route to the third round. Klahn has reached the second round of the U.S. Open twice, knocking off former top-10 player Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4 in the fifth set as a qualifier in 2012.
   The 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Donaldson is ranked No. 109, down from a career-high No. 96 in September. Klahn, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander, has dropped out of the rankings after climbing as high as No. 63 in March 2014.

Bryans drop round-robin match; Klahn advances

Bruno Soares, left, and Jamie Murray, playing at Indian Wells in
March, defeated Bob and Mike Bryan 6-3, 6-4 today in the ATP
World Tour Finals in London. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Bryan brothers lost decisively in the round-robin phase of the ATP World Tour Finals in London while Bradley Klahn continued his run in the $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger today.
   Third-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan, who led Stanford to the NCAA team title in both of their years there (1997 and 1998), fell to second-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil 6-3,
6-4.
   "We certainly played a great match from start to finish," Murray, the older brother of singles world No. 1 Andy Murray, crowed to reporters. "Probably one of our best matches of the year. We served really well throughout, cleaned up well on our serves. I think we both returned the ball smartly, put it in some difficult spots for them. and we were really active around the net.
   "I think we're both super-pumped about the win and should have a good chance to progress further in the tournament now."
   Klahn, the 2010 NCAA singles champion from Stanford, led fifth-seeded Sam Groth of Australia 7-6 (5), 0-0 in the first round when Groth retired because of vertigo caused by a sinus infection. Klahn, a 26-year-old qualifier, is playing in his first tournament since undergoing his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in February 2015.
   The 38-year-old Bryan twins have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles, but none since the 2014 U.S. Open, and 112 overall.
   "They are the greatest team ever," insisted Murray, who won this year's Australian Open and U.S. Open with Soares. "There's no disputing that, I think, with the number of titles they've won. If we want to be the best, we've got to beat the best."
   The ATP World Tour Finals consists of the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams of the year. With one round-robin match remaining in the Edberg/Jarryd Group, Murray and Soares lead the standings at 2-0. The Bryans and Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo are 1-1, and Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi are 0-2.
   The Bryans, seeking their fifth title in the ATP World Tour Finals, will play Huey and Mirnyi on Thursday.
   The top two teams from both the Edberg/Jarryd Group and the Fleming/McEnroe Group will advance to Saturday's semifinals.
   Groth, who looks like a linebacker at 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters) and 218 pounds (99 kilograms), holds the unofficial record for the world's fastest serve. He blasted a 163.7-mph (263.4-kph) delivery in the 2012 Busan (South Korea) Challenger.
   Klahn will play Tennys Sandgren, a 25-year-old former Tennessee All-American, in the second round. Sandgren trounced wild card Aron Hiltzik, a University of Illinois junior playing on his home indoor courts, 6-1, 6-2 on Monday in the first round.
   Klahn is 4-1 against Sandgren, who also has a Northern California connection. He played for the Sacramento-based California Dream of World TeamTennis in 2015, the team's only year of existence.

Big week for ex-Stanford stars; BNP tickets on sale

Bob, left, and Mike Bryan, shown after their first-round
victory in the U.S. Open on Aug. 31, won their opener
in the ATP World Tour Finals. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Bryan brothers and Bradley Klahn grew up in Southern California and won NCAA titles at Stanford.
   Other than that, they have little in common.
   The Bryan twins stayed at Stanford for two years, helping the Cardinal win the NCAA team title in 1997 and 1998. Bob Bryan achieved a rare "Triple Crown" -- the NCAA singles, doubles (with Mike) and team titles -- in 1998. Then the pair embarked on a career as arguably the greatest men's doubles team ever.
   Klahn won the 2010 NCAA singles title as a sophomore, underwent the first of his two back operations in 2011 and graduated in economics in 2012. He rose to a career-high No. 63 in singles in 2014 and his second surgery in February 2015.
   This is a big week for all three players. The Bryans, 38, are trying to salvage a disappointing year with a fifth doubles title in the ATP World Tour Finals in London. The 26-year-old Klahn, playing in his first tournament since his second operation for a herniated disc, qualified today for the $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger.
   The third-seeded Bryans, from Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, beat sixth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 7-6 (3), 6-0 in a round-robin opener on Sunday. The Bryans -- who won the title in 2003 and 2004 in Houston, 2009 in Shanghai and 2014 in London -- will play second-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil on Tuesday.
   While Murray and Soares won the Australian Open and U.S. Open this year for their first Grand Slam men's doubles titles individually or together, the Bryans failed to capture a major for the second consecutive year. They won the last of their record 16 Slams in the 2014 U.S. Open.
   With three titles (all on clay) this year, the Bryans are in danger of finishing with their fewest since 2000. Not only have they been unable to win a title since the Italian Open in May, they have not reached a final since losing to Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation) of Spain in the French Open in early June.
   Still, the last half of the year has been eventful for the Bryans.
   They split with coach David MacPherson in August and hired 40-year-old Serbian Dusan Vemic, who coached his country's Olympic team in Rio de Janeiro that month. Vemic, a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist in doubles, played under the Bryans' father, Wayne, with the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2010 and 2011.

Bradley Klahn, practicing in Sacramento last fall, is play-
ing in his first tournament in almost two years following
his second back operation. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Bryan brothers became the first team to record 1,000 career victories in Vienna in October and received their 12th straight ATP Fan Favorite award in doubles last week.
   "We've been on the verge of having a breakthrough but haven't been able to get over that hump," Bob Bryan told reporters in London on Saturday. "We've had a coaching change this year and are very happy with Dusan Vemic as our new coach. We've been working hard on a lot of new things and are waiting for it to pay off. We have been putting in the time and the work.
   "It's tougher to be here competing for the No. 1 spot, but at the same time it's nice to be the underdog and take the guys by surprise. I feel like we're moving in the right direction and good things are coming. Hopefully sooner than later."  
   Klahn, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander from the San Diego suburb of Poway, dispatched Ruan Roelofse of South Africa 6-3, 6-2 today after edging second-seeded Peter Kobelt, a 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) American, 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (3) on Sunday.
   Klahn is scheduled to meet fifth-seeded Sam Groth of Australia on Tuesday in the first round of the indoor tournament. Groth, 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters) and 218 pounds (99 kilograms), holds the unofficial record for the world's fastest serve. He blasted a 163.7-mph (263.4-kph) delivery in the 2012 Busan (South Korea) Challenger.
   BNP Paribas Open -- Daily tickets and daily double packages for the 2017 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells recently went on sale.
   The tournament, scheduled for March 6-19, is offering a new grounds pass with access to all non-reserved seating in Stadiums 2-9. Prices range from $20 to $50.
   The daily double package guarantees the same seat for day and evening sessions. Series, mini, group and hotel packages also are available.
   Novak Djokovic captured the BNP men's singles title for the third consecutive year and fifth overall in 2016. Victoria Azarenka won the women's singles crown for the second time, but she is expecting her first child at the end of this year and hopes to return to the tour by the 2017 U.S. Open.

Ex-Stanford star Klahn wins first match of comeback

Bradley Klahn practices in Sacramento in October 2015.
On Saturday, he played his first official match since under-
going his second operation for a herniated disc in his back
in February 2015. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Next week's $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger is one of the last tournaments of the year.
   But Bradley Klahn's season is just beginning.
   Playing his first official match in almost two years, the 26-year-old wild card and former Stanford star routed Tim Kopinski, a former University of Illinois All-American from Palos Hills, Ill., in the Chicago area, 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday in the first round of qualifying for the indoor tournament in Champaign.
   Klahn, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander from the San Diego suburb of Poway, had not played since undergoing his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in February 2015.
   He will face second-seeded Peter Kobelt from New Albany, Ohio, today in the second round. Kobelt, a 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) former All-American at Ohio State, received a first-round bye.
   Klahn won the 2010 NCAA singles title as a sophomore, underwent his first disc operation in 2011 and graduated in 2012 in economics. He reached the second round of the U.S. Open in 2012 and 2013 and climbed as high as No. 63 in the world in March 2014.
   Because of his layoff, though, Klahn has dropped out of the rankings.

Saratoga's Gordon verbally commits to Stanford

Michaela Gordon lines up a forehand during her loss to Storm
Sanders of Australia in the first round of the $50,000 Stockton
Challenger in July. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The defending national champion Stanford women have received their second verbal commitment from a San Francisco Bay Area star in the last four months.
   This one likely will enroll.
   Michaela Gordon, 17, said she will attend Stanford, a 20-minute drive up Interstate 280 from her home in Saratoga, beginning in the fall of 2017.
   "It came down to Duke and Stanford," Gordon, a two-time Wimbledon girls quarterfinalist who's ranked fifth in the Class of 2017, told tennisrecruiting.net. "Aside from those schools, I didn't really look anywhere else. I went on unofficial visits, and both are amazing schools, obviously.
   "At Stanford, I really loved the campus, which I was really familiar with anyway. And when I talked with the girls on the team, I felt I fit in really well. I love all the girls on the team, and that was a really important thing. The coaches were important as well. It was a really good fit for me, the perfect fit."
   Gordon's father, Robert, is a heart surgeon, and her mother, LuShan, was a dentist. Michaela said she has "always put academics as a priority. I'm home-schooled, but I've always been into school and always been a good student."
   Gordon has played extensively on the USTA Pro Circuit, reaching the quarterfinals in Redding at 15. She is ranked No. 760 in the world after climbing as high as No. 600 in April.
   CiCi Bellis, also 17, verbally committed to Stanford, a five-minute drive from her home in Atherton, in July but turned pro in September after reaching the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier.
   Last week, Bellis won her second consecutive $50,000 Canadian indoor hardcourt tournament to crack the top 100 in the world for the first time at No. 90.
   Stanford leads all schools with 18 NCAA women's team titles. Next is Florida with six. Duke has one.

Rankings mover of the week: CiCi Bellis (up)

CiCi Bellis, 17, talks to the media during the Bank of the
West Classic at Stanford in July. Bellis lives in Atherton,
a five-minute drive from Stanford. She cracked the top
100 in the world this week with her second straight title.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Two months after turning pro, CiCi Bellis became the youngest player ranked among the top 100 women in the world.
   By far.
   Bellis, a 17-year-old product of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, improved 11 places to No. 90 with her second straight title in a $50,000 Canadian indoor hardcourt tournament last week.
  The top-seeded Bellis overcame fourth-seeded Jesika Maleckova, a 22-year-old Czech, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to win the Tevlin Challenger in Toronto. Bellis also won Saguenay two weeks earlier.
   Bellis was born 15 months after the next youngest player in the top 100, No. 48 Ana Konjuh of Croatia. Konjuh, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist in September, will turn 19 on Dec. 27.
   Bellis reached the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier. At 15, she stunned 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the 2014 U.S. Open. Cibulkova was the runner-up to since-retired Li Na of China in the Australian Open that year.

WORLD RANKINGS

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

Men's singles

   No. 31 (-2) -- Sam Querrey, 29-year-old San Francisco native.
   No. 162 (+1) -- Dennis Novikov, 23-year-old resident of Milpitas in San Francisco Bay Area.

   No. 293 (career high, +49) -- Mackenzie McDonald, 21-year-old resident of Piedmont in San Francisco Bay Area.
   No. 398 (+3) -- Dmitry Tursunov, 33-year-old resident of Folsom in Sacramento area, 

   No. 711 (+1) -- Ryan Haviland, 35-year-old former Stanford All-American.

   No. 822 (-26) -- John Lamble, 24-year-old Saratoga resident and former Santa Clara star. 

Men's doubles

   No. 5 (no change) -- Bob Bryan, 38-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford..
   No. 5 (no change) -- Mike Bryan, 38-year-old former NCAA doubles champion from Stanford.

   No. 48 (+1) -- Scott Lipsky, 35-year-old former Stanford All-American.
   No. 99 (no change) -- Sam Querrey, 29-year-old San Francisco native.
   No. 146 (career high, +14) -- Dennis Novikov, 23-year-old resident of Milpitas in San Francisco Bay Area.

   No. 304 (career high, +30) -- Mackenzie McDonald, 21-year-old resident of Piedmont in San Francisco Bay Area.

   No. 421 (-30) -- John Paul Fruttero, 35-year-old former Cal All-American.

   No. 658 (-1) -- John Lamble, 24-year-old Saratoga resident and former Santa Clara star. 

Women's singles

   No. 36 (no change) -- Sloane Stephens, 23-year-old Fresno product.

   No. 76 (no change) -- Nicole Gibbs, 23-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford.   

   No. 90 (career high, +11) -- CiCi Bellis, 17-year-old product of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area..

   No. 220 (+22) -- Kristie Ahn, 24-year-old former Stanford All-American.

   No. 345 (-13) -- Maria Sanchez, 26-year-old Modesto product.

   No. 489 (+2) -- Carol Zhao, 21-year-old former Stanford star.

   No. 760 (+41) -- Michaela Gordon, 17-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area. 

Women's doubles

   No. 21 (no change) -- Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones), 33-year-old San Jose resident and 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal.
   No. 59 (no change) -- Maria Sanchez, 26-year-old Modesto product.
   No. 142 (-14) -- Nicole Gibbs, 23-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford.

   No. 252 (no change) -- CiCi Bellis, 17-year-old product of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area.
   No. 317 (-1) -- Carol Zhao, 21-year-old former Stanford star.   
   No. 431 (+28) -- Kristie Ahn, 24-year-old former Stanford All-American.
   No. 622 (-3) -- Maegan Manasse, 21-year-old Cal senior.

   No. 709 (+7) -- Michaela Gordon, 17-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area. 

   No. 749 (-3) -- Alexandra Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area. 
   No. 749 (-3) -- Kat Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area.
   No. 887 (-8) -- Sloane Stephens, 23-year-old Fresno product.

   No. 967 (-11) -- Karina Vyrlan, 18-year-old Sacramentan.