Querrey to face Raonic in Indian Wells showdown

Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, will play
No. 13 seed Milos Raonic in a rematch of last year's quarter-
final in Indian Wells. Raonic prevailed in three sets. File photo
by Paul Bauman

   In just over one year, Sam Querrey has tumbled from a career-high No. 11 to No. 51.
   If the 31-year-old San Francisco native doesn't at least match his quarterfinal finish in last year's BNP Paribas Open, which will be very difficult, he will fall even further.
   Querrey outlasted Matteo Berrettini of Italy 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4 in the first round in Indian Wells on Thursday to set up a rematch of last year's quarterfinal against Milos Raonic, who won that encounter 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
   Raonic, the 13th seed and 2016 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, received a first-round bye. The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Canadian is 3-2 against the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey.
   Raonic never lost a set in three appearances in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles before the tournament moved to Rio de Janeiro in 2014 after 125 years in Northern California.
   Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate playing in his native Southern California, lost to Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round in Indian Wells.
   It was Klahn's first match since a first-round loss to Hyeon Chung of South Korea in the Australian Open in January. The 90th-ranked Klahn, who underwent his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in 2015, is 0-3 in the main draw in Indian Wells.

Roundup: Silicon Valley Classic, Indian Wells, Gould

Garbine Muguruza is scheduled to play in the Mubadala
Silicon Valley Classic, July 29-Aug. 4 at San Jose State.
2017 photo by Mal Taam

   Former world No. 1s Garbine Muguruza and Victoria Azarenka and American phenom Amanda Anisimova have entered the second annual Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, tournament officials announced Wednesday.

   The tournament, which replaced the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, is scheduled for July 29-Aug. 4 at San Jose State. 

   Muguruza, who won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017, has slumped to No. 20. The 25-year-old Spaniard won the Stanford doubles title with compatriot Carla Suarez Navarro in 2014.
   Muguruza withdrew from last year's tournament with a right arm injury hours before she was scheduled to play Azarenka in the second round. Muguruza had received a first-round bye. 

   Azarenka, the Australian Open champion in 2012 and 2013, has climbed to No. 48 after ending 2017 at No. 208 because of the birth of her first child and subsequent custody battle. The 29-year-old Belarusian captured the Stanford singles championship in 2010 and doubles title (with Maria Kirilenko) in 2011.

   Anisimova, ranked No. 67, is the youngest player in the top 100 at 17 years old. She won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger.
   In last year's Silicon Valley Classic finals, Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania routed Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-0, and Latisha Chan of Chinese Taipei and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic defeated twins Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1.
   BNP Paribas Open -- Azarenka dispatched countrywoman Vera Lapko 6-2, 6-3 in the first round to set up a rematch of the 2016 final against 10th-seeded Serena Williams.
   Azarenka beat Williams 6-4, 6-4 for the 2016 title in their last meeting, but Williams leads the head-to-head series 17-4.
   Azarenka also won the Indian Wells crown in 2012, defeating Maria Sharapova. Williams captured the title in 1999 and 2001, then boycotted the tournament for 13 years because of a racially charged incident.
   In the first round of women's doubles, Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and Johanna Larsson of Sweden dominated wild cards Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, 6-1, 6-2.
   College men -- Stanford coaching legend Dick Gould and 11 others will be inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor on March 15 in Las Vegas.
   Gould led Stanford to a 776-148 (.840) record and 17 NCAA team titles in 38 years as the coach (1967-2004). He was enshrined in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2006.
   Joining Gould in the Pac-12 Hall of Honor will be Meg Ritchie-Stone (Arizona track and field), Frank Kush (Arizona State football), Ann Meyers Drysdale (UCLA basketball), Natalie Coughlin (California swimming), Ronnie Lott (USC football), Lisa Van Goor (Colorado basketball), Steve Smith Sr. (Utah football), Bev Smith (Oregon basketball), Patricia "Trish" Bostrom (Washington tennis), Dick Fosbury (Oregon State track and field) and John Olerud (Washington State baseball).

Stanford's Geller rises to No. 8; Gibbs falls in qualies

Stanford's Axel Geller, playing in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.)
Challenger last October, improved five spots to No. 8 in the Inter-
collegiate Tennis Association rankings. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Despite not beating a ranked player, Stanford's Axel Geller jumped five spots to No. 8 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings released today.
   Since the last singles rankings on Feb. 20, the sophomore from Argentina sat out of singles in Stanford's 4-0 victory over UC Davis on Feb. 22 and crushed Cal's Jacob Brumm 6-1, 6-0 on Court 1 in the Cardinal's 4-2 win over Cal on Feb. 24. Both dual matches were at Stanford.
   Geller ended 2017 as the No. 1 junior in the world.
   The Cardinal (9-2) remained No. 7, and Cal (2-5), previously No. 40, dropped out of the 50-team rankings.
   In the women's team rankings, Stanford (6-1) stayed No. 4, and Cal (5-3) fell four notches to No. 20.
   BNP Paribas Open -- No. 10 seed Zarina Diyas, a Kazakh who reached a career-high No. 31 in 2015, defeated Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the second (final) round of qualifying in Indian Wells.
   Gibbs, who turned 26 on Sunday, has not won a main-draw match in Indian Wells since reaching the fourth round as a qualifier in 2016.

INTERCOLLEGIATE TENNIS ASSOCIATION RANKINGS

(Top 10 plus Northern California; previous ranking in parentheses)

Men's team

1. Ohio State (1)
2. Wake Forest (2)
3. Texas (3)
4. Virginia (4)
5. Baylor (7)
6. North Carolina (6)
7. Stanford (5)
8. Columbia (9)
9. Florida (10)
10. Mississippi State (8)

Men's singles

1. JJ Wolf, Ohio State (1)
2. Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest (2)
3. Nuno Borges, Mississippi State (3)
4. Christian Sigsgaard, Texas (8)
5. Thomas Laurent, Oregon (7)
6. Daniel Cukierman, USC (11)
7. Alex Rybakov, TCU (6)
8. Axel Geller, Stanford (13)
9. Yuya Ito, Texas (12)
10. Jan Zielinski, Georgia (5)
31. Victor Pham (Saratoga), Columbia (65)
32. Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (39)
35. Sameer Kumar, Stanford (31)
48. Sam Riffice (Roseville), Florida (46)
56. William Genesen, Stanford (60)
105. Zdenek Derkas, Fresno State (NR)

Men's doubles

1. Henry Patten and Oli Nolan, UNC Ashville (1)
2. Sven Lah and Jimmy Bendeck, Baylor (2)
3. Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini, Mississippi State (6)
4. Constant De La Bassetiere and Gabriel Nemeth, Penn State (7)
5. Fabian Fallert and Finn Reynolds, Mississippi (4)
6. Parker Wynn and Bjorn Thomson, Texas Tech (8)
7. Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic, Mississippi State (11)
8. Kyle Seelig and Alex Kobelt, Ohio State (3)
9. Johannes Ingildsen and Brian Berdusco, Florida (14)
10. Jack Lin and William Matheson, Columbia (5)
11. Yuta Kikuchi and Jacob Brumm, Cal (13)
27. Sam Riffice (Roseville) and Andy Andrade, Florida (16)
33. Paul Barretto (Tiburon) and Can Kaya, Cal (31)
70. Axel Geller and Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (NR)

Women's team

1. North Carolina (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Duke (3)
4. Stanford (4)
5. Vanderbilt (6)
6. UCLA (5)
7. Washington (22)
8. Oklahoma State (8)
9. South Carolina (10)
10. Ohio State (14)
20. Cal (16)

Women's singles

1. Katarina Jokic, Georgia (1)
2. Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (Fla.) (7)
3. Fernanda Contreras, Vanderbilt 3)
4. Kate Fahey, Michigan (8)
5. Makenna Jones, North Carolina (2)
6. Alexa Graham, North Carolina (5)
7. Sophie Whittle, Gonzaga (4)
8. Christina Rosca, Vanderbilt (9)
9. Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (10)
10. Elysia Bolton, UCLA (11)
17. Emily Arbuthnott, Stanford (19)
22. Michaela Gordon, Stanford (16)
24. Olivia Hauger, Cal (20)
25. Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (45)
41. Melissa Lord, Stanford (49)
49. Paige Cline (Kentfield), South Carolina (38)
51. Caroline Lampl, Stanford (59)
55. Janice Shin, Stanford (58)
63. Emma Higuchi, Stanford (63)
74. Anna Bright, Cal (69)
94. Sara Choy (Palo Alto), Stanford (76)
106. Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (78)
107. Mariia Kozyreva, Saint Mary's (93)
115. Katerina Stloukalova, Cal (NR)

Women's doubles

1. Ashley Lahey and Evgeniya Levashova, Pepperdine (5)
2. Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia, Kansas (3)
3. Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson, LSU (11)
4. Fernanda Navarro and Marie Leduc, Clemson (1)
5. Cameron Morra and Makenna Jones, North Carolina (4)
6. Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh, Arizona State (6)
7. Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (2)
8. Kaitlin Staines and Sadie Hammond, Tennessee (9)
9. Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham, North Carolina (16)
10. Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield, UCLA (8)
11. Kimberly Yee and Caroline Lampl, Stanford (12)
20. Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon, Stanford (15)
23. Anna Bright and Jasie Dunk, Cal (23)
26. Hana Mraz and Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (28)
27. Kimberly Yee and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (29)
36. Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (40)
48. Abi Altick and Alaina Miller (Saratoga), UCLA (38)
50. Katerina Stloukalova and Hana Mraz, Cal (NR)

Roundup: Federer wins 100th title, Kenin falls, etc.

Roger Federer, playing in Indian Wells in 2017, beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4
in Dubai for his 100th tour-level title. Photo by Mal Taam

   By winning the Dubai title on Saturday, Roger Federer joined Jimmy Connors as the only male members of the Century Club.

   The second-seeded Federer, 37, beat fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, of Greece 6-4, 6-4 for his 100th tour-level singles title. Connors, now 66, won 109. Ivan Lendl ranks third with 94.

   "It's been a long, wonderful journey. ... I have loved every minute," Federer, who won the tournament for the eighth time, told reporters. "It's been tough, but the sacrifice has been very, very worthwhile, and we'll see how much more I've got left in the tank. Reaching 100 is an absolute dream come true for me."
   The milestone came almost exactly one year after Federer made his Northern California debut in a San Jose exhibition.
   Three women have won at least 100 titles in the Open era, which began in 1968: Martina Navratilova (167), Chris Evert (154) and Steffi Graf (107).

   Federer played in only his second tournament of the year. He avenged a 6-7 (11), 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (5) loss to Tsitsipas, will become the first Greek to crack the top 10 on Monday, in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.

   In the Dubai doubles final, fourth-seeded Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain topped unseeded Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 7-6 (4), 6-3.

   Abierto Mexicano Telcel -- Entering Saturday's final in Acapulco, Sofia Kenin seemed to have the advantage against Wang Yafan.

   Kenin -- who won Northern California Challengers in 2016, 2017 and last year -- was ranked 30 spots higher at No. 35 and captured the Hobart title in January in her first WTA final. Wang, meanwhile, was playing in her maiden WTA title match.

   But once Wang overcame her nerves, she was the fresher player. The unseeded Chinese player outlasted the fifth-seeded Kenin, from Pembroke Pines, Fla., 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours, 10 minutes. Wang, 24, trailed 2-0 in the second set.

   It was Wang's second consecutive victory in which she lost the first set 6-2 and the 20-year-old Kenin's third straight match that went to 7-5 in the third set.

   Wang cracked the top 50 for the first time at No. 49, and Kenin rose to a career-high No. 33. 

   In the men's final, unseeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia beat second-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-3, 6-4. It marked the first time that the mercurial Kyrgios, 23, defeated two top-three players (No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Zverev) and three top-10 opponents (also including No. 9 John Isner) in one tournament.

   Wang's compatriot Zheng Saisai won the doubles title with Victoria Azarenka. The unseeded pair clobbered third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk, from Palm Desert, Calif., and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, 6-1, 6-2 in 55 minutes.

   Pacific Coast Doubles -- Govind Nanda, a UCLA freshman and Johannes de Villiers, a Bruins assistant coach, edged USC's Brandon Holt, the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, and Riley Smith 7-6 (0), 4-6 [10-4] today for the title in the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla. Both teams were seeded first.
   Nanda and de Villiers, playing in their first tournament together, throttled ninth-seeded Jack Barber and William Genesen of Stanford 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals.
   Stanford women -- The No. 4 Cardinal's home match against No. 9 Texas on Saturday was canceled because of rain.
   Stanford defeated the Longhorns 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships three weeks ago in Seattle.
   The Cardinal (6-1) is scheduled to open Pacific-12 Conference play on March 10 at Oregon.

NorCal Challenger star eyes second career WTA title

Sofia Kenin, shown en route to the Berkeley title last July, will play
Wang Yafan of China on Saturday for the Acapulco title on the WTA
tour. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sofia Kenin will play for her second WTA tour singles title this year and of her career.
   The 20-year-old American, seeded fifth, outlasted unseeded Bianca Andreescu, an 18-year-old Canadian, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours, 14 minutes tonight in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
   Andreescu, ranked No. 71, lost her serve in the last game on a backhand long to fall to 21-3 in singles this year. Kenin, a great fighter ranked 35th, also defeated former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 7-5 in the third set in the quarterfinals.
   Kenin, who won Hobart in January, is scheduled to play unseeded Wang Yafan of China for the first time on Saturday at 4 p.m. California time (Tennis Channel).
   The 24-year-old Wang, ranked No. 65, beat third-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach her first WTA final.
   Kenin dominated Northern California Challengers, winning Sacramento in 2016, Stockton in 2017 and Berkeley last year.
   In the Acapulco men's final, second-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany will face unseeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Saturday not before 7 p.m. (Tennis Channel).
   Zverev beat unseeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 7-6 (0), 6-3. Norrie won back-to-back Challengers in Tiburon, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and Stockton in 2017.
   Kyrgios topped third-seeded John Isner 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7) in 2 hours, 21 minutes in a match that ended at 1:05 a.m. Saturday Acapulco time.
   Kyrgios also ousted top-seeded Rafael Nadal, the Acapulco champion in 2005 and 2013, in the second round and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Stan Wawrinka, who's rebounding from knee surgery, in the quarterfinals.
   Giuliana Olmos, a 25-year-old product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, reached the Acapulco doubles final. Third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk, from Palm Desert, Calif., and Olmos will meet unseeded Azarenka of Belarus and Zheng Saisai of China.
   Azarenka and Zheng edged unseeded Sharon Fichman of Canada and Maria Sanchez, who was born and raised in Modesto, 6-7 (3), 6-2 [13-11]. When Sanchez was 10, she lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, for a year with her family.
   Krawczyk and Olmos won the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2017.
   Women's Challenger -- Nicole Gibbs' singles winning streak ended at eight matches.
   The ex-Stanford star lost to fellow American Jennifer Brady 7-5, 6-0 in a quarterfinal matchup of unseeded players in the $162,480 Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells.
   Gibbs, who will turn 26 on Sunday, won last week's $25,000 Shoebacca Women's Open in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
   Gibbs also lost in the Indian Wells doubles semifinals with countrywoman Asia Muhammad. They fell to Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic and Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 7-5, 6-3 in a clash of unseeded teams.
   Gibbs and Muhammad won the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July.

NorCal Challenger stars reach Acapulco semifinals

Sofia Kenin, playing in the Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge
last July, beat former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka to reach
the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Between them, Sofia Kenin and Cameron Norrie have won five Challenger singles titles in Northern California.

   Both reached Friday's semifinals in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco in the major leagues of tennis.

   The fifth-seeded Kenin, from Pembroke Pines, Fla., outlasted wild card and former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 tonight in 2 hours, 32 minutes on the WTA tour.
   Kenin captured the title in Sacramento in 2016, Stockton in 2017 and Berkeley last July. Azarenka won the 2010 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2010.
   Great Britain's Norrie continued his mastery of Mackenzie McDonald, from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in a matchup of unseeded 23-year-olds and former college stars.
   Norrie, a left-hander who won back-to-back titles in Tiburon and Stockton in 2017, has not lost more than three games in a set in three career matches against McDonald.
   Norrie ended his collegiate career at Texas Christian as the No. 1 player in the nation in 2017. McDonald swept the 2016 NCAA singles and doubles titles as a UCLA junior. Both turned pro after their junior year.

Cameron Norrie, addressing the crowd after
winning the 2017 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger,
continued his domination of San Francisco
Bay Area product Mackenzie McDonald.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Kenin, ranked No. 35 at age 20, will play Bianca Andreescu, an 18-year-old Canadian. In the other semifinal, third-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia will play Yafan Wang of China.

   Norrie will face second-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany, and unseeded Nick Kyrgios will meet third-seeded John Isner of Dallas.
   Isner won his first professional title in the 2007 Shingle Springs Futures in the Sacramento area.
   In an all-brothers doubles quarterfinal tonight, Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev edged second-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 5-7, 6-4 [10-7]. The Bryan twins led Stanford to the NCAA team title in both of their years there (1997 and 1998) and won the Acapulco title in 2002 and 2004.
   In the women's doubles quarters, unseeded Sharon Fichman of Canada and Maria Sanchez, a 29-year-old Modesto product, nipped second-seeded Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia and Irina Khromacheva of Russia 5-7, 6-2 [11-9].
   When Sanchez was 10, she lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, for a year with her family.
   In the other half of the draw, third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk from Palm Desert, Calif., and Giuliana Olmos from Fremont in the Bay Area routed Laura Pigossi of Brazil and Wang 6-3, 6-0. 

Top seeds Stephens, Nadal lose early in Acapulco

   The top women's and men's seeds lost Wednesday in the second round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
   Fourth-ranked Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, fell to qualifier Beatrice Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-3, 6-3.
   Also, Nick Kyrgios of Australia overcame food poisoning and saved three match points to beat Rafael Nadal, the 2005 and 2013 champion, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) in 3 hours, 3 minutes.
   The 22-year-old Haddad Maia, ranked No. 172, recorded her first victory over a top-10 opponent in seven matches. She has rebounded from two back operations.
   Stephens, 25, was playing in her first tournament since losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open last month.
   "It was just a tough match; obviously she played well," Stephens told reporters. "But I'm not too sad about it. I'm just going to go back and work some more, practice some more and get ready for Indian Wells."
   Mackenzie McDonald, from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, ousted sixth-seeded Frances Tiafoe of Orlando, Fla., 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-3.
   McDonald will try to reach his second semifinal on the ATP World Tour in two weeks when he plays Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in a quarterfinal matchup of 23-year-olds today at 3 p.m. California time (Tennis Channel). Norrie, a left-hander, surprised fourth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3.
   Norrie, ranked No. 64, has won both of his matches against McDonald, ranked a career-high No. 71, in straight sets, never losing more than three games in a set. They met twice in the quarterfinals of 2017 U.S. Challengers.
   Third-seeded John Isner beat U.S. Davis Cup teammate Sam Querrey, who was born in San Francisco, 6-4, 6-4. Querrey won the 2017 Acapulco title.