Bay Area native survives scare to stay perfect in doubles

   Seventh-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan beat Australian wild cards Lizette Cabrera and Maddison Inglis 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-0 today in the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne. 

   The 5-foot-1 (1.54-meter) Aoyama, 33, and Shibahara, a 22-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, improved to 11-0 this year. They won titles in Abu Dhabi last month and Melbourne last week.

   Aoyama and Shibahara are scheduled to meet 12th-seeded Hayley Carter, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Luisa Stefani of Brazil on Saturday (PST) in a rematch of the Abu Dhabi final. Aoyama and Shibahara won that encounter 7-6 (5), 6-4. 

   Last year, Carter and Stefani defeated Aoyama and Shibahara 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 in the second round of the U.S. Open, and the Japanese pair gained revenge, 6-4, 7-5, in the third round of the French Open.

   Fans will be barred from the Australian Open for the next five days because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Melbourne suburbs.

   Also today, Sharon Fichman of Canada and Giuliana Olmos, a native of Fremont in the Bay Area who plays for Mexico, beat Lucie Hradecka and Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round of doubles, together or separately, in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

   Pliskova's twin sister, Karolina Pliskova, is ranked sixth in singles after ascending to No. 1 in 2017.

   Fichman and Olmos will meet Leylah Fernandez, an 18-year-old left-hander from Canada, and Heather Watson of Great Britain. Fernandez and Watson defeated Australian wild cards Olivia Gadecki and Belinda Woolcock 7-5, 6-2.

   In the second round of men's doubles, second-seeded Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia dispatched Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old native of Piedmont in the Bay Area, and Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-1, 6-4.

   Shibahara also advanced in mixed doubles, teaming with Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, in a 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Germany's Laura Siegemund and Kevin Krawietz in the opening round.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Top-seeded Andre Goransson (Cal, 2011-14) of Sweden and David Pel of the Netherlands edged Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic to reach the semifinals of the €88,520 ($107,357) Cherbourg (France) Challenger. 

Defending champ Kenin exits; McDonald upsets Coric

Defending champion Sofia Kenin lost to Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-2 in the
second round of the Australian Open. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Sofia Kenin not only lost today in the Australian Open, the defending champion went down meekly.

   Kaia Kanepi of Estonia dismissed the fourth-seeded Kenin, from Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-3, 6-2 in 64 minutes in the second round in Melbourne.

   The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Kanepi, 35, clubbed 10 aces, committed only two double faults and won 80 percent of the points on her first serve (28 of 35). The 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter) Kenin, 22, had 10 winners and 22 unforced errors.

   Kanepi has reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open twice each but has never advanced past the third round of the Australian Open. Kenin won Northern California Challengers in 2016 at age 17, 2017 and 2018.

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, surprised 22nd-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Coric, 24, reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in the U.S. Open last September.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., is scheduled to play Lloyd Harris, 23, of South Africa on Friday (PST). Harris, who won the 2018 Stockton, Calif., Challenger, topped wild card Alexei Popyrin, a 21-year-old Australian, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

   McDonald defeated Harris 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Seoul Challenger en route to the title in their only previous meeting.

   On the women's side, Kaja Juvan, a 20-year-old Slovenian, defeated fellow qualifier Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Sherif became the first woman from her country to win a main-draw match in a Grand Slam tournament when she beat qualifier Chloe Paquet of France 7-5, 7-5 in the opening round.

   In the first round of men's doubles, fifth seeds and defending champions Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat Jonny O'Mara of Great Britain and Artem Sitak, a Russia native who plays for New Zealand, 6-4, 6-4.

   In a women's doubles opener, Sharon Fichman of Canada and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the Bay Area who plays for Mexico, ousted fifth-seeded Hao-Ching Chan and Latisha Chan of Chinese Taipei 1-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Top-seeded Andre Goransson (Cal, 2011-14) of Sweden and David Pel of the Netherlands eliminated Sadio Doumbia and Hugo Gaston of France 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the first round of the €88,520 ($107,357) Cherbourg, France, Challenger.

   ITF Women's Circuit — Zoe Kruger of South Africa outlasted Carol Zhao (Stanford, 2014-16) of Canada 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday in the opening round of the $25,000 Ilana Kloss International in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Bay Area native improves to 10-0 in doubles this year

   Seventh-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan topped Asia Muhammad of Las Vegas and Jessica Pegula of Boca Raton, Fla., 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 today in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

   The 5-foot-1 (1.55-meter) Aoyama, 33, and Shibahara, a 22-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, improved to 10-0 this year. They won titles in Abu Dhabi last month and Melbourne last week. 

   In the opening round of men's doubles, wild cards Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song of South Korea defeated Ben McLachlan, a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, and 40-year-old Rohan Bopanna of India 6-4, 7-6 (0). 

   Second-seeded Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia beat Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei and Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., outlasted wild cards Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Paul won the singles title in the 2019 Tiburon, Calif., Challenger.

   Meanwhile, three Grand Slam champions lost in singles.

   Hsieh Su-Wei, ranked No. 1 in doubles, of Chinese Taipei dismissed eighth-seeded Bianca Andreescu of Canada 6-3, 6-2. Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, had not played in a tournament since the fall of 2019 after suffering a knee injury.

   Sorana Cirstea of Romania eliminated ninth-seeded Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion and the Australian Open runner-up in 2019, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

   Sara Errani, a 33-year-old qualifier from Italy, routed 40-year-old Venus Williams 6-1, 6-0. Williams, a seven-time major singles champion and two-time Australian Open runner-up, hurt her right ankle and left knee late in the first set.

   Marton Fucsovics of Hungary saved three match points in his 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (9) victory over Stan Wawrinka in 3 hours, 59 minutes. Wawrinka won the first of his three Grand Slam singles crowns in the 2014 Australian Open. 

McDonald tops Italian, Querrey falls in Australian Open

Mackenzie McDonald practices his serve during the
2017 Fairfield, Calif., Challenger. The product of nearby
Piedmont won the title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 25-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated Italian Marco Cecchinato, a semifinalist in the 2018 French Open, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 today in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

   McDonald, only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms), pounded 14 aces and committed just three double faults. Cecchinato, who stunned Novak Djokovic to reach the semis at Roland Garros in 2018, had three aces and eight double faults.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., has tumbled from a career-high No. 57 in 2019, shortly before undergoing right hamstring surgery, to No. 192. He is scheduled to face Croatia's Borna Coric, seeded 22nd and ranked 25th, for the first time on Wednesday (PST). 

   Coric, who reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in the U.S. Open last September, eliminated Guido Pella of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-5. 

   Italy's Lorenzo Sonego, seeded 31st, beat Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Querrey has never advanced past the third round of the Australian Open in 15 appearances. 

   Last fall, Sonego reached the fourth round of the French Open and, as a qualifier, routed Djokovic 6-2, 6-1 en route to the Vienna final, which he lost to Andrey Rublev of Russia.

   On the women's side, Jessica Pegula of Boca Raton, Fla., ousted 12th-seeded Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion (2012 and 2013) and the U.S. Open runner-up last fall, 7-5, 6-4. 

   Pegula, the 26-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, reached the final of the 2012 Sacramento, Calif., Challenger at 18, the semifinals of the 2018 Stockton, Calif., Challenger and the third round of last year's U.S. Open.

   Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) became the first Egyptian woman to win a main-draw match in a Grand Slam tournament, defeating fellow qualifier Chloe Paquet of France 7-5, 7-5.

   Sherif is slated to play another qualifier, Kaja Juvan of Slovenia, on Wednesday. Juvan beat 13th-seeded Johanna Konta, a Briton who won the Stanford title in 2016, 4-6, 2-0, retired (pulled abdominal muscle). 

   Sherif also qualified for the French Open last fall in her tournament debut and extended second-seeded Karolina Pliskova, the runner-up at Stanford in 2015, to 6-4 in the third set in the opening round.

   Struggling Sloane Stephens, a 27-year-old Fresno, Calif., product, lost to 26th-seeded Yulia Putintseva, a 26-year-old Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. There were seven deuces in the last game of the first set.

Pera ousts 2016 champion Kerber in Australian Open

Angelique Kerber, shown at Stanford in 2015 en route to the title, lost
to Bernarda Pera 6-0, 6-4 today in the first round of the Australian
Open. Photo by Mal Taam 

   Bernarda Pera of the United States dismissed No. 23 seed and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-0, 6-4 in a first-round matchup of left-handers today in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

   Kerber, who won the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, had no aces, committed seven double faults and won only 25 percent of the points on her second serve (six of 24).

   Third seed and 2019 champion Naomi Osaka, 10th seed and seven-time champion Serena Williams and two-time finalist Venus Williams, unseeded at 40, won in straight sets. 

   Osaka, who has won three Grand Slam singles titles, made her WTA main-draw debut at Stanford in 2014. As a 16-year-old qualifier, she saved a match point and ousted 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in the first round before losing to eighth-seeded Andrea Petkovic.

   Serena Williams is making her 11th attempt to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. Williams won the Bank of the West Classic in 2011, 2012 and 2014, defeating Kerber in the latter final.

   Venus Williams made her professional debut indoors in Oakland at 14 years old in 1994. She reached the Stanford final eight times, winning in 2000 and 2002, before the tournament moved down the road to San Jose, Calif., in 2018.

   Third-seeded Dominic Thiem, who won his first major title in the U.S. Open last September and reached last year's Australian Open final, beat Mikhail Kukushkin, a Russia native who plays for Kazakhstan, 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-3. 

   Kukushkin advanced to the final of the 2014 Aptos, Calif., Challenger, losing to 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis. 

Bay Area native wins Melbourne doubles, moves to 9-0

   Third-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan dismissed unseeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia  and Viktoria Kuzmova of the Slovak Republic 6-3, 6-4 in 65 minutes today to win the Yarra River Classic in Melbourne.

   The 5-foot-1 Aoyama, 33, and Shibahara, a 22-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, improved to 9-0 this year. They won the Abu Dhabi title last month.

   Top-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia beat sixth-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-4 for the singles title.

   Muguruza has won two Grand Slam singles titles and Barty one. Neither has won the Australian Open; noth lost to Sofia Kenin in last year's tournament, Barty in the semifinals and Muguruza in the final. 

   The Australian Open, the year's first major tournament, is scheduled to begin Sunday at 4 p.m. (ESPN in the United States). 

   Aoyama and Shibahara lost to American teenagers Coco Gauff and Caty McNally in the third round of last year's Australian Open. It was Aoyama's eighth appearance in the tournament and Shibahara's first.

   ATP Tour — Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina dominated 42-year-old Toshihide Matsui and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan 6-2, 6-2 in the ATP Cup in Melbourne. Argentina blanked Japan 3-0 in the Group D match.

   McLachlan, a New Zealand native with a Japanese mother, and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany reached the doubles semifinals in the 2018 Australian Open in McLachlan's tournament debut. A doubles specialist, McLachlan is 0-2 in the Australian Open since then.

Aoyama, Shibahara stay unbeaten, reach doubles final

   Third-seeded Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan edged second-seeded Nicole Melichar of the United States and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands 6-7 (5), 7-5 [13-11] today in the semifinals of the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne.

   The 5-foot-1 (1.54-meter) Aoyama, 33, and Shibahara, a 22-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, improved to 8-0 this year. They won the Abu Dhabi title last month.

   Aoyama and Shibahara will meet unseeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and Viktoria Kuzmova of the Slovak Republic. Kalinskaya and Kuzmova, both 22, surprised Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai of China 0-6, 6-2 [10-5].

   In the 2019 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., Zheng won the singles title, and Melichar claimed the doubles crown with and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic. Peschke was 44 at the time.

   ATP Tour — Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) and Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan are scheduled to play Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina early Saturday (PST) in Group D in the ATP Cup in Melbourne.

   McLachlan, a New Zealand native with a Japanese mother, and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany reached the doubles semifinals in the 2018 Australian Open.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Fourth-seeded Robert Galloway of Greenville, S.C., and Alex Lawson of Tempe, Ariz., topped Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Sem Verbeek, a former University of the Pacific standout from the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-7 (14) [10-5] in the semifinals of the €44,820 ($53,820) MTA Open in Antalya, Turkey.