McDonald dismisses Duckworth, braces for Medvedev

Mackenzie McDonald, a San Francisco Bay Area product,
 hugs his father, Michael, after his first-round victory today
in Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — After an impressive victory today, Mackenzie McDonald faces a huge challenge.

   The 26-year-old San Francisco Bay Area product is scheduled to meet reigning U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev, seeded first and ranked second, on Saturday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

   The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) McDonald, who was born in Berkeley and grew up in neighboring Piedmont, has lost all 11 sets in five career matches against the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Medvedev. They will meet for the third time this year and second time in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

   "It's going to take something special," McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., said in an on-court interview after dispatching James Duckworth of Australia 6-3, 6-3 in 75 minutes today. "This guy has really owned me. I have to start with winning one set.

   "This guy is a hell of a player. I've been watching him for a while. He's kicked my ass plenty of times, so hopefully I can take it to him next time."

   McDonald will have plenty of fan support, not only as an American but as a former NCAA singles and doubles champion at UCLA, a two-hour drive west of Indian Wells.

   McDonald and Duckworth are ranked a career-high No. 57 and No. 55, respectively.

   McDonald, who reached his first ATP final in August in Washington, D.C., played for the first time since straining a foot in his five-set loss to his idol, Kei Nishikori, in the second round of the U.S. Open last month.

   Duckworth had played in three tournaments since the U.S. Open, winning the $52,080 Istanbul Challenger and reaching the final in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, and the quarterfinals in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the ATP Tour.

   "I thought I played really well today," McDonald said. "I'm happy to put on a good performance here in California."

   Another Bay Area native, Sam Querrey, lost handily on his 34th birthday. Querrey, who was born in San Francisco and now lives in Agoura Hills in the Los Angeles area, fell to Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-2, 6-4 in 62 minutes 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.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, a BNP quarterfinalist in 2018, is winless in six tournaments since losing in the second round at Wimbledon in early July. Ranked a career-high No. 11 in 2018, he has plunged to No 89. Altmaier, 23, reached the round of 16 in last year's French Open as a qualifier.

   In the first round of women's doubles, No. 3 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan edged Sania Mirza of India and Zhang Shuai of China 4-6, 6-3 [15-13].

   The 33-year-old Aoyama, who's only 5-foot-1 (1.54 meters) and uses two hands on both sides, and Shibahara, a 23-year-old native of Mountain View in the Bay Area and former UCLA star, saved three match points.

   Mirza, a former world No. 1 and two-time BNP champion in doubles, and Zhang, who won her second Grand Slam doubles title (both with Samantha Stosur of Australia) last month in the U.S. Open, survived two match points.

   During the night session, U.S. qualifier Usue Arconada's winning streak ended with a thud at seven matches, 6-0, 6-2 against hard-hitting Ajla Tomljanovic, a Croatia-born Australian. Tomljanovic (pronounced Tom-yon-o-vich), 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters), improved to 1-1 against Arconada, 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters). 

   Tomljanovic reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon in July and the final of the last (2017) Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger. Arconada won last week's $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger. 

   Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16), a 25-year-old Egyptian making her BNP debut, dominated Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-1, 6-3. 

   USTA Pro Circuit — No. 2 seed Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden, No. 3 Katie Swan of Great Britain, No. 4 Lu Jia-Jing of China and No. 6 Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia reached the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Team Ascension Women's Pro Open in Redding, Calif.

   Pranjala Yadlapalli routed qualifier Maria Kozyreva, a Russian fifth-year student at Saint Mary's College in the Bay Area, 6-1, 6-3. Kozyreva stunned No. 1 seed Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, in the opening round in Berkeley.

   Catherine Harrison, a former UCLA star from Germantown, Tenn., eliminated Connie Ma, an 18-year-old wild card from Dublin in the Bay Area, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. 

   College — Carolyn Campana (Hillsborough in the Bay Area) of Wake Forest outclassed Rebeka Mertena of Tennessee 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the ITA Women's All-American Championships in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

    In the second round of the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., No. 9-16 seed Ronnie Hohmann of LSU beat Arthur Fery of Stanford 6-3, 7-6 (5).

   Qualifiers Fery and Alexandre Rotsaert lost in the second round of doubles, as did Andres Martin and Marcus McDaniel (Vacaville, Calif.) of Georgia Tech.

Stephens advances in BNP, but Volynets, 19, loses

Sloane Stephens defeated Heather Watson today in 16,100-seat Stadium 1
in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Two struggling players with Northern California roots played back-to-back in 16,100-seat Stadium 1 today in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.

   One of them advanced.

   Sloane Stephens, a Fresno, Calif., product who won the 2017 U.S. Open, defeated Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 in 2 hours, 51 minutes in front of a sparse crowd. 

   Katie Volynets, a 19-year-old wild card from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area making her BNP debut, lost to Croatia's Petra Martic, ranked No. 45 after climbing to a career-high No. 14 in January last year, 6-4, 6-4 in an almost-empty stadium.

   Both Stephens and Martic, past quarterfinalists in the BNP Paribas Open, saved three break points in the final game.

   Stephens, now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has plunged from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 73. She improved to 3-5 against Watson, who won the 2016 Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Henri Kontinen of Finland and the 2012 Stanford doubles crown with since-retired Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, in their first meeting in five years.

   "Playing Heather is always a tough match," Stephens said in an on-court interview. "We grew up playing juniors together, and we're really good friends. Literally before the tournament we were talking for an hour about everything and how we've been friends for so long and how we're able to separate the match and still be friends."

   Stephens is scheduled to face Jessica Pegula, ranked No. 24 and seeded No. 19, of Boca Raton, Fla., for the first time on Friday. All seeds receive first-round byes.

   Pegula, whose parents own the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, reached the final of the 2012 Sacramento Challenger at 18 and the semifinals of the 2018 Stockton Challenger in NorCal. 

   Volynets, the USTA Girls 18 national champion in 2019, has lost nine of her last 10 matches. However, all but one have come in Grand Slam or WTA tournaments. Ranked a career-high No. 182, she qualified for Wimbledon in June before losing in the first round.

   Volynets held her own on the baseline against Martic, a French Open quarterfinalist in 2019, but could not match the 5-foot-11 (1.81-meter) Martic's punishing serve. Martic pounded six aces, won 79 percent of the points on her first serve (27 of 34) and saved five of six break points against her.

   Martic also kept Volynets off-balance with deft drop shots, a tactic Volynets did not try.

   "She doesn't miss many balls," Martic said in an on-court interview, so I had to work hard out there."

   In the first round of women's doubles, No. 8 seeds Sharon Fichman of Canada and Giuliana Olmos, an Austria native who grew up in Fremont in the Bay Area and represents Mexico, beat Daria Kasatkina of Russia and Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-3, 6-4. 

   Kasatkina reached the singles final in San Jose, Calif., in August, losing to Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla.

   USTA Pro Circuit — Victoria Duval of Bradenton, Fla., routed No. 1 seed Gabriela Lee of Romania 6-2, 6-0 in the first round of the $25,000 Team Ascension Women's Pro Open in Redding, Calif.

    Maria Kozyreva, a Russian fifth-year student at Saint Mary's College in the Bay Area, ousted No. 8 seed Katherine Sebov of Canada 7-6 (3), 6-4 one week after stunning No. 1 seed Zheng Saisai, ranked No. 75, in the opening round of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger.

   Also, Connie Ma, an 18-year-old wild card from Dublin in the Bay Area, overwhelmed Haruka Kaji, 27, of Japan 6-1, 6-1. No. 3 seed Katie Swan of Great Britain dominated qualifier Hind Abdelouahid, an ex-Saint Mary's standout from Manteca, Calif., 6-1, 6-1. 

   College — Carolyn Campana (Hillsborough, Calif., in the Bay Area) of Wake Forest ousted No. 5 seed Bunyawi Thamchaiwat of San Diego State 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the ITA Women's All-American Championships in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. 

   In the opening round of the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., Arthur Fery of Stanford outclassed lucky loser Justin Barki of Princeton 6-2, 6-1.

   Falling were Marcus McDaniel (Vacaville, Calif.) of Georgia Tech and qualifiers Tristan Boyer of Stanford and Eric Hadigian (Sacramento, Calif.) of Pepperdine.

Arconada extends streak to reach BNP main draw

Usue Arconada won 12 of the last 13 games against Beatriz Haddad Maia
of Brazil today in Indian Wells. Photo by Paul Bauman

   INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Nobody is saying that Usue Arconada is going to win a Grand Slam tournament anytime soon, if ever.

   But Arconada is reminiscent of Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion now ranked No. 8.

   Both are 22-year-old Americans born 17 days apart (Arconada is older) in other countries (Arconada in Argentina, Kenin in Russia).

   Both have tremendous groundstrokes and fighting spirit.

   And both won the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger, Kenin three years ago and Arconada last week.

   Kenin, however, is three inches (7.6 centimeters) taller at 5-foot-7 (1.70 meters) in an era of power.

   Arconada, a qualifying wild card playing in the BNP Paribas Open for the first time, surprised ninth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 today in 91-degree (33 Celsius) heat to reach the main draw of the tournament, considered the "fifth Grand Slam.'

   "It means a lot," Arconada, ranked No. 182, said in an on-court interview after her seventh consecutive victory. "I had a quick turnaround from my last tournament. I just left it out there every match and did everything I could. I told myself, no matter what, you've got to keep fighting."

   It didn't hurt that the first serve of Haddad Maia, a 6-foot (1.85-meter) left-hander, dropped from over 120 mph (193 kph) in the first set to under 100 mph (161 kph).

   Arconada, who has a Basque first name (pronounced EW-sway) because her father's side of the family is from Spain, double-faulted to trail 1-2 in the second set after "Game, Haddad Maia" was erroneously announced following Arconada's first serve. Haddad Maia, ranked No. 115 after reaching a career-high No. 58 in 2017, won one game the rest of the match. 

   "I was just kind of looking at my brother (Jordi, a former Texas A&M player), and he was giving me a lot of confidence and cheering me on," Arconada said. "It helped me be strong, and I was able to turn it up."

   Arconada is scheduled to play Ajla Tomljanovic, a 28-year-old Australia citizen from Croatia, on Thursday in the first round. The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Tomljanovic (pronounced Tom-yon-o-vich), ranked No. 47, reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon in July and the final of the 2017 (last) Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger.

   Arconada defeated Tomljanovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of a $100,000 hardcourt tournament in Tampico, Mexico in 2017 in their only previous meeting.

   The winner will face fifth-seeded Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion and two-time BNP quarterfinalist. All 32 seeds in each the women's and men's draws receive first-round byes.

   Liang En-Shuo, 21, of Chinese Taipei also advanced to the main draw in her first BNP Paribas Open. Liang, who lost to Arconada in the Berkeley quarterfinals and reached the doubles final with Lu Jia-Jing of China, beat American Caroline Dolehide, a two-time Grand Slam doubles semifinalist, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

   Liang is set to play Alison Riske of Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, with the survivor taking on 16th-seeded Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 BNP and U.S. Open champion. 

   ITF Pro Circuit — No. 10 seed Maria Kozyreva of Russia and Saint Mary's College in the San Francisco Bay Area edged No. 7 seed Vivian Wolff, a former UCLA star from Germany, 3-6, 6-4 [11-9] in the second (final) round of qualifying for the $25,000 Pro Women's Open in Redding, Calif.

   No. 13 seed Hind Abdelouahid, an ex-Saint Mary's standout from Manteca, Calif., advanced with a 6-1, 6-7 (2) [10-2] victory over No. 5 seed Bianca Jolie Fernandez of Canada.

   College — Tristan Boyer of Stanford and Eric Hadigian (Sacramento) of Pepperdine each won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw of the ITA Men's All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

   Falling were Yuta Kikuchi of the University of California, Berkeley and Max Basing of Stanford in the third (final) round of qualifying and No. 17-32 seed Alexandre Rotsaert of Stanford and Carl Emil Overbeck of Cal in the second round.

Berkeley champion breezes in BNP qualifying

Usue Arconada, shown Sunday in the final of the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Chal-
lenger, lost only three games in her BNP Paribas Open debut. Photo by Mal Taam

   A short turnaround didn't hurt Usue Arconada. 

   One day after winning the $60,000 Berkeley (Calif.) Challenger, the 22-year-old American romped in her BNP Paribas Open debut.

   Arconada, a wild card ranked No. 188, whipped Australia's Arina Rodionova, seeded 18th and ranked No. 154, 6-3, 6-0 in 66 minutes on Monday in the first round of qualifying in Indian Wells.

   The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Arconada, who has lost a total of only seven games in her last two matches, is scheduled to play ninth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil on Tuesday for a main-draw berth in the tournament, considered the "fifth Grand Slam." Haddad Maia, a 6-foot (1.85-meter) left-hander, outclassed Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 6-4, 6-1.

   Meanwhile, Berkeley semifinalists Kurumi Nara and Mayo Hibi of Japan lost to seeds. Sixth-seeded Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan beat Nara 6-4, 6-3, and 13th-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus beat Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

   Chinese Taipei's Liang En-Shuo, the doubles runner-up in Berkeley with Lu Jia-Jing of China, advanced with a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 victory over 10th-seeded Wang Xinyu, who lost in the first round of singles in Berkeley as the second seed. 

   College — Stanford's Alexandre Rotsaert, Tristan Boyer and Max Basing won their first-round qualifying matches in the ITA Men's All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

   Also advancing were Yuta Kikuchi of the University of California, Berkeley and Eric Hadigian (Sacramento, Calif.) of Pepperdine. Falling were Timothy Sah of Stanford and Luke Casper (Santa Cruz, Calif.) of Texas A&M.

    Meanwhile, Cal's Jessica Alsola (Fresno, Calif.), Valentina Ivanov and Hannah Viller Moeller lost in the second round of qualifying for the ITA Women's All-American Championship in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

   Main-draw play in both tournaments is set to begin Wednesday.

Arconada routs Zacarias for $60K Berkeley crown

Usue Arconada, a 22-year-old American, matched her biggest career title.
Photo by Mal Taam 

   BERKELEY, Calif. — Usue Arconada got her career back on track today with a stellar performance.

   The 22-year-old American routed Marcela Zacarias of Mexico 6-1, 6-3 in matchup of diminutive, unseeded players to win the $60,000 Berkeley Challenger at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club.

   "It means a lot," said Arconada, who matched her biggest career title. "I've had a tough year. This has been the culmination of all the hard work I've put in."

   Arconada, an Argentina native with a Basque first name (pronounced EW-sway), had tumbled from a career-high No. 130 in February 2020 to No. 238 entering this week. By winning the title, she soared 50 places to No. 188. 

   Arconada, who earned $9,142, showed no ill effects from her 3-hour, 10-minute victory over seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan on Saturday.

   "I did a really good job recovering yesterday, and I woke up today feeling a little tired but not sore," said Arconada, who's based in Orlando, Fla. "As the day went on, I was feeling a bit better. I didn't have a problem physically." 

Marcela Zacarias, 27, of Mexico played in her biggest career final by far.
Photo by Mal Taam

   The 27-year-old Zacarias (pronounced Za-ca-REE-us) did in the 81-degree (27 Celsius) heat. Her first three matches in the tournament averaged 2:55 in length, and she lost a tough first set against fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan on Saturday before Nara retired at 0-3 in the second set with a groin injury.

   "(Arconada) was really tough today, and it was not my best day," Zacarias lamented after her biggest career final by far. "She didn't miss, and I missed really easy (shots) on the important points when I was up in the games. I was a little bit low of energy, and it took me a long time to start playing better. (Then) it was too late."

   Zacarias, who climbed to a career-high No. 181 in 2015, jumped 45 spots to No. 261 and collected $4,886 as the runner-up.

   "It was a pretty good week," said Zacarias, who pondered retirement after a discouraging first-round loss in Fort Worth, Texas, last week. "I was not even going to come, so I'm really excited that I came and played my best tennis in a few years." 

Usue Arconada celebrates after winning
championship point today at the Berkeley
Tennis Club. Photo by Paul Bauman

   After Zacarias held serve in the opening game of the final, Arconada reeled off seven consecutive games, overcoming a 0-40 deficit in her first service game.

   Arconada led 4-1 in the second set but double-faulted on break point for 4-3. She broke right back on a deep forehand winner and held serve at 15 for the championship.

   "I thought I did really well today focusing on the little things and taking it a point at a time," Arconada said. "I was real engaged with everything I was doing, and I was trying not to give any free points away."

   Arconada has little time to celebrate and rest. She received a wild card in qualifying for the prestigious BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and is scheduled to play No. 18 seed Arina Rodionova, an Australian veteran who reached the Berkeley quarterfinals in 2019, on Monday afternoon. 

   Unseeded Sophie Chang, 24, of Havre de Grace, Md., and Angela Kulikov, 23, of Sun Valley in the Los Angeles area won the doubles title in their first tournament together. Combining power (Chang) and athleticism (Kulikov), they defeated No. 4 seeds Liang En Shuo of Chinese Taipei and Lu Jia-Jing of China 6-4, 6-3.

   "I reached out to Sophie on Instagram a few weeks ago," Kulikov, a former USC All-American, said during the awards ceremony. "I said, 'I heard you have a pretty good serve. Wanna carry me in the tournament?' "

   Here are the complete Berkeley singles and doubles draws.

Clones Arconada, Zacarias to meet in Berkeley final

Unseeded Usue Arconada topped seventh-seeded
 Mayo Hibi in 3 hours, 10 minutes. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   BERKELEY, Calif. — Fans at the Berkeley Tennis Club on Sunday might have trouble telling the singles finalists apart.

   Usue Arconada and Marcela Zacarias look and play alike. Both are small, aggressive yet steady baseliners with Hispanic backgrounds. Both are unseeded. Both even wear shorts rather than skirts. 

   "Yes, I think we are (similar players)," Zacarias allowed with a laugh. "Totally."

   The biggest difference between Arconada and Zacarias (pronounced Za-ca-REE-us) is age. Zacarias is five years older at 27.

   Arconada — a 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter), 125-pound (57-kilogram) Argentina native who represents the United States — and Zacarias — a 5-foot-3 (1.59-meter), 110-pound (50-kilogram) Mexican — advanced in contrasting fashion today.

   Arconada, who's based in Orlando, Fla., outdueled seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident who plays for her native Japan, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in a grueling baseline battle that lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes.

   Zacarias trailed fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan 5-7, 3-0 when the 29-year-old Nara, ranked No. 178 after reaching a career-high No. 32 in 2014, retired with a right groin injury after 1:24. Nara's first-round and quarterfinal victories each spanned more than three hours.

   Arconada reached her first final since losing to then-No. 84 Anna Blinkova of Russia in the $162,480 Oracle Challenger in New Haven, Conn., in September 2019. Two months earlier, Arconada won the $60,000 Honolulu Challenger for the biggest title of her career.

 

Unseeded Marcela Zacarias serves during her victory over fourth-seeded
Kurumi Nara, who retired while leading 7-5, 0-3. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Arconada's first name (pronounced EW-sway) is Basque because her father's side of the family is from Spain. She lived in Argentina for seven or eight years before moving to Puerto Rico for two years and then to Florida to train for tennis.

   Zacarias advanced to her first final since winning a $15,000 hardcourt tournament in Cancun in December 2019. Earlier that year, she won four consecutive $15,000 hardcourt tourneys in Mexico. Zacarias has never played in the final of a tourney above $25,000. 

   Arconada, ranked No. 238, and Zacarias, ranked No. 306, are scheduled to meet for the first time, although they have practiced with each other frequently, on Sunday after the 11 a.m. doubles final. Both matches will be broadcast on RadioTennis.com.  

   The Arconada-Hibi match was filled with deuces, service breaks and clutch shots in 81-degree (27 Celsius) heat. It was exhausting just to watch.

Mayo Hibi prepares to hit her trademark backhand
slice. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Hibi, the runner-up in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, has an old-school game that her father, Soichi, taught her. She relies on consistency and finesse in an era of power, has a one-handed backhand that she usually slices, isn't afraid to come to the net and shows no emotion on the court. 

   Arconada, meanwhile, is exceptionally fast and shows her frustration under duress. She flung her racket after blowing a high volley on break point for 0-2 in the second set and hit a ball against the back fence after getting broken while serving for the match at 6-5 in the set. 

   Arconada basically willed herself to victory. After dropping the second-set tiebreaker, she trailed 1-3 in the third set but reeled off the next four games to serve for the match again. Arconada was called for a foot fault on her first serve at 15-40, was broken two points later and broke back at 15 for the match.

   "It was definitely tough after being up 6-5 in the second (set) and not being able to close it out," Arconada said. "She played a good tiebreaker, and I was kind of rushing my game a little bit. 

   "I started the (third) set a little slowly with my physicality, but I tried to push myself. I told myself I can stay out there all day, as long as I need to, to bring it, and I'm not leaving without a fight. That really helped me and pumped me up. I started taking it point by point and not concentrating so much on the end goal, just competing."

Kurumi Nara has reached the third round of the U.S. Open twice and
of the Australian Open once. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Nara's retirement was welcome for Zacarias, whose three previous matches this week, all three-setters, averaged 2:55 in length. 

   "I'm really sorry for her," Zacarias lamented. "She was in pain; she couldn't run. But yes, it's nice to finish earlier. I was not going to go until I won, so that would have been three hours," she quipped.

   Nara, who reached the third round of the U.S. Open in 2013 and 2017 and of the Australian Open in 2014, bolted to a 4-1 lead with one service break. After Zacarias won the next two games, Nara took a medical timeout to have her upper right thigh taped. Zacarias saved a set point while serving at 4-5, but Nara eventually broke for the set.

   Zacarias changed her racket and strategy after the first set and was a new player.

   "I thought my (strings were) loose," she said. "I started the second set more confident, and I had to come in (to the net). I was really far behind (the court) and waiting for her to come in. I need to change something, (so I said) I'm going to be aggressive. That's what I did, and it worked." 
   Zacarias rolled her right ankle at 5-5 in the first set but quickly recovered. 

   "It was painful but all good," she said.

   Here are the updated Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Sunday's schedule.

Mexican sobs after another three-set win in Berkeley

Marcela Zacarias, shown today, pondered retirement after a discouraging
loss last week. Photo by Mal Taam

   BERKELEY, Calif. — After Marcela Zacarias' victory today, she put her head in her hands, found a chair in a shady corner of the court, sat down and sobbed.

   That type of reaction normally is reserved for winning a Slam. But the 27-year-old Mexican had just beaten a qualifier in the quarterfinals of a $60,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament.

   What gives?

   Seeded fifth in last week's $25,000 tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, Zacarias lost 6-0 in the third set in the first round.

   "It's not really what I do, so I was really surprised," the unseeded Zacarias explained after topping Emma Navarro, a University of Virginia sophomore who won the NCAA singles title in May, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in 2 hours, 47 minutes today on a hot, sunny day at the venerable Berkeley Tennis Club. "I told myself, I think I'm done with tennis. Maybe I will play a few more (tournaments) and retire next year.

   "I can't believe how after last week and all the thoughts, I trust in myself again this week, and this is what I can do. I was just really happy that I came. I was brave to come again, and I was really proud of myself."

Emma Navarro, the reigning NCAA singles champion, lost
to Marcela Zacarias in three sets. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Zacarias' expectations entering this week were rather low.

   "The first round, I won in three sets, and the only thing I was thinking was, I just want to win one game," she said. "I don't want to lose 6-0. After that, I played good, and I was mentally really strong, and that helped me in every match."

   Zacarias' three victories this week, all three-setters, have averaged 2:55 in length. Her 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Katie Volynets, 19, of nearby Walnut Creek in the opening round lasted 3:38. The first set was a match in itself, spanning 1:41. 

   Zacarias, only 5-foot-3 (1.59 meters) and 110 pounds (50 kilograms), attributes her endurance to a heavy dose of Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) tournaments in the United States. The events feature a round-robin format until the quarterfinals, guaranteeing all players at least three matches, but no ranking points.

   "It's amazing how many matches I've played," said Zacarias, ranked No. 306 in the world and No. 4 in Mexico. "It's like six matches every week, and I've been playing UTRs back-to-back, so I've played maybe 12 matches in two weeks. Sometimes in ITFs, you lose in the first round and don't do anything for a week. That helped me keep my fitness really good."

   The UTRs also have helped Zacarias mentally.

   "It's been rough," Zacarias admitted of life on the circuit. "I don't have any sponsors, it's been really difficult with COVID, and I didn't have any money to travel. So it's like, I'm going to play some UTRs, and actually I've won seven UTRs this year. I've made good money, I've played good matches, and it gave me confidence. I'm more relaxed about the money and traveling. I think that also helped me. It took off some pressure about ITFs." 

Kurumi Nara, only 5-foot-1 (1.55 meters), of Japan reached a career-
high No. 32 in 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Serving at 5-4 in the second set against Navarro, Zacarias made a sensational backhand get to give her a match point but squandered it by slugging a short forehand long.

   "It was actually a really easy forehand," Zacarias said. "I just got a little emotional instead of just hitting another ball. When I went to the restroom (after the second set), I just told myself I needed to forget about the match point. I've been playing better and winning, so if I keep doing my thing and forget about the match point, I was going to be OK."

   Navarro, who lost to Leylah Fernandez in the 2019 French Open girls singles final and won the doubles crown with Chloe Beck, made Zacarias' job easier by committing 10 double faults in the match. 

   Zacarias is scheduled to meet fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara, 29, of Japan for the first time on Saturday at about 3 p.m. (RadioTennis.com). The 5-foot-1 (1.55-meter) Nara, ranked No. 178 after reaching a career-high No. 32 in 2014, outlasted qualifier Sophie Chang, a 24-year-old native of Havre de Grace, Md., 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 in 3:12. 

   Nara, who has reached the third round of the U.S. Open twice and of the Australian Open once, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set. Chang, tall and powerful but erratic, had 12 aces and a whopping 21 double faults.

Unseeded Usue Arconada serves during her 6-3, 6-1 victory over eighth-
seeded Liang En Shuo. Arconada lost the first three games of the match
and won the next 11. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In Saturday's first semifinal, seventh-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan is set to play unseeded Usue (pronounced EW-sway) Arconada of Orlando, Fla., after a 10 a.m. doubles semi. 

   Hibi, the runner-up in the last (2019) Berkeley Challenger, eliminated unseeded Louisa Chirico, a former top-60 player from Westchester, N.Y., 6-2, 6-3.

   "I feel like my slice works really well on this court and she couldn't really adapt to it," said Hibi, a longtime Southern California resident who has not lost a set this week. "She hit a lot of unforced errors off of it."

   Hibi, ranked No. 207, led 4-1 in the second set, but Chirico won the next two games.

   "I was a bit shaky at the end of the second set," Hibi conceded. "I'm happy I was able to finish it off because yesterday I had five match points at 5-4 (in the second set against wild card Victoria Duval) and couldn't finish it off. I had to go to a tiebreak and didn't want to do that again. I'm happy I finished it in straight sets."

   Arconada, ranked No. 238, dispatched Liang En Shuo, seeded eighth and ranked No. 228, of Chinese Taipei 6-3, 6-1. Arconada, only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters) and 125 pounds (57 kilograms), lost the first three games of the match and won the next 11.

   "I just started finding my groundstrokes and took it a point at a time," Arconada said. "I was just trying to be consistent and pushing her back. After that, it was just staying in the moment, staying mentally strong and taking care of every game."  

   Arconada defeated Hibi 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 Honolulu Challenger in 2019 en route to the title in their only previous meeting.

   Here are the updated Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Saturday's schedule.