Serena, Federer say au revoir to 2021 French Open

SERENA WILLIAMS
File photo by Paul Bauman

   Serena Williams and Roger Federer, who have combined for 43 Grand Slam singles titles, exited the French Open today.

   No. 21 seed Elena Rybakina, a hard-hitting 21-year-old Moscow native who represents Kazakhstan, eliminated the erratic Williams, seeded seventh, 6-3, 7-5 in Paris to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

   Williams failed to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 major singles crowns for the 12th time and has not reached a final in her last seven Grand Slam tournaments.

   The eighth-seeded Federer, who won Roland Garros in 2009, was scheduled to play ninth-seeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy on Monday.

   "After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation, it's important that I listen to my body and make sure I don't push myself too quickly on my road to recovery," Federer tweeted. "I am thrilled to have gotten three matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court."

ROGER FEDERER
File photo by Paul Bauman

   Federer and Williams will turn 40 in August and September, respectively. It's uncertain whether either will return to the French Open next year.

   "I'm definitely not thinking about it at all," the three-time champion of the French Open and Bank of the West Classic at Stanford told reporters. "I'm definitely thinking just about other things but not about that."

   Rybakina's victory assures a first-time Grand Slam semifinalist. In the bottom half of the draw, Rybakina will face No. 31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, and No. 33 seed Paula Badosa, a New York native who plays for Spain, will meet unseeded Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia. 

   Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at age 15, also reached the French Open quarterfinals 10 years ago at 19. 

   The quarters in the top half of the draw, featuring defending champion Iga Swiatek and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, will be determined Monday.

   In the first round of boys singles:

   —Aidan Mayo of Roseville, Calif., in the Sacramento area defeated Matthew William Donald of the Czech Republic 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2.

   —No. 16 seed Viacheslav Bielinskyi of Ukraine beat Ethan Quinn of Fresno, Calif., 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

   WTA Tour —Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, topped British wild card Jodie Burrage 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on grass in the first round of the Viking Open Nottingham. Ahn had been 0-5, including three ITF (minor-league) matches, since March.

   Lucky loser Marina Melnikova of Russia edged qualifier Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6).

Czech it out: Stephens reaches round of 16 in Paris

Unseeded Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, Calif., defeated No. 18 seed
Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-5 today in the third round of the French Open. 2019
photo by Mal Taam

   Resurgent Sloane Stephens is set to face her third consecutive Czech on Monday in the fourth round of the French Open.

   The unseeded Stephens, the 2018 runner-up at Roland Garros who grew up in Fresno, Calif., defeated No. 18 seed Karolina Muchova, an Australian Open semifinalist in February and Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2019, 6-3, 7-5 today in Paris. 

   Stephens, who eliminated No. 9 seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round, is scheduled to meet unseeded Barbora Krejcikova for the first time.

   Krejcikova, who won her first WTA title in Strasbourg last week and reached the Dubai final in March, ousted fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina, a three-time French Open quarterfinalist from Ukraine, 6-3, 6-2. 

   Of the top six seeds, the only one remaining is No. 4 Sofia Kenin, the Australian Open champion and French Open runner-up last year.

   Krejcikova, 25, also remains alive in women's doubles, in which she won the 2018 title with compatriot Katerina Siniakova, and mixed doubles.

   On the men's side, No. 8 seed Roger Federer, playing in the French Open for only the second time since 2015, topped German left-hander Dominik Koepfer 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 7-5. Koepfer, the runner-up in the 2019 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger, led 4-2 in the third set.

   Next for Federer, who will turn 40 on Aug. 8, is No. 9 seed Matteo Berrettini. The 25-year-old Italian beat Kwon Soonwoo of South Korea 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the round of 16 at Roland Garros for the first time.

   Federer is 2-0 against Berrettini, a 2019 U.S. Open semifinalist. They will meet on clay for the first time. 

   In the second round of women's doubles, unseeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania and Nadia Podoroska of Argentina surprised No. 4 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Shibahara was born in Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and starred at UCLA.

   In the first round of mixed doubles:

   —No. 2 seeds Nicole Melichar, a Czech-born American, and Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., defeated French wild cards Caroline Garcia and Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (4), 6-4.

   —Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the Bay Area who plays for Mexico, and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia edged Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix and Jamie Murray, Andy's older brother, of Great Britain 7-6 (4) 6-7 (3) [10-6].

   ATP Challenger Tour — In a late doubles semifinal in the rain-delayed $52,080 Little Rock (Ark.) Open, unseeded Christopher Eubanks of Atlanta and Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador outplayed No. 2 seeds Dennis Novikov of San Jose, Calif., and Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal 6-3, 6-3.

Russian surprises Sabalenka, further opening draw

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who played for
the Sacramento Capitals of World Team-
Tennis at 15, has reached the quarterfinals
of every Grand Slam tournament. 2017
photo by Paul Bauman  

   The women's draw in the French Open continued to open up today as Aryna Sabalenka continued to struggle in Grand Slam tournaments.

   No. 31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia stunned the third-seeded Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros in Paris for the second time.

   The 6-foot (1.82-meter) Sabalenka, a potential Grand Slam champion, has never reached the fourth round in the French Open or the quarterfinals of a major. She's still young, however, at 23.

   The highest remaining seed in this year's tournament is No. 4 Sofia Kenin, and No. 7 seed Serena Williams is the only top-10 player left in the bottom half of the draw. Kenin won the Australian Open and reached the French Open final last year. Williams, 39, is making her 12th attempt to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. 

   The 29-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, who has reached the quarterfinals at every Grand Slam tournament (three times in the Australian Open), attributed her success this week to enjoying tennis more than in the past.

   "I know it's a cliché," she told reporters. "I was the first one to laugh at this — players would say, 'I'm going to go and enjoy out there.' I'm like, 'Yeah, right. Go enjoy, of course, good luck.'

   "Now I actually do that. Even today on the court, apart from having pain in my knee and my leg, I was enjoying. I'm trying to embrace this. I'm enjoying much more now every point the tough matches than I used to. I guess that's also why I'm still here in the second week.

   "Also, I feel like I'm fitter. Because I'm enjoying playing tennis, I work harder. You work hard, you enjoy the hard work. I think that's the best combination."

   Both Pavlyuchenkova and Sabalenka have Northern California connections. Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at age 15. Sabalenka reached the final of the 2019 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif.

   Pavlyuchenkova is scheduled to play another Belarusian, No. 15 seed Victoria Azarenka, on Sunday for a quarterfinal berth. Azarenka, who ascended to No. 1 in 2012, dismissed No. 23 seed Madison Keys 6-2, 6-2 in a matchup of players who have reached the U.S. Open final and won the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

   Azarenka is 5-1 against Pavlyuchenkova, whose victory came by retirement.

   All four remaining U.S. men — No. 31 seed John Isner, No. 32 seed Reilly Opelka, Steve Johnson and Marcos Giron — lost to seeds in the bottom quarter of the draw. 

   In the second round of doubles:

   —Hugo Nys of Monaco and Tim Puetz of Germany ousted No. 3 seeds Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4. Nys and Puetz won ATP 250 tournaments two weeks apart in Estoril and Lyon last month.

   —No. 9 seeds Sharon Fichman of Canada and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, defeated Lara Arruabarena of Spain and Caroline Dolehide of the United States 6-4, 6-1. Fichman, 30, and Olmos, 28, are coming off the biggest title of their careers three weeks ago in the Italian Open.

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the doubles quarterfinals of the $52,080 Little Rock (Ark.) Open, No. 2 seeds Dennis Novikov of San Jose and Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal dispatched U.S. wild cards Jackson Allen and Maks Silagy 6-2, 6-3.

Barty quits with injury; Stephens bounces Czech

Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, had a strong
clay-court season. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali  

   No. 1 seed and 2019 champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia retired because of a left hip injury with Magda Linette of Poland leading 6-1, 2-2 today in the second round of the French Open in Paris.

   After her three-set victory over American Bernarda Pera on Tuesday in the first round, the top-ranked Barty revealed that she had suffered an "acute episode" with her left hip over the weekend. She played that match with her left thigh wrapped and took a medical timeout between the second and third sets.

   Barty bypassed the U.S. Open and French Open last year because of travel concerns during the pandemic and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in February. She won the titles in Miami (hardcourts) and Stuttgart (clay) in April and advanced to the final in Madrid (clay) last month.

   Also exiting today was No. 9 seed and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, who fell to Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, 7-5, 6-1.

   Pliskova reached the final of the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and the semifinals of the 2017 French Open.

   Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif., now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has plunged from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 59. She lost her first four matches of the year.

   "I had COVID," Stephens told reporters in Charleston in April. "I lost three people that were very close to me. I'm in Australia, I literally had to go to my grandparents' funeral on Zoom, and I just was not ready to play."

   Stephens is set to face another Czech, No. 18 seed Karolina Muchova, on Saturday. Muchova, an Australian Open semifinalist in February and Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2019, defeated U.S. qualifier Varvara Lepchenko, a 35-year-old left-hander originally from Uzbekistan, 6-3, 6-4. 

   Stephens and Muchova have never met.

   In doubles:

   —Mel Purcell and Luke Saville of Australia surprised No. 15 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round.

   —No. 4 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan edged Paula Badosa and Aliona Bolsova of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1) in the first round. Shibahara was born in Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and starred at UCLA.

   —No. 3 seeds Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at Cal from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain defeated Salvatore Caruso of Italy and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round.

   —French wild cards Arthur Cazaux and Hugo Gaston beat Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1 in the first round.

   ATP Challenger Tour — In the opening round of doubles in the $52,080 Little Rock (Ark.) Open, No. 2 seeds Dennis Novikov of San Jose, Calif., and Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal defeated alternates Tristan Schoolkate and Dane Sweeny of Australia 6-4, 7-5.

McDonald squanders two match points, falls in French

Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old San Francisco Bay Area
product, lost to No. 22 seed Cristian Garin of Chile today in a marathon
in the second round of the French Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald twice was within a point of beating a seed in straight sets today and reaching the third round of the French Open for the first time.

   But No. 22 seed Cristian Garin of Chile survived 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3, 8-6 in 4 hours, 14 minutes to reach the third round at Roland Garros in Paris for the second consecutive year.

   McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area who advanced to the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2018 and in the Australian Open in February, escaped a match point at 5-6 in the fifth set. 

   Garin, who won his fifth career singles title (all on clay) in his hometown of Santiago in March, saved 14 of 18 break points against him as he equaled his best result in a Grand Slam tournament.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., continues to fight his way back up the world rankings after undergoing right hamstring surgery in June 2019. He will rise six spots to No. 113 after reaching a career-high No. 57 in April 2019.

   Another Bay Area product, Giuliana Olmos, won in the first round of women's doubles with Sharon Fichman of Canada. The No. 9 seeds, coming off the biggest title of their careers three weeks ago in the Italian Open, dispatched Anna Blinkova of Russia and Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-3, 6-2. 

   Olmos was born in Austria and represents Mexico. 

   In the opening round of men's doubles, No. 15 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan defeated French wild cards Mathias Bourgue and Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-2.  

   WTA Tour — Grand Slam singles champions Sofia Kenin and Sloane Stephens and runner-up Madison Keys have entered the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, Aug. 2-8 at San Jose State University.

   Kenin won Northern California Challengers as a teenager in 2016, 2017 and 2018, laying the foundation for her shocking 2020 Australian Open title.

   Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, Calif., routed Keys for the 2017 U.S. Open crown one month after Keys won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

   The full player field for the Silicon Valley Classic, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic, will be announced on June 22. This year's tournament will mark 50 years of women's tour tennis in the Bay Area.

Kvitova pulls out after freak mishap; Stephens advances

Petra Kvitova wrote that she fell during her
post-match news conference on Sunday and
hurt her ankle. File photo by Paul Bauman

   Apparently, post-match news conferences are dangerous not only mentally but physically.

   No. 11 seed Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, withdrew from the French Open today because of an ankle injury suffered not on the court but, she said, during her media session after her first-round victory over Greet Minnen on Sunday.

   "During my post-match press requirements on Sunday I fell and hurt my ankle," Kvitova wrote in a statement posted on social media.

    No. 2 seed Naomi Osaka pulled out of the tournament on Monday amid controversy following her announcement last week that she would skip her mandatory post-match news conferences because of mental health issues. The four-time Grand Slam singles champion wrote on social media that she experiences "huge waves of anxiety" before meeting with the media and revealed that she has "suffered long bouts of depression" since the turbulent 2018 U.S. Open final.

   Meanwhile, Sloane Stephens, a 28-year-old Fresno, Calif., product who reached the 2018 French Open final who grew up in Fresno, Calif., defeated Carla Suarez Navarro, a 32-year-old Spaniard making her comeback from Hodgkin's lymphoma, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 in a first-round matchup of former top-10 players.

   Suarez Navarro, who won the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford with compatriot Garbiñe Muguruza, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

   Stephens is scheduled to face No. 9 seed Karolina Pliskova, who advanced to the French Open semifinals and climbed to No. 1 in 2017, on Thursday. Pliskova, the Bank of the West runner-up in 2015, eliminated Croatia's Donna Vekic, a semifinalist in San Jose, Calif., in 2019, 7-5, 6-4. 

   Stephens is 3-1 against Pliskova, but the Czech won their only clay-court encounter 6-2, 6-3 in the third round at altitude in Madrid in May 2018. The pair are set to meet for the first time since October 2018.

   In a first-round men's match, No. 24 seed Aslan Karatsev of Russia dispatched Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old qualifier from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.    

   In the Australian Open in February, the 114th-ranked Karatsev became the first player in the Open Era to reach the semifinals in his Grand Slam main-draw debut, the first qualifier to advance to a major semifinal since Vladimir Voltchkov at Wimbledon in 2000 and the lowest-ranked Grand Slam semifinalist since No. 125 Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon in 2001.

   Brooksby, who was making his French Open main-draw debut, will improve 11 places in the world rankings to No. 152 only five months after turning pro. He was ranked No. 310 at the beginning of the year.

   Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, the runner-up in Munich on clay five weeks ago, took out No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, breaking the 23-year-old Russian's streak of three consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Osaka withdraws; Andreescu ousted in marathon

Naomi Osaka said she "never wanted to be a distrac-
tion." 2018 photo by Mal Taam

   No. 2 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan withdrew from the French Open today in the wake of her announcement last week that she would skip her mandatory post-match news conferences.

   "I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris," Osaka said on social media. "I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and message could have been clearer."

   Osaka, who has won four Grand Slam singles titles but never advanced past the third round of the French Open, added that she will "take some time away from the court."

   Meanwhile, Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia outlasted No. 6 seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (2), 9-7 in 3 hours, 20 minutes. Andreescu was two points from victory serving at 5-4 in the third set, 

   Zidansek, 23, recorded her first main-draw victory at Roland Garros and first top-10 win. Andreescu, who missed last year because of a knee injury and the five-month tour shutdown, has not advanced past the second round of a major since winning the 2019 U.S. Open at 19.

   Also falling were former French Open champions Garbine Muguruza, seeded 12th, and Jelena Ostapenko. 

   Eighth-seeded Roger Federer, who will turn 40 on Aug. 8, dismissed Denis Istomin, a 34-year-old qualifier from Uzbekistan, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. 

   Federer, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee twice last year, played in his first Grand Slam tournament since the Australian Open in January 2020 and his second match on clay in two years. Istomin shocked Novak Djokovic in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open. 

   Both Federer and Istomin have played at the SAP Center in San Jose. Federer defeated Jack Sock in a 2018 exhibition, and Istomin lost to Milos Raonic in the final of the 2012 SAP Open.

   Federer is scheduled to meet Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion and a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, on Wednesday. The 32-year-old Croat eliminated wild card Arthur Rinderknech of France 7-6 (6), 6-1. 

   Federer is 9-1 against Cilic. They will meet for the first time since Federer won in five sets in the 2018 Australian Open final for his 20th Grand Slam singles title, a record he shares with Rafael Nadal, and second time on clay. Federer triumphed 6-4, 6-3 in the third round in Monte Carlo 10 years ago.

   In another matchup of players in their 30s, No. 31 seed John Isner, 36, beat Davis Cup teammate Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4.

   The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner hammered 22 aces to the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey's nine and improved to 4-5 in the head-to-head series.

   Querrey fell to 0-4 since early February. The 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist has won one match in the French Open in the last seven years.

   Isner and Querrey reached their career-high rankings of No. 8 and 11, respectively, in 2018.