Kerber finally stops Stephens; Osaka, Tsitsipas fall

Angelique Kerber had not won a set in her last
five matches against Sloane Stephens. 2017
photo by Paul Bauman

   In a matchup of former U.S. Open champions, No. 16 seed Angelique Kerber defeated Sloane Stephens 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 today in the third round of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   Kerber, a 33-year-old left-hander from Germany, reeled off the last three games. She broke for 4-3 and for the match on errors by Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif.

   Kerber, who won the 2016 U.S. Open and the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, had not won a set in her last five matches against Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion. They met for the first time since 2018 and the first time ever in a Grand Slam tournament.

   Kerber, who was two points from losing in the first round against Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, is set to face Leylah Fernandez of Canada on Sunday for a quarterfinal berth. Fernandez, an 18-year-old left-hander, stunned No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka, the defending and two-time champion, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

   Osaka, 23, of Japan announced afterward that she will take an indefinite break from tennis. 

   "When I win, I don't feel happy," Osaka, who withdrew from her second-round match in the French Open and skipped Wimbledon because of mental health issues, told a Japanese reporter. "I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don't think that's normal."

    An 18-year-old also knocked out the men's No. 3 seed as Carlos Alcaraz of Spain edged Stefanos Tsitsipas, the French Open runner-up in June, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 0-6, 7-6 (5) in 4 hours, 7 minutes.

   In a late third-round match, No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus dismissed No. 26 seed Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., 6-3, 6-3.

   Sabalenka reached the final of the 2019 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., losing to Zheng Saisai, and Collins won the Mubadala title last month, defeating Daria Kasatkina. 

   Men's doubles — No. 4 seeds Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain dispatched John Millman of Australia and Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.

   In the first round:

   — Wild cards Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles region and Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, edged Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3).

   — Denmark's Frederik Nielsen and Canada's Vasek Pospisil, former Wimbledon men's doubles champions with different partners, beat Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks in the L.A. area and Andre Goransson (Cal, 2014-17) of Sweden 6-3, 7-6 (3).

   — Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Andres Molteni of Argentina eliminated Robin Haase of the Netherlands and Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

   Women's doubles — No. 3 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara (a Bay Area native) of Japan beat Eri Hozumi of Japan and Alicja Rosolska of Poland 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the second round.

   Mixed doubles — Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the Bay Area who represents Mexico, and Arevalo defeated Asia Muhammad of Las Vegas and Jackson Withrow of Omaha, Neb., 7-6 (5), 6-3.

   — Alternates Yastremska and Max Purcell of Australia topped Sania Mirza of India and Ram 6-3, 3-6 [10-7]. Mirza and Ram have won a combined five Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns but none together.

Brooksby frustrates Fritz to reach third round of Open

Jenson Brooksby needed more than four hours to subdue fellow
Californian Taylor Fritz today. 2021 photo courtesy of USTA

   Jenson Brooksby reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time today, gutting out a victory over fellow Californian Taylor Fritz.

   Brooksby, a 20-year-old wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, outlasted Fritz, 23, of Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles region, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10), 7-5, 6-2 in 4 hours, 6 minutes in the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Brooksby converted his seventh match point. 

   Less than nine months after turning pro, Brooksby will rise at least 11 places to a career-high No. 88 after the U.S. Open.

   Fritz will improve five spots to No. 37, 13 notches off his career high in March 2020. He won Northern California Challengers in Sacramento and Fairfield in consecutive weeks in 2015 at 17. 

   Brooksby is set to face No. 21 seed Aslan Karatsev of Russia on Saturday. The 27-year-old Karatsev, ranked 25th, saved two match points in a 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9), 6-1 victory over Jordan Thompson of Australia. The match lasted 4 hours, 40 minutes.

   Karatsev defeated Brooksby 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the French Open in May in their only previous meeting. The winner of the rematch likely will play top-ranked Novak Djokovic, seeking to become the first man to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969, for a quarterfinal berth.

   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.

   Also today, 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-3 outlasted Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, in 3:57 in a matchup of undersized veterans.

   Nishikori, 31, served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but was broken at love. He avenged a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 loss to McDonald four weeks ago in the Washington semifinals to earn a meeting with Djokovic.

   In a late match, No. 4 seed Karolina Pliskova, the runner-up in the 2016 U.S. Open and 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, edged 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7) in 2:21.

   Anisimova, who won her first professional title in the last (2017) Sacramento Challenger and reached the semifinals of the 2019 French Open, had a match point at 7-6 in the third-set tiebreaker.   

   In the first round of doubles:

   —No. 3 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara (a Bay Area native) of Japan dismissed Americans Madison Brengle and Claire Liu 6-2, 6-3. Brengle won NorCal Challenger singles titles in 2018 and 2019 and reached a NorCal singles final in 2013.

   —Leylah Fernandez of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand beat Christina McHale of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and Giuliana Olmos, a Bay Area product who represents Mexico, 6-4, 6-2.

   —No. 11 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan topped U.S. wild cards Mitchell Krueger and Michael Mmoh 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5). Mmoh won the singles crown in the 2018 Tiburon Challenger in the Bay Area.

Ex-champ Stephens stymies Gauff, 17, in U.S. Open

Sloane Stephens could meet Angelique Kerber in a third-round matchup
of former U.S. Open champions. 2019 photo by Mal Taam

   Sloane Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif., now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., defeated No. 21 seed Coco Gauff, 17, of Delray Beach, Fla., 6-4, 6-2 tonight in the second round of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

   Stephens won the 2017 U.S. Open and advanced to the French Open final in 2018. She has plunged from a career-high No. 3 in July 2018 to No. 66, partly because she contracted COVID early this year and lost her grandparents to the virus.

   Gauff became an international sensation by reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon two years ago at 15. She reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in the French Open in June and the fourth round at Wimbledon again in July, helping her climb to a career-high No. 23.

   Stephens is scheduled to face either No. 16 seed Angelique Kerber, the champion of the 2016 U.S. Open and 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, or Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina, who won the 2015 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, on Friday. 

  Stephens is 5-1 against Kerber, a 33-year-old left-hander, with a five-match winning streak and 1-0 against Kalinina, 24. Stephens and Kerber would meet for the first time in almost three years and the first time ever in a Grand Slam tournament. Stephens topped Kalinina 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of the 2018 U.S. Open.

   In the first round of doubles today, No. 4 seeds Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain beat alternates Kwon Soonwoo of South Korea and Divij Sharan of India 6-3, 6-4. Ram and Salisbury reached last year's semifinals. 

   In rain-suspended matches:

   —Robin Haase of the Netherlands and Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area now living in Orlando, Fla., lead Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Andres Molteni of Argentina 7-5.

   —Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles region and Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, lead Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 2-1.

McDonald ousts seed for first U.S. Open victory

Mackenzie McDonald returns serve in the
first round of the 2016 U.S. Open. Photo
by Paul Bauman

   Mackenzie McDonald caught David Goffin at a good time to earn his first U.S. Open main-draw victory.

   McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, beat the 27th-seeded Goffin, a 30-year-old Belgian, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 today in a first-round matchup of undersized players at Flushing Meadows.

   McDonald, 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms), reached the round of 16 in the Australian Open in February and at Wimbledon in 2018 but had been 0-3 in the main draw of the U.S. Open.

   Goffin, 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters) and 154 pounds (70 kilograms), had advanced to the round of 16 in the U.S. Open for four consecutive years. It's the only Grand Slam tournament in which he hasn't reached the quarterfinals.

   Goffin has dropped from a career-high No. 7 in 2017 to No. 30. He played his second tournament since missing two months with a left-ankle injury and fell to 0-5 since mid-May.

   McDonald, ranked No. 61, is scheduled to face his idol, 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, for the second time in five weeks on Thursday. Nishikori, who's the same height as McDonald and one pound (.45 of a kilogram) heavier, eliminated Salvatore Caruso of Italy 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. 

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., outlasted Nishikori 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 four weeks ago in Washington, D.C., to reach his first ATP final, in which he lost to rising star Jannik Sinner, then 19, of Italy.

   The winner of the McDonald-Nishikori encounter likely will play top-ranked Novak Djokovic, seeking to become the first man to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969, in the third round.

   Djokovic defeated budding star Holger Rune, an 18-year-old qualifier from Denmark, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1. Rune began cramping in his legs in the third set.

   Another Bay Area native, Sam Querrey, lost to No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in a clash of 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) veterans. Zverev clubbed 18 aces and Querrey 17.

   Zverev, who lost to Dominic Thiem in last year's U.S. Open final after leading two sets to none, extended his winning streak to 12 matches. He won the gold medal in men's singles in the Tokyo Olympics, ending Djokovic's bid for a Golden Slam in the semifinals.

   Querrey, a 2017 quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows, fell to 0-5 since advancing to the second round at Wimbledon. At age 33, he has plummeted from a career-high No. 11 in 2018 to No. 77.

   Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old wild card from Carmichael, Calif., in the Sacramento area, topped 72nd-ranked Mikael Ymer of Sweden 7-5, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. Brooksby, who shocked 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych in the opening round of the 2019 U.S. Open as an 18-year-old qualifier, led 5-3 in the third set.

   Brooksby is slated to play Southern Californian Taylor Fritz for the first time. Fritz, who won Northern California Challengers in Sacramento and Fairfield in consecutive weeks in 2015 at 17, took out No. 14 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. 

   In the first round of women's singles, Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia dominated Katie Volynets, a 19-year-old wild card from Walnut Creek in the Bay Area, 6-3, 6-1. 

   Tomljanovic (pronounced Tom-yon-o-vich), a 28-year-old Croatia native, reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon in July and the final of the last (2017) Sacramento Challenger.

Stephens edges Keys in rematch of 2017 U.S. Open final

Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, Calif., improved to 3-0 this year and 5-2
 overall against Madison Keys. 2018 photo by Mal Taam

   In a rematch of the 2017 U.S. Open final, Sloane Stephens edged close friend and fellow unseeded American Madison Keys 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) today in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

   Stephens, a 28-year-old product of Fresno, Calif., now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., served for the match at 6-5 in the third set and needed three match points in the tiebreaker to prevail.

   Stephens improved to 3-0 this year and 5-2 overall against Keys, including a 6-3, 6-0 victory in the 2017 U.S. Open for her only Grand Slam title. Stephens also reached the French Open final in 2018.

   Keys fell to 0-4, including a loss in San Jose, since reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon in July. She won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2017.

   Stephens has plunged from a career-high No. 3 in July 2018 to No. 66. Keys, 26, of Orlando, Fla., has tumbled from a career-high No. 7 in 2016 to No. 42.

   Stephens is scheduled to face No. 21 seed Coco Gauff, 17, of Delray Beach, Fla., for the first time on Wednesday. Gauff held off Poland's Magda Linette, a San Jose quarterfinalist four weeks ago, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 after leading 4-0 in the third set.

   Earlier today, Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina, who won the 2015 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, defeated lucky loser Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16), an Egyptian making her U.S. Open main-draw debut, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

   In the men's draw, No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 23, of Greece outlasted 34-year-old Andy Murray, rebounding from two operations on his right hip, 2-6 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 4 hours, 49 minutes. Tsitsipas saved two set points in the second set.

   Tsitsipas has never advanced past the third round of the U.S. Open in three previous appearances. He reached his first major final in the French Open in June, falling to Novak Djokovic after leading two sets to none. 

   Murray won the first of his three Grand Slam singles titles in the 2012 U.S. Open. He earned the first of his 46 tour-level singles crowns in San Jose at 18 in 2006 and repeated the following year.

   No. 15 seed Grigor Dimitrov, a 2019 U.S. Open semifinalist from Bulgaria, eliminated wild card Sam Riffice, a 22-year-old Sacramento native who won the NCAA singles title in May as a Florida junior, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Dangerous dozen: Men, women to watch in U.S. Open

   Here are six men and six women to watch in the U.S. Open, Monday through Sept. 12 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. (seedings in parentheses). Television coverage begins at 9 a.m. PDT on ESPN.

MEN

Novak Djokovic has plenty of motivation in the
U.S. Open. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   Novak Djokovic (1), 34, Serbia — Can become first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to achieve calendar-year Grand Slam and can break record of 20 major singles titles he shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. ... Hasn't played on tour since losing the bronze-medal match in Tokyo Olympics to Pablo Carreno Busta "Move." ... Northern California connection: None.

   Daniil Medvedev (2), 25, Russia — Runner-up in 2019 U.S. Open and 2021 Australian Open. ... Won Toronto title two weeks ago. ... NorCal connection: Nada.

   Alexander Zverev (3), 24, Germany — Ended Djokovic's bid for Golden Slam in Olympic semifinals en route to gold medal. ... Owns 11-match winning streak after capturing Cincinnati crown. ... Lost to Dominic "Home" Thiem in last year's U.S. Open final after leading two sets to none. ... NorCal connection: Zilch.  

   Stefanos Tsitsipas (4), 23, Greece — Fell to Djokovic in French Open final in June after leading two sets to none. ... Has never advanced past third round of U.S. Open in three appearances. ... NorCal connection: Zippo.

   Andrey Rublev (5), 23, Russia — Two-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist. ... Has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal. ... Upset Medvedev in Cincinnati semifinals before losing to Zverev 6-2, 6-3. ... Won gold medal in mixed doubles with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Tokyo. ... NorCal connection: None. 

   Matteo Berrettini (6), 25, Italy — Reached first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in July, losing to Djokovic in four sets. ... Semifinalist in 2019 U.S. Open. ... NorCal connection: Zero.

WOMEN

Ashleigh Barty has had little success at Flushing Meadows —
except in doubles. 2019 photo by Harjanto Sumali

   Ashleigh "Judd" Barty (1), 25, Australia — Won second Grand Slam singles crown at Wimbledon in July. ... Suffered inevitable letdown in Olympics, losing to Sara Sorribes "Mel" Tormo of Spain in straight sets in first round, but won Cincinnati without dropping set. ... Has never advanced past U.S. Open round of 16 in five appearances. ... Three-time doubles finalist at Flushing Meadows, winning 2018 title with CoCo Vandeweghe. ... NorCal connection: None.

   Aryna Sabalenka (2), 23, Belarus — Reached first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon in July. ... Advanced to round of 16 in 2018 U.S. Open, her best result in three appearances. ... Won doubles title at Flushing Meadows in 2019 with Elise Mertens. ... NorCal connection: Reached San Jose final last year, losing to Zheng Saisai. Was coached by Dmitry Tursunov, former top-20 player from Moscow who trained in NorCal as junior and professional.

   Naomi Osaka (3), 23, Japan — Seeks fifth Grand Slam singles title and third at Flushing Meadows. ... Withdrew from second-round match at French Open in June, amid controversy after announcing she would skip mandatory post-match news conferences, and skipped Wimbledon for mental-health reasons. ... NorCal connection: Made WTA main-draw debut in 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford at 16, stunning 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in first round.

   Karolina Pliskova (4), 29, Czech Republic — Runner-up at U.S. Open five years ago, Wimbledon in July and Montreal two weeks ago. ... Former world No. 1. ... NorCal connection: Runner-up — surprise! — in 2015 Bank of the West Classic, losing to Angelique Kerber.

   Elina Svitolina (5), 26, Ukraine — Semifinalist in 2019 U.S. Open and bronze medalist in women's singles in Tokyo Olympics. ... Hasn't advanced past round of 16 in major this year. ... Won Chicago title on Saturday. ... NorCal connection: Stanford semifinalist in 2015 and San Jose quarterfinalist in 2019.

   Bianca "Jagger" Andreescu (6), 21, Canada — Stunned Serena Williams to win 2019 U.S. Open at 19. Otherwise, has never advanced past second round in major. ... Has gone 2-6 since reaching Strasbourg quarterfinals in late May. ... NorCal connection: Zilch.

Bay Area native wins fifth WTA doubles title of year

   Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara will go into the U.S. Open with confidence.

   The top-seeded pair, from Japan, beat unseeded Sania Mirza of India and Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., 7-5, 6-3 today in the final of the inaugural Tennis in The Land, a WTA 250 tournament in Cleveland.

   The 5-foot-1 (1.54-meter) Aoyama, 33, and the 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter) Shibahara, a 23-year-old native of Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area, survived match tiebreakers of 10-8 in the quarterfinals and 10-7 in the semifinals en route to their fifth title of the year. They will remain tied at a career-high No. 9 in the world in doubles.

   The 34-year-old Mirza, formerly ranked No. 1 in doubles, took 2018 and 2019 off to have her first child.

   The first round of singles in the U.S. Open is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Doubles matches are set to begin Wednesday.

   Aoyama and Shibahara reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in February and the semifinals at Wimbledon in July, but neither has had much success in the U.S. Open. Playing together at Flushing Meadows for the first time last year, they lost in the second round.

   Aoyama has never advanced past the third round of the U.S. Open in nine appearances with nine different partners. Shibahara has never gone past the second round at Flushing Meadows in three appearances with three different teammates.