No. 2 seed Hozumi falls in Sacramento Challenger

American wild card Brooke Austin, 19, eliminated
No. 2 seed Eri Hozumi to reach the quarterfinals of
the Gold River Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   GOLD RIVER, Calif. --The $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger was due for some upsets, and it got a big one Thursday.
   Brooke Austin, a wild card ranked No. 566, ousted second-seeded Eri Hozumi, ranked 165th, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   Austin's victory wasn't a complete surprise, though. After earning All-America honors as a freshman at Florida, the 19-year-old Indianapolis resident was the runner-up to fellow American Danielle Lao as a qualifier in last month's $25,000 Baton Rouge Challenger on hardcourts.
   Also falling Thursday was No. 5 Jennifer Brady to wild card and former UCLA teammate Robin Anderson, 6-3, 6-2.
   Each of the other six seeds won.
   No. 3 CiCi Bellis, a 16-year-old resident of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated Asia Muhammad of the United States 2-6, 6-1. 6-1.
   No. 4 Nao Hibino, a 20-year-old Japanese standout who won last week's Stockton Challenger, topped former Stanford All-American Kristie Ahn 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
   And No. 7 Kimiko Date-Krumm, 44, of Japan outplayed wild card Jamie Loeb, who won this year's NCAA title as a sophomore at North Carolina, 6-3, 7-5. 
   Of the quarterfinalists, three in the top half of the draw are Japanese, and three in the bottom half are American.
   Today's matchups are No. 1 An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium vs. No. 6 Mayo Hibi of Japan, Hibino vs. Date-Krumm, Bellis vs. No. 8 Anhelina Kalinina and Austin vs. Anderson.
   Hibi, who was born in Japan but grew up in Irvine, won the 2013 Gold River Challenger at 17 years old.
   Hibino is looking forward to playing Date-Krumm, who climbed to a career-high No. 4 in the world 20 years ago but retired at age 26 for 12 years, for the first time. They were denied a chance to meet  in the Stockton final.
   "It's so exciting because last week she lost in (the) semis, so we (couldn't) play against each other," said Hibino, who went out to dinner with Date-Krumm for the first time in Stockton. "I'm so happy."

$50,000 FSP GOLD RIVER WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

At Gold River Racquet Club in Gold River, Calif.

Second-round singles

   Kimiko Date-Krumm (7), Japan, def. Jamie Loeb, United States, 6-3, 7-5.

   An-Sophie Mestach (1), Belgium, def. Jan Abaza, United States, 6-3, 6-0.

   Anhelina Kalinina (8), Ukraine, def. Jovana Jaksic, Serbia, 6-4, 6-2.

   Nao Hibino (4), Japan, def. Kristie Ahn, United States, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

   Mayo Hibi (6), Japan, def. Ashley Weinhold, United States, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
   Brooke Austin, United States, def. Eri Hozumi (2), Japan, 7-5, 6-2. 

   Robin Anderson, United States, def. Jennifer Brady (5), United States, 6-3, 6-2.
   CiCi Bellis (3), Atherton, def. Asia Muhammad, United States, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.

First-round doubles

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey, United States, def. Jan Abaza and Melanie Oudin (3), United States, walkover.

   Eri Hozumi, Japan, and An-Sophie Mestach (1), Belgium, def. Manon Arcangioli and Clothilde De Bernardi, France, 6-2, 6-2. 

Friday's schedule

Stadium

(Starting at noon)

   Nao Hibino (4), Japan, vs. Kimiko Date-Krumm (7), Japan.

   An-Sophie Mestach (1), Belgium, vs. Mayo Hibi (6), Japan.

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey, United States, vs. Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park.

   Eri Hozumi, Japan, and An-Sophie Mestach (1), Belgium, vs. Jovana Jaksic, Serbia, and Anhelina Kalinina, Ukraine (possible court change).

(Not before 6:30 p.m.)

   Robin Anderson, United States, vs. Brooke Austin, United States.

   Mayo Hibi, Japan, and Jessica Pegula, United States, vs. Robin Anderson and Maegan Manasse (Cal), United States.

Court 3
(Starting at noon)

   CiCi Bellis (3), Atherton, vs. Anhelina Kalinina (8), Ukraine.
   Nao Hibino, Japan, and Rosie Johanson, Canada, vs. Naomi Cavaday, Great Britain, and Alexandra Stevenson, United States (after rest, time TBA).