Querrey, Bellis lose; Federer pulls out of Indian Wells

Dominic Thiem, playing at Indian Wells in 2014,
dismissed Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-2 in 57 minutes in
the semifinals at Acapulco. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Dominic Thiem emphatically ended Sam Querrey's winning streak at eight matches on Friday.
   Thiem, seeded fourth, overwhelmed the unseeded Querrey 6-2, 6-2 in 57 minutes in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
   Thiem, a 22-year-old Austrian, will meet fifth-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia for the first time in today's final. Tomic, 23, beat unseeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Querrey, a 28-year-old San Francisco native, won his eighth career title but first since 2012 last week in Delray Beach.
   BNP Paribas Open -- Four-time champion Roger Federer, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Feb. 3, has withdrawn from the March 7-20 tournament in Indian Wells.
   Federer had played Indian Wells for 15 consecutive years, winning the title from 2004 through 2006 and in 2012. He has been the runner-up to Novak Djokovic for the past two years. Federer, 34, entered the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters, scheduled for April 10-17.
   ITF Women's Circuit -- Defending champion CiCi Bellis, 16, of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to veteran Vania King of Long Beach 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Morgan Run Women's Open in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
   King, a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, returned to competition last August after missing almost one year with a herniated disc in her neck. She did not have surgery.
   In an all-American doubles semifinal, Bellis and Jacqueline Cako fell to top-seeded Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend 6-1, 6-3.
   Muhammad and Townsend will play third-seeded Jessica Pegula of Charleston, S.C., and Carol Zhao, a Stanford junior from Canada.
   Pegula and Zhao edged unseeded Mayo Hibi, an Irvine product who plays for her native Japan, and Grace Min of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-1, 3-6 [14-12].
   College women -- Freshman Olivia Hauger outlasted Brianna Morgan 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Court 5 to lift No. 1 Cal over No. 7 Florida 4-3 in Berkeley. The Bears improved to 10-0, and the Gators dropped to 5-1.
   College men -- Max de Vroome upset Tom Fawcett on Court 1, leading No. 13 USC over No. 29 and host Stanford 5-2. De Vroome, ranked 65th, topped Fawcett, ranked fourth, 6-5, 2-6, 6-2. The Trojans are 7-2, and the Cardinal is 5-5.