Ex-Stanford star Klahn wins first match of comeback

Bradley Klahn practices in Sacramento in October 2015.
On Saturday, he played his first official match since under-
going his second operation for a herniated disc in his back
in February 2015. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Next week's $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger is one of the last tournaments of the year.
   But Bradley Klahn's season is just beginning.
   Playing his first official match in almost two years, the 26-year-old wild card and former Stanford star routed Tim Kopinski, a former University of Illinois All-American from Palos Hills, Ill., in the Chicago area, 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday in the first round of qualifying for the indoor tournament in Champaign.
   Klahn, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander from the San Diego suburb of Poway, had not played since undergoing his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in February 2015.
   He will face second-seeded Peter Kobelt from New Albany, Ohio, today in the second round. Kobelt, a 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) former All-American at Ohio State, received a first-round bye.
   Klahn won the 2010 NCAA singles title as a sophomore, underwent his first disc operation in 2011 and graduated in 2012 in economics. He reached the second round of the U.S. Open in 2012 and 2013 and climbed as high as No. 63 in the world in March 2014.
   Because of his layoff, though, Klahn has dropped out of the rankings.