Stanford grad Klahn reaches 100K S.F. quarters

Bradley Klahn, volleying in last year's San Francisco Open, improved to 5-0
against fellow American Mitchell Krueger today. Photo by Mal Taam

   It came as no surprise that today's match between Americans Bradley Klahn and Mitchell Krueger went to three sets.   Or that Klahn prevailed.
   The fifth-seeded Klahn, a 2012 Stanford graduate in economics, outlasted Krueger 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Kunal Patel San Francisco indoors at the Bay Club SF Tennis Center.
   Klahn, a 27-year-old left-hander rebounding from his second back operation, hammered 12 aces to Krueger's four. Both players committed four double faults.
   Klahn improved to 5-0 against Krueger, 24, but each of the last four meetings has gone to three sets. Furthermore, Klahn beat Krueger 6-4 in the third set for the second time in three weeks.
   Klahn will face former Dominik Koepfer, a 23-year-old German left-hander, on Friday. Koepfer, a former All-American at Tulane in New Orleans, upset fourth-seeded Denis Kudla, a 2017 quarterfinalist from Arlington, Va., and Tampa, Fla., 7-6 (3), 6-3.
   Klahn defeated Koepfer 7-5, 6-1 on outdoor clay in the second round of the $75,000 Tallahassee (Fla.) Challenger last April in their only previous meeting.
   In another quarterfinal, third-seeded Michael Mmoh, a semifinalist last year at 19, will play 18-year-old Serb Miomir Kecmanovic for the first time. Both players train in Bradenton, Fla.
   Two San Francisco Bay Area products, Dennis Novikov and second-seeded Mackenzie McDonald, will seek quarterfinals berths on Thursday at 2 p.m. and approximately 8:30 p.m., respectively.
   Here are the updated singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule.
   College rankings -- The Stanford men jumped from No. 10 to No. 5 after beating then-No. 5 USC 6-1 on Friday and then-No. 6 UCLA 4-3 on Sunday, both at Stanford.