Gauff, 14, upsets promising Kratzer in $100K Midland

Ashley Kratzer, a semifinalist in Berkeley last July,
lost to 14-year-old Cori (Coco) Gauff on Tuesday in
the first round of the $100,000 Dow Tennis Classic
in Midland, Mich. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Cori (Coco) Gauff, a 14-year-old phenom, upset fellow American wild card Ashley Kratzer 7-6 (6), 6-7 (6), 6-4 on Tuesday in the first round of the $100,000 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland, Mich.
   Gauff, at 13 in 2017, became the youngest player to reach the U.S. Open girls final and, at 14 last year, the youngest to capture the French Open girls title since Martina Hingis won her second crown there in 1994 and the fifth-youngest all time.
   Kratzer, a 19-year-old left-hander, won the USTA girls 18 national title in 2017. She is ranked 244th to Gauff's 684th.
   After beating Kratzer in the semifinals of the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July, Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) predicted that her opponent would crack the "top 50 for sure, if not top 20, soon."
   Gauff, playing in a tournament above $25,000 for the first time, is scheduled to face top-seeded Rebecca Peterson of Sweden today. Peterson, 23, is ranked 57th.
   Also today, Kristie Ahn, a 26-year-old Stanford graduate who recently moved back to her home state of New Jersey from Boca Raton, Fla., will meet fifth-seeded Marie Bouzkova, 20, of the Czech Republic.
   Third-seeded Madison Brengle, the champion of the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last October, will play fellow American Jamie Loeb in a rematch of last year's final, won by Brengle 6-1, 6-2.
   The seventh-seeded Gibbs, Ahn's teammate on Stanford's 2013 NCAA championship team, lost to 17-year-old fellow Cincinnati native Caty McNally 6-0, 7-5.
   Jovana Jaksic, a 25-year-old Serb living in Sacramento, succumbed to fellow qualifier Ann Li, 18, of Devon, Pa., 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Li reached the Stockton quarterfinals last fall.
   Jaksic and Lu Jia-Jing of China advanced to the doubles quarterfinals, eliminating fourth-seeded Quinn Gleason of Mendon, N.Y., and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). Gleason and Stefani gained the Stockton final.
   Fed Cup -- Madison Keys, Danielle Collins, Sofia Kenin and Nicole Melichar were named to the U.S. team that will play Australia in Asheville, N.C., on Feb. 9-10 in the first round of the Fed Cup.
   Keys won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2017. Collins reached the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, which replaced the Bank of the West Classic, in San Jose last year. Kenin won a Northern California Challenger for the third consecutive year in Berkeley in 2018.
   College rankings -- Defending champion Stanford remained No. 1 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association women's rankings, and the Cardinal men rose one spot to No. 9.

Murray has hip surgery; Altamirano reaches quarters

Andy Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level
singles titles in San Jose in 2006 and 2007, wrote on Insta-
gram that he now has a metal hip. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Andy Murray might try to prolong his career, after all.
   The former world No. 1, who tearfully announced on Jan. 10 that he would retire after Wimbledon in July at the latest, underwent right hip surgery in London on Monday.
   " ... Feeling a bit battered and bruised just now but hopefully that will be the end of my hip pain," Murray, 31, wrote on Instagram. "I now have a metal hip."
   Doubles specialist Bob Bryan had the same procedure last August. He returned in the recent Australian Open, teaming with 40-year-old twin Mike Bryan to reach the quarterfinals. They played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, leading the Cardinal to the NCAA title in both years.
   "He's been watching me like a hawk, asking me how I'm feeling after matches, after practices, where I'm at," Bob Bryan said of Murray in an  Associated Press story. "I never once told him, 'This is the way to go,' because I do see that singles is a different monster. Those guys are really sliding around, killing themselves for four hours. Who knows if this joint would hold up?"
   Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level singles titles in San Jose in 2006 and 2007, also had right hip surgery last January and came back in June.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- Collin Altamirano of Sacramento reached the quarterfinals of last week's $162,480 Oracle Challenger Series in Newport Beach.
   After receiving a first-round bye as an alternate, the 23-year-old Altamirano defeated Victor Estrella Burgos, 38, of the Dominican Republic and Dustin Brown, 34, of Germany before losing to Donald Young of Atlanta.
   Brown, the runner-up in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger in 2015, is 2-0 against Rafael Nadal. Both wins came on grass, including on Centre Court at Wimbledon in the second round in 2015.

Djokovic dominates Nadal for seventh Aussie Open title

Novak Djokovic poses with the Serbian flag after winning the 2015
BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Djokovic won his 15th Grand Slam
singles title today to break a tie with his idol, Pete Sampras, for third
place on the all-time list. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Most signs pointed to another classic today in the Australian Open men's singles final.

   Novak Djokovic is ranked No. 1 and Rafael Nadal No. 2.

   Djokovic was coming off a near-flawless performance against Lucas Pouille of France. Nadal hadn't lost a set in the tournament.

   Djokovic had outlasted Nadal in 5 hours, 53 minutes in 2012 in their only previous meeting in the Australian Open final. That remains the longest title match in Grand Slam history.

   But in one of the most impressive performances of his career, Djokovic streamrolled Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in 2 hours, 4 minutes. Nadal was playing in only his second tournament since August because of injuries.

   Djokovic laced 34 winners and committed only nine unforced errors after finishing with 24 and five, respectively, against Pouille. In both matches combined, Djokovic had 14 aces and no double faults.

   "It ranks right at the top," said Djokovic, who improved to 28-25 against Nadal. "Under the circumstances, playing against Nadal, such an important match, it's amazing. Obviously, back-to-back semifinals and final, I think I made 15 unforced errors in total in two matches. It's quite pleasantly surprising to myself, as well, even though I always believe I can play this way, visualize myself playing this way. At this level ... it was truly a perfect match."

   Djokovic, 31, won his seventh Australian Open singles title, breaking the record he had shared with Roger Federer and Roy Emerson.

   It was Djokovic's third consecutive Grand Slam crown, all in straight sets, after a drought of more than two years and his 15th major singles title, snapping a tie with his idol, Pete Sampras, for third place all time behind Federer (20) and Nadal (17). 

   "(Sampras) was someone that I look up to," Djokovic said. "When I started to play tennis, one of the first images (I had) was him playing Wimbledon, winning (his second major) title back in '93. I was a small boy in Kopaonik, this mountain resort in the south of Serbia. Nobody had ever touched a tennis racket before me. I did not have a tennis tradition in my family. I did have sports tradition. So it was definitely a sign of destiny to start playing tennis, to aspire to be as good as Pete. To surprass him with Grand Slam titles, I'm speechless." 

   It was also Djokovic's most one-sided victory in a Grand Slam final, edging his 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 domination of Andy Murray in the 2011 Australian Open, and Nadal's only straight-set loss in a major title match.

   "I think he played fantastic," said Nadal, who fell to 1-4 in Australian Open finals. "When he's playing that way, I think I needed something else. I was not able to have that extra 'thing' tonight. (It) was unbelievable the way that he played, no doubt about that. ...
   "I played fantastic tennis during both weeks, but probably (by) playing that well, I didn't suffer much. Five months without competing, having that big challenge in front of me, I needed something else. ... That's my feeling, to compete at this super-high level."

   Nadal was trying to become the first man in the Open era (since 1968) and the third man in history (with Emerson and Rod Laver) to win each of the four Grand Slam titles twice.

   In the men's doubles final, fifth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France completed a career Grand Slam with a 6-4, 7-6 (1) victory over 12th-seeded Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia. Kontinen and Peers won the 2017 Australian Open.

Osaka wins second straight Slam, will climb to No. 1

Naomi Osaka, shown at Stanford in 2014, beat Petra Kvitova
7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4 today to win the Australian Open. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Players typically suffer a letdown after winning their first Grand Slam title.
   It's only natural to relax after achieving a lifelong goal, plus it takes time to adjust to the demands of fame. The slump can last months or years.
   Then there's Naomi Osaka.
   The 21-year-old Japanese phenom won her second consecutive Grand Slam title today, topping Petra Kvitova 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4 in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Osaka, seeded fourth, failed to convert three championship points with Kvitova, seeded eighth, serving at 5-3 in the second set of their first career meeting. But Osaka recovered to break serve for 2-1 in the third set and held on to triumph after 2 hours, 27 minutes.
   "Sorry, public speaking isn't my strong point, so I hope I can get through this," Osaka, seeded fourth, told the crowd after receiving the trophy. "I wouldn't have wanted this to be out first match, but huge congratulations to you (Kvitova) and your team. You are amazing, and I am honored to have played you in a Grand Slam final."
   Osaka, coached by Sascha Bajin, became the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win her first two Grand Slam finals and the first to win two consecutive majors since Serena Williams in 2014-15.
   On Monday, Osaka will become the first Japanese player, man or woman, to climb to No. 1 and the youngest woman to do so since Caroline Wozniacki at 20 in 2010.
   Born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother, Osaka has lived in the United States since she was 3. Her 22-year-old sister, Mari, is ranked No. 324. They learned tennis from their father, Leonard Francois, who was inspired after watching the Williams sisters play in the 1999 French Open.
   Osaka made her WTA main-draw debut in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. As a 16-year-old qualifier in the tournament, she saved a match point and ousted 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in the first round before losing to eighth-seeded Andrea Petkovic.
   Kvitova, a 28-year-old left-hander, played in her first Grand Slam final since winning Wimbledon in 2014 for her second title there. She suffered career-threatening cuts to her left hand in a December 2016 knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic and missed more than four months.
   "It's crazy," said Kvitova, who will match her career high of No. 2 and would have become the oldest first-time world No. 1 with a victory. "I can't believe I have just played in the final of a Grand Slam again. It was a great final. Well done, Naomi — to her team as well. You really played well. Congratulations for being world No. 1 as well."

   Kvitova reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 Bank of the West Classic in her only Northern California appearance. The tournament moved to San Jose last year as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.
   In today's mixed doubles final, third-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., beat Australian wild cards Astra Sharma and John-Patrick Smith 7-6 (3), 6-1.
   Top-ranked Novak Djokovic will face second-seeded Rafael Nadal for the men's singles title on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. California time (ESPN) in rematch of their epic 2012 Australian Open final, which Djokovic won 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5. At 5 hours, 53 minutes, it remains the longest Grand Slam title match in history.
   Djokovic is 27-25 overall and 3-4 in major finals against Nadal, The 2012 marathon is their only meeting in an Australian Open final.
   Nadal has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, second behind Roger Federer's 20. Djokovic has captured 14, including the last two, to tie his idol, Pete Sampras, for third place.
   Six of Djokovic's crowns have come in the Australian Open, a record he shares with Roger Federer and Roy Emerson. Nadal is 1-3 in Australian Open finals, having won in 2009 and lost in 2012, 2014 and 2017.  

Djokovic demolishes Pouille, will face Nadal for title

Novak Djokovic crushed Lucas Pouille 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in the Australian
Open semifinals. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Novak Djokovic set up a rematch of an epic battle with a near-flawless performance today.
   The top-ranked Djokovic made only five unforced errors in a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 annihilation of 28th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France in the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne. The match lasted all of 1 hour, 23 minutes.
   Djokovic, 31, will meet archrival Rafael Nadal, 32, for the title on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. California time (ESPN).
   "I would definitely buy a ticket," Djokovic cracked after disposing of Pouille.
   Djokovic outlasted Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in the 2012 Australian Open final. At 5 hours, 53 minutes, it remains the longest Grand Slam title match in history.
   "Once-in-a-lifetime experience," Djokovic recalled, "and hopefully the outcome can be the same for me."
  Djokovic is 27-25 overall and 3-4 in major finals against Nadal. The 2012 marathon is their only meeting in the Australian Open final.
   Nadal has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, second behind Roger Federer's 20. Djokovic has captured 14, including the last two, to tie with Pete Sampras for third place,
   Six of Djokovic's major crowns have come in the Australian Open, a record he shares with Federer and Roy Emerson.
   Nadal is 1-3 in Australian Open finals, having won in 2009 and lost in 2012, 2014 and 2017.
   Unseeded Samantha Stosur of Australia and Zhang Shuai of China won the women's doubles title, beating second seeds and defending champions Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-3, 6-4.
   Stosur, 34, reached two singles semifinals (2009 and 2010) and two singles quarterfinals (2006 and 2008) in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. The tournament moved to San Jose last year as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

Kvitova, Osaka advance to Aussie final; so does Nadal

Petra Kvitova reached her first Grand Slam
final since 2014. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Petra Kvitova, who was severely injured in a 2016 knife attack, today reached her first Grand Slam final since 2014.
   Seeded eighth, Kvitova outslugged unseeded Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., 7-6 (2), 6-0 and became the first Czech woman to advance to the Australian Open final since Jana Novotna lost to Monica Seles in 1991.
   The roof on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne was closed at 4-4 in the first set because of 104-degree (40.0 Celsius) heat.
   Kvitova, who captured the Sydney title two weeks ago, extended her winning streak to 11 matches. She has not lost a set in six Australian Open matches.
   Collins crushed second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who won the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles in the 2016 Australian Open, 6-0, 6-2 in the fourth round.
   Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion, suffered career-threatening cuts to her left (playing) hand in the December 2016 attack at her home in the Czech Republic.
   In her only Northern California appearance, Kvitova reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 and last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Collins, a two-time NCAA singles champion from the University of Virginia, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2017 Sacramento Challenger and the semifinals of last year's inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose.

Naomi Osaka will try to win her second consecutive
major title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan prevented an all-Czech final, beating seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
   Pliskova ousted Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the third set and saving four match points. Williams rolled her left ankle on the first match point.
   Osaka, 21, will seek her second consecutive Grand Slam singles title when she meets Kvitova for the first time on Saturday at 12:30 a.m. California time (ESPN).
   Osaka's first big win came in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic. As a 16-year-old qualifier playing her first main-draw match on the WTA tour, Osaka saved a match point and ousted 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur. Pliskova reached the Stanford final the following year, losing to Kerber.
   Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion and a three-time runner-up in Melbourne, outclassed 14th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, a 20-year-old Greek, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 in a men's semifinal.
   "It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely," Tsitsipas told reporters. "He gives you no rhythm. He plays just a different game style than the rest of the players. He has this, I don't know, talent that no other player has. I've never seen a player have this. He makes you play bad."
   Nadal will face either top-ranked Novak Djokovic, a six-time Australian Open champion, or 28th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France for the title on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. (ESPN).
   In the men's doubles semifinals, fifth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France outclassed unseeded Ryan Harrison of Austin, Texas, and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, 6-4, 6-2.
   Herbert and Mahut, who are trying to complete a career Grand Slam in men's doubles, will meet 12th seeds and 2017 champions Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia for the title.

Pliskova stuns Serena with amazing comeback

Karolina Pliskova, shown in 2015, overcame a 5-1 deficit
in the third set to shock Serena Williams in the Australian
Open quarterfinals. Photo by Mal Taam

   Karolina Pliskova said her "mind was in the locker room."
   With good reason.
   Pliskova, the runner-up in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, was playing Serena Williams, a part-time Silicon Valley resident and three-time winner of the now-defunct Bank of the West Classic, today in the Australian Open quarterfinals in Melbourne.
   Williams had a match point serving at 5-1 in the third set when Pliskova wrong-footed her. Williams, seeded 16th, rolled her left ankle and lost the point. She did not call for a trainer but never won another game as Pliskova, seeded seventh, saved three more match points in a stunning 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory in Melbourne.
   Pliskova prevented a rematch of last year's controversial U.S. Open final, which 20-year-old Naomi Osaka won for her first Grand Slam title. In today's preceding match at Rod Laver Arena, Osaka beat sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1.
   Williams, 37, was trying to win her record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title and first since the 2017 Australian Open. She has reached two major finals since delivering her first child on Sept. 1, 2017.
   In the men's quarterfinals, 28th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France took out 16th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal. Also, top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-1, 4-1, retired (quadriceps). Nishikori was coming off a 5-hour, 5-minute victory over Pablo Carreno Busta.
   Raonic never lost a set in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011-13) before the tournament was discontinued. Djokovic hopes to win his seventh Australian Open singles title and first since 2016.
   Meanwhile, a U.S. men's team reached the doubles semifinals, but it wasn't fourth-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan. Unseeded Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, topped seventh-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
   The 40-year-old Bryans (Stanford, 1997-98), playing in their first tournament together since last May, lost to Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 7-6 (3). Bob Bryan underwent hip surgery in August.
   The Bryans were seeking their seventh Australian Open men's doubles crown but first since 2013.

Tsitsipas becomes first Greek to reach major semifinal

   It's hard to say what's most impressive about Stefanos Tsitsipas.
   His powerful serve? His flowing one-handed backhand? His poise? His soulfulness?
   The 20-year-old phenom avoided a letdown after ousting Roger Federer, beating 22nd-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) today to reach the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne.
   "I'm just living the dream, living what I've been working hard for," Tsitsipas, seeded 14th, said in an on-court interview. "I feel a bit emotional but not too much because I really worked hard to get here, the semis of a Grand Slam."
   Tsitsipas blasted 22 aces and won 84 percent of the points on his first serve (62 of 74). He became the first Greek and youngest man since Novak Djokovic in the 2007 U.S. Open to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
   Tsitsipas will face second-seeded Rafael Nadal, who dismantled unseeded Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Tiafoe, who turned 21 on Sunday, won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016 at age 18.
   Danielle Collins also backed up a big upset to reach her first major semifinal. In a matchup of unseeded players, the 25-year-old American defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
   Collins was coming off a 6-0, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who won the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles in the 2016 Australian Open.
   Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at age 15.
   Collins will play eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova, who eliminated 15th-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-1, 6-4 to reach her first major semifinal since winning her second Wimbledon title in 2014. Kvitova suffered career-threatening cuts to her left (playing) hand in a knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic in December 2016.
   Kvitova's victory ensures that Simona Halep will be deposed as the world No. 1, wtatennis.com reported. Either Kvitova, Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina or Karolina Pliskova will replace Halep. Only Pliskova has been ranked No. 1.
   In the women's doubles quarters, second seeds and defending champions Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France beat ninth-seeded Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of Sacramento and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-4, 7-5.

Serena tops Halep for QF berth in Aussie Open

   Serena Williams took a big step in her quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.
   In a matchup of former and current No. 1 players, the 16th-seeded Williams outlasted top-seeded Simona Halep 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 early Monday (California time) for a berth in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
   Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, improved to 9-2 against Halep, including a Williams retirement. They met for the first time since Williams' 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2016 U.S. Open.
   Williams will play seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who dismissed 18th-seeded Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 6-1 in 60 minutes in Melbourne.
   In the other quarterfinal in the top half of the draw, fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka will meet sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina.
   Osaka, who won last year's U.S. Open at 20, advanced despite losing the first set for the second consecutive match. She topped 13th-seeded Anastasia Sevastova of Latvia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   Osaka's first big win came in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. As a 16-year-old qualifier playing her first main-draw match on the WTA tour, Osaka ousted 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 in the opening round. Osaka saved a match point in the tiebreaker and overcame a 3-5 deficit in the third set. She then fell to No. 8 seed Andrea Petkovic.
   Svitolina, a semifinalist in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic, beat 17th-seeded Madison Keys, the 2017 Bank of the West champion, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.
   Williams seeks her first Grand Slam title since the 2017 Australian Open. She has reached two major finals since delivering her first child on Sept. 1, 2017.
   Halep lost to Caroline Wozniacki in last year's Australian Open final after leading by a service break at 4-3 in the third set. Halep, however, defeated Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, after trailing by a set and a break to win the French Open five months later. Halep had been 0-3 in major finals.
   Williams had not lost more than two games in a set in three Australian Open matches this year. Halep, meanwhile, also was extended to three sets in the first two rounds.
   Halep trailed 4-2 in the third set against 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin, who won the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July, in the second round.
   On the men's side today, 16th-seeded Milos Raonic beat fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (5) to reach the quarterfinals. Raonic never lost a set in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011-13) before the tournament was discontinued.
   Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, seeking his seventh Australian Open singles crown, beat 15th-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
   Djokovic will meet eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori, who outlasted 23rd-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7 (8), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (8) in 5 hours, 5 minutes. Carreno Busta led 8-5 in the decisive tiebreaker, when a decision by the chair umpire went against him.
   After the match, an irate Carreno Busta threw his racket bag, yelled at the umpire, stormed off the court and continued screaming in the tunnel. He apologized later.
   In a late doubles match between unseeded American teams, Ryan Harrison and San Francisco native Sam Querrey defeated Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Collins crushes Kerber; Federer, Stephens fall

Danielle Collins, playing at Indian Wells last March, demolished second-seeded
Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-2 today in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Photo by Mal Taam

   Danielle Collins didn't just beat Angelique Kerber.
   She crushed her.
   Collins, a 25-year-old American, dismissed the second-seeded Kerber 6-0, 6-2 in 56 minutes today in the Australian Open in Melbourne to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   Collins overwhelmed Kerber, who won the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and 2016 Australian Open for the first of her three major singles titles, with blistering groundstrokes.
   Collins slugged 29 winners to Kerber's six. Both players committed 17 unforced errors.
   "I had a solid warmup, and I was feeling great," Collins, from Tampa, Fla., said in an on-court interview. "My coaches gave me a great game plan, and I executed it well.
   "They said, 'You're physically stronger than her, and you can rally with her. It's up to you.' I was feeling my shots today, so I decided to put the pedal to the metal and put pressure on her."
   Collins, a two-time NCAA singles champion from the University of Virginia, had never won a main-draw match in a Grand Slam tournament until this week. She reached the semifinals in last year's inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose and the quarterfinals in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger.
   Collins will take on resurgent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. The unseeded Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2006 at 15, beat fifth-seeded Sloane Stephens, a 25-year-old Fresno product, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3.
   Another former Australian Open champion, Maria Sharapova, also lost. Ashleigh Barty, seeded 15th, eliminated Sharapova, the 30th seed and 2008 titlist, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to become the first Australian to reach the quarters in Melbourne since Jelena Dokic in 2009.
   Sharapova was coming off a three-set victory over defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.
   Barty will play Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion who breezed past 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-1 in 59 minutes. Anisimova won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger at 15.
   On the men's side, 14th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, ousted third seed and two-time defending champion Roger Federer 6-7 (11), 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (5) to become the first Greek to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. Tsitsipas saved four set points in the second set.
   Federer, who has won a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, failed to reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Slam and the semifinals for the fourth major in a row.
   Unseeded American Frances Tiafoe, playing on his 21st birthday, beat 20th seed and friend Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-5, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 7-5 to gain his first major quarterfinal.
   Tiafoe, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, celebrated by taking off his shirt, slapping his right biceps again, getting down on his knees, lowering his head and slapping the court. He had to compose himself before speaking in an on-court interview.
   "I told my parents 10 years ago that I was going to be a pro to change their lives and my life," said Tiafoe, who will earn at least $330,000 (U.S.). "Now I'm in the quarters of a Slam. It's unbelievable."
   Tiafoe, who won the $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger in 2016 and ousted fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson in the second round of the Australian Open, will take on Rafael Nadal, the second seed and 2009 Australian Open champion who outclassed unseeded Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
   In doubles, fourth-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan and ninth-seeded Raquel Atawo and Katarina Srebotnik advanced to the men's and women's quarterfinals, respectively.
   The 40-year-old Bryans (Stanford, 1997-98) defeated Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (4).
   Atawo (Cal, 2001-04), a 36-year-old Sacramento resident, and Srebotnik, a 37-year-old Slovenian, topped Romanians Irina Bara and Monica Niculescu 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Ex-world No. 1 to face current No. 1 in Australian Open

   Serena Williams continues to roll in a quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.
   Williams, a 37-year-old part-time resident of Silicon Valley, dismissed 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 6-2, 6-1 in 67 minutes today in the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   The 16th-seeded Williams has not lost more than two games in a set in the tournament. The former world No. 1 will face current No. 1 Simona Halep, who dispatched Venus Williams 6-2, 6-3, for a quarterfinal berth.
   Serena Williams is 8-2 against Halep, including a Williams retirement.
   Fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka, the reigning U.S. Open champion, overcame 28th-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. Osaka, 21, of Japan trailed 4-1 (one service break) in the second set.
   Osaka will meet 13th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. Osaka beat Sevastova 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 two weeks ago in the Brisbane quarterfinals to even the head-to-head series 2-2.
   On the men's side, top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat 25th-seeded Denis Shapovalov, a 19-year-old Canadian, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
   Djokovic, a six-time Australian Open champion, will play 15th-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 2-0.
   In the second round of women's doubles, ninth-seeded Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of Sacramento and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia downed Margarita Gasparyan of Russia and Daria Gavrilova of Australia 6-2, 6-4. Both Gasparyan and Gavrilova were born in Moscow.

Anisimova, 17, routs No. 11 seed; Stephens, Tiafoe win

Amanda Anisimova displays her credential at the Indian
Wells Challenger last February. Photo courtesy of JFS
Communications

   Amanda Anisimova, a 17-year-old American, dismantled No. 11 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-2 in 65 minutes on Thursday (California time) to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
   Sabalenka, 20, is coached by former Northern California resident Dmitry Tursunov.
   Anisimova, who won her maiden professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger at 15, has advanced to the second week of a major for the first time.
   Anisimova will meet No. 8 seed Petra Kvitova, who beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-1, 6-4. Anisimova defeated Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon singles champion, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round at Indian Wells last March in their only previous meeting.
   Meanwhile, No. 30 seed and 2008 Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova eliminated No. 3 seed and defending champ Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
   No. 5 seed Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, topped No. 31 seed Petra Martic of Croatia 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). Stephens will play Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who dismissed Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-0, 6-3 in 60 minutes. Pavlyuchenkova played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 15 in 2006.
   On the men's side, 20-year-old Frances Tiafoe of Orlando, Fla., outlasted Andreas Seppi, a 34-year-old Italian, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Tiafoe, who won the 2016 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger at 18, is the last remaining U.S. man in singles. He will face No. 20 seed Grigor Dimitrov, a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 winner over Thomas Fabbiano of Italy and a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist.
   Fabbiano, only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters), reached the semifinals of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger last August as the top seed.
   No. 3 seed Roger Federer, seeking his third consecutive Australian Open title and seventh overall, dismantled Taylor Fritz, a 21-year-old American, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. Fritz won the $100,000 Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back-to-back in 2015 at 17.
   In the second round of men's doubles, No. 4 seeds and ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan beat Adrian Mannarino of France and Andreas Mies of Germany 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
   Like Federer, the 40-year-old Bryans seek their seventh Australian Open title. The difference is that the Bryans' last one came in 2013. They are playing in their first major since Bob underwent hip surgery in August.
   Ryan Harrison of Austin, Texas, and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, beat Austin Krajicek of Bryan, Texas, and Artem Sitak, a Russia native who plays for New Zealand, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
   In the first round, Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin of France defeated Mackenzie McDonald, from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., 6-4, 6-4.

Berkeley champ Kenin blows late lead, loses to Halep

Sofia Kenin, playing in the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis
Club Challenge last July, lost to top-ranked Simona
Halep today in the Australian Open after leading 4-2
in the third set. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Top-ranked Simona Halep rallied to defeat Sofia Kenin, a 20-year-old American, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 today in the second round of the Australian Open.
   Kenin, who won the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July, overcame a 6-3, 3-0 deficit to lead 4-2 in the third set of a grueling baseline battle that lasted 2 hours, 31 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
   Halep will play Venus Williams, a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 winner over Alize Cornet of France, in a matchup of Australian Open runners-up.
   No. 16 seed Serena Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, dominated Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 6-2, 6-2. Williams will play Dayana Yastremska, an 18-year-old Ukrainian who beat No. 23 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
   Williams, 37, seeks her eighth Australian Open title and record-tying 24th Grand Slam crown in singles. She improved to 3-0 against Bouchard, 24, also winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round at Cincinnati in 2013 and 6-1, 6-1 in the round-robin phase of the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore.
   Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon runner-up to Petra Kvitova, has slumped from a career-high No. 5 that year to No. 79. She won her first career WTA doubles title two weeks ago in Auckland with Kenin.
   Bouchard sued the USTA after slipping on the wet floor of a dimly lit trainers room during the 2015 U.S. Open and suffering a head injury. The parties reached an undisclosed settlement last February.
   Meanwhile, Alexei Popyrin, a 19-year-old wild card from Australia, ousted seventh-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria 7-5, 6-4, 2-0, retired (fatigue). Popyrin squandered six match points in a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) loss to countryman James Duckworth in the second round of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger last September.
   Aussie wild card Alex Bolt, the runner-up in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger last October, took out No. 29 seed Gilles Simon of France, 2-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 in 4 hours, 4 minutes.
   In the first round of women's doubles, ninth-seeded Raquel Atawo, a 36-year-old former Cal star from Sacramento, and Katarina Srebotnik, 37, of Slovenia dominated Americans Amanda Anisimova, 17, and Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-3.
   On the men's side, eighth-seeded Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany lost in the first round after reaching the semifinals last year in their first tournament together. They fell to Radu Albot of Moldova and Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9).

Young Americans Tiafoe, Fritz, Anisimova upset seeds

Frances Tiafoe, right, poses with his trophy after beating fellow
American Noah Rubin to win the $100,000 Stockton (Calif.)
Challenger at age 18 in 2016. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The United States' youth brigade is beginning to make a big impact in Grand Slam tournaments.
   For the second time in three days, a U.S. male prospect ousted a top-10 seed in the Australian Open. Also, 21-year-old Taylor Fritz and 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova knocked off low seeds.
   Frances Tiafoe, who will turn 21 on Sunday, stunned 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Kevin Anderson, the fifth seed in Melbourne and runner-up in two of the last five majors, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 today in the second round.
   Anderson led 6-4, 3-0 before Tiafoe "just went to a different place," he told reporters. "I dug insanely deep. ... It's all about competing. Guys are so good, it's just how bad do you really want it? I wanted it real bad."
   Afterward, Tiafoe repeatedly slapped his right biceps and yelled in exultation.
   Anderson, 32, received treatment on his right elbow after the third set.
   On Sunday (California time), 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka, 21, eliminated 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, seeded ninth, in the first round.
   Thomas Fabbiano of Italy beat Opelka 6-7 (17-15), 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-5) in a late second-round match. Opelka pounded 67 aces, the fifth-highest match total ever.
   Fabbiano, only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters), reached the semifinals of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger last August as the top seed.
   Opelka lost in the first round of back-to-back $100,000 Challengers in Northern California last October as the second seed in Stockton and fourth seed in Fairfield.
   Tiafoe, who won the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016 at 18, reached the third round of a major for the second time. He will face 34-year-old Italian Andreas Seppi, who shocked Roger Federer to reach the fourth round of the 2015 Australian Open.
   Fritz, who won the $100,000 Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back-to-back at 17 in 2015, topped 30th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in 3 hours, 24 minutes.
   "Tiafoe, Opelka and Fritz are the new Big 3," trumpeted ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert, who could have included extremely athletic Michael Mmoh in a Big 4. "That's the future of American men's tennis."
   Fritz will take on the third-seeded Federer, 37, for the second time. Federer, who seeks his third consecutive Australian Open title and seventh overall, beat 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Briton Daniel Evans, the Aptos champion in 2016 and runner-up to Stanford graduate Bradley Klahn in 2013, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Evans returned from 10-month cocaine suspension last April.
   Federer edged Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the second round at Stuttgart on grass in 2016.
   Anisimova, who won her first professional title in the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2017 at 15, crushed 24th-seeded Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes. Tsurenko advanced to the U.S. Open quarterfinals last September before losing to eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
   Anisimova will play 11th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a 20-year-old Belarusian coached by former Northern California resident Dmitry Tursunov of Russia.
   Meanwhile, fifth seed and Fresno product Sloane Stephens dispatched Timea Babos of Hungary 6-3, 6-1. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, will meet 31st-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia.
   Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 15 in 2006, took out ninth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
   Sixth-seeded Marin Cilic, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Croat, beat 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 7-5, 6-7 (11-9), 6-4, 6-4. McDonald reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last July.
   In the first round of men's doubles, fourth seeds and ex-Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan beat Australian wild cards Alex Bolt and Marc Polmans 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1).
   The 40-year-old Bryans seek their seventh Australian Open men's doubles title but first since 2013. Bolt and Polmans reached the singles final in Fairfield and Stockton, respectively, last October.
   Americans Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, downed 16th-seeded Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
   Sixth-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand eliminated Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Los Angeles, and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Kukushkin lost to Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up to Federer, in the 2014 Aptos final.

Stanford grad, up two sets to none, falls to Chung

Bradley Klahn, playing in the $100,000 San Francisco Chal-
lenger last February, lost to No. 24 seed Hyeon Chung 6-7 (5),
6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Bradley Klahn was on his way to a big upset and his first main-draw victory in the Australian Open.
   But South Korea's Hyeon Chung, the 24th seed and a surprise semifinalist in Melbourne last year, beat the 28-year-old Stanford graduate 6-7 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in 3 hours, 37 minutes today.
   Klahn, who underwent his second operation for a herniated disc in 2015, had his back treated during the third set.
   Klahn, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander, finished with 22 aces, 58 winners and 84 unforced errors. Chung, 22, had 10 aces, 34 winners and 35 unforced errors.
   Meanwhile, Sam Querrey's slump continued with a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-1 loss to Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, has tumbled from a career-high No. 11 last February to No. 49.
   Serena Williams, seeded 16th, dismantled Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-0, 6-2 in a 49-minute matchup of neighbors in Palm Beach, Fla., and mothers.
   Williams, who also has a residence in Silicon Valley, seeks her eighth Australian Open title and a record-tying 24th Grand Slam crown in singles. She will face Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2014 to Petra Kvitova.
   Venus Williams, a two-time Australian Open runner-up (2003 and 2017), eliminated 25th-seeded Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-2.
   Venus Williams, 38, has a long history in Northern California. She made her WTA debut in Oakland at 14 in 1994, won two titles in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford (2000 and 2002) and reached the final there six times (1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2016).
   Buzarnescu, a 30-year-old left-hander with a long history of injuries, won the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, which replaced the Bank of the West Classic, last August in San Jose.
   Top-ranked Simona Halep avoided a second consecutive loss to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament, prevailing 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2. It was Halep's first match win since she reached the Cincinnati final last August.

Stephens ends Aussie Open drought; Isner, Murray lose

Reilly Opelka, serving during his first-
round loss in the $100,000 Stockton
(Calif.) Challenger last October, ousted
ninth seed and fellow U.S. giant John
Isner today in the opening round of the
Australian Open in Melbourne. Photo
by Paul Bauman

   Sloane Stephens won her first match in the Australian Open in five years today, beating fellow American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-2 in Melbourne.
   Stephens, a 25-year-old Fresno product now based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lost in the first round of the Australian Open in 2015, 2016 and 2018. She missed the 2017 tournament because of foot surgery but won the U.S. Open nine months later for her first Grand Slam title.
   Townsend, a 22-year-old left-hander, played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2013, the team's final year of existence.
   Stephens, seeded fifth, is scheduled to play Timea Babos of Hungary on Tuesday (California time). Babos, also 25, defeated Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, the 2011 French Open girls singles champion, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3).
   Stephens and Babos know each other well, having won three of four major girls doubles titles in 2010.
   Stephens made her first big splash in the 2013 Australian Open, stunning Serena Williams to reach the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.
   Meanwhile, Reilly Opelka's first main-draw victory in a Grand Slam tournament was a big one — in more ways than one.
   The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Opelka ousted 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, seeded ninth, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) in an all-American matchup. Isner blasted 47 aces, and Opelka had 40.
   Opelka lost in the first round of back-to-back $100,000 Challengers in Northern California last October as the second seed in Stockton and fourth seed in Fairfield.
   Five-time runner-up Andy Murray played his last match in the Australian Open -- if not his career -- losing 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-2 to 22nd-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.
   The 31-year-old Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level singles titles in San Jose (2006-07), announced Friday that he will retire by Wimbledon because of chronic hip pain.
   Bautista Agut won his ninth career ATP singles title two weeks ago in Doha, stunning top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
   Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated Andrey Rublev, a promising 21-year-old Russian rebounding from a stress fracture in his lower back, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. McDonald, only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms), next will face sixth-seeded Marin Cilic, who's 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters).
  McDonald, ranked No. 81, is making his second appearance in the Australian Open. He lost to third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 8-6 in the fifth set in the second round last year as a qualifier.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- Bernardo Saraiva, a 25-year-old former University of San Francisco star from Portugal, won his first Challenger doubles title.
   Unseeded Maxime Cressy, a 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) American originally from France, and Saraiva beat second-seeded Robert Galloway and Nathaniel Lammons of the United States 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the final of the $54,160 Columbus Challenger.
   In the $54,160 Canberra (Australia) Challenger, third-seeded Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil and Hugo Nys of France topped unseeded Andre Goransson of Sweden and Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-4 [10-3] for the crown. Goransson and Verbeek played at Cal and Pacific, respectively.

Berkeley champion Kenin earns first WTA singles title

Sofia Kenin, playing in Berkeley last July, routed Anna Karo-
lina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0 today to win the Hobart (Australia)
International. Photo by Paul Bauman

   You might say Sofia Kenin is in good form entering the Australian Open.
   Ditto for Ben McLachlan.
   One week after claiming her first WTA doubles title, Kenin did the same in singles.
   The 20-year-old American routed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-0 in 71 minutes today to win the Hobart (Australia) International.
    McLachlan, a 26-year-old former Cal star, and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany beat third-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand 6-3, 6-4 to capture the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   McLachlan, a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, and Struff reached the Australian Open semifinals last year in their first tournament together.
   In the Auckland singles final, unseeded Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., topped wild card Cameron Norrie, a New Zealand product who plays for Great Britain, 6-4, 6-2.
   Sandgren, a surprise quarterfinalist in last year's Australian Open, avenged a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Norrie in the final of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger in 2017. The left-handed Norrie also won the $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger the following week, beating Darian King of Barbados.
   Kenin reeled off the last nine games against Schmiedlova in a matchup of unseeded players to become the first American champion in Tasmania since Amy Frazier in 2004. Kenin and Eugenie Bouchard of Canada won last week's women's ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   "I feel in great form, and I'm really proud of myself," Kenin, who won the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July for her third title in Northern California in three years, told reporters. "I'm so happy with my start and will try to keep the momentum going."
   Kenin did not lose a set in the tournament, upsetting top-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 6-3, 6-2 in the first round, seventh-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 7-5, 7-5 in the quarterfinals and sixth-seeded Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals.
   Kenin also dismissed Garcia 6-3, 6-3 on grass in Mallorca in June for her first victory over a top-10 player and her first berth in a WTA semifinal.
   Kenin will make her top-40 debut on Monday, jumping from No. 56 to No. 37. She is scheduled to play Veronika Kudermetova, a 21-year-old Russian qualifier, in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday (California time). Kenin was born in Moscow and moved to the United States as a young child.
   It will be Kenin's second main-draw appearance in Melbourne. She lost to 12th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round last year.

Murray, two-time San Jose champ, says he'll retire soon

Andy Murray, troubled by a nagging hip injury, said he will
retire after Wimbledon at the latest. The upcoming Australian
could be his last tournament. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Andy Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level titles in San Jose, announced Thursday that he will retire after Wimbledon this year at the latest.
   Hobbled by a hip injury since June 2016, Murray said the Australian Open could be his last tournament. Play is scheduled for Sunday (California time) through Jan. 27.
   "I spoke to my team, and I told them, 'I cannot keep doing this,' " Murray, who underwent hip surgery last January, said in an emotional news conference in Melbourne. "I needed to have an end point because I was sort of playing with no idea when the pain was going to stop. I felt like making that decision.
   "I said to my team, 'Look, I think I can get through this until Wimbledon.' That's where I would like to stop playing. But I am also not certain I am able to do that."
   Murray, 31, has won three Grand Slam singles titles and two Olympic gold medals in singles. He ended British droughts of 77 years by winning Wimbledon in 2013 and 79 years by clinching a victory over Belgium in the 2015 Davis Cup final. Murray reached No. 1 in the world in November 2016.
   The last match of Murray's career could come Sunday against 22nd-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the first round of the Australian Open, in which Murray is a five-time runner-up.
   Bautista Agut won his ninth career ATP title last week in Doha, stunning top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
   Murray went 10-0 in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, winning the title in 2006 at 18 years old and the following year. He also won the Challenger in Aptos, a 45-minute drive south of San Jose, in 2005 at 18.
   Brad Gilbert, a lifelong San Francisco Bay area resident, coached Murray for 16 months in 2006 and 2007.
   Australian Open draw -- No. 16 seed Serena Williams, who has a residence in Silicon Valley, could face top-ranked Simona Halep or Venus Williams in the fourth round.
   Serena, who hopes to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, also could meet Naomi Osaka in the semifinals in a rematch of the controversial 2018 U.S. Open final, won by the then-20-year-old Japanese upstart.
   In the other half of the women's draw, No. 5 seed and Fresno product Sloane Stephens could play No. 2 seed and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.
   Three men with Northern California connections are unseeded.
   Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native, will meet Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France in the first round. The winner will play either No. 24 seed and 2018 semifinalist Hyeon Chung of South Korea or left-hander Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate.
   Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, will play Andrey Rublev, a promising 21-year-old Russian rebounding from a stress fracture in his lower back.
   Australian Open qualifying -- No. 3 seed Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland defeated ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs 6-3, 7-6 (3) to earn a main-draw berth.
   Gibbs led 3-0 (two service breaks) in the second set and served for the set at 6-5. She reached the second round or better in the Australian Open main draw for the last four years, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams in the third round in 2017.

Fish named Davis Cup captain; no ex-Stanford clash

Mardy Fish warms up between sets during a Sacramento
Capitals home match in 2013. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Mardy Fish, the runner-up in the 2009 SAP Open in San Jose and a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, was named the captain (coach) of the United States Davis Cup team today.
   Fish replaces Jim Courier, who stepped down in September after eight years.
   "It is something that is a dream job for me, something I won't take for granted," Fish, 37, said during a conference call. "To be the next Davis Cup captain is incredibly humbling."
   Fish retired in 2015 after battling an irregular heartbeat and severe anxiety. He competed in the Davis Cup from 2002 to 2012, won the singles silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics and reached a career-high No. 7 in 2011.
   Fish lost to Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the final of the 2009 SAP Open and played part-time for the Capitals in 2012 and 2013.
   The SAP Open ended a 125-year run in Northern California in 2013. The Capitals announced in February 2014 that they were moving to Las Vegas after 28 years in Sacramento and folded the following month.
   The Davis Cup will enter a new era this year. Instead of rounds being played months apart each year, an 18-team tournament is scheduled for Nov. 18-24 in Madrid.
   Australian Open qualifying -- Nicole Gibbs won't have to play a friend and former teammate for a berth in the main draw in Melbourne.
   The 18th-seeded Gibbs beat Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of qualifying, but Kristie Ahn lost to third-seeded Victorija Golubic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4.
   Gibbs and Ahn played No. 1 and 2, respectively, on Stanford's 2013 NCAA championship team.
   Golubic, ranked No. 104, is 3-1 (2-1 on hard courts) against Gibbs, ranked No. 127. They last met in September, with Golubic winning 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of qualifying in Wuhan, China, on the WTA tour on an outdoor hard court.
   College rankings -- The NCAA defending champion Stanford women are No. 1 in the year's first rankings, and the Cardinal men are No. 10. Neither the Cal men nor women cracked the Top 25.

Ex-Stanford teammates could meet for Aussie Open spot

Nicole Gibbs, playing in the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis
Club Challenge last July, could face former Stanford
teammate Kristie Ahn for a berth in the Australian
Open main draw. Photo by Paul Bauman

   It will take an upset, but friends and former Stanford teammates Nicole Gibbs and Kristie Ahn could meet for a berth in the Australian Open main draw.
   Gibbs and Ahn -- who played No. 1 and 2, respectively, on Stanford's 2013 NCAA championship team -- won their first-round qualifying matches in straight sets today in Melbourne.
   The 18th-seeded Gibbs, a 25-year-old resident of Venice in the Los Angeles area, beat Elitsa Kostova of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-2. Ahn, 26, of Boca Raton, Fla., dismissed Gabriella Taylor of Great Britain 6-1, 6-1 in 62 minutes.
   On Wednesday (California time), Gibbs will play Paula Ormaechea of Argentina, and Ahn will face third-seeded Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland. The winners will meet for a spot in the main draw.
   Gibbs, ranked No. 127, and the 26-year-old Ormaechea, ranked No. 235, have split two career matches. Ormaechea won 6-2, 6-1 on a clay court in 2014, and Gibbs triumphed 6-2, 6-3 on a hard court in 2012. The 26-year-old Golubic, ranked No. 104, and Ahn, ranked No. 210, will meet for the first time.
   Gibbs, the runner-up in the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July, has reached the second round or better in the Australian Open main draw for the past four years. She advanced to the third round in 2017, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-3.
   Ahn seeks her second main-draw berth in Melbourne. As a wild card there last year, she lost to 20th-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5 in the first round.

Brooksby loses to Austin's son in $25K L.A. semifinals

Jenson Brooksby practices at the JMG Tennis Academy in
Sacramento last May. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Jenson Brooksby will have to be content with reaching his second consecutive semifinal in a professional tournament.
   The 18-year-old amateur from the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael lost to wild card Brandon Holt, the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Los Angeles $25,000 Pro Tournament.
   Holt is playing on his home courts at USC, where he is a junior.
   Brooksby, who won the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., last August to earn a wild card in the U.S. Open, also reached the semis of a $25,000 tournament in Waco, Texas, last November. He plans to enroll at Baylor in Waco in the fall or next January. Brooksby still seeks his first berth in a pro final.
 

NorCal juniors dominate; Brooksby routs top seed

Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area swept
the girls 18 titles in the USTA National Winter Championships
in Orlando, Fla. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Juniors from Northern California, not more-heralded Florida or Southern California, dominated the singles events in past week's USTA National Winter Championships.
   Of the eight singles titles offered in Orlando, Fla., (boys and girls 18s and 16s) and Tucson, Ariz., (boys and girls 14s and 12s), NorCal players won five.
   Ishaan Ravichander (boys 18), Connie Ma (girls 18), and Luke Casper (boys 16) today joined Ria Bhakta (girls 14) and Mason Nguyen (boys 12) as champions.
   The 17th-seeded Ravichander, 16, defeated ninth-seeded Zachery Lim 7-6 (2) on a hard court at the USTA National Campus in a matchup of players from Sacramento's JMG Tennis Academy.
   Ravichander lost two sets in his seven tournament matches, including his 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory over 17th-seeded Finn Garner of Annapolis, Md., in the fourth round.
   The fourth-seeded Ma, a 15-year-old resident of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area, downed third-seeded Alana Wolfberg of Orlando 6-4, 6-0.
   Ma, only 5-foot-3 (1.60 meters) and 95 pounds (43.1 kilograms), won the last nine games against the Oklahoma State signee and dropped no more than four games in a set in the tournament. She also won the doubles title with Anna Campana of Hillsborough in the Bay Area on Thursday.
   The fifth-seeded Casper, a Santa Cruz resident who turned 16 on Dec. 16, beat 13th-seeded Quinn Snyder of Delran, N.J., 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Har-Tru at the USTA National Campus.
   Casper never lost a set in the tournament, winning three tiebreakers.
   USTA Pro Circuit -- Unseeded Jenson Brooksby, an 18-year-old amateur from Carmichael in the Sacramento area, routed top-seeded Dmitry Popko, a 22-year-old Russia native who plays for Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-0 in 68 minutes in $25,000 Los Angeles to reach the semifinals of a professional tournament for the second time.
   Popko, at No. 351, is the highest-ranked player and second consecutive top seed whom Brooksby has beaten. He also shocked 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Michael Redlicki of Fayetteville, Ark., en route to the semis of the $25,000 Waco (Texas) Futures in November.
   Brooksby, who plans to enroll at Baylor in Waco in the fall or next January, will meet wild card Brandon Holt, a USC junior and the son of International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin.

Ma, 2 others reach Winter finals; Brooksby survives; etc.

Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area, will
play for the girls 18 singles title in the USTA National Winter
Championships in Orlando, Fla. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Three more Northern California juniors will play for singles titles in the USTA National Winter Championships.
   Advancing today in Orlando, Fla., were 15-year-old Connie Ma of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area in the girls 18s, Zachery Lim of Fairfield in the boys 18s and Luke Casper of Santa Cruz in the boys 16s.
   Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the Bay Area and Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento region won the girls 14 and boys 12 crown, respectively, in Tucson, Ariz., on Wednesday.
   The fourth-seeded Ma, only 5-foot-3 (1.60 meters) and 95 pounds (43.1 kilograms),  routed eighth-seeded Carly Briggs of Calhoun, Ga., 6-2, 6-1. Ma will face third-seeded Alana Wolfberg, an Orlando resident and Oklahoma State recruit who topped unseeded India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon in the Bay Area 7-6 (4), 6-4.
   Anna Campana of Hillsborough in the Bay Area and Ma, seeded 15th in doubles, beat fourth-seeded Allie Gretkowski of Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Anna Ross of Charleston, S.C., 6-4, 6-2 for the title.
   The ninth-seeded Lim defeated 14th-seeded Daniel Milavsky of Needham, Mass., 7-6 (4), 6-2 to set up a match against 17th-seeded Ishaan Ravichander of Belle Mead, N.J.
   Casper, seeded fifth, eliminated 11th-seeded Samir Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J., 6-1, 7-5. Casper will meet 13th-seeded Quinn Snyder of Delran, N.J.
   ITF World Tour -- Jenson Brooksby, 18, of Carmichael in the Sacramento region saved two match points in a 2-6, 7-6 (10), 7-5 victory over Brandon Nakashima, 17, of San Diego in the second round of the Los Angeles $25,000 Pro Tournament.
   Brooksby, who's headed to Baylor, won all three of his matches against Nakashima last year in straight sets. Each match was in the juniors, including the best-of-five-set final in the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.
   Brooksby will face top-seeded Dmitry Popko, a 22-year-old Russia native who plays for Kazakhstan, in the quarterfinals.
   WTA Tour -- Unseeded Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia held off Amanda Anisimova, a 17-year-old wild card from Aventura, Fla., 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, ousted fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic in the second round.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- No. 14 seed Mathias Bourgue of France defeated wild card Sam Riffice, a Florida freshman from Roseville in the Sacramento area, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the third round of the $50,000 Orlando (Fla.) Open.
   Riffice stunned fourth-seeded Filip Peliwo of Canada in the second round. Peliwo won the 2012 Wimbledon boys singles title.

Bhakta, Nguyen claim National Winter singles titles

   Ninth-seeded Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area crushed fifth-seeded Kinaa Graham of Austin, Texas, 6-0, 6-0 today to win the girls 14 title in the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Bhakta lost an average of only 1.4 games per set in her seven tournament matches. Her closest match came in the fourth round, a 6-3, 6-4 victory over sixth-seeded Sia Chaudry of Midlothian, Va.
   Ninth-seeded Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento area captured the boys 12 title in Tucson, beating fourth-seeded Maxwell Exsted of Savage, Minn., 6-4, 7-5.
   Nguyen was not tested until the semifinals, in which he ousted third-seeded Santiago Muhala of Katy, Texas, 6-4, 7-5. Nguyen also toppled second-seeded Cooper Woestendick of Olathe, Kan., 6-2, 6-0 in the fourth round.
   In Orlando, Fla., India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon in the Bay Area and Luke Casper of Santa Cruz knocked off the top seed in the girls 18 and boys 16 quarterfinals, respectively.
   Houghton, the runner-up in the Orange Bowl 16s last month, took out Anessa Lee of San Marino in the Los Angeles region 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2.
   Advancing in the other half of the draw was fourth-seeded Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the Bay Area. Ma, who also reached the doubles semifinals with Anna Campana of Hillsborough, helped the United States win the Junior Fed Cup in Budapest, Hungary, in September.
   Casper surprised Jack Anthrop of Orlando 6-3, 6-4. In the other half of the draw, 17th-seeded John Kim of Sunnyvale beat unseeded Carter Morgan of Jacksonville, Fla., 6-2, 6-4.
   In the boys 18 quarterfinals, ninth-seeded Zachery Lim of Fairfield topped 17th-seeded Joshua Raab of Woodstock, Ga., 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2. Lim will face 14th-seeded Daniel Milavsky, a resident of Needham, Mass., who downed 10th-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
   Also in the boys 18s, fourth-seeded Logan Zapp of Fleming Island, Fla., beat unseeded Karl Lee of Sacramento 6-4, 6-3.
   Anisimova scores upset -- Amanda Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, surprised fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova, a 32-year-old Czech ranked 33rd, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   Anisimova, a 17-year-old wide card from Aventura, Fla., ranked 90th, will play Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia. Kuzmova beat Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a matchup of 20-year-olds. Kenin won a Northern California Challenger for the third consecutive year in Berkeley in July.
   Strycova outlasted Kenin 6-4 in the third set to help the Czech Republic defeat the United States 3-0 in the Fed Cup final in Prague in November. Kenin played in the international team competition for the first time and Strycova for the last.

Fed tops Serena; Bryan back; Stephens stumbles; etc.

   Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Frances Tiafoe and Serena Williams 4-2, 4-3 (5-3) today, lifting Switzerland to a 2-1 victory over the United States in the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia.
   It was the first meeting between Federer, who has won a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, and Williams, who needs one more major singles crown to tie Margaret Court's mark of 24.
   Both Williams and Federer are 37. Williams has a residence in Silicon Valley, and Federer made his Northern California debut in a San Jose exhibition last March.
   Bryan returns -- Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Milos Raonic of Canada edged top-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, 40-year-old identical twins, 3-6, 6-4 (10-7) in the first round of the Brisbane International.
   Bob Bryan played for the first time since hurting his hip in the Madrid final in May. He underwent surgery on Aug. 2.
   All four players have Northern California connections.
   The Bryans led Stanford to the NCAA team title in both of their years there (1997-98).
   Lindstedt, 41, played at Fresno State before transferring to Pepperdine and reaching the 1998 NCAA doubles final, in which he and Kelly Gullett lost to the Bryans.
   Raonic, 28, never lost a set in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the last three titles (2011-13) before the tournament ended a 125-year run in NorCal.
   Stephens ousted early -- Johanna Konta of Great Britain eliminated third-seeded Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Brisbane International. Konta won the 2016 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Riffice scores big upset -- Wild card Sam Riffice, a Florida freshman from Roseville in the Sacramento area, stunned fourth-seeded Filip Peliwo of Canada 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the second round of the $50,000 Orlando (Fla.) Open. Peliwo won the 2012 Wimbledon boys singles title.
   USTA National Winter Championships -- Ria Bhakta of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mason Nguyen of El Dorado Hills in the Sacramento region reached the girls 14 and boys 12 singles final, respectively, in Tucson, Ariz.
   Both players are seeded ninth. Bhakta will meet fifth-seeded Kinaa Graham of Austin, Texas, and the Nguyen will play fourth-seeded Maxwell Exsted of Savage, Minn.
   Three boys and two girls from NorCal reached the 18s quarterfinals in Orlando. Advancing were ninth-seeded Zachery Lim of Fairfield, 10th-seeded Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara, unseeded Karl Lee of Sacramento, fourth-seeded Connie Ma of Dublin and unseeded India Houghton of Belvedere Tiburon.
   Moving into the boys 16 singles quarterfinals in Orlando were fifth-seeded Luke Casper of Santa Cruz and 17th-seeded John Kim of Sunnyvale.