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.