Martic stuns No. 2 seed in French Open; Stephens wins

   After winning the Italian Open two weeks ago, Karolina Pliskova looked like a strong contender for the French Open title.
   It didn't work out that way.
   No. 31 seed Petra Martic of Croatia shocked No. 2 seed Pliskova, the runner-up in the 2015 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, 6-3, 6-3 today in the third round in Paris.
   "The key was to focus on my game and try to dictate instead of letting her dictate, which is her biggest strength," Martic, who won Istanbul on clay last month, told reporters. "I had to kind of try to take it way from her, and at times it was difficult, especially when she broke me and when she got a few winners, which she's known for. I'm just happy that I managed in the end to hold my nerves and finish it off."
   Martic, 28, will try to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal when she faces unseeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia on Sunday. Kanepi, a two-time French Open quarterfinalist, beat unseeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Kudermetova ousted No. 13 seed Caroline Wozniacki, formerly ranked No. 1, in the opening round.
   No. 7 seed Sloane Stephens, a Fresno product who reached last year's French Open final, held off Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to set up a showdown against No. 19 seed Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion.
   Muguruza, who also won the doubles title in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic with fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, dismissed No. 9 seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3.
   The winner of the Stephens-Muguruza match will be favored to reach the final in the bottom half of the draw, which lost No. 4 seed Kiki Bertens to a gastrointestinal illness in the second round and No. 5 seed Angelique Kerber to an upset in the first round.
   Stephens, 26, and Muguruza, 25, have split two career matches, both on hard courts. In their last meeting, Stephens won 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth round at Miami last year.
   In the second round of women's doubles today, Americans Desirae Krawczyk and Jessica Pegula defeated Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of Sacramento and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 7-5, 6-3.
   Krawczyk won the doubles title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger with Giuliana Olmos from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Pegula reached the singles final of the 2012 Sacramento Challenger, losing to Modesto product Maria Sanchez, and advanced to the semifinals of the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last October.
   Pegula's parents, Terrence and Kim Pegula, own the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres.

Anisimova, 17, ousts No. 11 seed in French Open

Amanda Anisimova, who won her first professional title at 15 in Sacramento,
beat 11th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 today in the second round
of the French Open. 2018 photo courtesy of JFS Communications

   Amanda Anisimova today became the youngest American woman to reach the third round of the French Open since Serena Williams in 1998.
   And Anisimova has a good chance to gain her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   The 17-year-old from Aventura, Fla., who won her first professional title in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger, ousted 11th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 in Paris.
   Anisimova, who will turn 18 on Aug. 31, also beat Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
   Sabalenka is coached by Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who trained in Northern California as a junior and professional.
   Anisimova, at No. 51, is the highest-ranked player remaining in her eighth of the draw. She will play No. 116 Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania on Saturday. It will be their first meeting.
   The winner of that match will meet No. 58 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia or No. 137 Aliona Bolsova of Spain. Looming in the quarterfinals is third seed and defending champion Simona Halep.
   Williams, a three-time French Open champion (2002, 2013 and 2015) and part-time Silicon Valley resident, dismissed qualifier Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-3, 6-2.
   Williams will play 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin for the first time. Kenin -- who won Northern California Challenger singles titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018 -- advanced when 22nd-seeded Bianca Andreescu of Canada withdrew because of a shoulder injury.
   In an all-brothers doubles match, seventh-seeded Bob Bryan of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., topped Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski of Great Britain 7-5, 7-6 (6) in the second round.
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) won the French Open in 2003 and 2013.

Stephens advances, Bertens quits match in French Open

   Seventh-seeded Sloane Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, beat Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-1, 7-6 (3) today in the second round of the French Open in Paris.
   Stephens, last year's runner-up to Simona Halep, is scheduled to meet Polona Hercog of Slovenia on Friday. Hercog, who won her third career singles title in Lugano in April, outlasted Jennifer Brady of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-4. Brady swept the singles and doubles titles in the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger in 2014.
   Hercog, ranked 71st, has never won a set against Stephens, ranked seventh, in three career matches. Stephens won their first meeting 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the 2014 French Open and their last encounter 6-2, 7-6 (4) three weeks ago in the first round on clay in Madrid.
   Fourth-seeded Kiki Bertens, the Madrid champion, retired with a gastrointestinal illness while trailing Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 1-3.
   In the first round of women's doubles, Raquel Atawo (Cal, 2001-04) of Sacramento and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia defeated Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland and Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (8), 7-5.
   Amanda Anisimova of Aventura, Fla., and Xenia Knoll of Switzerland beat Kaitlyn Christian from Orange in Southern California and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area who plays for Mexico, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
   Third-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic demolished Asia Muhammad of Las Vegas and Maria Sanchez, who was born and raised in Modesto, 6-0, 6-1 in 48 minutes.
   Also, Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania and Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan defeated Mackenzie McDonald, a product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, and Reilly Opelka of West Palm Beach, Fla., 3-0, retired in the opening round of men's doubles.
   Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain and Neal Skupski of Great Britain edged Eri Hozumi and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan 6-1, 3-6 [10-6] in the first round of mixed doubles.

McDonald loses French Open battle of little guys

San Francisco Bay Area product Mackenzie McDonald,
shown in February 2018, fell in his French Open main-draw
debut today. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Mackenzie McDonald faced someone even smaller than himself today in the first round of the French Open.
   McDonald, a 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter), 160-pound (73-kilogram) product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to Yoshihito Nishioka, a 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter), 141-pound (64-kilogram) left-hander from Japan, 6-7 (7), 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in Paris.
   McDonald, 24, made his French Open main-draw debut, and Nishioka, 23, recorded his first Roland Garros main-draw victory.
   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., slugged 17 aces to Nishioka's one but committed 70 unforced errors to his opponent's 31.
   In the opening round of men's doubles, seventh-seeded Bob Bryan of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., beat Pablo Carreno Busta and Gerald Granollers of Spain 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
   The 41-year-old Bryan twins (Stanford, 1997-98) won the French Open in 2003 and 2013.
   Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin of France eliminated 15th-seeded Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-3, 6-3.

Serena rallies for first-round win in French Open

   No. 10 seed Serena Williams, a part-time Silicon Valley resident, defeated Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 today in the first round of the French Open in Paris.
   Diatchenko ousted 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in the first round at the All England Club last year.
   Williams played only her second match since March after struggling with a knee injury. The three-time French Open champion (2002, 2013 and 2015) will play the winner of Tuesday's match between Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia and qualifier Kurumi Nara of Japan.
   In the men's draw, No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal won in straight sets. Djokovic -- the champion in 2016 and runner-up in 2012, 2014 and 2015 -- is scheduled to play lucky loser Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland on Wednesday.
   Laaksonen, the doubles runner-up in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger with Harri Heliovaara of Finland last October, replaced Sam Querrey, a 31-year-old San Francisco native who withdrew with an abdominal injury.
   Querrey has not played since reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston in early April.
   No. 21 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia beat Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
   Mackenzie McDonald, a 24-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, is scheduled to make his French Open main-draw debut against Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan on Tuesday at 2 a.m. PDT.  The winner likely will meet eighth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, a two-time French Open semifinalist.

Kerber, Venus fall in French; NCAA champs crowned

Angelique Kerber, playing at Stanford in 2015, lost in the first round
of the French Open for the third time in four years. Photo by Mal Taam

   Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams, who combined for three titles and seven runner-up finishes in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, lost on the first day of the French Open.
   Kerber, seeded fifth, fell to 18-year-old Russian Anastasia Potapova, the 2016 Wimbledon girls singles champion making her French Open women's debut, 6-4, 6-2 today in the first match of the tournament on Court Philippe Chatrier.
   "My phone is exploding now," Potapova, ranked 81st, told reporters. "I really appreciate it. It's nice to hear congratulations from great people.
   "I was trying to keep some focus on me, on how I'm playing, how I'm running. I wasn't trying to think a lot about the court, about the first round, about Kerber, because of course she's a great player. But, you know, I'm here to play my best. That's what I did.
   "I was really looking forward for this match because I like Kerber's game a lot. She's actually one of my idols, and when I was young looked at her game and how she was playing. When you step on the court and play your idol, you're just got to show your best."
   Kerber, the Bank of the West champion in 2015 and runner-up in 2014, lost in the first round of the French Open for the third time in four years. The 31-year-old left-hander has won each of the other Grand Slam tournaments once each but never advanced past the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
   Williams, the 2002 French Open runner-up who will turn 39 on June 17, exited in the first round at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year. This time, Williams fell to ninth-seeded Elina Svitolina, a two-time French Open quarterfinalist from Ukraine, 6-3, 6-3.
   Williams won the Bank of the West Classic in 2000 and 2002 and reached the final in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2016. The tournament was replaced by the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose beginning last year.
   Seventh-seeded Sloane Stephens, last year's French Open runner-up to Simona Halep, beat Misaki Doi of Japan 6-3, 7-6 (4). Stephens, a 26-year-old Fresno product and the 2017 U.S. Open champion, will play 75th-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.
   Sorribes Tormo, 22, defeated Alison Van Uytvanck, a French Open quarterfinalist in 2015 who won the $50,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger in 2016, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
   Third-seeded Roger Federer, the 2009 French Open champion, dismissed Lorenzo Sonego, a 24-year-old Italian, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. It was Federer's first match at Roland Garros since 2015 and Sonego's main-draw debut there.
   Federer made his Northern California debut in March 2018 in San Jose.
   NCAA Championships -- Saturday's men's and women's singles finals in the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla., featured international players.
   Fourth-seeded Paul Jubb, a South Carolina junior from England, beat top-seeded Nuno Borges, a Mississippi State senior from Portugal, 6-3, 7-6 (2). Also, top-seeded Estela Perez-Somarriba, a junior from Spain, outplayed second-seeded Katarina Jokic, a Georgia sophomore from Bosnia, 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-3.
   UCLA swept the men's and women's doubles titles. Second-seeded Maxime Cressy and Keegan Smith beat unseeded Patrick Kaukovalta and Mazen Osama of Alabama 6-3, 6-4 for the men's crown. Third-seeded Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield edged unseeded Kate Fahey and Brienne Minor of Michigan 5-7, 7-6 (6) [11-9]. Minor won the NCAA singles title in 2017.

NorCal players fall in NCAAs; Serena-Osaka rematch?

   Florida's Sam Riffice, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, and Texas Tech's Felicity Maltby, from Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost three-set matches today in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championships in Orlando, Fla.
   Seventh-seeded Alexsandar Kovacevic of Illinois defeated the unseeded Riffice, the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year who now lives in Orlando, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-3.
   Kovacevic, a junior from New York, was much fresher than Riffice in the third set. Kovacevic received a walkover in the round of 16, whereas Riffice toppled second-seeded JJ Wolf of Ohio State 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
   North Carolina's Cameron Morra, a freshman from Rockville, Md., beat Maltby, a senior, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in a clash of unseeded players. Three of Morra's four matches in the tournament have gone to three sets.
   French Open draws -- No. 10 seed Serena Williams, a part-time Silicon Valley resident, is scheduled to play Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia in the first round of the French Open and could face top-ranked Naomi Osaka in a quarterfinal rematch of their turbulent U.S. Open final last September.
   The draw for Roland Garros, Sunday through June 9, was held today in Paris.
   Williams, a three-time French Open champion (2002, 2013 and 2015), has played only one match since March because of a knee injury.
   Seventh-seeded Sloane Stephens, a Fresno product and last year's runner-up to Simona Halep at Roland Garros, will play Misaki Doi of Japan in the first round and could meet fourth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
   On the men's side, San Francisco native Sam Querrey will play a qualifier to be determined. The winner will take on either top-seeded Novak Djokovic, the 2016 champion, or Hubert Hurkacz of Poland. Querrey shocked Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon in 2016 in their last meeting.
   Mackenzie McDonald, a 24-year-old product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, will make his French Open main-draw debut against Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in a matchup of diminutive players. The winner likely will meet eighth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, a two-time French Open semifinalist.
   Bradley Klahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, will face 21st-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia.

Riffice ousts No. 2 seed; Maltby also in NCAA quarters

   Florida's Sam Riffice, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, stunned second-seeded JJ Wolf of Ohio State 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 today to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championships in Orlando, Fla.
   Advancing to the women's quarters was Felicity Maltby of Texas Tech. The senior from Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area eliminated Petra Melounova of Hawaii 7-5, 6-0 in a matchup of unseeded players.
   Melounova, a junior from the Czech Republic, serves underhand because of a lingering shoulder injury.
   Wolf, a quarterfinalist in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger last October, suffered only his second loss of the season. He was coming off a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Matej Vocel of Oklahoma State on Tuesday.
   The unseeded Riffice, the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year who now lives in Orlando, is scheduled to play seventh-seeded Aleksandar Kovacevic of Illinois on Thursday. Kovacevic, a junior from New York, advanced when unseeded Bar Botzer of Wake Forest withdrew with a foot injury.
   Maltby will face North Carolina's Cameron Morra, a freshman from Rockville, Md., who topped Elysia Bolton of UCLA 6-7 (1), 7-6 (6), 6-2 in a battle of unseeded players.
   In the second round of men's doubles, third-seeded Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic of Mississippi State routed unseeded Jacob Brumm and Yuta Kikuchi of Cal 6-1, 6-2.
   Tennis Channel will televise the men's and women's singles quarterfinals beginning at 1 p.m. PDT.

NorCal's Maltby, Riffice reach last 16 in NCAA singles

   Felicity Maltby, a senior from Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area, today became the second player in Texas Tech history to reach the round of 16 in the NCAA Singles Championships.
   Maltby defeated Aiwen Zhu of UNLV 6-4, 7-6 (2) in a matchup of unseeded players in Orlando, Fla.
   Reaching the last 16 on the men's side was Florida's Sam Riffice, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville. Riffice, the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, defeated USC's Daniel Cukierman 6-3, 6-2 to set up a match against second-seeded JJ Wolf of Ohio State.
   Maltby, by advancing to the round of 16, also became the second player in school history to earn All-America honors. Gabriela Talaba was named an All-American as a junior in 2017 and as a senior.
   "No player deserves this more than Felicity," Red Raiders coach Todd Petty said on texastech.com. "She has given her heart and soul to this program, and I am so excited to see her get to be an All-American. This run isn't over yet, and she is really hungry to keep improving. Felicity is one of the greatest to wear the Double T."
   Maltby is scheduled to play unseeded Petra Melounova of Hawaii on Wednesday. Melounova, a junior from the Czech Republic, beat Chiara Lommer of Michigan 6-4, 6-1.
   Meanwhile, Jada Hart of UCLA eliminated Stanford's Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the Bay Area, 6-4, 6-1, and No. 9-16 Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas outlasted Julia Rosenqvist of Cal 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
   Gordon played No. 1 singles for the Cardinal, which won its second consecutive NCAA title on Sunday. She is ranked No. 24.
   In the men's second round, No. 9-16 seed Yuya Ito of Texas held off Columbia's Victor Pham, a senior from Saratoga, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Ito was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA team competition after clinching the title for the Longhorns on Sunday.
   Wolf topped Matej Vocel of Oklahoma State 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
   Tennis Channel is televising the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships daily at 1 p.m. PDT.
   French Open qualifying -- Kristie Ahn, a 26-year-old Stanford graduate, lost to Aliona Bolsova, a 21-year-old Moldova native who plays for Spain, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of French Open qualifying in Paris.

NCAA DOUBLES CHAMPIONHIPS

(Northern California results only)

Women's first round

   Nina Khmelnitckaia and Janet Koch (9-16), Kansas, def. Caroline Lampl and Kimberly Yee, Stanford, 6-2, 3-6 [10-7].
   Anna Rogers and Alana Smith (5-8), North Carolina State, def. Hana Mraz and Julia Rosenqvist, Cal, 6-7 (4), 6-3 [10-6].
   Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham (2), North Carolina, def. Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon, Stanford, 6-2, 6-4.
   Ksenia Kuznetsova and Valeriya Zeleva, Central Florida, def. Hind Abdelouahid and Mariia Kozyreva, Saint Mary's, 7-6 (4), 4-6 [10-6].

Men's first round

   William Blumberg and Bo Boyden, North Carolina, def. Cameron Klinger (San Jose) and Billy Rowe (5-8), Vanderbilt, 6-3, 6-4.
   Jacob Brumm and Yuta Kikuchi, Cal, def. Wilson Dong and Matt Kuhar, Bryant, 6-4, 7-5.

Stanford's Gordon avoids letdown, rolls in NCAA singles

Michaela Gordon, shown on May 5, dominated in the first round of the NCAA
Singles Championships one day after helping Stanford win its second consec-
utive NCAA title. Photo by Mal Taam

   Michaela Gordon easily could have suffered a letdown in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championships.

   Instead, the Stanford sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area dominated. 

   Less than 24 hours after helping Stanford win its second consecutive NCAA title, Gordon routed fifth-seeded Makenna Jones of North Carolina 6-2, 6-1 today in Orlando, Fla.

   Gordon, who outlasted Jones 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 two days ago in the team semifinals, has won nine of her last 10 matches. She will face Jada Hart of UCLA.

   Two other Stanford players lost three-set battles. Senior Melissa Lord fell to Paola Delgado of Virginia Commonwealth 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, and junior Emily Arbuthnott came up short against Justina Mikulskyte of Kentucky 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

   Cal women went 1-1. Sophomore Julia Rosenqvist overwhelmed Valeriya Zeleva of Central Florida 6-0, 6-2, but senior Olivia Hauger lost to 2017 NCAA champion Brienne Minor of Michigan 6-1, 6-4. Rosenqvist will take on No. 9-16 seed Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas.

   Texas Tech's Felicity Maltby, a senior from the Bay Area suburb of Sunnyvale, surprised No. 9-16 seed Christina Rosca of Vanderbilt 6-2, 7-5 to set up a match against Aiwen Zhu of UNLV.

   South Carolina's Paige Cline, a senior from Kentfield in the Bay Area seeded No. 9-16, lost to Katarina Stresnakova of Oklahoma State 6-2, 6-4.
   In the men's draw, Stanford freshman Alexandre Rotsaert fell to Emil Reinberg of Georgia 6-2, 7-5. Cardinal sophomore Axel Geller, ranked No. 13 in singles, withdrew from singles and doubles. The reason was not disclosed.
   Florida's Sam Riffice, who grew up in Roseville in the Sacramento region, knocked off No. 9-16 seed Johannes Schretter of Baylor 7-5, 6-2. Riffice, the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, will meet Daniel Cukierman of USC.
   Columbia's Victor Pham, a senior from Saratoga, outplayed Carlos Divar of Georgia Tech 6-2, 6-2. Pham will take on No. 9-16 Yuya Ito, the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA team competition after clinching the title for Texas on Sunday.
   The NCAA Doubles Championships begin Tuesday.

Stanford women rout Georgia for 20th NCAA title

Melissa Lord, shown on May 5, helped No. 3 Stanford beat No. 1 Georgia 4-0
today in the final of the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla. Photo by Mal Taam

   The Stanford women emphatically avenged their only loss of the season to win their 20th NCAA team title.
   The No. 3 Cardinal routed No. 1 Georgia 4-0 today at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., for their second consecutive NCAA crown and third in four years.
   Stanford coach Lele Forood matched her predecessor, Frank Brennan, with 10 NCAA titles. No other school approaches the Cardinal's total. Florida ranks second with seven titles, and Georgia is tied for third with three other schools at two.
   The Cardinal (28-1), playing in its fourth straight NCAA final, ended the season with 23 victories in a row. Stanford lost to Georgia 4-3 in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle in February.
   In today's deciding doubles match, No. 29 Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, beat Georgia's Elena Christofi and Vivian Wolff 7-5 on Court 2.
   Three Stanford players followed with 6-2, 6-4 victories. In order, No. 66 Caroline Lampl won on Court 3, No. 29 Melissa Lord triumphed on Court 2, and No. 108 Janice Shin prevailed on Court 5.
   On Court 1, No. 2 Katarina Jokic of Georgia (28-2) led No. 24 Gordon 7-5, 3-2 when the match was abandoned.
   The No. 2 Texas men beat No. 4 Wake Forest, the defending champion, 4-1 for its first NCAA team title.
   Longhorns head coach Michael Center was fired on March 13 amid the college admissions cheating scandal and was replaced on an interim basis by associate head coach Bruce Berque.
   Center has pleaded guilty to fraud after allegedly accepting a $100,000 bribe. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 30. Prosecutors recommend a term of 15 to 21 months.

Stanford women reach fourth consecutive NCAA final

Janice Shin, shown on May 5, and Michaela Gordon won within 11 seconds of
each other to give No. 3 Stanford a 5-2 victory over No. 2 North Carolina today
in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla. Photo by Mal Taam

   A rare double-clinch put the Stanford women in their fourth consecutive NCAA final.
   Michaela Gordon and Janice Shin won within seconds of each other to give the No. 3 Cardinal a 5-2 victory over No. 2 North Carolina today in the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla.
   Stanford (27-1), the defending champion, extended its winning streak to 22 matches and ended the Tar Heels' at 24. North Carolina ended the season at 33-2.
   No. 108 Shin, a sophomore from Houston, defeated Jessie Aney 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Court 5 at the USTA National Campus 11 seconds before No. 24 Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, topped No. 5 Makenna Jones 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Court 1. But because both concluding points were in progress simultaneously, Shin and Gordon were credited with clinching victories, according to gostanford.com.
   Shin improved to 7-0 in the NCAA Championships, and Gordon defeated the highest-ranked player of her career. However, Caroline Lampl's winning streak ended at 23 matches on Court 3.
   No. 20 Emily Arbuthnott and Gordon lost to No. 12 Jones and Cameron Morra 6-4, but Stanford won the doubles point. No. 29 Melissa Lord made it 2-0 with her 100th career singles victory, 6-1, 6-3 over No. 7 Alexa Graham on Court 2. No. 119 Sara Choy, a late substitution as a freshman from Palo Alto, increased the lead to 3-0 with a 7-5, 6-1 decision over Alle Sanford on Court 6.
   North Carolina rallied for 3-2 before falling short.
   Stanford will seek its third NCAA title in four years when it faces No. 1 Georgia on Sunday not before 2 p.m. PDT (Tennis Channel). The Bulldogs (28-1) beat No. 5 Duke 4-2.
   Georgia edged Stanford 4-3 on Feb. 11 in the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle.
   Stanford leads all schools with 19 of a possible 37 NCAA titles. Florida ranks second with seven, and Georgia is tied for third with three other schools at two.
   This will be Georgia's fourth NCAA final, all against Stanford. The Cardinal won in 1987, but the Bulldogs prevailed in 1994 and 2000.

Stanford women beat Pepperdine in NCAA quarters

Emily Arbuthnott, shown on May 5, clinched No. 3 Stanford's 4-1 victory over No. 6
Pepperdine today in the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla. Photo by Mal Taam

   After losing the doubles point, the No. 3 Stanford women won four consecutive singles matches to defeat No. 6 Pepperdine 4-1 today in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla.
   It's the fifth time this season that the Cardinal (26-1) has triumphed after losing the doubles point, according to gostanford.com. In fact, Stanford has won 20 of 25 matches after trailing 1-0 since 2016.
   Pepperdine (24-4) won both completed doubles matches at the USTA National Campus. No. 86 Daria Kuczer and Ashley Lahey beat No. 29 Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-4 to clinch the point.
   Defending champion Stanford then received straight-set victories from, in order, No. 108 Janice Shin on Court 5, No. 107 Emma Higuchi on Court 6, No. 29 Melissa Lord on Court 2 and No. 44 Arbuthnott on Court 4. Lord, a senior from Bloomfield, Conn., earned her 99th career singles victory.
   No. 37 Lahey, last year's NCAA singles runner-up, led No. 24 Gordon 6-4, 2-6, 2-0 on Court 1 when the match was abandoned.
   Stanford will face an even hotter team than itself when it meets No. 2 North Carolina (33-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m. PDT. The Tar Heels, who have lost to the Cardinal in the NCAA Championships for the past two years, defeated No. 7 UCLA 4-1 for their 24th straight win.
   In Saturday's other semifinal, No. 1 Georgia (27-1) will play No. 5 Duke (27-3) at 3 p.m.

Gibbs to have cancer surgery, eyes quick return

Nicole Gibbs, left, and Sofia Kenin pose after the final
of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge last July.
Kenin won 6-0, 6-4. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Nicole Gibbs tweeted Sunday that she will have surgery for salivary gland cancer on Friday in Los Angeles and miss the rest of the clay-court season.
   But the 26-year-old former Stanford star hopes to return for Wimbledon qualifying, June 25-27.
   According to Gibbs, her dentist noticed a growth on the roof of her mouth about a month ago and the biopsy came back positive.
   "Fortunately, this form of cancer has a great prognosis and my surgeon is confident that surgery alone will be sufficient treatment," wrote Gibbs, a resident of Venice in the Los Angeles area. "He even okayed me to play an extra couple of tournaments these past few weeks which served as a nice distraction."
   Added Gibbs: "I am feeling extremely grateful for the UCLA health network that's been taking amazing care of me, and for rock solid friends and family who are helping me every step of the way. See you back on court soon."
   A petite 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), Gibbs is ranked No. 117 after reaching a career-high No. 68 in July 2016. She won two NCAA titles in singles and one in doubles before turning pro one year early in 2013.
   Gibbs has battled depression since high school but said last July in Berkeley that she was "doing awesome."
   Gibbs reached the singles final of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge, losing to Sofia Kenin, and won the doubles title with Asia Muhammad.

Cal, Stanford men lose to high seeds in NCAA tourney

   Playing at top-five seeds in the NCAA Super Regionals proved to be too much for the Stanford and Cal men.
   No. 2 Texas routed the Bears 4-0 in Austin, Texas, and No. 5 Virginia beat No. 12 Stanford 4-2 in Charlottesville, Va. The Longhorns (26-3) and Cavaliers (24-4) advance to Thursday's quarterfinals in Orlando, Fla.
   For the first time, no Pac-12 men's team reached the NCAA quarters.
   No. 7 Christian Sigsgaard gave Texas a 3-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Yuta Kikuchi, the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, on Court 1.
   Cal's Paul Barretto, a sophomore from Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area, did not finish either of his matches as the Bears fell to 16-13. Colin Markes and Leonardo Telles led Barretto and Can Kaya 5-3 on Court 2, and Barretto was ahead of No. 80 Telles 6-6 (5-4) on Court 3.
   Virginia, which won four of five NCAA titles from 2013 through 2017, earned the doubles point. But Sameer Kumar and Timothy Sah gave Stanford (19-7) a 2-1 lead with straight-set victories on Court 4 and 5, respectively.
   No. 3 Carl Soderlund clinched the win for the Cavaliers, beating No. 13 Axel Geller 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 on Court 1.
   Stanford and Cal will turn their attention to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, May 20-25 in Orlando.
   Geller is seeded 9-16 in singles and unseeded in doubles with freshman Alexandre Rotsaert. Kikuchi and sophomore Jacob Brumm also are unseeded in doubles. 
   Tennis Channel will televise the remainder of the team competition as well as the singles and doubles tournaments.

Stanford women edge Kansas, gain NCAA quarters

Janice Shin, shown Sunday against Syracuse, gave third seed and host Stanford
a 4-3 victory over 14th-seeded Kansas today in an NCAA Super Regional.
Photo by Mal Taam

   The third-seeded Stanford women edged 14th-seeded Kansas 4-3 today at Taube Family Tennis Stadium to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships.
   Janice Shin, a sophomore from Houston ranked No. 108, defeated Nina Khmelnitckaia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Court 5 to lift the defending champion Cardinal (25-1) to its 20th consecutive victory.
   No. 13 Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas (21-5) leveled the match at 3-3 with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 24 Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, on Court 1.
   The Jayhawks, who won the doubles point, were making their first appearance in the round of 16 since 1998.
   Stanford will face sixth-seeded Pepperdine (24-3) next Friday at a time to be determined at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The Waves beat Central Florida 4-2 in Malibu, Calif.
   It will be the first meeting between Stanford and Pepperdine this season.

Stanford's Gordon, Cal's Kikuchi earn big Pac-12 honors

Michaela Gordon, playing in qualifying in the 2017 Sacramento Challenger,
was named the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year as a Stanford sophomore.
Photo by Rob Vomund

   Stanford's Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area,
 was named the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year on Monday.
   Cal's Yuta Kikuchi, meanwhile, was picked as the Freshman/Newcomer of the Year today.
   Gordon, who earned 2018 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and Doubles Team of the Year honors, joined UCLA's Robin Anderson (2011-15) as the only women to win all three major Pac-12 awards.
   Gordon, ranked No. 24 nationally, is 22-9 in the top two singles spots with a seven-match winning streak, including six over ranked players.
   Third-ranked Stanford, the defending NCAA champion, placed three women on the six-player All-Pac-12 first team. Joining Gordon were seniors Caroline Lampl of Leesburg, Va., and Melissa Lord of Bloomfield, Conn.
   Stanford's Emily Arbuthnott, a junior from England, and Cal's Julia Rosenqvist, a sophomore from Sweden, made the six-player second team.
   Cal's Olivia Hauger, a senior from Tulsa, Okla., and Anna Bright, a sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., received honorable mention.
   Kikuchi, from Japan, played No. 1 singles for most of the season, compiling a 20-14 record. He is ranked No. 28 in doubles with sophomore Jacob Brumm.
   Stanford's Axel Geller, a sophomore from Argentina, made the first team. Selected for the second team were the Cardinal's Alexandre Rotsaert, a freshman from Boca Raton, and Kikuchi.
   Stanford's William Genesen, a junior from Tulsa, Okla., received honorable mention.

Stanford women cruise into NCAA round of 16

Michaela Gordon, playing in qualifying in the 2017 Sacramento
Challenger, routed No. 14 Gabriela Knutson 6-3, 6-0 today to
help host Stanford, seeded third, beat Syracuse 4-1 in the sec-
ond round of the NCAA Championships. Photo by Rob Vomund 

   The host Stanford women, seeded third, beat Syracuse 4-1 today at Taube Family Tennis Stadium to reach the round of 16 in the NCAA Championships.
   The Cardinal (24-1) extended its winning streak to 19 matches in a quest for its second consecutive NCAA title, third in four years and 20th overall. Florida ranks second with seven NCAA crowns. No other school has won more than two.
   Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, gave Stanford a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Gabriela Knutson on Court 1. At No. 14, Knutson is the highest-ranked player whom No. 24 Gordon has defeated this season.
   Syracuse's victory came on Court 2 as Sofya Golubovskaya upset Melissa Lord 6-4, 6-2. Lord, a senior from Bloomfield, Conn., had been 16-0 in NCAA team competition, including the clincher in last year's final against Vanderbilt.
   Stanford will host 14th-seeded Kansas (21-4) on Friday at 2 p.m. in the Super Regionals. The Jayhawks defeated Florida 4-2 on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.
   The winner of the Stanford-Kansas match will travel to Orlando, Fla., where eight teams will compete for the national title May 17-19 at the USTA National Campus.

Cal men stun No. 15 seed to reach NCAA round of 16

   The Cal men shocked host and 15th seed Illinois 4-1 today in Urbana, Ill., to reach the round of 16 in the NCAA Championships.
   Ben Draper, a sophomore from England, clinched the victory when he defeated Siphosothando Montsi, a freshman from South Africa, 6-4, 7-5 on Court 4.
   "The team has a ton of heart, and we're peaking at the right time," Cal coach Peter Wright said on calbears.com. "We've had some ups and downs this season, but we've poured ourselves into the postseason, playing well at the Pac-12 Championship and getting off to a good start at the NCAAs."
   Paul Barretto, a sophomore from Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area, helped the Bears win the doubles point with a victory on Court 2. In singles, he trailed Zeke Clark 7-5, 0-4 on Court 3 when the match was abandoned.
   Illinois freshman Keenan Mayo, who grew up in Roseville in the Sacramento region, lost 7-6 (3) in doubles on Court 3. He did not play singles.
   The 14th-ranked Bears (16-12), who have won five of their last six matches, will face second-seeded Texas (25-3) in Austin, Texas, next Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Super Regionals. The Longhorns beat South Florida 4-1 in Austin.
   The host Stanford men, seeded 12th, dominated UC Santa Barbara 4-0 at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Cardinal (19-6) will meet fifth-seeded Virginia (23-4) in Charlottesville, Va., next Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT.
   The third-seeded Stanford women opened the defense of their 19th NCAA title with a 4-0 victory over New Mexico State at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   The Cardinal (23-1), which extended its winning streak to 18 matches, will host Syracuse (14-12) on Sunday at noon. The Orange eliminated Wisconsin 4-2 at Stanford.
   In Malibu, Calif., sixth seed and host Pepperdine beat Cal 4-0 for its 20th consecutive victory. The Bears ended the season with a 13-9 record.
   100th anniversary -- The Sutter Lawn Tennis Club in Sacramento celebrated its 100th anniversary on Thursday.

Three Bay Area teams advance in NCAA tourney

   The 12th-seeded Stanford men whipped visiting Fresno State 4-0 today at Taube Family Tennis Stadium in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
   The Cardinal (18-6) won both completed doubles matches 6-0 and lost no more than three games in a set in the three completed singles contests.
   "I was very pleased with our performance today," Stanford coach Paul Goldstein said on gostanford.com. "It was a mature, quality effort by our team. We have worked all year to put ourselves in a position to be hosting, and these guys played like it was their house. It was really fun to watch."
   Stanford is scheduled to play UC Santa Barbara, which surprised Texas Tech 4-1, on Saturday at 3 p.m.
   In Urbana, Ill., the Cal men (15-12) beat Drake 4-1 to set up a meeting against host Illinois, seeded 15th, on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.
   Keenan Mayo, a freshman who grew up in Roseville in the Sacramento area, won in doubles on Court 3 as the Illini (19-8) blanked Western Michigan 4-0. Mayo did not play singles.
   The Cal women (13-8), who topped Long Beach State 4-2, will face host Pepperdine (22-3), seeded sixth, in Malibu, Calif., on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bears defeated the then-No. 7 Waves 4-3 in Malibu on Feb. 16.
   The third-seeded Stanford women (22-1) will open their NCAA title defense on Saturday at noon against New Mexico State (15-9) at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Syracuse (13-12) will play Wisconsin (18-5) at 9 a.m.

Altamirano injured, Donaldson surgery, college rankings

Sacramento's Collin Altamirano, playing in the
$100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger last October,
retired from his second-round match in the $54,160
Savannah (Ga.) Challenger with a twisted ankle.
Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Collin Altamirano was heading toward his fourth career Challenger quarterfinal.
   Then misfortune struck.
   The Sacramento native and resident twisted his left ankle and retired after losing the first set to Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 7-6 (3) today on green clay in the $54,160 Savannah (Ga.) Challenger.
   Altamirano led 5-2 with two service breaks, but Vukic fought back to 4-5 in the first meeting between the 23-year-old, 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) right-handers. With Altamirano serving for the set at deuce, he hurt his ankle running up to retrieve a sharply angled inside-out forehand.
   Altamirano hopped on his right leg to his chair and took the first of three medical timeouts. On the next point, he slugged an inside-out forehand wide for 5-5.
   Both players then held serve, despite Altamirano delivering at half-speed, to send the set to a tiebreaker, in which Vukic won the last four points.
   Altamirano broke through in the $75,000 Winnetka (Ill.) Challenger last July, reaching the semifinals as a qualifier. He advanced to the quarters in his next tournament, retiring at 2-3 in the third set against Joris De Loore of Belgium in the $75,000 Lexington (Ky.) Challenger, and in the $162,480 Newport Beach (Calif.) Challenger in January.
   Donaldson surgery -- Jared Donaldson, the runner-up in the 2015 Sacramento Challenger, underwent right knee surgery at Stanford University Medical Center on Tuesday.
   Donaldson, 22, reached the third round of the 2016 U.S. Open as a qualifier, stunning then-No. 14 David Goffin of Belgium in the first round, and attained a career-high ranking of No. 48 in March 2018.

   INTERCOLLEGIATE TENNIS ASSOCIATION RANKINGS

(Top 10 and Northern California; previous ranking in parentheses)

Women's team

1. North Carolina (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Stanford (5)
4. South Carolina (3)
5. Duke (4)
6. Pepperdine (6)
7. UCLA (9)
8. Vanderbilt (7)
9. Texas (8)
10. Washington (11)
17. Cal (16)

Women's singles

1. Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (2)
2. Katarina Jokic, Georgia (1)
3. Kate Fahey, Michigan (3)
4. Ingid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (4)
5. Makenna Jones, North Carolina (5)
6. Fernanda Contreras, Vanderbilt (6)
7. Alex Graham, North Carolina (7)
8. Sophie Whittle, Gonzaga (10)
9. Kenya Jones, Georgia Tech (8)
10. Anna Rogers, North Carolina State (9)
17. Paige Cline (Kentfield), South Carolina (16)
22. Felicity Maltby (Sunnyvale), Texas Tech (23)
24. Michaela Gordon (Saratoga), Stanford (24)
29. Melissa Lord, Stanford (32)
41. Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (41)
44. Emily Arbuthnott, Stanford (46)
48. Olivia Hauger, Cal (47)
66. Caroline Lampl, Stanford (68)
79. Anna Bright, Cal (74)
107. Emma Higuchi, Stanford (88)
108. Janice Shin, Stanford (106)
111. Mariiya Kozyreva, Saint Mary's (113)
116. Maddie Pothoff, Santa Clara (120)
119. Sara Choy (Palo Alto), Stanford (119)

Women's doubles

1. Angela Kulikov and Rianna Valdes, USC (2)
2. Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham, North Carolina (5)
3. Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina (7)
4. Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh, Arizona State (1)
5. Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield, UCLA (4)
6. Janet Koch and Nina Khmelnitckaia, Kansas (3)
7. Alana Smith and Anna Rogers, North Carolina State (8)
8. Ashley Lahey and Evgeniya Levashova, Pepperdine (6)
9. Kaitlin Staines and Sadie Hammond, Tennessee (9)
10. Fernanda Navarro and Marie Leduc, Clemson (10)
19. Kimberly Yee and Caroline Lampl, Stanford (14)
20. Hana Mraz and Julia Rosenqvist, Cal (17)
29. Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon (Saratoga), Stanford (22)
32. Hind Abdelouahid and Mariiya Kozyreva, Saint Mary's (28)
45. Kimberly Yee and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (43)
54. Anna Bright and Jasie Dunk, Cal (40)
57. Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe (Sunnyvale), Stanford (51)
59. Abi Altick and Alaina Miller (Saratoga), UCLA (48)
62. Katerina Stloukalova and Hana Mraz, Cal (63)
88. Olivia Hauger and Katerina Stloukalova, Cal (88)

Men's team

1. Ohio State (1)
2. Texas (2)
3. Wake Forest (3)
4. Florida (4)
5. Virginia (5)
6. Baylor (6)
7. Mississippi State (7)
8. USC (8)
9. Texas Christian (9)
10. North Carolina (10)
12. Stanford (14)
24. Cal (33)

Men's singles

1. Nuno Borges, Mississippi State (2)
2. JJ Wolf, Ohio State (1)
3. Carl Soderlund, Virginia (3)
4. Alex Rybakov, Texas Christian (5)
5. Paul Jubb, South Carolina (4)
6. Brandon Holt, USC (10)
7. Christian Sigsgaard, Texas (8)
8. Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest (6)
9. Oliver Crawford, Florida (7)
10. Aleksandar Kovacevic, Illinois (9)
13. Axel Geller, Stanford (12)
37. Victor Pham (Saratoga), Columbia (33)
54. Sam Riffice (Roseville), Florida (63)
63. Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (55)
88. Cameron Klinger (San Jose), Vanderbilt (87)
91. William Genesen, Stanford (NR)

Men's doubles

1. Sven Lah and Jimmy Bendeck, Baylor (1)
2. Maxime Cressy and Keegan Smith, UCLA (4)
3. Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic, Mississippi State (3)
4. Henry Patten and Oli Nolan, North Carolina-Ashville (2)
5. Christian Sigsgaard and Harrison Scott, Texas (5)
6. Timo Stodder and Preston Touliatos, Tennessee (6)
7. Cameron Klinger (San Jose) and Billy Rowe, Vanderbilt (8)
8. Juan Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith, Texas A&M (7)
9. Parker Wynn and Bjorn Thomson, Texas Tech (10)
10. Brandon Holt and Riley Smith USC (11)
21. Axel Geller and Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford (21)
28. Yuta Kikuchi and Jacob Brumm, Cal (31)
69T. Sam Riffice (Roseville) and Andy Andrade, Florida (60)
75. Logan Weber and Andy Zhou (Palo Alto), Harvard (61)
83. David Goulak and Ivan Thamma, UC Davis (70)

Gilbert to enter Bay Area Hall; Altamirano pulls upset

Brad Gilbert and four others will be enshrined in
the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday
night. 2013 photo by Paul Bauman

   Brad Gilbert – a former top-five singles player who became a renowned coach, author and television commentator – and four others will be enshrined in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday night at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
   Gilbert, a lifelong Bay Area resident, will be presented by his former protege, Andre Agassi, during the 6:30 p.m. banquet. A reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tickets cost $700, with proceeds going to help at-risk youths play sports.
   Joining Gilbert, 57, in the Hall of Fame will be former San Francisco Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky, former Cal and NBA star Jason Kidd, ex-San Francisco 49ers linebacker Keena Turner and longtime Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer.
   Gilbert played professionally from 1982 to 1995, winning 20 singles titles and reaching a career-high No. 4 in 1990 by outsmarting more talented, stylish players. He earned a singles bronze medal in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and compiled a 10-5 Davis Cup record.
   After his playing career ended, Gilbert coached Agassi for eight years (1994-2002). During that time, Agassi won six Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal and reached No. 1 in the world for the first time.
   Gilbert then coached Andy Roddick to the U.S. Open title in 2003, the last time an American man has won a Grand Slam singles crown, and the top spot in the rankings.
   Gilbert joined ESPN as a tennis commentator in 2004. After coaching Andy Murray in 2006 and 2007, Gilbert returned to ESPN in 2008 and has worked for the network since then.
   Gilbert also has written two highly acclaimed books. "Winning Ugly," on how to beat opponents mentally, was published in 1993. "I've Got Your Back," on his coaching career, came out in 2004.
   He announced Sunday that he will run for the seat on the ATP Board of Governors vacated by Justin Gimelstob, who recently pleaded no contest in an assault case. The election is set for May 14 in Rome.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- Collin Altamirano of Sacramento ousted fourth-seeded Noah Rubin of Long Island, N.Y., 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 today on green clay in the second round of the $54,160 Savannah (Ga.) Challenger.
   Rubin, the Wimbledon boys singles champion in 2014, is ranked No. 168. He reached the second round of the Australian Open in men's singles in 2016, beating then-No. 18 Benoit Paire of France, and 2017, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
   Also in 2016, Rubin advanced to the final of the $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, falling to fellow U.S. prospect Frances Tiafoe.
   Altamirano, ranked No. 287, is scheduled to play Australian Aleksandar Vukic, ranked No. 354, on Thursday at 8 a.m. PDT for a quarterfinal berth. The first meeting between the 23-year-old, 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) right-handers will be streamed live.
   Vukic beat 13th-seeded Guilherme Clezar of Brazil 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-3.

Three Stanford women chosen for NCAA singles

Stanford's Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco
Bay Area, was selected to play singles and doubles in the NCAA Champion-
ships, May 20-25 in Orlando, Fla. Photo by Rob Vomund

   Three women from defending champion Stanford are two from Cal were among the 64 singles players selected Tuesday for the NCAA Championships.
   The men's and women's singles and doubles tournaments are scheduled for May 20-25, following the May 16-19 team competition, at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
   Stanford will send sophomore Michaela Gordon of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, junior Emily Arbuthnott and senior Melissa Lord. Cardinal senior Caroline Lampl was named as an alternate.
   Representing Cal in singles will be senior Olivia Haugen and sophomore Julia Rosenqvist.
   Also chosen were South Carolina's Paige Cline, a senior from Kentfield, and Texas Tech's Felicity Maltby, a senior from Sunnyvale. Kentfield and Sunnyvale are also in the Bay Area.
   The 32-team doubles field includes the teams of Arbuthnott and Gordon, Lampl and senior Kimberly Yee, and Rosenqvist and sophomore Hana Mraz. Saint Mary's sophomores Hind Abdelouahid and Mariia Kozyreva are alternates.
   Stanford sophomore Axel Geller is seeded 9-16 in men's singles. Also selected were Columbia's Victor Pham, a senior from Saratoga, and Florida's Sam Riffice, a freshman who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville.
   The doubles draw includes Geller and freshman Alexandre Rotsaert, Cal freshman Yuta Kikuchi and sophomore Jacob Brumm, and Vanderbilt senior Cameron Klinger from San Jose and junior Billy Rowe.