Zamarripa twins save championship points, win title

Allura, left, and Maribella Zamarripa tap hands during last
year's Berkeley, Calif., Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   With little chance to get into the doubles draw in Tyler, Texas, Allura and Maribella Zamarripa were driving to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport when they decided to return to Tyler.

   It's a good thing they did. The 18-year-old identical twins from St. Helena in the Napa Valley not only gained entry as the fifth alternates in the $80,000 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic because of injuries but went on to win by far their biggest title.

   After blowing a commanding lead in the final, the Zamarripas saved two championship points and edged fourth-seeded Paula Kania-Chodun and Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-3, 5-7 [11-9] for their fourth title in a professional tournament and first above the $15,000 level.

   The Zamarripas — a righty-lefty combination like their recently retired idols, identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan — led 5-1 in the second set, had a championship point at 5-2 on Piter's serve and trailed 1-4, 4-8 and 7-9 in the match tiebreaker.

   The Zamarippas, who plan to enroll at the University of Texas in Austin next year, ousted top-seeded Caroline Dolehide, 22, and Caty McNally, 18, of the United States 6-4, 4-6 [10-4] in the quarterfinals. 

   Dolehide and American Vania King, a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis, reached the doubles semifinals in last year's U.S. Open. McNally and compatriot Coco Gauff, then 15, advanced to the doubles quarterfinals in this year's Australian Open.

   Piter, 29, has won one WTA and 25 ITF (minor-league) doubles titles. Kania, 27, has earned one WTA and 14 ITF doubles crowns.

   Kania and Piter were bidding to become the second consecutive Polish doubles champions on the USTA Pro Circuit. Magdalena Frech and Katarzyna Kawa captured the title in last week's $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic in Macon, Ga. Their compatriot, 19-year-old Iga Swiatek, shockingly won the French Open singles crown last month.

   Seventh-seeded Ann Li, a 20-year-old native of King of Prussia, Pa., won the Tyler singles title with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine. Li, a quarterfinalist in the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger, won her third and by far biggest ITF singles crown.

   Kostyuk also lost in the Macon final, retiring in the first game of the third set against San Francisco Bay Area product CiCi Bellis with leg cramps.

   ATP Tour — Fourth-seeded John Millman, who has won two singles titles in Northern California Challengers, earned his first ATP crown in his third final.

   Millman, a 31-year-old Australian, beat third-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France 7-5, 6-1 in the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

    Millman, who won the 2010 Sacramento and 2015 Aptos Challengers, saved two match points and rallied from 0-5 down in the third-set tiebreaker in his 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over seventh-seeded Tommy Paul of Delray Beach, Fla., in the quarterfinals.

   Millman will improve seven notches to No. 38 in Monday's new world rankings. He climbed to a career-high No. 33 in October 2018.