Ex-Cal star exits early after winning Istanbul doubles

Andre Goransson, above, of Sweden and David Pel of the
Netherlands narrowly fell in the first round of doubles in the
Quimper (France) Challenger. File photo by Paul Bauman 

   Americans Brandon Nakashima and Hunter Reese ousted top-seeded Andre Goransson (University of California, Berkeley, 2014-17) of Sweden and David Pel of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3 [10-5] today in the first round of the €88,520 ($107,199) Quimper (France) Challenger.

   Goransson and Pel, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) left-hander, won last week's €132,280 ($160,632) Istanbul Challenger.

   Nakashima, 19, of San Diego also reached the singles quarterfinals. He advanced to his first Challenger singles semifinal in Fairfield, Calif., in 2019 and won his maiden Challenger singles title last November in Orlando, Fla.

   USTA Pro Circuit — Eighth-seeded Maria Camila Osorio Serrano of Colombia beat Jovana Jovic (formerly Jaksic), a 27-year-old Serbian living in Sacramento, Calif., 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the $60,000 Rome (Ga.) Challenger.

   Romanian left-hander Gabriela Talaba, who won the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger in 2019, knocked off second-seeded Renata Zarazua 7-6 (4),  6-1. In last year's French Open, the 5-foot-3 (1.60-meter) Zarazua became the first Mexican woman in 20 years to win a main-draw singles match in a Grand Slam tournament.

   Lucky loser Maria Sanchez, a 31-year-old product of Modesto, Calif., lost to Katherine Sebov of Canada 6-4, 7-5. Sanchez, ranked No. 407 in singles and No. 99 in doubles, played in her first singles event since last March.

   Sebov is scheduled to play wild card Alycia Parks of Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Thursday. They got into a brief shoving match after Sebov's victory in the second round of the $60,000 Las Vegas Challenger in November 2019. After the match, Sebov accused Parks of mocking her, and Parks accused Sebov of squeezing her right thumb during their handshake.

   Jovic and Olga Govortsova of Belarus are set to meet Francesca Di Lorenzo of the United States and Sanchez in the doubles quarterfinals on Thursday.

   UTR Pro Tennis Series — Megan McCray, a former Oklahoma State star from Oceanside, Calif., defeated Hind Abdelouahid of San Jose, Calif., 6-4, 6-2 in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Abdelouahid, a former standout at Saint Mary's in the San Francisco Bay Area, fell to 2-1 in the round-robin phase of the $25,000 singles-only tournament. 

   Vivian Ovrootsky (3-0), 16, of San Jose beat Skyler Grishuk (1-1) of Newport Beach 7-6, 7-6 (2) in a late match. Ovrootsky has verbally committed to the University of Texas.

   Julia Rosenqvist (0-1), a Cal senior from Sweden, and Priya Nelson (1-1), 15, of Sacramento are off today.