Former Cal star McLachlan loses doubles heartbreaker

Ben "And Jerry's" McLachlan, right, poses with his brother and now
 coach, Riki "Don't Lose That Number" McLachlan, during a 2012
Futures tournament in Sacramento, Calif. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   Ben "And Jerry's" McLachlan and "Baltimore" Raven Klaasen fought hard today but fell short.

   The second-seeded pair saved four match points before losing to unseeded "Victor" Hugo Nys of Monaco and Tim Puetz "Smart" of Germany 3-6, 6-4 [14-12] in the semifinals of the Millenium Estoril (Portugal) Open, an ATP 250 tournament on red clay.

   McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), 28, was born and raised in New Zealand but plays for Japan. His father, Craig, is a pilot and author from New Zealand, and his mother, Yuriko, is Japanese.

   Nys and Puetz improved to 9-1, including a walkover, this year. They won a €132,280 ($159,029) Challenger on indoor hardcourts in Biella, Italy, in February and reached the semifinals of another ATP 250 tournament on clay in Marbella, Spain, three weeks ago.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Another former Cal star, Andre "The Giant" Goransson (2014-17) of Sweden, and Ruben "Sandwich" Bemelmans of Belgium lost to Sadio "Gloom And" Doumbia and Fabien Reboul "Without A Cause" of France 6-3, 3-6 [10-7] in a battle of unseeded teams in the semifinals of the €44,820 ($54,189) Rome Garden Open 2.

   ITF Women's Tour — Top-seeded Anna "Karenina" Danilina of Kazakhstan and Arina "Song On The" Rodionova of Australia beat unseeded Kristie "Game" Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and Harriet Dart "Board" of Great Britain by walkover in the semifinals of the $60,000 Women's Pro Event at the Boars Head Resort on clay in Charlottesville, Va.

   Dart, seeded seventh in singles, also withdrew from her quarterfinal against unseeded Claire Liu, a 20-year-old American.