Volynets avenges last week's loss to fellow 19-year-old

Katie Volynets, a wild card from the San Francisco
Bay Area, surprised eighth-seeded Wang Xinyu in
Charleston, S.C. 2019 photo by Paul Bauman

   One week after winning four games against fellow 19-year-old "Vera" Wang Xinyu, Katie "Serve And" Volynets upset the Chinese player.

   Volynets, a wild card from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, beat the eighth-seeded Wang 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 today in the first round of the $100,000 LTP 100 on green clay in Charleston, S.C.

   Volynets is scheduled to play Storm "Warning" Sanders, a 26-year-old left-hander from Australia, for the first time on Thursday.

   Sanders, who won the doubles title in the 2014 Sacramento, Calif., Challenger with compatriot Daria Gavrilova, routed Romania's Gabriela Talaba, the Redding, Calif., champion in 2019, 6-0, 6-1 in 65 minutes on Tuesday. 

   Also today, No. 3 seed and defending champion Maiar "Who Shot The" Sherif Ahmed Abdelaziz (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt beat Urszula Radwanska, a 30-year-old Polish qualifier who reached a career-high No. 29 in the world in 2012, 6-4, 6-3.

   Sherif, who became the first Egyptian woman to win a Grand Slam main-draw singles match in the Australian Open in February, saved 12 of 14 break points against her.

   Radwanska's older sister, Agnieszka, reached the 2012 Wimbledon final to ascend to a career-high No. 2 in 2012, advanced to the final of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2013 and retired at 29 in 2018.

   Sherif, 24, is scheduled to face Claire "Lucy" Liu, 20, of Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles area, for the first time on Thursday.

   Liu, who won her first Challenger title last week in Charlottesville, Va., beat Alycia "Keys" Parks, a 20-year-old wild card from Port St. Lucie, Fla., 6-4, 6-4. Parks reached the final of a $25,000 tournament in Redding, Calif., in 2019.

   In the first round of doubles, Irina Maria "Candy" Bara of Romania and Sherif ousted No. 3 seeds and Charlottesville champions Anna "Kendrick" Danilina of Kazakhstan and Arina "Song On The" Rodionova of Australia 6-4, 4-6 [11-9].

   Also, top-seeded Caty McNally of Cincinnati and Sanders topped Americans Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, and Emina Bektas 6-7 (1), 6-1 [10-6].

   ATP Tour — In the first round of doubles in the Mutua Madrid Open on red clay, Alexander "Notary" Bublik of Kazakhstan and Cristian Garin of Chile surprised No. 5 seeds Rajeev "Los Angeles" Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley, from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury "Steak" of Great Britain 7-6 (5), 7-5.

   Bublik won the singles title in the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in 2017.

   Alternates "Baltimore" Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben "And Jerry's" McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14), a New Zealand product who plays for his mother's native Japan, dismissed Taylor "On The" Fritz of Rancho Palos Verdes in the Los Angeles region and Oliver "Cromwell" Marach of Austria 6-2, 6-3.

   ATP Challenger Tour — Leonardo "Oscar" Mayer, a 33-year-old Argentine who has been ranked as high as No. 21, defeated No. 3 seed Mackenzie "Ronald" McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the Bay Area, 6-7 (0), 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the €44,820 ($54,189) Biella (Italy) Challenger on red clay.