NorCal product Riffice rolls into NCAA quarterfinals

   No. 6 seed Sam Riffice, a Florida junior who grew up in the Sacramento area, routed Siphosothando Montsi of Illinois 6-2, 6-0 today in Orlando, Fla., to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships for the second time. 

   Riffice, an Orlando resident who helped the Gators win their first NCAA team title on Saturday, is scheduled to play No. 4 seed Val Vacherot of Texas A&M on Wednesday. Vacherot defeated Rinky Hijikata of North Carolina 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

   Riffice also advanced to the last eight in the NCAAs as a freshman. Last year's tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.

   In the second round of doubles:

   —No. 3 seeds Adam Walton and Pat Harper of Tennessee beat Marcus McDaniel, from Vacaville in Northern California, and Andres Martin of Georgia Tech 7-6 (3), 6-2.

   —Andrea Garcia and Nandini Das of Florida State topped Carolyn Campana, from Hillsborough in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Eliza Omirou of Wake Forest 6-4, 7-6 (2).

   French Open — Northern California natives Mackenzie McDonald and Jenson Brooksby won their first-round qualifying matches in Paris. 

   McDonald, seeded ninth, beat Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-4, 6-4. McDonald advanced to the second round of the main draw at Roland Garros last fall as a direct entrant, losing to second seed and eventual champion Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-0, 6-3, and was the only U.S. man to reach the round of 16 in the Australian Open in February.

   Brooksby, making his French Open debut at 20, crushed 20th-seeded Cedric-Marcel Stebe of Germany 6-1, 6-0 in 64 minutes for his 11th consecutive victory.

   Brooksby, playing for the first time since winning back-to-back Challenger titles in Orlando on hardcourts and Tallahassee, Fla., on clay last month, improved to 24-4 this year after turning pro in December.

   CoCo Vandeweghe, a former top-15 player rebounding from an ankle injury, outlasted fellow American Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ahn, who reached the round of 16 in the 2019 U.S. Open, fell to 0-6 since March, 1-8 this year and 2-13 since last August.

   ATP Tour — No. 8 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan edged Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Emilia Romagna Open in Parma, Italy.

   Querrey, who was playing in his first tournament since late March, fell to 0-3 in singles since early February. He also lost in the opening round of doubles with 39-year-old countryman Nicholas Monroe on Sunday.