McDonald squanders two match points, falls in French

Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old San Francisco Bay Area
product, lost to No. 22 seed Cristian Garin of Chile today in a marathon
in the second round of the French Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald twice was within a point of beating a seed in straight sets today and reaching the third round of the French Open for the first time.

   But No. 22 seed Cristian Garin of Chile survived 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3, 8-6 in 4 hours, 14 minutes to reach the third round at Roland Garros in Paris for the second consecutive year.

   McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area who advanced to the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2018 and in the Australian Open in February, escaped a match point at 5-6 in the fifth set. 

   Garin, who won his fifth career singles title (all on clay) in his hometown of Santiago in March, saved 14 of 18 break points against him as he equaled his best result in a Grand Slam tournament.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., continues to fight his way back up the world rankings after undergoing right hamstring surgery in June 2019. He will rise six spots to No. 113 after reaching a career-high No. 57 in April 2019.

   Another Bay Area product, Giuliana Olmos, won in the first round of women's doubles with Sharon Fichman of Canada. The No. 9 seeds, coming off the biggest title of their careers three weeks ago in the Italian Open, dispatched Anna Blinkova of Russia and Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-3, 6-2. 

   Olmos was born in Austria and represents Mexico. 

   In the opening round of men's doubles, No. 15 seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan defeated French wild cards Mathias Bourgue and Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-2.  

   WTA Tour — Grand Slam singles champions Sofia Kenin and Sloane Stephens and runner-up Madison Keys have entered the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, Aug. 2-8 at San Jose State University.

   Kenin won Northern California Challengers as a teenager in 2016, 2017 and 2018, laying the foundation for her shocking 2020 Australian Open title.

   Stephens, who grew up in Fresno, Calif., routed Keys for the 2017 U.S. Open crown one month after Keys won the last Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

   The full player field for the Silicon Valley Classic, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic, will be announced on June 22. This year's tournament will mark 50 years of women's tour tennis in the Bay Area.