Resurgent Simon mauls McDonald in Moscow

Gilles Simon, a former top-10 player, has endured a horrific year.
2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Gilles Simon finally seems to be regaining his form.

   The 36-year-old Frenchman, a former top-10 player, dismissed Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old San Francisco Bay product, 6-3, 6-2 today in the second round of the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

   Simon, who has plunged from a career-high No. 6 in 2009 to No. 117, reached his first quarterfinal since Cologne last October.

   Simon came to the Kremlin Cup, an ATP 250 tournament on indoor hardcourts, with four consecutive first-round losses and a 4-21 singles record this year. Simon went 0-11 from April until August.

   WTA Tour — Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, 19, of Colombia defeated Mayar Sherif (Fresno State, 2015-16) of Egypt 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Tenerife (Spain) Ladies Open, a WTA 250 tournament on hardcourts.

    Osorio Serrano, who won her first WTA title in Bogota on clay in April and reached the third round at Wimbledon as a qualifier, ousted Elina Svitolina, seeded first at No. 6 in the world, in the opening round. 

   USTA Pro Circuit — Qualifier Victoria Duval of Bradenton, Fla., beat Katie Volynets, 19, of Walnut Creek in the Bay Area, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga.