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Veteran journalist Paul Bauman, based in Sacramento, covers Northern California professional, collegiate and junior tennis. Contact him at norcaltennisczar@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @norcaltenczar.
Mamma mia: Azarenka tops Bondarenko in S.J. marathon
Victoria Azarenka defeated Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-7 (7), 7-5 tonight in
the first round of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose. Both players
are mothers. Photo by Mal Taam
Note to readers: If you enjoy my coverage of Northern California tennis, please donate on my homepage. Here's why I need your support.
Victoria Azarenka won a marathon matchup of mothers.
Azarenka, 28, of Belarus defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, 31, of Ukraine 6-3, 6-7 (7), 7-5 in 2 hours, 40 minutes tonight in the first round of the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose.
Bondarenko, a former top-30 player who won the 2008 Australian Open doubles title with her sister Alona, saved three match points.
Azarenka, a Belarus native who will turn 29 on Tuesday, gave birth to a son, Leo, in December 2016. Bondarenko, 31, of Ukraine had a daughter, Karin, in 2013.
"It's a really challenging time for me and my game right now," Azarenka, ranked No. 108, said in an on-court interview. "You can see with my game, there's a lot of ups and downs. The important thing is I'm here, I'm fighting hard, and I try to do my best. That's all I can ask of myself, but it's not easy. Everyone expects to have results right awa -- I do, too! -- but I need to be patient and keep working hard."
Azarenka, who won the 2010 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, will face top-seeded Garbine Muguruza, 24, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a matchup of two-time Grand Slam singles champions and former world No. 1s. The top four seeds received first-round byes.
In a late match, wild card Ashley Kratzer outlasted fellow American Alison Riske 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 for her first WTA tour victory. Kratzer, a 19-year-old left-hander, reached the semifinals in Berkeley two weeks ago and the final in Stockton last July. Both were $60,000 tournaments.
Another 19-year-old American, Sofia Kenin, beat qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 6-4, 6-4 during the day session. Kenin, who was born in Moscow and moved to the United States as a young child, reached the third round of the U.S. Open last year, losing to her idol, Maria Sharapova. Kenin also won Sacramento ($50,000) in 2016, Stockton in 2017 and Berkeley this month.
Kenin will face either sixth seed and San Francisco resident Serena Williams or Johanna Konta of Great Britain. The former Bank of the West champions will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Also advancing today were Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., Maria Sakkari of Greece and Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia. Collins won the NCAA singles title in 2014 and 2016 while playing at Virginia.
Here are the Mubadala singles and doubles draws and Tuesday's schedule.
ATP World Tour in Washington, D.C. -- Former world No. 1 Andy Murray converted his seventh match point to beat Mackenzie McDonald, a 23-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Citi Open.
The match lasted 2 hours, 36 minutes and ended at 12:45 a.m. EDT.
Murray recorded only his second victory after missing almost one year because of hip surgery. McDonald reached the fourth round at Wimbledon this month.
Posted by Paul Bauman at 10:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Azarenka, Kenin, Mubadala
Muguruza, Keys openers set in San Jose tournament
Garbine Muguruza, shown in last year's Bank of the West Classic at Stanford,
is scheduled to play her opening match in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic
on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at San Jose State. Photo by Mal Taam
Note to readers: If you enjoy my coverage of Northern California tennis, please donate on my homepage. Here's why I need your help.
Top-seeded Garbine Muguruza is scheduled to play her opening match in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State on Wednesday at 7 p.m., tournament officials announced today.
Also, second-seeded Madison Keys is set to open during the day session on Thursday.
Madison Keys poses with a stuffed bear
after winning the title at Stanford last
August. Grizzly bears are a symbol of
California. Photo by Mal Taam
Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, and Keys, who won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford and reached the U.S. Open final last year, received first-round byes.
Muguruza will play the winner of Monday's 7 p.m. match between mothers Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine. Azarenka, who will turn 29 on Tuesday, and Muguruza, 24, are former world No. 1s.
Keys, 23, will meet the survivor of Monday afternoon's match between Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia and qualifier Georgina Garcia Perez of Spain.
Previously, it was announced that sixth seed and San Francisco resident Serena Williams will play Johanna Konta of Great Britain in a matchup of former Bank of the West champions on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Also, Venus Williams will meet either Heather Watson of Great Britain or Claire Liu, an 18-year-old wild card from Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles region, on Thursday at 7 p.m.
In today's final round of qualifying, the seventh-seeded Garcia Perez beat Maria Sanchez, a 28-year-old Modesto product, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3).
Eighth-seeded Amanda Anisimova, 16, of Aventura, Fla., edged second-seeded Anna Blinkova of Russia 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Anisimova is playing in her first tournament after missing four months with a broken foot.
Here are the Mubadala singles and doubles main draws, complete qualifying draw and Monday's schedule. For more information, visit mubadalasvc.com.
Labels: Keys, Mubadala, Muguruza
Three NorCal players claim pro doubles titles
Connie Ma, 15, of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area, won
the doubles title and reached the singles final in a $15,000
tournament in Evansville, Ind. Photo by Paul Bauman
Three players with Northern California ties, including 15-year-old Connie Ma, won doubles titles in professional tournaments this weekend.
And two, including Ma, reached singles finals.
Third-seeded Jovana Jaksic, a Serbian based in Sacramento, and Renata Zarazua of Mexico topped unseeded Sanaz Marand and Whitney Osuigwe, 16, of the United States 6-3, 5-7 [10-4] in the final of the Braidy Industries $60,000 Women's Tennis Classic in Ashland, Ky.
Jaksic, 24, also reached the singles semifinals before losing to eventual champion Gail Brodsky.
Unseeded Markus Eriksson and Andre Goransson (Cal, 2014-17) of Sweden edged Ivan Gakhov and Alexander Pavlioutchenkov of Russia 6-3, 3-6 [10-7] to capture the 43,000 Euro ($50,129) Aamulehti Tampere (Finland) Open.
Ma -- a 5-foot-3 (1.60-meters), 95-pound (43.1-kilogram) amateur from Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area -- and Gianna Pielet, 16, beat Meghan Kelley and Bianca Moldovan 6-3, 7-5 in an all-American final in the $15,000 Women's Hospital Classic in Evansville, Ind. Both teams were unseeded. Kelley and Moldovan will be seniors at Virginia and North Carolina State, respectively.
The Ashland singles final featured a rare matchup of qualifiers as Brodsky, 27, defeated fellow American Maegan Manasse (Cal, 2014-17) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.
In the Evansville final, third-seeded Elysia Bolton of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., beat the sixth-seeded Ma 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Bolton will enroll at UCLA in the fall.
Posted by Paul Bauman at 9:39 PM 0 comments
Labels: Goransson, Jaksic, Ma, Manasse
Venus to play Thursday, Azarenka on Monday
Venus Williams, shown at the 2016 Bank of the West
Classic at Stanford, will play either Heather Watson
of Great Britain or Claire Liu, an 18-year-old Southern
Californian, on Thursday night in the Mubadala Silicon
Valley Classic at San Jose State. Photo by Paul Bauman
Former world No. 1s Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka are scheduled to play Thursday and Monday, respectively, in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State, tournament officials announced today.
Both matches are set for 7 p.m.
The third-seeded Williams, who won the last of her seven Grand Slam singles titles 10 years ago, will play either Heather Watson of Great Britain or Claire Liu, an 18-year-old wild card from Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles region. The top four seeds received first-round byes.
Azarenka, the Australian Open champion in 2012 and 2013, will meet Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine. The winner will take on another former world No. 1, top-seeded Garbine Muguruza, on Wednesday at a time to be determined.
Williams is ranked 14th at age 38. Azarenka, who will turn 29 on Tuesday, has tumbled to No. 110 after having her first child in December 2016 and playing part-time because of a custody battle.
Victoria Azarenka will meet Kateryna Bonda-
renko of Ukraine on Monday at 7 p.m. in San
Jose. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman
In the opening round of qualifying today, Maria Sanchez scored the first top-50 singles win of her career. The 28-year-old Modesto product, ranked No. 258, upended Aryna Sabalenka, ranked No. 35 and seeded first, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Sabalenka, 20, of Belarus reached the Eastbourne final on grass in June, ousting seventh-ranked Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals and losing to second-ranked Caroline Wozniacki.
Sanchez will face No. 7 seed Georgina Garcia Perez, a 6-foot-1 (1.87-meter) Spaniard, on Sunday after a 10 a.m. match between No. 2 Anna Blinkova of Russia and Amanda Anisimova, a 16-year-old U.S. phenom seeded No. 8.
Anisimova, playing her first match after missing four months with a broken foot, dismissed Priscilla Hon of Australia 6-1, 6-3. Anisimova won her first professional title in the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger last July and reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in March, beating Petra Kvitova for her first top-10 victory.
Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) lost to fellow Southern Californian Danielle Lao, only 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters) and 120 pounds (54 kilograms), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Here are the singles main draw, qualifying draw and Sunday's schedule. For more information, visit mubadalasvc.com.
Labels: Azarenka, Gibbs, Mubadala, Sanchez, Venus Williams
Serena draws Konta in San Jose tournament
Serena Williams, playing in the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford,
is coming off a runner-up finish at Wimbledon. Photo by Tri Nguyen/
TriNguyenPhotography.com
In a matchup of former Bank of the West Classic champions, No. 6 seed Serena Williams will face Johanna Konta on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State.
The draw for the inaugural tournament, which replaces the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, was held tonight. The main draw will begin Monday with sessions at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Williams played in the Bank of the West five times, capturing the title the last three (2011, 2012 and 2014). Konta took the 2016 crown in her only appearance in the tournament.
Williams won her only match against Konta 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Australian Open en route to the title. That was Williams' last tournament before going on maternity leave.
Williams has played four tournaments since having her first child on Sept. 1. Ranked No. 27, she is coming off a runner-up finish at Wimbledon two weeks ago. Williams, 36, was bidding to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
Konta, 27, of Great Britain has tumbled from a career-high No. 4 last July to No. 48. She lost in the second round at Wimbledon, also her last tournament.
The winner of Tuesday night's match will play either Sofia Kenin, a 19-year-old American who won last week's $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge, or a qualifier to be determined.
The top four seeds in the Silicon Valley Classic -- in order, Garbine Muguruza, Madison Keys, Venus Williams and Elise Mertens -- received first-round byes.
Muguruza reached the Bank of the West semifinals last year and quarterfinals in 2014 and won the doubles title in 2014 with fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro. Venus Williams won the Bank of the West in 2000 and 2002, and Keys took last year's crown.
Muguruza could play Victoria Azarenka, the 2010 Bank of the West champion, in the second round in a clash of former world No. 1s. Azarenka, 28, is ranked No. 110 after having her first child in December 2016 and playing a limited schedule because of a custody battle.
The Williams sisters could meet in the Aug. 5 final.
In the first round of qualifying on Saturday, 16-year-old U.S. phenom Amanda Anisimova, seeded eighth, is scheduled to launch her comeback against Priscilla Hon of Australia at 10 a.m. Anisimova has missed the last four months with a broken foot.
Anisimova won her first professional title in the $60,000 Sacramento Challenger last July and reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in March, beating Petra Kvitova for her first victory over a top-10 player.
Maria Sanchez, a 28-year-old Modesto product ranked No. 258, will take on top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a 20-year-old Belarusian ranked No. 35, at about 2 p.m. After that match, third-seeded Nicole Gibbs (Stanford, 2011-13) will play 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter), 120-pound (54-kilogram) Danielle Lao in a battle of Southern Californians. Gibbs lost to Kenin in the Berkeley final.
Sixteen players are entered in qualifying. Those who win two matches will advance to the main draw.
Here are the singles main draw, qualifying draw and Saturday's schedule. For more information, visit mubadalasvc.com.
Labels: Konta, Mubadala, Serena Williams
U.S. teens Liu, Kratzer receive San Jose wild cards
Ashley Kratzer reached the semifinals in last week's $60,000
Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge. Photo by Paul Bauman
Two of the United States' top prospects, Southern California teenagers Claire Liu and Ashley Kratzer, received main-draw wild cards for next week's Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State, tournament officials announced today.
Liu (pronounced Loo), 18, of Thousand Oaks and Kratzer, a 19-year-old left-hander from Newport Beach, join former world No. 1s Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza as the tournament's wild cards.
The draw for the Silicon Valley Classic, which replaces the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, will be held Friday at 6 p.m. Qualifying will begin Saturday and the main draw on Monday. Both sessions will start at 10 a.m.
The field also includes Bank of the West champions Serena Williams (2011, 2012 and 2014), Victoria Azarenka (2010), Johanna Konta (2016) and Madison Keys (2017).
Liu, ranked No. 153, has qualified for three tour-level events and played in the main draw of two others this year. She reached the second round at Wimbledon this month and was the only player to win a set there against eventual champion Angelique Kerber.
Last year, Liu became the first American to win the Wimbledon girls title since Chanda Rubin in 1992, reached the French Open girls final and climbed to No. 1 in the world junior rankings.
Kratzer, ranked No. 249, has advanced to the semifinals or better at four ITF (minor-league) events in 2018, including the final of a $25,000 event in Naples, Fla. in early June and the semifinals of last week's $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge.
Last summer, Kratzer reached the final of the $60,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger and won the USTA Girls' 18s National Championships in San Diego to earn a wild card in the main draw of the U.S. Open. She lost in the opening round at Flushing Meadows to Germany's Tatjana Maria, then ranked 61st, 6-1, 6-1.
For more information on the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, visit mubadalasvc.com.
Labels: Kratzer, Liu, Mubadala
Vandeweghe withdraws from San Jose tourney
CoCo Vandeweghe, shown during last year's Bank of the West Classic at Stan-
ford, withdrew from next week's Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose
with an ankle injury. Photo by Mal Taam
CoCo Vandeweghe, a two-time runner-up in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, withdrew from next week's Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State with an ankle injury, tournament officials announced today.
Vandeweghe reached the Stanford final in 2012 as a lucky loser, falling to Serena Williams, and last year, losing to her close friend Madison Keys.
After advancing to her first two Grand Slam semifinals, in the Australian Open and U.S. Open, and the French Open quarterfinals in 2017, Vandeweghe has won one match in a major this year. She has dropped from a career-high No. 10 last November to No. 19.
Fellow American Christina McHale, who won the USTA Girls' 18s National Championships in 2009 at the Berkeley Tennis Club, will replace Vandeweghe in the San Jose draw. McHale is ranked No. 97 after climbing as high as No. 24 in 2012.
The Silicon Valley Classic, which replaces the Bank of the West Classic, features former world No. 1s Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Victoria Azarenka. Also entered are past Bank of the West champions Johanna Konta (2016) and Keys.
Tickets are available at mubadalasvc.com.
Labels: Mubadala, Vandeweghe
Juniors Zamarripa, Quan win USTA Clay Court titles
Two Northern California juniors won titles in last week's USTA National Clay Court Championships, and two others reached finals.
No. 8 seed Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena in the Napa area beat No. 1 Valencia Xu of Livingston, N.J., 6-4, 6-3 in the girls 16 final in Memphis, Tenn.
Zamarripa and her twin sister, Maribella, swept the girls 16 doubles titles in the Easter Bowl at Indian Wells, Calif., and the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif., in consecutive weeks in the spring.
Meanwhile, No. 1 seed Rudy Quan of Roseville in the Sacramento area routed No. 6 Luca Coriaty of Long Beach, Calif., 6-1, 6-1 in the boys 12 final in Orlando, Fla.
Quan also won the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz., and the Easter Bowl in the 12s this year.
Allura Zamarripa is ranked 16th nationally in the 16s in singles, and Quan is No. 1 in the 12s.
In the boys 14 final in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., No. 3 Nicholas Heng of Madison, Ala., overcame No. 2 John Kim of Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
And in the girls 14 final in Plantation, Fla., unseeded Clervie Ngounoue of Washington, D.C., topped No. 1 Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Labels: Clay Courts, kim, Ovrootsky, Quan, Zamarripa
Klahn, continuing comeback, ends title drought
Bradley Klahn (Stanford, 2009-12), playing in the San
Francisco Challenger in February, won a Challenger title
for the first time in almost four years on Sunday. Photo
by Paul Bauman
Bradley Klahn (Stanford, 2009-12), continuing his comeback from a second back operation, won his first Challenger title in almost four years on Sunday.
The fifth-seeded Klahn, a 27-year-old product of Poway in the San Diego area, beat unseeded Ugo Humbert, 20, of France 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a matchup of left-handers in the final of the $75,000 Gatineau (Canada) Challenger.
Klahn, who was coming off a second-round appearance at Wimbledon as a qualifier, won his sixth career Challenger singles title. The first came in Aptos, on the Pacific Ocean 53 miles (85 kilometers) south of Stanford, in 2013.
Klahn jumped 21 places to No. 122 in the world rankings. He reached a career-high No. 63 in 2014.
Humbert, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 151 pounds (68 kilograms), soared 38 spots to a career-high No. 219 following his first Challenger singles final.
Klahn also won the Gatineau doubles title for the second consecutive year, this time with Robert Galloway of Greenville, S.C. Seeded second, they edged fourth-seeded Darian King of Barbados and Peter Polansky of Canada 7-6 (4), 4-6 [10-8]. Klahn has won seven Challenger doubles titles in his career.
Klahn is not on the acceptance list for this year's $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger in Aptos, Aug. 6-12 at the Seascape Sports Club. But Dennis Novikov, a 24-year-old San Jose product, is.
Futures Circuit in Iowa City, Iowa -- Fourth-seeded Alec Adamson (UC Davis, 2013-17) and Nick Chappell of the United States won the doubles title in the $25,000 Old Capitol Pro Tennis Futures, nipping unseeded Felix Corwin of Elm Grove, Wis., and Matic Spec of Slovenia 2-6, 6-2 [10-6].
Sixth-seeded Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain beat top-seeded Evgeny Karlovskiy of Russia 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1) for the singles title.
Glasspool and Soren Hess-Olesen of the University of Texas won the 2015 NCAA doubles championship. Karlovskiy was coming off the singles crown in the $75,000 Winnetka (Ill.) Challenger.
Third-seeded Collin Altamirano, 22, of Sacramento reached the semifinals before losing to Karlovskiy. Altamirano advanced to his first Challenger semifinal in Winnetka.
Labels: Adamson, Klahn
Muguruza to play in San Jose tourney
Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza
is scheduled to play in the inaugural Mubadala Silicon
Valley Classic, July 30-Aug. 5 at San Jose State.
2017 photo by Mal Taam
The field of former No. 1-ranked players in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is getting crowded.
Garbine Muguruza became the fourth one, tournament officials announced today.
Muguruza, 24, joins former world No. 1s Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka in the inaugural tournament, July 30-Aug. 5 at San Jose State. Maria Sharapova, who also climbed to the top of the rankings, withdrew last Tuesday to rest.
The Silicon Valley Classic replaces the Bank of the West Classic, which ended a 21-year run at Stanford last August.
Muguruza, the Williams sisters and Azarenka have won multiple Grand Slam singles titles. Muguruza took the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon crowns.
Muguruza last September became the first Spanish woman to reach No. 1 since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1995. Muguruza was born in Venezuela to a Venezuelan mother and Spanish father.
This year, Muguruza reached the French Open semifinals, losing to eventual champion Simona Halep, and was upset by Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in the second round at Wimbledon.
The seventh-ranked Muguruza has won six career WTA titles in singles, including Monterrey in April, and five in doubles, including the Bank of the West Classic in 2014 with compatriot Carla Suarez Navarro.
Muguruza played in the Bank of the West Classic twice, reaching the singles quarterfinals in 2014 and semifinals last year. She lost to eventual champion Madison Keys in 2017.
Bank of the West singles champions entered in San Jose are Serena Williams (2011, 2012 and 2014), Venus Williams (2000 and 2002), Azarenka (2010), Johanna Konta (2016) and Keys. Also in the field is CoCo Vandeweghe, a two-time Bank of the West runner-up.
Tickets to the Silicon Valley Classic are available at MubadalaSVC.com.
Labels: Mubadala, Muguruza
Kenin, 19, conquers Gibbs for $60K Berkeley title
The Stadium Court at the Berkeley Tennis Club is shown early in the week
with the Claremont Club & Spa in the background. Photo by Paul Bauman
BERKELEY, Calif. -- After reaching her first WTA tour semifinal in Mallorca on grass and advancing to the second round at Wimbledon for the first time, Sofia Kenin easily could have suffered a letdown in the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge.
But that's not her style. Put her on a court, and she's ready for battle. After all, she has Russian heritage.
Top-seeded Sofia Kenin, 19, right, beat
second-seeded Nicole Gibbs, an ex-Stanford
star, 6-0, 6-4 to win the inaugural Berkeley
Tennis Club Challenge. Photo by Paul Bauman
"I think it helps me because Russians are determined and always fight," said the 19-year-old American, who was born in Moscow and speaks Russian with her father and coach, Alex. "I got that from my family."
The top-seeded Kenin never lost a set in five Berkeley matches (although she played two tiebreakers), capping her run with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over second-seeded Nicole Gibbs, a 25-year-old former Stanford star, in 65 minutes today.
"Obviously it's hard to adjust coming from Wimbledon where everything is so glorious and here it's not so much," said Kenin, who beat No. 6 Caroline Garcia of France in Mallorca for her first win over a top-10 player. "But I like the site; I like playing here."
The Berkeley Tennis Club has a rich history of its own. It was founded in 1906, and past members include International Tennis Hall of Famers Don Budge, Helen Wills Moody, Helen Jacobs and Hazel Wightman. Plaques in their honor adorn the interior and exterior of the clubhouse.
Hall of Famers Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Stan Smith and Billie Jean King have played at the Berkeley Tennis Club, and King is an honorary lifetime member. The USTA Girls 18 National Championships were held there until the tournament moved in 2010 to its current site in San Diego.
Kenin, who has piercing blue eyes and also goes by "Sonya," won a Northern California Challenger for the third consecutive year, following Sacramento ($50,000) in 2016 and Stockton ($60,000) last summer. Her only other title in a professional tournament came in Wesley Chapel, Fla. ($25,000) on clay in 2016.
Kenin, who will remain about No. 64 in Monday's updated rankings, does not plan to play any more Challengers.
"As of now, I don't really think so," she said. "I wasn't supposed to play this one. We just decided to get some match play."
Kenin said she would fly back home to Pembroke Pines, Fla., in the Miami area tonight and return to the San Francisco Bay Area for the inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, July 30-Aug. 5 at San Jose State.
Sofia Kenin won a Northern California Challenger
for the third year in a row. Photo by Paul Bauman
Kenin easily is ranked high enough to play in the main draw of the U.S. Open, Aug. 27-Sept. 9 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., for the fourth straight year. She reached the third round there last year, losing to her idol, Maria Sharapova, 7-5, 6-2 in a late-night match at 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium. Kenin then turned pro so she could keep her $144,000 prize money.
"I'm already in the middle of the (entry list), which takes a lot of pressure off instead of playing three tournaments for the wild card," said Kenin, who earned $9,119 for the Berkeley title.
Kenin hopes to move to New York and then California.
"I have to make a lot of money to get there," she cautioned. "I love Manhattan. It's so nice. It has the best restaurants and the best shops in the world. I love big shops."
Kenin -- among a group of teenage U.S. prospects that also includes CiCi Bellis (19), Ashley Kratzer (19), Caroline Dolehide (19), Claire Liu (18), Kayla Day (18), Amanda Anisimova (16), Whitney Osuigwe (16) and Cori Gauff (14) -- is well on her way.
Kenin's goal is to crack the top 50 by the end of the year. Gibbs isn't betting against her.
"She's a good tennis player," said Gibbs, who took home $4,863. "I don't see any reason she won't be top 20 (eventually)."
In addition to tenacity, Kenin has "a killer (two-handed) backhand," according to Gibbs, and a phenomenal drop shot. The 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter) Kenin's serve, although not a big weapon, and forehand aren't exactly shabby, either.
Asked if she's ever played anyone with a better drop shot, Gibbs declared with a laugh: "Nope. She has an unbelievable drop shot. I knew it was coming, and I still couldn't cover it today."
Nicole Gibbs said she encountered "a perfect storm" in the
final. Photo by Paul Bauman
Gibbs hadn't lost a set in the tournament -- she won the doubles title with Asia Muhammad on Saturday -- entering the singles final. That changed in a hurry as Kenin, ripping service returns and groundstrokes, blitzed Gibbs in 18 minutes in the opening set of their first career meeting.
When Kenin also broke serve, on a forehand cross-court winner, to open the second set, it looked bleak for Gibbs. But she broke right back when Kenin -- looking mortal, after all -- netted a down-the-line backhand. That prompted Gibbs to raise her palms, as if to say, "Finally."
The crowd of about 200 enthusiastic fans on another beautiful day strongly backed Gibbs, either because she played at nearby Stanford or it wanted a competitive match or both.
After the players traded breaks again for 3-3, Kenin scored the decisive break. From 30-30, she floated yet another feathery drop shot for a winner, and Gibbs sailed a forehand long, causing her to scream in frustration.
Gibbs held for 4-5, saving one match point, but Kenin earned three more match points at 40-0 in the next game. Kenin netted a backhand on the first one but converted the second one.
The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs lost her serve six of eight times and won only 26 percent of the points on her second serve (6 of 23).
Asked if Kenin was just too good in the final, Gibbs replied with a laugh: "Yeah, and I was too bad. It was a perfect storm a little bit. She played really well and took me off my game. I just didn't have nearly the consistency I had earlier this week. The ball felt like it was flying a little bit off my racket today. I'm not sure if it was the conditions or I just wasn't adjusting with my feet. She certainly played really well to take it away from me, but I also gave her a lot of points that I didn't need to give her.
Plaques honoring Hall of Famers Don Budge, left, and Helen
Wills Moody adorn a wall at the Berkeley Tennis Club. Budge
and Wills Moody are past members. Photo by Paul Bauman
"Everything was kind of a struggle today. I felt a little bit out of sorts, and part of that is credit to your opponent. She was taking my serve really early, even off the first serve, so I felt like I had to do more, and I just didn't execute."
Gibbs also complained of "normal finals nerves. I didn't sleep great last night. It is what it is. It's part of the game."
Gibbs, who reached a career-high No. 68 two years ago, will rise from No. 116 to about No. 105. She plans to train at home in Venice in the Los Angeles area next week, then play in San Jose.
"I think I'm four (spots) out of the main draw, so it's probably 50-50 whether I'll have to qualify," she said.
The tournament replaces the Bank of the West Classic, which ended a 21-year run at Stanford last year.
"I'm bummed that it's not at Stanford, but it is what it is, and I'm looking forward to coming back up next week."
Here are the complete Berkeley singles and doubles draws.
Labels: Berkeley, Gibbs, Kenin
California dreamin': Gibbs, Kenin to play for title
Second-seeded Nicole Gibbs attended high school and
lives in the Los Angeles area. She starred at Stanford.
Photo by Paul Bauman
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Nicole Gibbs will have the home-court advantage when she faces Sofia Kenin for the first time today in the final of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge.
But not by much.
Gibbs attended high school and lives in the Los Angeles area. She starred at Stanford, across San Francisco Bay from Berkeley.
"Anytime I play in California, I feel like it's home for me," Gibbs, 25, said Saturday. "I'm just enjoying my time here and trying to savor it."
Kenin was born in Moscow and grew up in Pembroke Pines, Fla. But the 19-year-old American will try to win a Northern California Challenger for the third consecutive year.
Kenin captured the title in $50,000 Sacramento in 2016 and $60,000 Stockton last year. Her only other singles crown came in $25,000 Wesley Chapel, Fla., on clay in 2016.
"I love California," said Kenin, who speaks Russian with her father and coach, Alex. "I love the atmosphere (at the tournaments), and the weather is great. I want to live somewhere in California after New York."
Gibbs, seeded No. 2, beat another 19-year-old American, unseeded Ashley Kratzer, 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a hard-court loss to her. After Saturday's match, Gibbs said the Newport Beach resident has top-20 potential.
Gibbs later won the doubles title with Asia Muhammad of Las Vegas. The unseeded team outclassed top-seeded Ellen Perez of Australia and Sabrina Santamaria of Los Angeles 6-4, 6-1 to split $3,344. Gibbs has not lost a set in eight singles and doubles matches in the tournament.
Top-seeded Sofia Kenin, 19, hopes to win a Northern
California Challenger for the third consecutive year.
Kenin, seeded No. 1, downed No. 3 Nao Hibino 7-6 (6), 6-2 to snap the 23-year-old Japanese player's winning streak at eight matches.
The 5-foot-4 (1.63-meter) Hibino, who won last week's $60,000 Honolulu Challenger, had two set points in the tiebreaker and took a medical timeout for strained groin and abdominal muscles at 1-4 in the second set.
Today's singles final will be streamed live beginning at noon. Admission is free.
On Saturday, Gibbs won six straight games from 4-4 in the opening set. That helped her reverse a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Kratzer in the second round of an $80,000 hard-court tournament in Tyler, Texas, last November in their first meeting. Gibbs also beat Kratzer 6-4, 6-4 in the final of a $25,000 clay-court event in Naples, Fla., in early June.
"I'm a much more confident player right now than I was last fall," proclaimed the 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs, who has dropped from a career-high No. 68 two years ago to No. 116. "I was in the middle of some stuff in terms of my career. There was some turnover. I had just stopped with my old coach (Roger Smith), so I was in a little bit of limbo. Now I feel like I have a really good direction.
"I came out today not just hoping she would miss but also planning to take offense when I could, and I think that shows in the result."
Gibbs began working with Chris Tontz of the USTA three months ago. Tontz also coaches 18-year-old sensation Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks, Sam Querrey's hometown, in the Los Angeles area.
When Tontz took over in February 2017, Liu's confidence was shattered. Five months later, Liu became the first American in 25 years to win the Wimbledon girls title.
Unseeded Ashley Kratzer, 19, argues a line call during
her loss to Nicole Gibbs on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.
Also, Liu reached the second round of the women's draw at Wimbledon this year, beating Gibbs in the final round of qualifying, and was the only player to win a set against champion Angelique Kerber.
Tontz was not at Gibbs' match on Saturday, but her father was.
"Chris Tontz is doing a really good job with Nicole," said Paul Gibbs, a high school English teacher who played at Ball State and was his daughter's first coach. "He knows the game really well, particularly the women's game. He's an excellent hitter of the ball, but he keeps it light. He's goofy and silly sometimes in addition to deadly serious.
"He's got her moving up and back better, looking for chances to come in and also knowing when to drop back. That's one part of it. Then he's got her opening the court better and going to the open court."
The 231st-ranked Kratzer, meanwhile, has all the physical tools for stardom. Not only is she 5-foot-11 (1.8 meters), she's left-handed. She can hammer her serve up the middle or slice it out wide. She has laser groundstrokes and, unlike the vast majority of male or female singles players, has an exquisite volley.
Mentally, it's a different story. Kratzer argues seemingly every other line call. She was assessed a point penalty, for an audible obscenity, that nearly cost her the match in the quarterfinals. She was warned for unsportsmanlike conduct in the semifinals. All it takes is one unforced error for her to pound the bottom of her shoe with her racket frame in disgust.
"She shows it on her sleeve as soon as she's frustrated, for sure," Gibbs said. "She's an emotional player. She definitely got frustrated. I just did my best to keep blinders on and not engage with that."
Kratzer began playing pro tournaments at 14, bypassing the juniors and then college. She lost to Kenin in last year's Stockton final.
Third-seeded Nao Hibino's winning streak
ended at eight matches. Photo by Paul Bauman
When asked if attitude is what Kratzer needs to work on the most, Gibbs blurted: "Absolutely. She's one of the most talented players out here. If she can pull it together a little bit more consistently mentally, I think she's going to be a really big threat on tour -- top 50 for sure, if not top 20, soon."
Kenin could crack the top 50 this summer. She is ranked a career-high No. 64 after reaching the third round at the U.S. Open last summer, her first WTA tour semifinal at Mallorca on grass last month as a qualifier and the second round at Wimbledon. At Mallorca, Kenin stunned sixth-ranked Caroline Garcia for her first victory over a top-10 player.
Hibino, 23, is ranked No. 113 after ascending to a career-high No. 56 in January 2016. She led 6-4 in the first-set tiebreaker on Saturday, but Kenin won the next four points on a service winner, two consecutive backhand winners and an unforced error.
"(I was) just fighting," Kenin, who turned pro at the U.S. Open so she could pocket $144,000, said after facing Hibino for the first time. "She a tough player, and I knew I had to just play every point. She has a lot of experience and was a (highly ranked) player. I knew it was going to be tough. Obviously, that (tiebreaker) made the difference later. I started off well in the second (set)."
Sort of. Kenin lost her serve to open the set but won the next four games to take control. Then Hibino, who won the inaugural $50,000 Stockton Challenger in 2015, took the medical timeout.
"Since two days ago, I feel little bit pain in legs and abs, and it's getting worse," said Hibino, who nonetheless insisted she will play in next week's $60,000 Ashland (Ky.) Challenger and WTA tournaments the following two weeks in Washington, D.C., and Montreal.
Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws.
Posted by Paul Bauman at 2:53 AM 0 comments
Labels: Berkeley, Gibbs, Hibino, Kenin, Kratzer
Kratzer, 19, prevents all-Stanford semi in $60K Berkeley
Unseeded Ashley Kratzer won the last six games
to beat fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
BERKELEY, Calif. -- There will be no all-Stanford semifinal.
Nor will there be an all-Japanese semifinal.
Two 19-year-old Americans, one right-handed and one left-handed, saw to that.
But not to worry. The semis in the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge remain plenty enticing.
Unseeded Ashley Kratzer, the lefty, ousted fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 26-year-old Stanford graduate, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in Friday's quarterfinals.
In a matchup of former Sacramento Challenger champions, top-seeded Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., beat eighth-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan 6-1, 6-4.
Hibi, 22, was born in Japan but lived in Foster City in the San Francisco Bay Area as a young child and grew up in Irvine in the Los Angeles area.
Kratzer will take on second seed and fellow Southern Californian Nicole Gibbs today at 11. Gibbs and Ahn led Stanford to the 2013 NCAA championship.
"I'm disappointed for Kristie," said Gibbs, 25. "However, I'm always glad not to have to play her. It's never fun playing a really good friend."
Kenin, who was born in Moscow but moved to the United States as a young child, will meet another Japanese player, third-seeded Nao Hibino, following the Gibbs-Kratzer match.
After Kratzer double-faulted to lose her serve in the opening game of the third set against Ahn, she reeled off six straight games for the match.
"I kind of dug deep and remembered back to yesterday, how much energy and my whole self I put into it," Kratzer said, referring to her 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over little Danielle Lao in 3 hours, 9 minutes. Kratzer escaped a match point at 6-7 in the tiebreaker. "I knew I had the match under control. I just needed to settle down and figure out what was working."
Kristie Ahn couldn't raise her level to match Ashley Krat-
zer's in the third set. Photo by Paul Bauman
The turning point came with Ahn serving at 1-2, 40-0 in the third set. Kratzer won the next five points to break and then overwhelmed Ahn with a barrage of passing shots.
"She hit some really good returns," said the 5-foot-5 (1.68-meter) Ahn, who's based in Boca Raton, Fla. "Maybe I wasn't aggressive enough, but I didn't play badly. I needed to raise my level a little bit more because obviously she did, and she took advantage of it, and obviously it changed the tone of the match."
Ahn took a medical timeout early in the second set to have her lower back massaged. Asked if her back bothered her in the third set, Ahn said, "It wasn't great, but it's something you have to play through," before adding sheepishly, "It's from period cramps. I don't like to ... the timing is just unfortunate."
Gibbs dismissed fifth-seeded Jamie Loeb, a 23-year-old product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, 6-3, 6-2 in 61 minutes in a clash of ex-NCAA singles champions.
Gibbs turned pro after winning her second consecutive NCAA singles title in 2013 as a junior (in addition to capturing the 2012 doubles crown with Mallory Burdette). Loeb made the leap after taking the 2015 title as a North Carolina sophomore.
Top-seeded Sofia Kenin winds up on a back-
hand during her 6-1, 6-4 victory over eighth-
seeded Mayo Hibi. Photo by Paul Bauman
Gibbs, ranked No. 116 after reaching a career-high No. 68 two years ago, and Kratzer, ranked No. 231, have split two career matches.
Kratzer won 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of an $80,000 hard-court tournament in Tyler, Texas, last fall, and Gibbs triumphed 6-4, 6-4 in the final of a $25,000 clay-court event in Naples, Fla., in early June.
"She's explosive, she's extremely talented, she's an athlete," said Gibbs, who has reached the third round of a Grand Slam twice and extended then-No. 1 Karolina Pliskova to 6-4 in the third set in the second round of the U.S. Open last September. "I'm definitely looking forward to the contest tomorrow."
Kratzer, who last summer reached the final of the $60,000 Stockton Challenger (losing to Kenin) and won the USTA girls 18 hardcourt title, said Gibbs "definitely is looking to move forward and trying to attack off the first ball. It's definitely going to be who can make the most balls tomorrow but also staying super offensive."
Ahn said she could not stay for Gibbs' match but would watch the live stream.
"I'm curious about that match as well," said Ahn, who is scheduled to play in a $60,000 tournament in Ashland, Ky., next week. "I'm sure it will be a really good match."
Kenin's athleticism and flat groundstrokes proved to be too much for the slightly built Hibi, but Kenin was frustrated at times by Hibi's unorthodox game. Hibi gives opponents little pace, slices every backhand, chases down almost everything and has a good drop shot and volley.
"She has good hands and a good slice, and she comes to the net really well," said the 64th-ranked Kenin, who reached the third round of the U.S. Open last year and the second round at Wimbledon this month. "It's really tough to play someone like her.
"I had to try to somehow (produce) my own pace. Against players like that, people overhit and miss everything. I tried to be patient."
Mayo Hibi, who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area as a
young child, follows through on her trademark slice backhand.
Hibino, the champion of last week's $60,000 Honolulu Challenger, extended her winning streak to eight matches with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over seventh-seeded Francesca Di Lorenzo, a 20-year-old left-hander from New Albany, Ohio.
Kenin and Hibino, ranked No. 113 after climbing to a career-high No. 56 in 2016, will meet for the first time in a matchup of past Stockton Challenger champions.
"I didn't really watch her before my match because I didn't want to look ahead," Kenin said. "From what I saw, she hits flat, moves well and fights for every point."
Gibbs also will play for the doubles title after today's second singles semifinal. She and Asia Muhammad of the United States will face top-seeded Ellen Perez of Australia and Sabrina Santamaria of the United States.
Gibbs and Muhammad beat Di Lorenzo and Jovana Jaksic, a Serbian living in Sacramento, 6-4, 6-3.
Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.
Posted by Paul Bauman at 12:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: Ahn, Berkeley, Gibbs, Hibi, Hibino, Kenin, Kratzer
NorCal's Bellis, 19, recovering from wrist surgery
CiCi Bellis and her coach, Anibal Aranda, pose in Decem-
ber 2016 in Burlingame in the San Francisco Bay Area.
BERKELEY, Calif. -- CiCi Bellis won't play in her home tournament in two weeks.
Or likely anywhere else this year.
The 19-year-old sensation, who was born in San Francisco and grew up in nearby Atherton, underwent surgery for a torn ligament in her right wrist on June 27 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Bellis is right-handed with a two-handed backhand.
The inaugural Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on the WTA tour is scheduled for July 30-Aug. 5 at San Jose State. The tournament replaces the Bank of West Classic, which ended a 21-year run at Stanford last year.
Dr. Richard Berger, who performed multiple surgeries on Juan Martin Del Potro's wrists, operated on Bellis.
"The surgery went well," Bellis' coach, Anibal Aranda, said Thursday. "She's at home now taking some time off to recover and come back healthy and strong."
Aranda, a national women's coach for the USTA, spoke at the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge, where he's working with Ashley Kratzer and Grace Min.
Kratzer, a 19-year-old left-hander, upset the sixth-seeded Min in the first round and is scheduled to play fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn (Stanford, 2011-14) in the quarterfinals today at noon.
Bellis, who reached a career-high No. 35 in August and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year, has not granted any interviews, her agent, Marijn Bal, wrote in an e-mail.
Wrist surgery has become increasingly common in professional tennis, even on the left wrists of right-handers with two handed backhands, such as Del Potro.
Aranda said Bellis' right wrist began bothering her in February.
"It started a little bit this year when we went to Doha and Dubai. Then by Miami (in late March), she couldn't play anymore. At the beginning of the year, she played against big hitters, and the balls and surfaces changed. She played Madison Keys, (Karolina) Pliskova, (Victoria) Azarenka, (Elena) Vesnina (and Garbine Muguruza). It's the same thing that happened to (Kei) Nishikori and Del Potro," Aranda said.
Bellis, who now lives in Orlando, Fla., plans to return at the beginning of next year, Aranda added. A petite 5-foot-7 (1.68 meters), she also missed the first month of 2017 with a strained gluteus muscle.
Bellis has dropped to No. 87 and will plunge further. However, WTA rules allow her to use her ranking of No. 44 when she last played to gain entry into eight tournaments within one year of her return.
Labels: Bellis
Serena to play in San Jose on July 31
Serena Williams is scheduled to play in the San Francisco Bay
Area for the first time in four years. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman
Serena Williams will play her opening-round match in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on Tuesday, July 31, at 7 p.m., tournament officials announced Thursday.
Williams' opponent will be determined when the draw is held next Friday. The tournament, which replaces the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, is scheduled for July 30-Aug. 5 at San Jose State.
Williams is scheduled to play in the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time since 2014, when she won the Bank of the West title for the third time.
Bidding to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams lost to Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final last Saturday. It was Williams' fourth tournament since she had her first child last Sept. 1.
The San Jose field also includes former Bank of the West champions Venus Williams (2000 and 2002), Victoria Azarenka (2010), Madison Keys (2017) and Johanna Konta (2016) and two-time runner-up CoCo Vandeweghe (2012 and 2017).
Labels: Mubadala, Serena Williams
Gibbs routs her college idol to reach Berkeley quarters
Ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs serves during her 6-1, 6-1 win over Modesto
product Maria Sanchez on Thursday in the second round of the $60,000
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Cross-bay Cal will always be Stanford's biggest rival.
But USC isn't far behind.
That didn't stop Nicole Gibbs from idolizing Maria Sanchez in 2011. Gibbs was a Stanford freshman, and Sanchez was a USC senior on the way to earning Pacific-10 Conference Women's Player of the Year honors.
"I think she beat me at SC at least once," recalled Gibbs, 25. "She was definitely like the player my freshman year, so I really looked up to her and saw her as an example of what I wanted to do with my tennis -- get more aggressive and adapt my game to her tennis."
Much has changed since then. Gibbs is ranked No. 116, while Sanchez is No. 271.
They met for the first time in five years on Thursday, and it wasn't close. Gibbs, seeded second, outclassed Sanchez 6-1, 6-1 in 66 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge.
The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Gibbs pounded deep service returns and groundstrokes, putting the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Sanchez, 28, on defense.
Maria Sanchez couldn't match Nicole Gibbs' consistency.
"I think I played a really clean match today," gushed Gibbs, who reached a career-high No. 68 two years ago and extended then-No. 1 Karolina Pliskova to 6-4 in the third set in the second round of the U.S. Open last September. "I don't think my opponent played particularly poorly. I just thought I did a really good job of returning her serve early in the match and stayed in points that sometimes I didn't feel like I had much business staying in.
"I was really pleased with the way I played. I stayed aggressive and didn't let her control the points."
Sanchez, who was born and raised 82 miles (132 kilometers) east of Berkeley in Modesto, had no aces and four double faults. She hammered her groundstrokes but usually made the first mistake. The longer the points lasted, the better off Gibbs was with her movement and consistency.
"I feel that way in almost every match I play, but Maria's a really good athlete," said Gibbs, who also routed Sanchez 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of a $50,000 tournament at New Braunfels, Texas, in 2013 in their only other meeting as pros. "She definitely was not giving me points for free once we were going the distance, so I had to earn them. I just feel like I'm doing a really good job of bringing that one extra ball back or finding offense late in the points."
Gibbs, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Venice, will meet No. 5 seed Jamie Loeb today not before 1 p.m. in a matchup of former NCAA singles champions. Loeb, a 23-year-old product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, defeated Chanel Simmonds, a 25-year-old left-hander from South Africa, 6-4, 6-1.
Top seed Sofia Kenin, ranked 64th at age 19, avenged a loss
to fellow American Emina Bektas. Photo by Paul Bauman
Gibbs turned pro after winning the NCAA singles title for the second consecutive year in 2013 as a junior (in addition to capturing the 2012 NCAA doubles crown with Mallory Burdette). Loeb, also 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), made the leap after capturing the 2015 title as a North Carolina sophomore.
"I know her as a person," Gibbs said. "She's a lovely girl. I've never played her, though, so I'm looking forward to the matchup. I think she's an aggressive player. I think she's going to come out swinging, and she's going to be very feisty and competitive."
No. 4 seed Kristie Ahn, who played with Gibbs on Stanford's 2013 NCAA championship team, beat wild card Maegan Manasse, the 2016 NCAA doubles runner-up from Cal with Denise Starr, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Ahn, 26, will play Ashley Kratzer, a 19-year-old left-hander from Newport Beach who turned pro out of high school, today at noon.
Kratzer, the only unseeded player to reach the quarterfinals, saved a match point a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over Danielle Lao, a 27-year-old former USC All-American, that lasted 3 hours, 9 minutes.
"The Little Giant." as the 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter), 120-pound (54-kilogram) Lao is known, reached the semifinals of last week's $60,000 Honolulu Challenger, losing 7-5 in the third set to top seed and eventual champion Nao Hibino.
Kratzer, last year's USTA girls 18 hard-court champion, served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but lost the game on a point penalty after uttering an audible obscenity. She had been warned earlier for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Emina Bektas couldn't convert a set point in the sec-
ond set against Sofia Kenin. Photo by Paul Bauman
Another 19-year-old American, No. 1 seed Sofia Kenin, topped Emina Bektas, a 25-year-old former Michigan All-American who reached the singles and doubles semifinals in Honolulu, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Kenin, ranked a career-high No. 64 after reaching the second round at Wimbledon, saved a set point with Bektas serving at 5-4 in the second set and broke with her devastating passing shots. The players had to take a possum break before the tiebreaker while a critter was removed from the corner of the court.
Kenin avenged a 6-4, 7-6 (5) loss to Bektas in the first round of the $80,000 Albuquerque Challenger last September. Bektas went on to win by far the biggest title of her career.
The difference, Kenin asserted, was playing at sea level instead of at 5,312 feet (1,619 meters) in Albuquerque.
"For sure, but that's no excuse," said the Moscow-born Kenin, who turned pro at the U.S. Open last summer so she could pocket $144,000 for advancing to the third round. "She obviously played well there. Obviously, the altitude didn't really help me. I felt like I didn't know where the ball was. I'm better without the altitude."
No. 3 seed Nao Hibino of Japan extended her winning streak to seven matches with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over U.S. wild card Gail Brodsky. Hibino, 23, won the inaugural Stockton Challenger three years ago.
In today's doubles semifinals, Gibbs and countrywoman Asia Muhammad will meet Francesca Di Lorenzo of the United States and Jovana Jaksic, a Serbian living in Sacramento, at about 6 p.m. Both teams are unseeded.
Labels: Bektas, Berkeley, Gibbs, Kenin, Sanchez
Gibbs doing 'awesome' in battle vs. depression
No. 2 seed Nicole Gibbs beat Jovana Jaksic of Serbia 6-2, 6-4 on
Wednesday in the first round of the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club
Challenge. Gibbs starred at Stanford, and Jaksic lives in Sacra-
mento. Photo by Paul Bauman
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Nicole Gibbs just wants to be average.
Off the court, that is.
And Gibbs, who went public in January with her battle against depression in an effort to help others, is succeeding.
"I'm actually doing awesome," the second-seeded Gibbs said after beating Jovana Jaksic 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday in the first round of the inaugural $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge. "I got off my meds not too long ago, and I'm feeling pretty normal, like kind of your average person, which is a good thing for me. I'm definitely turning in the right direction, I have an awesome support team around me, and I haven't had any problems lately."
Gibbs is far from the only professional player to struggle with depression. Andre Agassi, Pat Cash, Cliff Richey, Mardy Fish, Victoria Azarenka, Ashleigh Barty and Rebecca Marino also have dealt with mental health issues.
"I think people susceptible to depression are just wired a little differently," said Gibbs, who first exhibited symptoms in high school. "The same challenges that might be frustrating in a normally wired person's life become these bigger things in the life of a person susceptible to depression. That being said, there's always something you can do. For me, that's mindfulness and just being really dedicated to managing my meds."
But pro tennis exacerbates the problem. Ranked a career-high No. 68 two years ago, Gibbs has dropped to No. 116.
"When you're not inside the top 50, tennis is a constant identity crisis," Gibbs, a petite 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters) in an age of power, told the Telegraph of Great Britain in January. "You ask yourself questions all the time. What can I be doing to do better? Am I doing everything I can? How do I get to that next level where I really want to be? There were times when the up-and-down elements of tennis made things almost unbearable for me."
Jovana Jaksic said her biggest problem against Nicole
Gibbs was, "Me, myself and I." Photo by Paul Bauman
Gibbs concedes that dealing with depression while playing pro tennis "is a huge challenge, but I'm also really grateful for it because it's forced me to confront this stuff earlier in life than I would have necessarily otherwise."
Gibbs, a 25-year-old resident of Venice in the Los Angeles area, and Jaksic, a 24-year-old Serb, are both emotional players with strong Northern California ties.
Gibbs played at Stanford, winning two NCAA titles in singles (2012 and 2013) and one in doubles (2012) before turning pro one year early. She met her fiance, Jack Brody, there.
Jaksic moved from Las Vegas to Sacramento in December 2016. Her Serbian boyfriend, Vuja Jovic, is a real estate broker in Sacramento.
Gibbs rallied from second-set deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 at the Berkeley Tennis Club, founded in 1906. Past members include International Tennis Hall of Famers Don Budge, Helen Wills Moody, Helen Jacobs and Hazel Wightman. Plaques honoring Budge and Willls Moody adorn the clubhouse.
"I'm happy with the way I competed," said Gibbs, who extended then-No. 1 Karolina Pliskova to 6-4 in the third set in the second round of the U.S. Open last September. "I played a pretty solid first set, then she raised her level, and I got a little unlucky. I think I had ad points in all three of the first games of the second set and ended up down 0-3. That's always a little bit of a mental challenge when you feel like you've done all the work to be on the right side of the momentum, and then the opponent takes it away from you. I really had to battle to even things up and then take the set.
"I view it as the perfect first round. I definitely did some good things, there are a lot of things I can do a lot better in the next round, and I got challenged."
When the 322nd-ranked Jaksic was asked what gave her the most trouble, she cracked, "Me, myself and I. That's always the biggest opponent I have -- I mean everyone has -- being comfortable with myself on the court, which I'm clearly not. I started to a little bit in the second set, but it's still not where I want to be.
"She's definitely a good player. I had a tough draw. It's tough to play a former top-100 player in the first round. It is what it is; I have to accept it."
Modesto product Maria Sanchez will face Nicole Gibbs
in a showdown of former Pacific-12 Conference standouts.
The 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Jaksic almost climbed into the top 100 at No. 102 in May 2014, shortly after reaching the final in Monterrey, Mexico. She lost to countrywoman and former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the WTA tournament.
What has happened since then? You name it.
"Injuries, I moved to the States, I had training problems, coaching problems ... injury problems the most because a back injury kept coming back for four years and is still present," said Jaksic, adding that she has four herniated discs because one of her former coaches had her do too much weight training. "It's always tough getting through an injury, not only physically but mentally. I lost confidence."
Jaksic said Novak Djokovic, who won his first Grand Slam title in more than two years on Sunday at Wimbledon, is "a good friend of mine." Both were born in Belgrade (as was Ivanovic).
"I've known him since a young age," Jaksic continued. "Our parents knew each other since before I was born. I'm really, really proud of him for winning Wimbledon. I believed in him, even though most people didn't. It really means a lot to him.
"You could see the way he behaved ever since he was young how extremely motivated he was and how much he worked, so it was really inspiring for everyone. Players should learn from his example."
Gibbs will face Maria Sanchez, a 28-year-old Modesto product, in a Pacific-12 Conference showdown today at about 2 p.m. Sanchez, a former USC All-American, said she has split two matches with Gibbs, winning in college and losing in the pros. The latter match occurred five years ago.
Connie Ma, a 15-year-old qualifier from Dublin
in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost to No. 8 seed
Mayo Hibi of Japan 6-0, 6-3. Photo by Paul Bauman
Sanchez, ranked No. 271, dominated Kimberly Birrell of Australia 6-2, 6-2.
"I felt like I served smart and served well in important moments, so I think that helps my whole game," said Sanchez, who has won two titles in singles and 20 in doubles on the ITF (minor-league) circuit and one doubles crown on the (major-league) WTA Tour. "I was pretty solid from the baseline. I really liked it when I got forward and used my volleys. I was happy with the way I competed."
Sanchez won't be thinking about her college days when she faces Gibbs.
"That was a little while ago. A lot has changed since then. I just consider it another tough match in the tournament," she said.
In another matchup of former Pac-12 players, fourth-seeded Kristie Ahn, who led Stanford to the 2013 NCAA title along with Gibbs, will meet wild card Maegan Manasse from Cal at 10 a.m.
The only seed to fall in the first round was No. 6 Grace Min, who lost to fellow American Ashley Kratzer, a 19-year-old left-hander, 6-4, 6-4.
Min and Kratzer advanced to Challenger finals in Sacramento in 2016 and Stockton in 2017, respectively. Shortly after Stockton last July, Kratzer won the USTA girls 18 hardcourt title to earn a wild card into the U.S. Open and lost to German veteran Tatjana Maria 6-1, 6-1 in the opening round.
In an all-Japanese clash, No. 3 seed Nao Hibino topped former top-30 player Misaki Doi 6-4, 6-4.
Hibino won last week's $60,000 Honolulu Challenger and the inaugural 2015 Stockton Challenger.
Doi held a match point against Angelique Kerber in the first round of the 2106 Australian Open but lost. Kerber went on to win the first of her three Grand Slam singles titles.
No. 8 seed Mayo Hibi of Japan routed 15-year-old qualifier Connie Ma of Dublin in the San Francisco Bay Area 6-0, 6-3.
Hibi was born in Japan but lived in Foster City in the Bay Area as a young child and grew up in Irvine in the Los Angeles area. She won the 2013 Sacramento Challenger at age 17.
Ma, ranked seventh nationally in the 16s at only 5-foot-3 (1.60 meters) and 95 pounds (43.1 kilograms), pronounced herself happy with her performance in the tournament.
"I was just hoping to make it past a couple rounds of qualifying, and I did that," said Ma, who reached the quarterfinals of a $25,000 hard-court tournament in Baton Rouge, La., last month as a qualifier.
Here are the Berkeley singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule.
Labels: Berkeley, Gibbs, Jaksic, Ma, Sanchez
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Chosen Art Tattoo - Award Winning Tattoo Shop in Glendale AZ!
Chosen Art Tattoo is a high-quality tattoo shop in Glendale, Arizona serving the Phoenix Metropolitan area and beyond since 2009. Our tattoo artists deliver high-quality custom tattoo art you will be proud to wear for the rest of your life.
This high-quality tattoo shop in Glendale opened its doors in 2009 with a goal in mind to have a high-quality art driven shop full of not only technically skilled tattoo artists but artists that are true to their core. This all-star staff continues creating a strong reputation as a solid tattoo shop in Glendale, consistently putting out high-quality and impactful artwork. In 2011, this reputation is what attracted Eric "Trouble" Jones like a moth to a flame.
Chosen Art Tattoo Shop is the best tattoo shop in Glendale AZ and is here for your tattoo and body art needs – serving the Phoenix Metropolitan area and beyond since 2009. Our team of talented and experienced tattoo artists delivers quality custom tattoo work that you can be proud to wear on your body for the rest of your life. The staff takes pride in maintaining a clean and professional work environment as well as an inviting art gallery where our artists and friends display various work.
Available for consultations, teaming up clients with our skilled tattoo artists to give personal and professional advice for custom design, tattoo prices, and tattoo aftercare. The shops clean and safe facility provides the right atmosphere for your next tattoo.
What is a Job Killer Tattoo?
What is a job killer tattoo? Do you have one? There's a grey line between what isn't and what is a job killer tattoo. Find out here if yours is safe!
Getting a new tattoo should be an exhilarating experience. Read our 6 EASY steps for new tattoo aftercare today for a lasting positive tattoo experience.
Gloria Faron is a tattoo artist at Foxed Tattoo, hailing from Warsaw, Poland. Get your tattoos with Gloria from March 15th -26th, 2019!
Heartbeat tattoos are a growing tattoo trend for men in 2019. Let's take a look into why heartbeat tattoos, also known as pulse tattoos, are trending.
As popular as watercolor tattoos have become, there are still plenty of lingering questions. Learn more about watercolor tattoos today.
Chosen Art Tattoo has been invited to the World Tattoo Festival 2019 in Northern Ireland April 26th – 28th at the Eikon Exhibition Centre. Learn more today!
I love this place. The owner, Eric, is AMAZING. His work, capabilities, and talent are out of this world with a personality to match. He is an expert at what he does and knows what he's talking about. The quality is phenomenal, and the pricing is more than fair. He, along with any other artist at Chosen Art, delivers without a doubt. After going to Eric for my work, I couldn't imagine going anywhere else. And I am honored to see my dad's portrait featured on this page. Michelle N.
I currently am getting a sleeve done by Trouble and couldn't be happier, his work amazes me!!!…AWESOME color, beautiful designs and most importantly he has an extremely light hand. Chosen Art has a lot of very talented Artists…A few of my hands down favorites are Melissa,Diamond and Brent. Besides the talent the shop itself is very clean and a very chill atmosphere ..Definitely recommend Chosen Art Tattoo Studio!!! Stevie V.
This was my first tattoo and it was an awesome experience. My artist was Mat and he did an amazing job on my piece. These guys really care about the quality they put out and have great costumer service. The artist are all chill and don't have big egos like other shops. I will definitely be returning to get more ink! Chase M.


text:
SA'S FIRST ADVANCED WELDER TRAINING CENTRE OPENS
South Australia's first Advanced Welder Training Centre is now open for business at TAFE SA's Regency Campus. The centre is equipped with a state-of-the-art augmented reality lab featuring the most advanced welding simulators available anywhere in the world.
At the official opening ceremony, State Minister for Industry and Skills David Pisoni said the centre will provide valuable training to ensure skilled local welders are ready to meet the huge demand that will be created when the naval shipbuilding programme at the Osborne shipyard commences next year. It is anticipated that the programme will require around 2600 tradespeople, almost half of them welders, from 2020 to 2027.
"There are enormous naval shipbuilding opportunities on the horizon that are heading to South Australia and the Marshall Liberal Government is ensuring that we provide the right resources to fill these jobs through appropriate skills and training," he said. "Welding techniques required for shipbuilding are of a higher quality standard than regular welding techniques and these simulators will allow students to practice their technique until they consistently meet the quality standard."
State Education Minister John Gardner was excited to see TAFE SA students being skilled in areas that lead to jobs.
"This new Advanced Welder Training Centre offers an incredible training opportunity for TAFE SA students to learn using the most advanced welding simulators currently available," he said. "These simulators are another example of TAFE SA utilising the latest technology in an educational environment to prepare students with the skills and knowledge for long and successful careers."
The centre is a partnership between TAFE SA and Weld Australia, representing industry. Weld Australia CEO Geoff Crittenden said: "This technology is three times cheaper, faster and more effective when compared to traditional training methods. By using this technology, TAFE SA will not only be able to upskill existing welders, but also train transitional workers and apprentices to be part of the defence program.
"Without a doubt, the successful implementation of this innovative training initiative will revolutionise welder training in Australia. It will raise the standard of welder education in Australia exponentially, putting our welder training on par with the best in Europe and America."
The training will quickly qualify welders to ISO 9606-1 Qualification testing of welders - Fusion welding, the only industry standard in the world that is accepted in both Europe and America, and the minimum requirement for working on rolling stock, defence and infrastructure projects.
The virtual and augmented reality welding technology increases the rate of engagement in learning and allows students and lecturers to analyse and review welding techniques and performance in a digital environment. The result is that students then perform more effectively in the live workshop environment, where it counts.
TAFE SA Director Defence Industries Penny Johnston said that there were many advantages for students to use the cutting-edge technology as part of their training.
"The detailed feedback a student receives on their performance on the simulator is instantaneous and increases the rate at which they acquire an understanding of how they can improve," she said. Students analyse the data fed back on their angles, travel speeds and arc lengths to adjust their welding performance and increase improvement. Students are able to build muscle memory with welding techniques much more quickly and the techniques learned can then be taken to the workshop to be performed in a live environment."
Weld Australia convened an Industry Skills Group in mid-2017 to prepare a training curriculum tailored for both experienced welders and transitional workers. The courses were accredited by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority in late 2017. As a result, TAFEs around the country can now teach the accredited course, with funding provided by their State Government.
Weld Australia
wtia.com.au/
SYDNEY STUDENT ROCKETEERS' SKY-HIGH SUCCESS
by Industry Update In Education & Training
A team of student rocketeers from the University of Sydney has become the first Australian team to win a prize at the annual Spaceport America Cup intercollegiate rocketry competition in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Competing against 51 student teams from around the globe, the University of Sydney team... Read More
SYDNEY ROCKETRY STUDENTS SHOOT FOR THE SKY
The University of Sydney Rocketry Team is Australia's oldest tertiary student rocketry team and is made up of a multidisciplinary group of students who design and manufacture high-powered sounding rockets.
During a test launch in regional NSW in late 2018, the team's rocket reached a height of... Read More
NEW INTERN PARTNERSHIP TO ACCELERATE WA DEFENCE INNOVATION
A $230,000 partnership between the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute's APR.Intern programme and Western Australia's Defence Science Centre will give STEM PhD students experience in defence innovation.
The programme, announced by WA Defence Issues Minister Paul Paplia at launch of the... Read More
WELDING QUALIFICATION TO SUPPORT QLD DEFENCE INDUSTRY
TAFE Queensland, Weld Australia and the Queensland Government are revolutionising the training of welders in the state by offering a new ISO 9606 course in fusion welding that uses state-of-the-art augmented reality technology.
ISO 9606 is the international standard required for welding of... Read More

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This morning bright and early at 7 am Beijing time we had to say good bye to the Olympic Village. We got up around 6:45 to hand in our keys, then headed out to eat our last meal in the dining hall. 8:30 we finally were on the way to catch our all Netherlands team flight, filled with all the athletes, coaches and a couple media members. A better than normal flight meal, and I passed out for about 4 hours... which was much needed.
We landed in Amsterdam around 3:30 local time, and had a big league welcome, walking down stairs off the plane, straight onto the tarmac, and onto our busses bound for the Olympic team welcoming. About 1 hour later we arrived at the stadium, and enjoyed a very very warm welcome by thousands of Dutch fans.
The Dutch team exiting the KLM flight we took.
My cousins Jess and Dan. They are awesome, and were kind enough to drop me off on the way to the Olympics, and pick me up upon return. My wife Jeana would have had some part in the pick up and drop off, but she is at home in the USA for 2 more days, and left 2 days before I departed for Korea. They are aparently checking out one of the medal winner to the left. Thanks again you two!!!
It looks like an amazing reception in Holland, I got choked just looking at it!
A very wonderful close to such an amazing event and experience for this blogger ... you rock!
I've got a golden ticket !!


Don't Discount Gynecologic Surgeries for Elderly : Risk of major procedures could be reduced by attending to group's specific perioperative needs.
SAN FRANCISCO — Elderly women should not be denied major gynecologic surgery solely on the basis of their presumed age-based operative risk, according to Lindsay M. Mains, M.D.
In a study she presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. Mains showed morbidity and mortality among elderly women undergoing major gynecologic surgery is high, compared with rates in younger women undergoing this surgery. But attention to specific perioperative needs of the elderly might reduce this risk, said Dr. Mains of the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans.
Dr. Mains' study reviewed data from 110 major gynecologic surgeries on women aged 80–90 years old. All patients received preoperative medical clearance, except one who required emergent surgery.
Although half of the patients were overweight or obese, 61% had no serious medical history otherwise, and 96% had an American Society of Anesthesiologists' (ASA) score of 3 or less.
Most procedures (77%) were performed to remove cancer or a benign mass; the rest were undertaken to treat pelvic organ prolapse and/or urinary incontinence. Almost all patients (95.5%) received general endotracheal anesthesia.
An abdominal procedure was performed in 65% of patients, while 32.5% underwent laparoscopy. A total of 4.5% had a vaginal procedure.
Dr. Mains reported an intraoperative complication rate of 4% and a postoperative complication rate of 45%. Eight percent of the total study group had major life-threatening complications, including death in 3.6% of patients.
The most common postoperative complications were ileus, which occurred in 14% of patients, infection in 14% (urinary tract infection in 6%, wound infection in 5%, and death due to sepsis in 3%), cardiopulmonary events in 13%, and fever of unknown origin in 11%.
There were four fatalities—one due to myocardial infarction and three due to sepsis and intravascular coagulation.
"Our mortality rate was lower than other studies on elderly patients, which include men and women and have shown mortality rates up to 13%. This is an interesting finding and warrants further study," she said.
One of the mortalities occurred on postoperative day 10 in the only patient who had undergone emergent surgery to do intra-abdominal hemorrhage, she noted.
Dr. Mains suggested that some of the complications in the subjects might be specific to the elderly population, and attention to these issues could help in reducing risk.
For example, half of the 14% of patients who experienced postoperative ileus were readmitted for this problem.
"We could attribute the slow return of bowel function in our subjects to their general decreased mobility and increased sensitivity to narcotics. Emphasis on early ambulation and physical therapy as well as reduction in narcotic use in these patients may help reduce these complications," she said.
Similarly, a high rate of infection in this population might indicate an increased need for perioperative prophylactic antibiotics. And she speculated that because of an increased rate of pulmonary problems in these patients, greater use of incentive spirometers and bronchodilators perioperatively would likely be beneficial.
Finally, almost one-quarter of the patients received blood transfusions although only 16% had blood loss in excess of 500 cc. This may be an indication of an inability of elderly patients to compensate for perioperative blood loss, she said.
Dr. Mains suggested that elderly women should be advised there is a 5%–10% risk of serious morbidity associated with major gynecologic surgery in their age-group.
However, with attention to the specific perioperative needs of the elderly, this risk might be further reduced.
She said that physicians consider that many elderly patients are willing to accept greater risks for smaller benefits. "The decision about a patient's operability should weigh her risks and benefits. Therefore, as physicians, we must have a clear understanding of these risks and their incidence when counseling patients," she said.


AFTER some setbacks, property developer IOI Properties Group Bhd is said to be making headway with its proposed joint venture in Singapore worth at least S$2.84 billion (RM8.43 billion).
The developer is believed to have reached long-term financing deals with five banks to the tune of S$1.6 billion, people familiar with the matter tell The Edge.
The five are DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, OCBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. That leaves another S$300 million in financing that is being negotiated with Bank of China, the people say.
To recap, IOI Properties said on June 12 last year that it was teaming up with Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd (HKL) — a property investment, management and development group listed on the London Stock Exchange — for the proposed project. The finalisation of the partnership is subject to regulatory approvals as well as the fulfilment of other conditions precedent.
The proposed partnership sought to jointly own and develop a 1.09ha parcel in Singapore's Marina Bay financial district.
IOI Properties had successfully tendered for the parcel in November 2016 for S$2.84 billion via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Wealthy Link Pte Ltd.
The developer said the land tender was "an opportunity for the group to venture into prime office tower development with complementary mixed-use development in the central business district of Singapore with close proximity to prestigious commercial developments such as One Raffles Quay and Marina Bay Financial Centre".
It had borne the cost alone via bridging financing, which pushed its short-term borrowings from RM464.45 million as at June 30, 2016, to RM8.69 billion as at Dec 31, 2017.
If IOI Properties' proposed partnership with HKL proceeds, the latter would share 33% of the land cost, injecting S$940 million.
That would leave S$1.9 billion for IOI Properties to bear, of which S$1.6 billion is now in hand, sources say.
As part of the proposed partnership, IOI Properties would get four board seats on the joint-venture vehicle and HKL, two seats.
Last August, HKL said that two office towers with a net floor area of 1.26 million sq ft plus 30,000 sq ft of retail podium space are expected to sit on the land.
The development will also have direct connectivity to HKL's other properties in the district — the 1.09ha parcel is located between One Raffles Quay and Marina Bay Financial Centre, both of which are managed by HKL.
Last Friday, IOI Properties closed at RM1.83 per share, giving it a market capitalisation of RM10.07 billion. Its stock price has declined 10.7% from RM2.05 on Feb 22, but is only 0.88% lower than the past year.
For the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2017 (2QFY2018), IOI Properties posted a net profit of RM109.14 million, down 60% year on year. It attributed the decline to lower contribution from its overseas properties and a RM79.7 million impairment loss from a joint venture. Revenue was 40.8% lower at RM707.44 million.
In the same quarterly report, the developer states that the proposed joint venture with HKL was pending the fulfilment of unspecified conditions precedent.
In its March 8 release of preliminary results for the year ended Dec 31, 2017, HKL says conditions precedent to the proposed joint venture to develop a 120,00 sq m land parcel within Singapore's financial district "are yet to be fulfilled".
HKL's market capitalisation was US$16.52 billion last Friday. Part of the Jardine Matheson group, it traces its history as far back as 1889.
HKL owns and manages 800,000 sq m of prime office and luxury retail properties across Asia. It has secondary listings in Bermuda and Singapore.
There is urgency in getting the proposed partnership finalised and the proposed development underway.
According to IOI Properties in November 2016, Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has imposed an 84-month deadline, or seven years, for successful land tenders to complete their proposed projects.
Breaching any tender conditions, including missing the seven-year deadline, would allow the URA to repossess the land as if there had not been a tender process. In that scenario, any payments made to the URA may also be forfeited.
Based on past Bursa Malaysia filings, S$400 million or 5% of the tender amount was deposited when the tender document was submitted. Payment for another 25% of the tender amount was required within 28 days after the tender is successful. The URA requires the balance to be settled within 90 days after, filings show.


text:
Villa Santa Lucia es una localidad y comune italiana de la provincia de Frosinone, región de Lacio, con 2.722 habitantes.

Evolución demográfica

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Página web oficial de Villa Santa Lucía (en italiano)

Localidades de la provincia de Frosinone

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
/**
  * Utilities for timing, sleep, etc.
  *
  * Author: Ying Xiong.
  * Created: Apr 30, 2013.
  */

#ifndef __XYUTILS_TIMER_H__
#define __XYUTILS_TIMER_H__

#include <sys/time.h>
#include <unistd.h>

namespace xyUtils  {

// A timer class. Following code fragment shows an example on how to use it:
//   Timer timer;                     // Start your timer.
//   /* Do your job 1. */
//   double time1 = timer.elapsed();  // Time consumed by job 1 (in seconds).
//   /* Do your job 2. */
//   double time2 = timer.elapsed();  // Time consumed job 1 AND job 2.
//   timer.reset();                   // Reset timer.
//   /* Do your job 3. */
//   double time3 = timer.elapsed();  // Time consumed by job 3 ONLY.
class Timer {
 public:
  // Construct a Timer and start timing.
  Timer() {
    reset();
  }
  // Reset the timer.
  inline void reset() {
    gettimeofday(&time_start_, NULL);
  }
  // Return the amount of time elapsed since the last reset, in unit of seconds.
  inline double elapsed() const {
    timeval time_now, time_diff;
    gettimeofday(&time_now, NULL);
    timersub(&time_now, &time_start_, &time_diff);
    return time_diff.tv_sec + time_diff.tv_usec/1e6;
  }
  // Make the thread sleep for 't' seconds. Accurate to microseconds.
  inline static int sleep(double t) {
    return usleep(t*1e6);
  }
private:
  timeval time_start_;
};

}   // namespace xyUtils

#endif   // __XYUTILS_TIMER_H__

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


As healthcare costs and hospital readmissions continue to rise, the field of respiratory care has begun to embrace the advantages of home care solutions for chronic lung patients.
Partial article courtesy of www.rtmagazine.com.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is prompting a number of healthcare reforms, one of which is a shift in focus from treatment to prevention. This changing model emphasizes outpatient care. While hospitalizations will never be eliminated altogether, the trend toward shorter lengths of stay is becoming the norm with a greater emphasis on home care.
In an attempt to reduce costs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented a hospital readmission reduction program (HRRP) that will assess penalties when patients return to the hospital within 30 days for certain diagnoses, one of which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This program aims to motivate healthcare facilities to ensure better home care and presents an opportunity for respiratory health professionals.
From admission to discharge, patients typically require some type of respiratory care. For those with chronic lung conditions, planning for discharge and subsequent home care should begin upon admission, according to Dom Coppolo, vice president of clinical development at Monaghan Medical Corp. While hospitalized, patients should receive efficient, high quality care to turn the disease state around quickly and reduce length of stay.
"A respiratory therapist can add a tremendous amount of value to that process. Their involvement is key to the continuity of care, such as pulmonary rehab, follow-up, and monitoring home care as part of a program," said Coppolo.
Meet our Licensed Respiratory Therapists at Legacy.


The beautifully manicured grounds of West Dean Gardens (Chichester) and Borde Hill Gardens (Haywards Heath) – both welcome dogs on leads.
The National Trust also allows dogs in the grounds of a number of their stately homes and gardens including Petworth's 700 acre estate, Nyman's in Handcross and Standen House situated in East Grinstead.
If you are looking for something a little more adventurous, explore the dozens of pathways that run throughout Whiteways Woods in Arundel.
There are numerous walks across the South Downs that you can download routes for, one of the favourites being the Centurion Way.
After all that walking, you'll need to refresh and refuel. Check out some of these dog friendly places in West Sussex.
Located on Highdown Hill (another brilliant place for a walk, located between Littlehampton and Worthing), Highdown Tea Rooms allow dogs and even stocks doggy ice cream!
If cosying up in the pub is more your thing, try The Black Rabbit in Arundel. Stretch your legs with a thirty minute walk from the train station to the pub to grab a drink before heading off to explore the beauty of this historic market town.
Stop off for a sandwhich and a slice of cake with your dog in tow at Berties of Arundel.
The Worlds End and The Swallows Return pub & restaurants both welcome dogs and are within close reach of Worthing.
The Bluebird café in Ferring is located right on the beach front, and it's the ideal place to stop on a coastal stroll.
Pack up your bag and your pooch for a relaxing stay in the best of West Sussex's pet friendly accommodation.
The Goodwood Hotel, just outside of Chichester, is available for check in with selected pet friendly rooms.
Bailifscourt (Climping), Ockenden Manor (Cuckfield) and The Spread Eagle (Midhurst) all offer pet friendly getaways, complete with doggy welcome packs!
Picturesque Petworth offers The Welldiggers Arms. A snuggly country pub with 14 lavish rooms that all accept dogs.
Based on the Tinwood Estate in Chichester, Tinwood Lodges offer a unique stay for you and your furry plus one.
For more great ideas on where to stay whilst you're in West Sussex you can check out the Pets Pyjamas.


text:
This drug-testing lab is speed-of-light fast
Howard Wolinsky
Kendall Karmanian
Biomedical engineer Milan Mrksich of Samdi Tech
Pharmaceutical researchers trying to create medications begin by testing each variation for signs of effectiveness. Using automated machines, they can screen as many as 1,000 molecules a day.
Milan Mrksich can do 100 times better than that. A biomedical engineer and chemical biologist at Northwestern University, he has developed a process that can assess up to 100,000 compounds a day. He calls his turbo-charged tool Samdi, for self-assembled monolayers for desorption ionization. He also has a startup, Samdi Tech Inc., that will run these tests for a fee for academic and commercial researchers.
David Walt, a chemistry professor at Tufts University and co-founder of Illumina Inc., a San Diego-based biotech company, compares Samdi's high-throughput screening to computational breakthroughs that have speeded up genetic analysis. Samdi, he says, "has the potential to be a game changer." Mr. Walt calls Mr. Mrksich, 46, a "visionary" who has "been innovating throughout his career."
Conventional drug tests require tagging compounds with fluorescence, radioactivity or antibodies to detect enzyme activity and signal which compound might work. Samdi starts the same, depositing molecules in 1,500 tiny wells in a hand-sized plate. But then it exposes each sample to a laser beam. The refracted light reveals chemical reactions, enabling researchers to screen out duds from compounds that should be developed.
"Samdi is the first label-free assay that can be performed at high throughput," Mr. Mrksich says.
He says Samdi Tech, which operates from the Illinois Institute of Technology's tech incubator on its South Side campus, has been profitable since he launched it in 2011. He declines to disclose profit or revenue, however, and keeps the names of his customers confidential. Samdi has six employees.
Samdi Tech is his third startup. The others are Arsenal Medical Inc., a medical devices company in Watertown, Massachusetts, that has a stent in clinical trials, and Surface Logix Inc. of Brighton, Massachusetts, which developed cell-based assays and was sold in 2011.
Mr. Mrksich grew up in south suburban Justice, the son of Serbian immigrants. His dad was a technologist at AT&T Corp. and his mom taught elementary school. He decided to become a chemist in high school and earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received a doctorate in organic chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and did postgraduate work at Harvard University before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1996. He moved to Northwestern in 2011.
For fun, Mr. Mrksich plays guitar in a classic rock band, Old School, which performs at a School of Rock franchise in the western suburbs, where his daughters, 10 and 11, play. He also enjoys a different sort of life in the fast lane: A couple of times a year, he takes his Porsche 911 out at Autobahn Country Club, a racetrack outside of Joliet. "There are a lot of curves, not a lot of straights," he says. "But you can get up to 120 mph."