New WTA-ATP Challenger Coming to Stanford.

[jimlosaltos]

A new, combined WTA 125 Level and ATP Challenger Tournament called "The Golden Gate Open" is Coming to Stanford University, Aug 12-19, headlined by veteran Kei Nishikori. Golden Gate will be the first pro tennis tournament to offer equal prize money to men and women players from inception.

IMG's closure and sale of the event rights for the long-standing Silicon Valley Open inexplicably left the SF/Bay area without a professional tennis tournament for the first time in 134 years. While the new tournament is not a main tour event, the organizer's ability to get support from both the ATP and WTA, as well as that of Stanford University, is promising.

After the VCs behind the Sharks Hockey Team & SAP Arena "exported" Barry McKay's ATP tournament (originally known as the Pacific Coast Championships) to Rio via Memphis, fans had hoped and speculated there would be a way to expand the San Jose WTA event to include the ATP, and revitalize both. Sadly that didn't happen. But perhaps a new seed has been planted. Fingers crossed. Early days, but the new organizers seem to be taking all the right steps.

Golden Gate is run by Mighty Tennis, a organization founded by Pires de Almeida, a former ATP player with years experience coaching at youth levels developing players such as tour pros Mackenzie McDonald and Cici Bellis.

Check out their website:

https://www.goldengateopen.com/

[jimlosaltos]

New combo ATP-WTA event at Stanford posted an incomplete entry list.

TPN fans of Alex Michelsen, will be happy to see him here. As is the case with Challengers, the range of players is wide, from 19 yo Alex to 33 yo Kei Nishikori (Hope he isn't seeing so much ATP success he pulls out here before I can see him!)

On the WTA side, 19 yo Diana Shnaider had a strong juniors career, now at NC State, Harris Dart, Jodie Burrage among the notable.

https://www.goldengateopen.com/copy-of-players

[jimlosaltos]

Organizer Pablo Pires de Almeida says he is looking forward to "making history". The Golden Gate Open is said to be the first, joint men's and women's event to offer equal pay from its founding.

I don't want to curse the event, but what he's done in getting the WTA, ATP and Stanford University to collaborate is a feat until itself. Now, he "just" has to run a tournament <g>.

https://www.goldengateopen.com/tickets

[jimlosaltos]

Kei Nishikori will be at Stanford after all. When he didn't show up among the players were posted, I assumed his knee was worse than it seemed. But I had forgotten some of the games that are played with vets returning after a long time off tour. By taking a late Wild Card, allowed at Challengers, Kei doesn't have to use limited PR=48 so he can keep it for ATP tour and GS (used for USO).

[jimlosaltos]

And, we're off. Pro tennis back at Stanford's Taube Stadium, albeit as a joint ATP / WTA Challenger/125

First round matches started today.

Fans of ISR, and I know your numbers are legion here on TPN might appreciate this of Ashlyn Krueger, 19 yo 6 ft 1in, R123 from this morning.

P.S. ALL players of every gender should be mandated to have ponytails just for the photographers' benefit ! Make it so.

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[jimlosaltos]

Caught Alex Michelsen today. I was anxious to see him given the praise he's received here.

Guy's the real deal. Big serve, huge forehand, moves well for 6 ft 4 in.

Looks like a guy I could actually root for. Thanking very young ball kids. Helping them get in position instead of yelling at them (shocking, i know).

But lost in 3 sets a match he could have won in 2 to Gojo, number 5 seed at this challenger. Perhaps his return needs more seasoning?

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[jimlosaltos]

Inaugural combo ATP Challenger & WTA 125 finished at Stanford's Taube stadium. Great event. Fun tennis. Newbies ran event better than IMG with its 3,000 employees ever did with the WTA Premier event that was there for eons.

Kudos to local pro Pablo Pires de Almeida and his team that organized and created this.

My pic shows women's singles winner Unseeded Yafan Wang, 29 of China with the North baseline crowd.

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The inaugural Golden Gate Open saw a solid week of tightly contested, lengthy battles -- but sparse fans. Three hour matches, a doubles match that ended in a 17-15 super tiebreak where the losing team held 5 match points. Great quality play and very entertaining.

Both flipped like a switch with the singles finals on Saturday. Crowds showed up and cheered happily. Unfortunately, both matches were a tad lopsided as one opponent in each match failed to find their A game after having it humming throughout the earlier matches.

The singles finals started later than their TV-mandated times because the women's doubles final ran perhaps 3 hours -- despite being no-add with a super-tie break third set! Jodie Burrage and Olivia Gadeck beat Americans Hailey Baptiste and Stanford alum Claire Liu 7–6(7–4), 6–7(6–8), [10–8]. On the men's side Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodr?guez won the double title overg Julian Cash and Henry Patten 6–7, 6–4, [10–8].

Unseeded Yafan Wang, 29 of China, won the women's singles title, her second ever, over number 2 seed, Kamilla Rakhimova, a no flag, two and love. Rakhimova won a trio of 3-set matches, including a high-quality three hour semifinal over Yue Yuan. But on Saturday, she was simply off, spraying errors unforced and otherwise. It happens. She apologized to the audience afterwards. Throughout her wins she carried on emotional monologues with an older woman, presumably her coach Yulia Pilchikova. But that woman wasn't at the final. Correlation? Reason for absence?

Emilo Nava, 21 yo of Los Angeles, who made two 'Slam finals as a junior, started out as if he was going to run away with the men's singles final vs Constant Lestienne. Nava is more athletic and his full-court game kept the older player on his heels. Then mid-first set the 31 yo Frenchman, who has been ranked as high as 48, had a hard, loud fall deep behind the baseline. After treatment for an apparent bruised knee, Lestienne came back firing, while Nava somehow lost his A game during the delay and never found it. Lestienne broke back, took the tiebreak and won the second set going away 7–6(7–4), 6–2 for his 13th Challenger and ITF title.

As Maxwell Smart would put it, "The old medical time out trick."

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