Atp Tour

Quarterfinal action began with a pair of upsets Friday afternoon at the Farmers Classic at UCLA's L.A. Tennis Center. Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania defeated France's fourth-seeded Nicolas Mahut, 6-4, 6-4, to reach his first ATP tour semifinal. He is the first qualifier to reach the semifinals at the Farmers Classic since Carsten Ball in 2009. Ball advanced to the championship before losing to Sam Querrey. Rajeev Ram advanced with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over third-seeded Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.

Steve Johnson accomplished more in his four years at USC than any tennis player in NCAA history. He was a part of four team national championships, won two individual titles and set the record for most consecutive victories, with 72. However, there is one aspect of the sport he never quite discovered with the Trojans. He never learned how to lose. "It's definitely going to be different," Johnson said of a professional career in which losing is a harsh reality for even the greatest players.

World No. 1 Ivan Lendl said he may boycott the new Assn. of Tennis Professionals' tennis tour in 1991 because it forces him to play in too many tournaments. Lendl was reacting to a suggestion by Olympic champion Miloslav Mecir that top players might simply drop the ATP tour, which starts in January, and concentrate on the more lucrative Grand Slam events to allow themselves more time off.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga qualified for the semifinals in the ATP World Tour Finals at the expense of Rafael Nadal , beating the second-ranked Spaniard, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3, on Thursday in a decisive round-robin match at London. Tsonga improved to 2-1 in group play and Nadal fell to 1-2, meaning the sixth-seeded Frenchman will join Roger Federer in the last four from Group B. It is the first time Tsonga has reached the semifinals at the season-ending tournament for the world's top eight players, and Nadal missed out for the second time in five appearances.

Steve Johnson accomplished more in his four years at USC than any tennis player in NCAA history. He was a part of four team national championships, won two individual titles and set the record for most consecutive victories, with 72. However, there is one aspect of the sport he never quite discovered with the Trojans. He never learned how to lose. "It's definitely going to be different," Johnson said of a professional career in which losing is a harsh reality for even the greatest players.

Two weeks after leading Stanford to an NCAA tennis championship--and sweeping through the individual competition--sophomores Bob and Mike Bryan have decided to turn professional. The twins leave school after having won consecutive team titles. Bob also completed a rare sweep by winning the college singles title and pairing with Mike for the doubles crown. "This is a step we needed to take," Bob said from his family's Camarillo home. "We felt the tour would be a great place to have our game grow."

The good news for tennis is that leaders in the sport have awakened to the fact that in the global marketplace, tennis is losing ground. With that in mind, the men's and women's tours have forged a tentative partnership to create a series of combined events and sell a combined television package. The sobering news is that the complicated proposal is not likely to be instituted--if at all--until the turn of the century.

Top-ranked Pete Sampras survived a barrage of aces Sunday and defeated Boris Becker, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, at Frankfurt, Germany, to win his second IBM/ATP Tour World Championship title. Sampras, who also won in 1991, became the first two-time champion since the inception of the tour-ending event in 1990. "This ends the year on a great note," he said. Sampras earned $1.225 million for his victory against Becker, who rose two places to No. 3 in the rankings despite the loss.

Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi were fined substantial amounts by the ATP Tour today for failing to play in the required number of tournaments this year. Edberg, the world's top-ranked player, was fined a minimum of $115,496. Lendl, ranked third, was fined a minimum $95,443 and the fifth-ranked Agassi was fined a minimum of $85,042.

Three of the top men's tennis players in the world were assessed substantial fines by the ATP Tour Thursday for failing to play in the required number of tournaments. Stefan Edberg, the current No. 1, said he will appeal his fine, which will be a minimum of $115,496. Also fined were No. 3 Ivan Lendl, who was set back at least $95,443 and fifth-ranked Andre Agassi, who was fined a minimum of $85,042.

In the last year, Mario Ancic has been both a commerce lawyer in Zagreb, Croatia, and a tennis player. He prefers the outdoor courts to the indoor ones. Ancic, 25, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2004, missed most of last year after being diagnosed with mononucleosis that had first been diagnosed as a bad flu in 2008. There was a time, Ancic said, when he would spit up blood while hitting a tennis ball because he didn't know what was wrong. On Thursday, Ancic beat American qualifier Bobby Reynolds, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and he was ecstatic to have had the opportunity to play.

Nikolay Davydenko won the first big tournament of his career Sunday, running down just about every ball and using a consistent serve to beat U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro , 6-3, 6-4, to win the ATP World Tour Finals at London. Davydenko was coming off his semifinal victory over top-ranked Roger Federer and dominated his service games against Del Potro, losing only five points on serve in the first set and eight in the second. "Maybe I had good concentration.

Top-ranked Roger Federer was eliminated from the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Saturday, losing to Nikolay Davydenko , 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, in the semifinals. Federer, who was broken three straight times in the first set, came within two points of winning while leading, 5-4, in the third set. But Davydenko held on and then broke Federer to take a 6-5 lead before serving out the win. Davydenko will face U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in today's final. The 21-year-old Argentine advanced by beating Robin Soderling , 6-7 (1)

Juan Martin del Potro squeaked into the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Roger Federer , 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, on Thursday -- the slimmest possible margin to advance and knock Andy Murray out of the tournament. That result means Del Potro and Federer advance after a three-way tie in Group A. All three players finished the round-robin stage with two wins and identical 5-4 set records. However, Murray was eliminated after winning the lowest percentage of games.

Jack Kramer, a world-renowned tennis player in the 1940s and early '50s and a well-known businessman and tennis promoter in Southern California for more 60 years, died late Saturday night at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88. The cause of death was a soft tissue cancer that was diagnosed in July. Kramer, the No. 1 player in the world for much of the late 1940s, won the Wimbledon men's singles title in 1947 and the men's U.S. Championships, the forerunner of the U.S. Open, in 1946 and '47. He also won seven other Grand Slam titles in doubles, all at Wimbledon or the U.S. Championships.

Andy Murray took the court to face Juan Martin Del Potro knowing no matter what the result of the Rogers Cup final at Montreal, he would be soon be ranked No. 2 in the world. Not satisfied having reached that goal, Murray withstood his toughest test of the tournament and defeated Del Potro, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-1, Sunday. "I love winning tournaments; it's great, and every player will tell you the same thing," Murray said. "But it's tough because I've never been to No. 2 in the world before, so that's new to me. I've won a couple of Masters Series [events]

The Assn. of Tennis Professionals, the group of men's tennis players who are beginning their own tour in 1990, will announce Thursday its first-year tournament schedule. Promoter Bob Kramer, who runs the Volvo/Los Angeles event, is prepared for the worst.

"You've got to keep busy," Venus Williams was saying, resting after her fourth-round singles victory at the Australian Open. As if it wasn't enough that the 17-year-old was still playing in singles, doubles and mixed doubles here, she and her sister, Serena, were out drumming up matches against men. The Williams sisters often drop by the ATP Tour offices and "visit," as Venus says.

At least next year the L.A. Tennis Open men's event should have its defending champion in the draw. Sam Querrey, a rising 21-year-old who was playing in his third final in three weeks, did something different this time. He won the thing. After being a runner-up in Newport, R.I., and Indianapolis, and playing in front of an enthusiastic group of former high school buddies who call themselves "The Samurai," Querrey beat qualifier Carsten Ball, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, on Sunday.

Roger Federer's rewrite of the tennis record book continues. Federer has held the No. 1 ranking on the ATP tour for a record 161 straight weeks, passing Jimmy Connors' mark of 160. Rankings are released on Mondays by the tour, and Federer celebrated by winning his opening match in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in three sets against Kristian Pless -- his 37th straight match victory. And that has him closing in on another record, Guillermo Vilas' 46 consecutive victories, set in 1977.