NorCal Tennis Czar

Mallory Burdette climbed five places to No. 99 in the world.Photo by Paul Bauman   It's not supposed to be this easy.   After less than one year as pros, former Stanford stars Mallory Burdette and Bradley Klahn cracked the top 100 a...

   Montana men's coach Kris Nord said Monday's loss at Sacramento State should have been closer than the score indicated.   The Hornets defeated the Grizzlies 6-1 in a Big Sky Conference match at the Rio del Oro Racquet Club in Sacr...

   The last time the Sacramento State women lost a Big Sky Conference match, Barack Obama was an obscure Illinois state senator.   Sac State won its 100th straight Big Sky contest Sunday morning, dominating Northern Colorado 6-1 in ...

   The No. 13 Cal women did not have sophomore All-American Zsofi Susanyi for Saturday's match at No. 4 UCLA.   Fortunately for the Bears, they did have Annie Goransson.   With the match tied 3-3, Goransson outlasted Court...

Krista Hardebeck, now a freshman at Stanford, slugs a forehand in the first roundof girls doubles at last year's Australian Open in Melbourne. Photo by Paul Bauman   How strong is the Stanford women's tennis team?   Its top three pl...

   The Sacramento State women's tennis team will return to Big Sky Conference play at home on Sunday, and not a moment too soon.   The Hornets lost to No. 56 San Diego State 4-3 on Thursday to end an 0-3 trip to Southern California ...

Steve Johnson, now playing professionally, led USC to the last four NCAA men's team titles. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman   It used to be a showdown when the Stanford men played intrastate rivals USC and UCLA.   While the Trojans and Br...

Master of ceremonies Brad Gilbert poses with James Blake at the$100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger in Sacramento last October.Blake won the singles title at 32 years old. Photo by Paul Bauman   Until recently in professional tennis, hitting a...

   Everything is relative in college tennis.   Exhibit A is the Sacramento State women.   The Hornets have won 99 consecutive Big Sky Conference matches dating to 2002. But they are 0-7 against nationally ranked teams this...

   The Cal and Sacramento State men's teams were toast.   The No. 24 Bears trailed No. 36 Texas Christian 3-1 in Fort Worth, Texas. Not only were the Hornets behind 3-2 against Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, Sac State's Tom Miller...