Kops-Jones ousted from doubles in WTA Finals

Raquel Kops-Jones, above, and Abigail Spears fell to 0-2
in round-robin doubles in the WTA Finals in Singapore.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   Sixth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a former Cal star living in San Jose, and Abigail Spears today were eliminated from contention for the doubles title in the WTA Finals in Singapore.
   Kops-Jones, who will turn 33 in December, and Spears, a 34-year-old San Diego native, lost to fourth-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-6 (5), 6-2 to fall to 0-2 in round-robin play in the eight-team event.
   Kops-Jones and Spears lost to top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India 6-4, 6-2 on Monday.
   It was the second appearance in the WTA Finals for doubles specialists Kops-Jones and Spears. They fell to eventual champions Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Hingis 6-3, 2-6 [12-10] in the quarterfinals of last year's eight-team, single-elimination event in Singapore.
   Kops-Jones won the 2003 NCAA doubles title with Sacramento native Christina Fusano, who retired from professional tennis in 2011.