Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Capitals add Querrey for five matches

   Sam Querrey is returning to his Northern California roots.
   The former world top-20 player will join the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis for five matches this season, team co-owner Ramey Osborne announced Wednesday.
   Querrey, 24, was born in San Francisco and grew up in Santa Rosa, Las Vegas and the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks. He lists Las Vegas as his residence.
   The Capitals acquired the rights to the 6-foot-6 Querrey, who reached a career-high No. 17 in January 2011, from the WTT champion Washington Kastles for an undisclosed amount of money.
   Osborne also announced that doubles specialist Jean-Julien Rojer, whom the Capitals chose in the second round of the roster player draft in March, withdrew from WTT because he has injury concerns and doesn't want to play singles.
   Rojer, who won a doubles title in Portugal on the ATP World Tour two weeks ago, was named the WTT Male Rookie of the Year in 2011 as a member of the St. Louis Aces. They lost to Washington in the WTT Finals and subsequently folded.
   Querrey will join fellow Americans Mardy Fish (two matches) and CoCo Vandeweghe (at least five matches) and full-time players Mark Knowles, Yasmin Schnack and Asia Muhammed on the Capitals.
   "I'm very, very excited," Osborne said of adding Querrey. "He's a heck of a player and a good man. He wants to play for us; he really wants to play for us. He knows coach (Wayne Bryan) real well, he worked out with Mark last week in Texas (where Knowles, from the Bahamas, has a home), and he knows Mardy real well.
   "He wants to play for the Capitals for as long as he's playing tennis. If he plays World TeamTennis (in the future), he'll play for the Capitals."
   Querrey, who's playing in Europe and could not be reached for comment, will play home matches July 16 against New York and July 22 against Springfield. He also will play on the road against Washington on July 18, Springfield (Mo.) on July 19 and Kansas City on July 20.
   Bryan lives in Camarillo, just 13 miles up U.S. Highway 101 from Thousand Oaks, where Querrey attended high school.
   "I think he can really help our squad," Bryan said. "He's a very fine singles player and not too bad in doubles. He's 6-6 with a big serve and a good volley. ...
   "I think the fans will really like him. He's a really good kid and a great role model. Hopefully, we'll win all five matches with him."
   Querrey and Fish, a Los Angeles resident who's scheduled to play home matches on July 12 and 13, were Davis Cup teammates in 2008 and 2010.
   Querrey was scheduled to play part-time for Washington last July, but the right-hander had surgery for bone spurs in his right elbow on June 16 and missed almost three months. He played selected matches for St. Louis in 2008 and 2009.
   Querrey has won six singles and four doubles titles on the ATP World Tour since turning pro out of Thousand Oaks High School in 2006. After falling to No. 125 in singles last September, he has improved to No. 89. He's ranked 60th in doubles, down from a career-high No. 23 in 2010.
   In late September 2009, Querrey suffered a season-ending right forearm injury when he sat on a glass table at a tournament in Bangkok to tie his shoes and it shattered. A deep cut narrowly missed damaging nerves that could have ended his career.
   ATP World Tour in Rome -- Querrey, a qualifier, lost to 12th-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of the Italian Open.
   In doubles, No. 2 seeds and former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan dismissed Christopher Kas of Germany and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico 6-3, 6-2 in the second round after receiving a first-round bye.
   The Bryans, Wayne's 34-year-old twin sons, were coming off a 4-6, 6-4, 18-16 tiebreak loss to Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Rojer, from the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, in the second round at Madrid last week after also drawing a bye in the opening round. The Bryans held five match points.
   Querrey tweets -- Some of Querrey's recent tweets:
   --April 21: "The idiot next to me on the plane doesn't know who roger federer is."
   --May 5: "I'm watching scooby doo in the hotel room in Serbia, probably a top 5 cartoon of all time!!"
   --Tuesday: "when will they learn how to make scrambled eggs in europe?"
   Men's Challenger in Fergana, Uzbekistan -- Third-seeded John Paul Fruttero, an ex-Cal All-American from San Jose, and Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus defeated Brydan Klein of Australia and Michal Konecny of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the $35,000 Fergana Challenger. 
   USTA National Seniors in La Jolla -- No. 3 seeds Tracy Houk and Martha Downing beat No. 5 seeds to reach the semifinals in their age groups at the USTA National Senior Women’s Hard Court Championships.
   Houk, from Half Moon Bay, topped Tracey Thompson of San Diego 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in the 50s. Downing, from Shingle Springs, routed Susan Bramlette of Houston 6-1, 6-0 in the 60s. 
THIS WEEK'S TV SCHEDULE
(All times PDT)
   Thursday -- Rome (men), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 3 a.m.-2 p.m. (live), 2 p.m.-midnight (repeat).
   Friday -- Rome (men), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 3-9 a.m. (live), 12:30-2:30 p.m. (live), 4:30-8:30 p.m. (repeat). Rome (women), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (live), 2:30-4:30 p.m. (delay), 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (repeat).
   Saturday -- Rome (women), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 3-7 a.m. (live), 7-11 p.m. (repeat). Rome (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 7-9 a.m. (live), 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (live), 2-7 p.m. (repeat). 
   Sunday -- Rome (women), final, Tennis Channel, 4:30-7 a.m. (live), 9:30-11:30 a.m. (repeat), 2-4 p.m. (repeat), 6:30-8:30 p.m. (repeat). Rome (men), final, Tennis Channel, 7-9:30 a.m. (live), 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (repeat), 4-6:30 p.m. (repeat), 8:30-11 p.m. (repeat). 
CALENDAR
   Thursday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, round of 16, Athens, Ga. Cal women (9) vs. Georgia Tech, 6 a.m. (PDT); Stanford women (4) vs. Northwestern (13), 9 a.m. 
   Friday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, round of 16, Athens, Ga. Stanford men (11) vs. Kentucky (6), 1 p.m. (PDT); Cal men (14) vs. Virginia (3), 1 p.m.
   Saturday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, women's quarterfinals, Athens, Ga.
   Sunday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, men's quarterfinals, Athens, Ga. 
   Monday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, men's and women's semifinals, Athens, Ga.
   May 22 -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, men's and women's finals, Athens, Ga. 
   May 23-28 -- NCAA Division I Singles and Doubles Championships, men and women, Athens, Ga.
   May 27-June 3 -- $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger, Gold River Racquet Club, 2201 Gold Rush Drive, Gold River.
   MAY 27-JUNE 10 -- FRENCH OPEN.
   June 2-10 -- $15,000 Sacramento Men's Futures, Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club, 5500 Parkfield Court, Sacramento.
   June 9-10, 16-18 -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State.
   June 9-17 -- $15,000 Chico Men's Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave.
Chico.
   JUNE 25-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m.
   July 12 -- World TeamTennis, Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m.

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