Friday, June 1, 2012

Capitals' Muhammad upsets No. 8 seed

   There will be no all-Sacramento Capitals showdown today in the quarterfinals of the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   However, there will be an all-Northern California matchup.
Asia Muhammad, who will play for the Sacramento
Capitals in July, serves during her first-round victory
Wednesday. Photo by Paul Bauman
   Asia Muhammad, who's scheduled to make her World TeamTennis debut for Sacramento in July, did her part Thursday night at the Gold River Racquet Club near Sacramento. The 21-year-old resident of Henderson, Nev., led eighth-seeded Gabriela Paz of Venezuela 6-1, 4-0 when Paz retired with the flu.
   But 24-year-old Yasmin Schnack, who will return for her second season with her hometown Capitals, lost to Samantha Crawford, 17, of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. The 6-foot-2 Crawford pounded serves and groundstrokes against the 5-foot-10 Schnack, an ex-UCLA All-American who upset third-seeded Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada in the first round.
   Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Maria Sanchez of Modesto will meet Tracy resident Romana Tedjakusuma.
   The 5-foot-10 Sanchez, a 22-year-old former USC All-American, turned back 15-year-old Gabrielle Andrews of Pomona 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Andrews won the Australian Open girls doubles title in January with Taylor Townsend, 16, of Stockbridge, Ga.
Samantha Crawford, 17, of Boca Raton, Fla., prepares for a
forehand during her second-round victory Thursday over
Yasmin Schnack, who will return for her second season
with her hometown Capitals. Photo by Paul Bauman
   Tedjakusuma, a 35-year-old Indonesian, topped American Elizabeth Lumpkin 6-4, 7-6 (0).
   In an all-Russian quarterfinal, top-seeded Elena Bovina will face seventh-seeded Valeria Solovieva. The 6-foot-2 Bovina, who reached No. 14 in the world in 2005 before injuries derailed her career, is 10 years older at 29.
   Finally, in an all-American encounter, second-seeded Ashley Weinhold will play fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula. Weinhold is 22 years old and Pegula 18.
   In two matches each, Bovina has lost only four games, Solovieva eight and Weinhold eight.
   See below for Thursday's full singles and doubles results and today's schedule.
   French Open in Paris -- No. 29 seed Julien Benneteau of France beat Sacramento-area resident Dmitry Tursunov  6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the French Open.
   Tursunov, a 29-year-old Moscow native, had lost in the first round at Roland Garros for the last three years. However, he reached the French Open doubles quarterfinals in 2007, semifinals in 2008 and quarterfinals in 2009 with fellow Russian Igor Kunitsyn. Tursunov is not playing doubles in the tournament this year.
   Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Xavier Malisse of Belgium defeated Michal Mertinak of Slovakia and Andre Sa of Brazil 6-3, 6-6, retired in the first round of men's doubles. Ironically, Knowles and Mertinak lost in the first round of last year's French Open to Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine and Malisse.
   Knowles and Malisse are former French Open champions with different partners. Knowles won in 2007 with Daniel Nestor of Canada and Malisse in 2004 with countryman Olivier Rochus.
   Knowles, 40, will return for his 11th season with the Capitals.
   In other opening-round matches:
   --Liga Dekmeijere of Latvia and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand ousted 10th-seeded Raquel Kops Jones of Fresno and Abigail Spears of San Diego 6-4, 6-4 in women's doubles.
   Kops-Jones won the 2003 NCAA doubles title with Sacramento native Christina Fusano, who retired last year after eight years on the pro circuit.
   --Second-seeded Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Mike Bryan downed the French team of Pauline Parmentier and Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-1 in mixed doubles.
   Peschke and Bryan are longtime WTT teammates on the Kansas City Explorers. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan won the 1998 NCAA doubles title as Stanford sophomores, then turned pro.
   Bob Bryan is scheduled to play with Serena Williams in the first round of mixed doubles today. They are -- get this -- unseeded.
   Television coverage of the French Open continues today live from 2 to 7 a.m. PDT on ESPN2 and 7 a.m to 4 p.m. on Tennis Channel, which also will broadcast its daily wrapup show from 4 to 7 p.m.
FSP GOLD RIVER WOMEN’S CHALLENGER
At Gold River Racquet Club
Second-round singles
   Jessica Pegula (5), United States, def. Jennifer Elie, United States, 6-3, 7-5. 
   Valeria Solovieva (7), Russia, def. Whitney Jones, United States, 6-2, 6-3. 
   Ashley Weinhold (2), United States, def. Lena Litvak, United States, 6-4, 6-3. 
   Elena Bovina (1), Russia, def. Maria-Fernanda Alves, Brazil, 6-3, 6-0. 
   Romana Tedjakusuma, Tracy/Indonesia, def. Elizabeth Lumpkin, United States, 6-4, 7-6 (0). 
   Samantha Crawford, United States, def. Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove/Capitals, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. 
   Maria Sanchez (4), Modesto, def. Gabrielle Faith Andrews, United States, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. 
   Asia Muhammed, United States/Capitals, def. Gabriela Paz (8), Venezuela, 6-1, 4-0, retired.
First-round doubles
   Chieh-Yu Hsu and Ashley Weinhold, United States, def. Whitney Jones and Elizabeth Lumpkin, United States, 6-1, 6-2. 
   Maria-Fernanda Alves, Brazil, and Valeria Solovieva (3), Russia, def. Gabrielle Faith Andrews and Samantha Crawford, United States, 6-3, 6-4. 
   Jessica Pegula, United States, and Marie-Eve Pelletier (1), Canada, def. Jennifer Elie, United States, and Kim-Alice Grajdek, Germany, 6-2, 6-4.
Today’s schedule
(Beginning at noon)
Stadium Court
   Elena Bovina (1), Russia, vs. Valeria Solovieva (7), Russia.
   Asia Muhammed, United States/Capitals, vs. Crawford, United States.
   Jessica Pegula, United States, and Marie-Eve Pelletier (1), Canada, vs. Lena Litvak, United States, and Adriana Perez.
   (Not before 7 p.m.) Elena Bovina, Russia, and Gabriela Paz, Venezuela, (4) vs. Kaitlyn Christian, United States, and Maria Sanchez, Modesto.
   Yawna Allen and Erin Clark, United States, vs. Asia Muhammed, United States/Capitals, and Yasmin Schnack (2), Elk Grove/Capitals.
Court 7
   Jessica Pegula (5), United States, vs. Ashley Weinhold (2), United States.
   Maria Sanchez (4), Modesto, vs. Romana Tedjakusuma, Tracy/Indonesia.
   Chieh-Yu Hsu and Ashley Weinhold, United States, vs. Maria-Fernanda Alves, Brazil, and Valeria Solovieva (3), Russia.

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