From Wimbledon to Sacramento

   Michelle Larcher de Brito is scheduled to go from Wimbledon to the Sacramento area.
   The 20-year-old qualifier from Portugal today advanced to a second-round matchup with No. 3 seed and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova of Russia at Wimbledon. The first career meeting between the loud grunters is scheduled for Wednesday. 

Third-seeded Maria Sharapova is scheduled to face qualifier
Michelle Larcher de Brito in the second round at Wimbledon.
Larcher de Brito tentatively will be seeded second in next week's
 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   Larcher de Brito, who helped the Sacramento Capitals win the last of their record six World TeamTennis titles in 2007 at 14 years old, tentatively will be seeded second in next week's $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger at the Gold River Racquet Club.
   She outlasted 21-year-old Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., 7-6 (7), 1-6, 6-4 in a battle of undersized players who have struggled after early success.
   Larcher de Brito, 5-foot-5 (1.65 meters), is ranked No. 131 after reaching a career-high No. 76 at 16 in 2009. Oudin, 5-foot-6 (1.68 meters), is No. 123 after climbing as high as No. 31 at 18 in 2010.
   Sharapova, ranked third, defeated Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Centre Court.
   Larcher de Brito played only one season for the Capitals. At 14, she was the youngest competitor in league history until American Madison Keys surpassed her by 19 days two years later as a 14-year-old with the Philadelphia Freedoms. The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Keys, 18, is now ranked a career-high 53rd.
   In the first round of women's doubles today at Wimbledon, fifth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones of Fresno and Abigail Spears of San Diego beat Shahar Peer of Israel and Yan Zi of China 6-4, 6-4. Kops-Jones won the NCAA doubles title with Cal teammate Christina Fusano, a Sacramento native, 10 years ago.
   Kops-Jones and Spears, Wimbledon quarterfinalists last year, will play the winner of the match between Sandra Klemenschits of Austria and Romina Oprandi of Switzerland in the second round.
   Yan and Zheng Jie won China's first Grand Slam title of any kind in women's doubles at the 2006 Australian Open and also captured the Wimbledon crown that year.
   Peer advanced to the doubles final of the 2008 Australian Open with Victoria Azarenka and won the doubles title at Stanford with Anna-Lena Groenefeld in 2006 and Sania Mirza in 2007.