Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Sharapova out of Stanford; Caps' tailspin continues

   The Bank of the West Classic lost Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki, but it still has Marion Bartoli.
   The second-ranked Sharapova withdrew from next week's tournament at Stanford with a left hip injury, tournament officials announced Monday.
   Sharapova lost to Michelle Larcher de Brito, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at 14 six years ago, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round at Wimbledon last month. Sharapova tumbled several times during the match and took a medical timeout for a hip injury.
   The 26-year-old Russian announced on her website Saturday that she had hired Jimmy Connors to replace Thomas Hogstedt as her coach. 
   Lisicki, the runner-up to Bartoli in the Wimbledon final, pulled out of the Bank of the West Classic last week with a wrist problem.
   The seventh-ranked Bartoli will make her 11th consecutive appearance in the Bank of the West Classic. She reached the final in 2008, 2009 and 2011, beating Venus Williams for the 2009 title.
   Bartoli is one of three entrants to have won a Grand Slam singles title. Samantha Stosur of Australia took the 2011 U.S. Open crown, and Francesca Schiavone of Italy captured the 2010 French Open title. 
   The field also includes fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, recent Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and Americans Varvara Lepchenko, Jamie Hampton and Madison Keys. 
   For more information, go to www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   Capitals lose again -- Olga Govortsova fared even worse than Irina Falconi for Sacramento, and Ryan Sweeting continued to struggle.
   The result was the Capitals' fourth consecutive loss, 21-13 to the Orange County Breakers in Irvine. The teams were tied 11-11 at intermission, but Govortsova and Sweeting lost 5-1 in women's singles and men's singles, respectively, to end the match.
   Sacramento's Taylor Townsend, 17, missed her second straight contest with a strained abdominal muscle. Falconi replaced her in Sunday's 23-10 loss at Texas and dropped her two sets (women's singles and women's doubles) by a combined score of 10-3. Govortsova, 24, of Belarus took over on Monday and fell 10-2 overall in the same sets.
   Sweeting, 26, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has won only one of his eight sets (men's singles and men's doubles) for Sacramento this season.
   At the midpoint of the regular season, the Capitals (3-4) rank first in the eight-team league in mixed doubles with Mark Knowles and Megan Moulton-Levy, fourth in women's doubles, fifth in men's doubles, seventh in women's singles and last in men's singles.
   Clay Court Shootout -- Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and seven others won division titles in last week's Olympic Club Har-Tru Clay Court Shootout in San Francisco.
   Other champions were Lidia L. Dukic of Santa Clara, Andy Huang of Fremont, Grace Lin of South San Francisco, Kailas Shekar of Cupertino, Pamela Duke of San Jose, Joshua Leopold of Santa Clara and Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek.
   Each division winner received a $500 travel voucher for this week's USTA Boys and Girls National Clay Court Championships at various sites in the Southeast. 
ORANGE COUNTY 21, CAPITALS 13
In Irvine, Calif.
   Mixed doubles -- Mark Knowles and Megan Moulton-Levy (Capitals) def. Treat Huey and Maria Elena Camerin, 5-3.
   Women's doubles -- Camerin and CoCo Vandeweghe (Orange County) def. Olga Govortsova and Moulton-Levy, 5-1.
   Men's doubles -- Knowles and Ryan Sweeting (Capitals) def. Huey and Steve Johnson, 5-3.
   Women's singles -- Vandeweghe (Orange County) def. Govortsova, 5-1.
   Men's singles -- Johnson (Orange County) def. Sweeting, 5-1.    

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