Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Querrey, Tursunov seeded in U.S. Open

Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native and part-time
member of the Sacramento Capitals for the past
two seasons, is seeded 26th in the U.S. Open.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman
   Two players with Northern California ties have received singles seedings in the U.S. Open.
   Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native and part-time member of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis for the past two seasons, is No. 26. Dmitry Tursunov, a Russian who trains in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, is No. 32 and last.
  The men's and women's seedings were announced Monday and today, respectively. The year's last Grand Slam tournament is scheduled for this coming Monday through Sept. 9 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
  The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, 25, reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 2008 and 2010, tying his best Grand Slam result.
   Cracking the seedings was key for Tursunov, ranked 35th, because he can't face a seed before the third round. The 30-year-old Moscow native has fought back from repeated injuries after reaching a career-high No. 20 in 2006.  
   Tursunov has not won a match in the U.S. Open in five years, losing in the first round in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and retiring from his third-round qualifying match last year with an injury. He reached the third round in 2003, 2006 and 2008 for his best results in Flushing Meadows.
Dmitry Tursunov, middle, squeaked into the U.S. Open seedings at No. 32. He is
shown with fellow players Mischa Zverev, left, and Igor Andreev. All three are
Moscow natives, although Tursunov trains in the Sacramento area and Zverev
plays for Germany. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman
   Novak Djokovic is seeded first, and defending champion Andy Murray is third. Five-time champion Roger Federer, last year’s top seed, is seeded seventh. It's his lowest seeding at the U.S. Open since 2002, when he was No. 13.
   Querrey is one of two seeded American men. John Isner is No. 13. The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) veteran jumped from No. 22 in the rankings to No. 14 after reaching the Cincinnati final last week. It was the first time in the 40-year history of the men's rankings that no American had appeared in the top 20. 
   Serena Williams, the defending champion and top women's seed, seeks her fifth U.S. Open and 17th Grand Slam singles title.
   Two young Americans are seeded in the U.S. Open for the first time. Sloane Stephens, 20, is No. 16, and Jamie Hampton, 23, is No. 24. Hampton is seeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
   See below for the full men's and women's seedings.
   U.S. Open qualifying -- Mackenzie McDonald faced a tall task on Tuesday.
   The 18-year-old wild card from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay area lost to second-seeded Ivo Karlovic, 6-foot-10 (2.08 meters), 6-3, 6-4 today in the first round of qualifying for the U.S. Open.
   McDonald last week became the first unranked teenager to qualify for an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, the highest level other than the Grand Slams. He lost to David Goffin 6-1, 6-1 in the first round at Cincinnati.
   U.S. Open National Playoffs -- Mayo Hibi, the 17-year-old champion of last month's $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area, won the women's title in the U.S. Open National Playoffs to earn a wild card in the qualifying event.
   Hibi, a longtime Irvine resident who plays for her native Japan, defeated No. 2 seed Nicole Melichar 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in Monday's final in New Haven, Conn. Jeff Dadamo, the runner-up in last year's $15,000 Futures tournament in Sacramento, beat unseeded Matija Pecotic 6-4, 6-4 in New Haven for the men's title.
   Hibi will face American wild card Allie Kiick, the 18-year-old daughter of former Miami Dolphins running  back Jim Kiick, on Wednesday in the first round of qualifying for the U.S. Open. Dadamo will take on Guillermo Olaso of Spain.
   Eric Roberson of Sacramento and Yasmin Schnack of Elk Grove in the Sacramento area will represent Northern California in the mixed doubles national playoffs, Wednesday through Saturday in New Haven. The champions will receive a berth in the main draw of mixed doubles at the U.S. Open.
   Roberson and Schnack reached the final of the inaugural playoffs in 2011, falling in a super tiebreaker to Christina Fusano and David Martin. Fusano, a Sacramento native, starred at Cal and Martin at Stanford.
U.S. OPEN SEEDS
Men
1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain
3. Andy Murray, Great Britain
4. David Ferrer, Spain
5. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic
6. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
7. Roger Federer, Switzerland
8. Richard Gasquet, France
9. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland
10. Milos Raonic, Canada
11. Kei Nishikori, Japan
12. Tommy Haas, Germany
13. John Isner, United States
14. Jerzy Janowicz, Poland
15. Nicolas Almagro, Spain
16. Fabio Fognini, Italy
17. Kevin Anderson, South Africa
18. Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia
19. Tommy Robredo, Spain
20. Andreas Seppi, Italy
21. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia
22. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany
23. Feliciano Lopez, Spain
24. Benoit Paire, France
25. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria
26. Sam Querrey, United States
27. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
28. Juan Monaco, Argentina
29. Jurgen Melzer, Austria
30. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia
31. Julien Benneteau, France
32. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia
Women
1. Serena Williams, United States
2. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
3. Maria Sharapova, Russia
4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
5. Sara Errani, Italy
6. Li Na, China
7. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
8. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
9. Angelique Kerber, Germany
10. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
11. Roberta Vinci, Italy
12. Samantha Stosur, Australia
13. Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium
14. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
15. Maria Kirilenko, Russia
16. Sloane Stephens, United States
17. Sabine Lisicki, Germany
18. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovak Republic
19. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
20. Sorana Cirstea, Romania
21. Nadia Petrova, Russia
22. Simona Halep, Romania
23. Elena Vesnina, Russia
24. Jamie Hampton, United States
25. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia
26. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia
27. Alize Cornet, France
28. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
29. Mona Barthel, Germany
30. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovak Republic
31. Laura Robson, Great Britain
32. Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic

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