Giraldo, Halys work overtime to reach Fairfield final

No. 2 seed Santiago Giraldo, shown Thursday, and Quentin
Halys each won two matches on Saturday in the rain-delayed
Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Second-seeded Santiago Giraldo and unseeded Quentin Halys each won two matches on Saturday to reach the final of the rain-delayed Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger at Solano Community College.

   Giraldo, 28, of Colombia beat seventh-seeded Grega Zemlja of Slovenia 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and Joris De Loore of Belgium 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.
   The 6-foot (1.83-meter) Zemlja (pronounced ZEM-lee-uh) pounded five aces in one game but was broken, live-stream commentator Mike Cation tweeted.

   Halys (pronounced Ah-LEECE), a 19-year-old Frenchman, topped Maximilian Marterer, a German left-hander, by retirement (left shoulder) after leading 6-0, 0-0. Halys then beat qualifier Brydan Klein of Great Britain 6-2, 6-4.

   Giraldo and Halys are scheduled to meet for the first time today at 12:30 p.m., but rain could push back the match one or two hours.
   Giraldo has plummeted from a career-high No. 28 in September 2014 to No. 124. He won the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2009 and has finished each of the past six years in the top 70.
   Halys, ranked No. 170, ousted top-seeded Frances Tiafoe in the second round.
   In Saturday's all-American doubles final, wild cards Brian Baker and Mackenzie McDonald outclassed unseeded Sekou Bangoura and Eric Quigley 6-3, 6-4.
   It was the 31-year-old Baker's second Challenger doubles title in two weeks. He won last week's $100,000 Stockton Challenger with Sam Groth of Australia.
   Baker has undergone 11 operations (both hips, right elbow, sports hernia and four repairs of his right knee). He lsot in the first round of Olympic singles in Rio de Janeiro in August to Yuichi Sugita of Japan.
   McDonald, a 21-year-old native of Piedmont in the nearby San Francisco Bay Area, captured his first Challenger title in singles or doubles. In Futures tournaments, he has won one singles championship and four doubles crowns.
   Here are the updated Fairfield singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

International players dominate 100K Fairfield

No. 2 seed Santiago Giraldo of Colombia slugs a forehand during
his 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Brian Baker of Nashville, Tenn., in the
second round of the Fairfield Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- Americans dominated the first two weeks of the three-week men's Challenger swing through Northern California.

   This week, it's the international players' turn.

   Seven of the eight quarterfinalists in the $100,000 Fairfield Challenger are from outside the United States.

   A sweep appeared imminent when 19-year-old Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., dropped the first set to qualifier Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-1 in Thursday's last singles match at Solano Community College. Paul, however, won the last two sets 6-3, 6-4.

   Six quarterfinalists are European. The other international player is second-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.

   "We're coming, moving up the ladder," Belgium's Joris De Loore crowed after upsetting third-seeded Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. "I have nothing against Americans, but that's the game. You win some, you lose some."

   Americans took seven quarterfinal spots in the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger two weeks ago and swept the semifinal berths in last week's $100,000 Stockton Challenger.

Baker, lunging for a backhand volley against Giraldo,
has overcome 11 operations. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Giraldo, 28, outlasted Brian Baker, 31, of Nashville, Tenn., 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in a battle of ATP World Tour veterans. Also, seventh-seeded Grega Zemlja of Slovenia dismissed U.S. qualifier Dennis Nevolo 6-2, 6-3.
   Giraldo has ended the past six years in the top 70, but he has tumbled from a career-high No. 28 in September 2014 to No. 124.
   Baker has undergone 11 operations (both hips, right elbow, back, sports hernia and four repairs of his right knee). He lost in the first round of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August to Yuichi Sugita of Japan.
   Giraldo is scheduled to meet the 30-year-old Zemlja, a former top-50 player, today for the second time. Zemlja won 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the 2013 French Open.

   The other quarterfinal matchups are No. 5 seed Alessandro Giannessi of Italy against De Loore, No. 8 Maximilian Marterer of Germany versus Quentin Halys of France and Paul against qualifier Brydan Klein of Great Britain. All are first-time meetings.
   Rain is forecast for today, Saturday and Sunday in Fairfield, 41 miles (66 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.
   Here are the updated singles and doubles draws and today's schedule. The tournament is being streamed live.

Tiafoe, 18, cracks top 100 with Stockton title

Third-seeded Frances Tiafoe, right, beat unseeded Noah Rubin
6-4, 6-2 in a matchup of U.S. prospects in the final of the
$100,000 Stockton Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   STOCKTON, Calif. -- Northern California fans might want to check out this week's $100,000 Fairfield Challenger at Solano Community College.
   It probably will be their last chance to see Frances Tiafoe in person. Barring injury or a prolonged slump, the 18-year-old phenom will graduate to Grand Slam and ATP World Tour events next year. So far, Tiafoe has only dabbled in the major leagues of men's professional tennis.
   By outclassing fellow American prospect Noah Rubin 6-4, 6-2 Sunday to win the $100,000 Stockton Challenger at the new Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center at the University of the Pacific, the third-seeded Tiafoe cracked the top 100 in the world for the first time.
   "It's an unbelievable feeling, something you always dream of and work as hard as you can to achieve," gushed Tiafoe, who jumped 17 spots to No. 100. "It (helps immensely) to be inside the top 100, getting in the main draw of Grand Slams and tour events. It definitely makes your life much easier; you don't have to play so many of these (Challenger) events."

   Tiafoe becomes the youngest player, fourth teenager and second American teen in the top 100. Alexander Zverev, 19, of Germany is No. 21; Borna Coric, 19, of Croatia is No. 41; and Taylor Fritz, 18, of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area is No. 71. Fritz will turn 19 on Oct. 28, and Tiafoe will follow on Jan. 20.
   American Jared Donaldson, who turned 20 Sunday, dropped from No. 98 to No. 108 in the new rankings. Fritz won the singles titles in last year's Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers with victories over Donaldson and Dustin Brown of Germany, respectively. The Sacramento tournament moved to Stockton.

   Although Tiafoe eventually could reach the top 10, his immediate task is staying in the top 100. He will drop unless he at least matches his 2015 appearance in the semifinals in Fairfield, where he's the top seed, and runner-up finish in the $50,000 Knoxville (Tenn.) Challenger, scheduled for the first week of November.

Tiafoe didn't face a break point in the final.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Tiafoe has ideal size (6-foot-2 and 170 pounds or 1.88 meters and 77 kilograms) with power, touch, quickness -- you name it. His serve and forehand, both hit with a distinctive loose wrist, are devastating. His two-handed backhand is textbook perfect. And he has a deft volley.
   Weaknesses? Tiafoe has had temper problems (it was not an issue against Rubin), his concentration wanes at times (whose doesn't?), and his second serve needs improvement (according to Isner).
   Tiafoe's father, Constant, emigrated from Sierra Leone in West Africa to the Washington, D.C., area, where Frances was born, in the late 1990s. Constant helped build the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., and stayed as the head of maintenance.
   Frances and his twin brother Franklin, who attended the Stockton Challenger, began playing at 3 or 4. Frances won the prestigious Orange Bowl at 15 in 2013 to become the youngest boys 18 champion in the tournament's 67-year history. He was profiled in Sports Illustrated in 2014 and turned pro last year.
   As a wild card the recent U.S. Open, Tiafoe led 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) veteran John Isner, seeded No. 20 and ranked No. 1 in the United States at the time, two sets to none in the first round before falling in a fifth-set tiebreaker.
   Rubin, only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 155 pounds (70 kilograms), doesn't have as much of an upside as Tiafoe but well could join him in the top 100 next year. With his runner-up finish, he improved 25 places to No. 167.
   A counterpuncher who relies on quickness, Rubin stunned then-No. 18 Benoit Paire of France in the first round of the Australian Open in January but missed much of the summer with a sprained ankle.

   A native of Long Island, N.Y., Rubin trained at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York as a junior. During his dream summer of 2014, he won the Wimbledon boys and USTA 18 national singles titles.
   Rubin then attended Wake Forest University for one year, falling in the 2015 NCAA singles final to 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) junior Ryan Shane of Virginia, before turning pro.

Rubin could join Tiafoe in the top 100 next year.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Tiafoe and Rubin, 20, met as pros for the first time. Rubin was 3-0 in ITF junior tournaments against Tiafoe.
   This time, Tiafoe broke the unseeded Rubin in the first game of each set and broke again to lead 4-1 in the second set. Rubin double-faulted on key points in both of the second-set breaks. Tiafoe, meanwhile, never faced break point en route to his second Challenger title in his seventh final.
   "He was pretty nervous," declared Tiafoe, who earned $14,400. "He made a lot of mistakes. He obviously didn't play his best, but I thought I played my game about as well as I can play. I played pretty aggressive, took the strikes early and didn't really let him stay steady and try to make balls the way he usually plays. I thought I did a great job of putting a lot of pressure on him early."
   Tiafoe won the coin toss and elected to receive.
   "I always do that," he noted. "I don't want to come out and play a loose game in the opening game, so if I win the coin toss, I always receive.
   "I knew he was going to be a little nervous. It was only his second (Challenger) final, and I've been in quite a few finals, so I was pretty comfortable today."
   Rubin, who won his only previous Challenger final, denied he was nervous.
   "Actually, that did not affect me," said Rubin, wearing a necklace with a small Wimbledon pendant. "I was way more nervous to play the first round of this tournament. Maybe there was some internal, subconscious thing I can't even tell you. Yeah, I was a little slower than normal, but it happens."
   Instead, Rubin attributed his slow starts in each set to physical and mental fatigue. He won his first three matches in three sets before coasting past ailing Michael Mmoh, another 18-year-old American, 6-2, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinals.
   "It could be just cumulative," suggested Rubin, who collected $8,480. "It's a lot of matches, a lot of games. I put a lot of pressure on myself at the beginning of the tournament, more than at the end, because I was not playing my best tennis coming into this tournament. I was just working hard and putting in a lot of hours, and sometimes it wears on you."

   Against Tiafoe, there would be no Noah's bagels.
   "He played good tennis," said Rubin, who also is entered in Fairfield. "He mixed it up well. I think what hurt me the most was my movement was not (up to) par, which usually helps me get back into matches.

Second-seeded Sam Groth, left, and Brian Baker won the
doubles title in their first tournament together. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   "He kept me on my toes and didn't play loose points. I've been watching some of his matches, and sometimes he gives away loose points. He was pretty controlled today and consistent. It was good to see. He's in the top 100 now, and hopefully I'll see him there soon."
   Second-seeded Brian Baker and Sam Groth, playing their first tournament together, beat fourth-seeded Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith 6-2, 4-6 [10-2] for the doubles title. All except Baker, from Nashville, Tenn., are Australian.
   Baker, 31, and Groth, who will turn 29 on Oct. 19, ended Reid and Smith's winning streak at seven matches. They won the title in the previous week's $100,000 Tiburon Challenger.
   Baker has come back from 11 operations (both hips, right elbow, back, sports hernia and four repairs of his right knee). Groth set an unofficial world record with a 163.7-mph (263.4-kph) serve in the 2012 Busan (South Korea) Challenger.
   Here are:
   --The complete Stockton singles and doubles draws.
   --The Fairfield singles qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws, and Monday's schedule.
   --The complete Redding (Calif.) women's singles and doubles draws.

McDonald scores the latest upset in 100K Stockton

Mackenzie McDonald, shown in Tiburon last week, upset
No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek today in the second round of the
$100,000 Stockton Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   STOCKTON, Calif. -- Barring injury, Mackenzie McDonald almost certainly is headed to the top 100 in the world and perhaps the top 50.
   The 21-year-old native of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area staged the latest upset in the $100,000 Stockton Challenger, beating No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., 6-4, 6-4 in gusty wind today to reach the quarterfinals.
   McDonald, who turned pro in June after sweeping the NCAA singles and doubles titles as a UCLA junior, took his victory in stride.
   "I'm a pro now," McDonald, who played in his first professional tournament as a 14-year-old amateur in the Sacramento area, said at the new Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center at the University of the Pacific. "I'm supposed to win matches. That's my job."
   Later, No. 5 seed Denis Kudla and No. 6 Alessandro Giannessi narrowly avoided upsets.
   Kudla, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, saved two match points in a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over wild card and fellow American Brian Baker that lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.
   Baker, 31, has come back from -- brace yourself -- 11 operations (both hips, right elbow, back, sports hernia and four repairs of his right knee).
   Giannessi, an Italian who advanced to the second round of the recent U.S. Open as a qualifier, outlasted Daniel Nguyen of Oxnard in Southern California 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in 2 hours, 54 minutes.
   In Friday's quarterfinals in the bottom half of the draw, McDonald will face Kudla, and Giannessi will take on No. 3 seed Frances Tiafoe, a 7-6 (6), 6-3 winner over qualifier Dennis Nevolo in an all-American matchup.
   No seeds remain in the top half, with the second round scheduled for Thursday. Still alive, however, are last week's finalists in the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger. Champion Darian King of Barbados and 18-year-old Michael Mmoh of Bradenton, Fla., could meet in the quarters.

Tim Smyczek, playing in Tiburon last week, fell
to 0-2 against Mackenzie McDonald with today's
loss. Photo by Paul Bauman

   McDonald, ranked No. 371 after reaching the Tiburon semifinals for the second consecutive year, improved to 2-0 against the 28-year-old Smyczek, who has dropped from a career-high No. 68 in April last year to No. 134.
   Both players are undersized, McDonald at 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and only 145 pounds (66 kilograms) and Smyczek at 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 160 pounds (72 kilograms).
  Smyczek bolted to a 4-1 lead (one service break) in the first set, but McDonald reeled off the next five games and earned the only break of the second set to lead 3-2.
   "I came out and was playing pretty well," said Smyczek, who will turn 29 in December. "Mackie definitely started a little slow. I just benefited from him making a few errors, but he really picked it up.
   "I was struggling with my serve a little bit all day," added Smyczek, who put in only 45 percent of his first serves, "and he's the type of player that if you give him a chance to start on offense, he's going to make it tough on you. I just didn't do a good enough job of making first serves and keeping him from taking the first strike. It was a long day for me in that sense."
   In the first round of doubles, wild cards Sem Verbeek and Jose Chamba Gomez thrilled the local fans by stunning top-seeded Andres Molteni of Argentina and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo of Chile 7-6 (4), 2-6 [10-5].
   Verbeek, from the Netherlands, and Chamba Gomez, from Ecuador, were Pacific teammates last season. Verbeek completed his eligibility in May; Chamba Gomez is a junior.
   Here are:

   --The Stockton singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule.

   --The Redding women's singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule. The $25,000 tournament is being held at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.  

Kudla, other top Americans enter NorCal Challengers

   Denis Kudla heads a strong American contingent in the upcoming Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon Challengers.
   At No. 95 in the world this week, Kudla is the fourth-ranked American and only top-100 player entered in any of the tournaments. Next are fellow Americans Tim Smyzcek (No. 104), Rajeev Ram (No. 118), Rhyne Williams (No. 125), Alex Kuznetsov (No. 128) and Bradley Klahn (No. 133).

Qualifier Tim Smyczek signs autographs after beating fifth seed
and 2010 champion Fernando Verdasco in the first round of the
SAP Open in San Jose in February.  Smyczek and Daniel Evans,
below, reached the third round of the recent U.S. Open to earn
$93,000 each. Photos by Paul Bauman

   All except Ram are scheduled to play in each of the three tournaments. Ram is entered only in Sacramento and Tiburon.
   Smyczek and Great Britain's Daniel Evans, who also is entered in all three tournaments, reached the third round of the recent U.S. Open.
   The $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger, $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger and $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger will be held in consecutive weeks beginning Monday.
   The Napa tournament, at the Napa Valley Country Club, will be staged for the first time. Sacramento has been played annually since 2005, at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club for the first four years and the Natomas Racquet Club since then. Tiburon has been contested since 2003 with a break from 2005 through 2008.
   Last year's singles champions in Sacramento and Tiburon -- James Blake and Jack Sock, respectively -- are not scheduled to return. Blake, who reached a career-high No. 4 in 2006, retired after the recent U.S. Open. Sock, ranked No. 88, plays primarily on the elite ATP World Tour. 
   Kudla, a 21-year-old Ukraine native who moved to Fairfax, Va., on his first birthday, played in the singles main draw of three Grand Slam tournaments this year. As a qualifier, he lost in the first round of the French Open on clay and reached the second round at Wimbledon on grass. Kudla earned direct acceptance into the U.S. Open on hardcourts and advanced to the second round, facing two of the top four Czechs.
   Kudla, a 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) right-hander, beat Jiri Vesely, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) left-hander, at Flushing Meadows before losing to fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych. Vesely, 20, climbed to No. 1 in the world junior rankings in January 2011.
   Kudla also reached the quarterfinals at Queen's Club, a Wimbledon tuneup tournament in London on the ATP World Tour, before losing to fourth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
   Smyczek, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters), was the last American left in men's singles at the U.S. Open. John Isner and Sock also reached the third round. That was worth $93,000 for each player.

Evans gained the final of the Aptos Challenger
in July, losing to former Stanford star Bradley
Klahn after holding a championship point.

   Evans, also 5-9, held a championship point before losing to Klahn in the final of the $100,000 Aptos Challenger in July. As a qualifier at Flushing Meadows, Evans stunned 11th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan and 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Bernard Tomic of Australia.
   Evans then fell to 19th-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain. Robredo ousted five-time champion Roger Federer in the fourth round before losing to eventual winner Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.
   Also scheduled to make the NorCal swing are 30-year-old American Robby Ginepri, a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2005, and Australian Samuel Groth, who holds the record for the world's fastest serve (163.4 mph or 263 kph).
   Ram, 29, gained the second round of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open this year. At Flushing Meadows, he routed 16th-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round.
   Williams, 22, lost in the first round of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. He reached the semifinals on clay in Houston in April for his best result on the ATP Tour and won last year's doubles title in Sacramento with former University of Tennessee teammate Tennys Sandgren.
   Kuznetsov, a Sacramento semifinalist in 2011 and 2006, qualified for Wimbledon in June before losing to Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in the opening round.               
   Klahn, the 2010 NCAA champion as a sophomore at Stanford, reached the second round of the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year. The 2012 Stanford graduate won his first Challenger title two months ago in Aptos. 
   Brian Baker, one of the greatest comeback stories of all time in any sport, is entered in Sacramento and Tiburon. The 28-year-old American missed six years while undergoing five operations, including the Tommy John (elbow ligament replacement) procedure dreaded by baseball pitchers.
   Baker returned in 2011 and, as a qualifier, advanced to the final at Nice on clay on the ATP World Tour and the round of 16 at Wimbledon last year.
   Disaster struck again in January, when Baker tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee in the second round of the Australian Open. He underwent surgery on Jan. 21 and returned the competition in Aptos. 
   Here are links to the Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon entry lists:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/Napa.pdf
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/Sacramento_CH.pdf
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/Tiburon.pdf
   Aggie Pro Am -- The Sixth Annual UC Davis Aggie Pro-Am is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Marya Welch Tennis Center.
   Lunch, side events for prizes and T-shirts are included in a $100 donation to UC Davis women’s and men’s tennis programs. To enter or help sponsor the event, call Ashley Williams at (530) 754-2593.
   Clay Court League -- The registration deadline for the Sacramento Clay Court League at Ben Combs' house in the suburb of Orangevale is Oct. 4. The season is scheduled for Oct. 19 through Nov. 3.
   For more information, visit www.sacramentoclaycourtleague.com.

Young ousts defending champ in Aptos Challenger

Donald Young, the 2007 Comerica Bank Challenger titlist,
beat Steve Johnson, the defending champ, on Tuesday.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   APTOS, Calif. -- Steve Johnson's tennis life over the past five years reads like a fairy tale.
   He ended his USC career in 2012 with four NCAA team titles, NCAA singles crowns in his last two years and a 72-match winning streak in singles. He is the only player to win back-to-back team and singles titles in the same years under the current NCAA Championships format.
   Johnson also has made a smooth transition to professional tennis, cracking the top 100 in the world in only one year. Shortly after turning pro, he won the $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger here without losing a set and reached the third round of the U.S. Open. This year, he advanced to his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal in San Jose and emerged from qualifying in the Australian Open and French Open.
   Reality, though, hit Johnson hard on Tuesday. Seeded third, he lost to fellow American Donald Young 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Comerica Bank Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club. The match ended on a questionable line call.
   Young, the 2007 Comerica champion and 2010 runner-up, repeatedly jammed Johnson with his left-handed serve in the match.    
   "I didn't do what I needed to do, so it's good for him to get the win," Johnson said, adding that he needed to "just return better. I've been struggling with the return the last couple matches. He did the same thing over and over. I let him beat me with it over and over."

Johnson returns serves against Young. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Johnson, 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters) and 190 pounds (86 kilograms), has a booming first and even second serve, but they let him down, too. He committed nine double faults, all in the second and third sets.
   "I've been struggling with the serve recently," admitted Johnson, who will plunge from No. 100 in the world to approximately No. 124. "Whatever I had -- nine or 10 double faults -- it's not beneficial to my game. (The serve) is the one thing you can control, so it's disappointing."  
   At least Johnson had company on the sideline. Bobby Reynolds, an American seeded sixth, lost to Yuichi Sugita of Japan 7-5, 6-2.  Second-seeded Evgeny Donskoy of Russia barely avoided an upset, edging qualifier John-Patrick Smith of Australia 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
   Meanwhile, American Brian Baker launched his latest comeback with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Australian James Duckworth, the runner-up in last month's Lexington (Ky.) Challenger. Baker tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee in the second round of the Australian Open and underwent surgery on Jan. 21. He also returned in 2011 after undergoing five major operations, including the Tommy John (elbow ligament replacement) surgery dreaded by baseball pitchers, and missing most of six years. 
   Tuesday's schedule ended on an odd note as the match between fourth-seeded Ryan Harrison of the United States and qualifier James McGee of Ireland was suspended at one set apiece because of darkness even though the court was lighted. But the lights did not meet USTA specifications, tournament supervisor Mike Loo said.
   Johnson is one of the few pros who stayed in college for four years. Young took the opposite approach, turning pro at 14. It has not worked out well for the former prodigy. After struggling for years, he reached a career-high No. 38 early last year but has plummeted to No. 156.
   "You get into tournaments you've never been in," explained Young, who's listed at 6 feet (1.83 meters) but appears to be 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters). "I played all the Masters Series. I played five or six on clay -- Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid ... It's tough. You're playing guys like 14th in the world in the first round. I don't play on clay often, so you take those losses, you feel like you're not playing well, and it can hurt anybody's confidence losing a lot of times in a row."
   It looked like more of the same Tuesday as Johnson bolted to a 4-0 lead in the first set.
   "He was playing well; I wasn't playing well," said the 24-year-old Young, who will meet another left-hander, former Stanford star Bradley Klahn, for the first time in this evening's featured match. "I knew I could play better and make it more of a match."
   Young jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and held on to even the match at one set apiece. There were no service breaks in the third set as Young survived a tense moment. Johnson was within two points of victory with Young preparing to hit a second serve at 4-5, 30-30. Young jammed Johnson for a service winner and won the next point to hold.
   Both players then held serve at love to force a decisive tiebreaker. Johnson double-faulted for 1-3, and Young scored another mini-break with a forehand volley for 6-2 and four match points. Johnson saved the first one on his serve but then meekly netted a first-serve return. The delivery appeared to be long, but there was no call.  
   "I would almost guarantee that serve was out," said Johnson, who had beaten Young in three sets in their only previous meeting. "It's frustrating to have the match end like that, but that's tennis. What can you do?"

$100,000 COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER

At Seascape Sports Club in Aptos, Calif.

First-round singles

   Evgeny Donskoy (2), Russia, def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
   Donald Young, United States, def. Steve Johnson (3), United States, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
   Wayne Odesnik (5), United States, def. James Ward, Great Britain, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4.
   Yuichi Sugita, Japan, def. Bobby Reynolds (6), United States, 7-5, 6-2.
   Jimmy Wang (8), Taiwan, def. Greg Jones, Australia, 6-0, 6-0.
   Brian Baker, United States, def. James Duckworth, Australia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
   Daniel Evans, Great Britain, def. Mitchell Krueger, United States, 6-1, 6-2.
   Farrukh Dustov, Uzbekistan, def. Olivier Rochus, Belgium, 6-4, 7-5.
   Tennys Sandgren, United States, def. Maxime Authom, Belgium, 6-1, 6-4.
   Denys Molchanov, Ukraine, def. Hiroki Moriya, Japan, 6-4, 6-2.
   Ryan Harrison (4), United States, vs. James McGee, Ireland, 3-6, 6-3, suspended (darkness).

Today's schedule

Center Court

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Mischa Zverev (7), Germany, vs. Dennis Novikov, United States.

(Not before 11 a.m.)

   James Cerretani, United States, and Michael Venus, New Zealand, vs. Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (3), Israel.
   Ryan Harrison (4), United States, vs. James McGee, completion of suspended match.
   Marcos Giron and Raymond Sarmiento, United States, vs. Jeff Dadamo and Dennis Novikov, United States.

(Not before 3 p.m.)

   Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, vs. Evgeny Donskoy (2), Russia.

(Not before 5:30 p.m.)

   Bradley Klahn, United States, vs. Donald Young, United States.

Court 5

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Wayne Odesnik (5), United States, vs. Denys Molchanov, Ukraine.
   Purav Raja and Divij Sharan (1), India, vs. Maxime Authom and Olivier Rochus, Belgium.
   Mikhail Kukushkin, Kazakhstan, and Denys Molchanov, Ukraine, vs. Bjorn Fratangelo and Mitchell Krueger, United States.

(Not before 4 p.m.)

   Farrukh Dustov, Uzbekistan, and Malek Jaziri, Tunisia, vs. Wayne Odesnik and Tennys Sandgren, United States.       

(Not before 5 p.m.)

   Andre Dome and Jordan Kepler, United States, vs. Tatsuma Ito and Hiroki Moriya, Japan.

U.S. could have no men in top 20 after Indian Wells

John Isner, shown at Indian Wells in 2012,
was upset by Lleyton Hewitt in this year's
tournament. Photo by Paul Bauman

   John Isner's slump continued Saturday, which is bad news for U.S. men's tennis.
   Very bad.
   The United States, a tennis power throughout the 1900s, already has no men in the top 10 in the world. Come March 18, when the next rankings are released, there's a good chance that the nation will have no one in the top 20.
   As John McEnroe once famously said, you cannot be serious.
   The 6-foot-9 (2.06-meter) Isner, who missed the Australian Open in January with a knee injury, lost to 32-year-old Lleyton Hewitt 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Hewitt won the title there an eternity ago -- in 2002 and 2003.
   "It was a tough match," Isner told reporters. "I knew it was going to be. Lleyton is such a good competitor. I felt like I could have played a little bit better. I needed to play very well to win today, and I don't feel like I necessarily did that. But I think Lleyton had a lot to do with it. It's very disappointing.
    "But I believe things will get better. ... Just gotta keep plugging away."
   Isner, the top American at No. 15, nevertheless will plummet in the rankings after reaching last year's final at Indian Wells. He beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, in the semifinals before losing to Roger Federer.
   The rankings operate on a rotating 52-week basis. Therefore, Isner's results from Indian Wells last year are replaced on the computer by his results there this year. Everything else being equal, he would have had to reach this year's final just to stay No. 15.

Sam Querrey, shown at Indian Wells in 2012,
likely will replace John Isner as the top-ranked
American man. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sam Querrey, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) native of San Francisco, likely will replace Isner as the top American. Querrey, though, faces a tall order -- literally -- trying to rise from No. 23 in the world. He is scheduled to meet 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) qualifier Ivo Karlovic of Croatia today in the second round after losing at that stage last year at Indian Wells.
   Karlovic, 34, held the record for the world's fastest serve at 156 mph (251 kph) until Samuel Groth of Australia was credited with a 163.4-mph (263-kph) missile last year.
   Although five other Americans reside in the top 100, the only possible bright spot is 20-year-old prospect Ryan Harrison at No. 73 in the world.
   No. 32 Mardy Fish is 31 years old with heart trouble. No. 56 Brian Baker, who returned to the tour last year after missing six years because of five major operations, underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in January. No. 70 Michael Russell is 34 years old and only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters) in an era of power. No. 99 James Blake is 33 years old.
   Meanwhile, two of Querrey's teammates on the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis last season also made news at Indian Wells on Saturday.
   South Africa's Kevin Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) right-hander playing in his second tournament since undergoing right elbow surgery, ousted fourth-seeded David Ferrer 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.
   Fish, playing his first official match in six months because of an irregular heartbeat, teamed with Blake to beat Spaniards David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of doubles. Blake and Fish are wild cards.
   Fish is scheduled to play the first singles match of his comeback today against qualifier Bobby Reynolds, another American in his 30s, today in the second round. Fish, seeded 32nd, received a first-round bye. 

COLLEGE SCORES

Men

   Texas-Arlington def. Sacramento State 4-3 in Sacramento. No. 1 singles: Marek Marksoo (SS) def. Yauheni Yakauleu 7-6 (3), 6-3. Records: Texas-Arlington 4-4, Sac State 3-8.
   Sacramento State def. Northern Arizona 4-3 in Sacramento: No. 1 singles: Marek Marksoo (SS) def. Shaun Waters 6-4, 6-4. Records: Sac State 4-8, Northern Arizona 2-11.
   Nevada def. UC Davis 5-2 in Davis. No. 1 singles: Kyle Miller (UCD) def. Victor Ouvrard 7-6, 6-3. Records: Nevada 7-4, UC Davis 6-7.
   Pacific def. Santa Clara 4-3 in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: No. 66 John Lamble (SC) def. Alex Golding 6-1, 6-3. Records: Pacific 8-4, Santa Clara 10-5.
   Boise State def. USF 6-1 in San Francisco. No. 1 singles: No. 30 Andrew Bettles (BSU) def. Thai Tu 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 10-6 match tiebreaker.

Women

   No. 18 Cal def. No. 31 Washington in Berkeley. No. 1 singles: No. 8 Anett Schutting (C) def. No. 124 Andjela Nemcevic 6-1, 6-1. Records: Cal 7-4, Washington 8-5.
   No. 20 Stanford def. No. 73 Washington State 7-0 at Stanford. No. 1 singles: No. 87 Nicole Gibbs (S) def. Liudmila Vasilieva 6-1, 6-1. Records: Stanford 7-2, Washington State 10-4.
   No. 66 San Jose State def. Southern Utah 7-0 in San Jose. No. 1 singles: Sebastiani Leon Chao (SJS) def. Olya Kunz 6-1, 6-2. Records: San Jose State 8-4, Southern Utah 2-3.
   USF def. Northern Arizona 7-0 in San Francisco. No. 1 singles: Andrea Ka (USF) def. Ghizelene Doballah 6-0, 6-0. Records: USF 6-3, Northern Arizona 6-7.

No. 1 Baker becomes latest victim in Aptos Challenger

Top-seeded Brian Baker of Nashville, Tenn., lost to Maxime Authom of Belgium
5-7, 6-4, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round of the $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger
in Aptos, Calif. Photo by Paul Bauman

   APTOS, Calif. -- In any other tournament, top-seeded Brian Baker's first-round loss would have been shocking.
   But not in the wild, wacky $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger.
   Baker -- "one of the greatest stories in the history of our sport," television analyst Justin Gimelstob told the New York Times in May -- was just the latest seed to fall. After the first round, only No. 6 Florent Serra of France remains.
   On a typically cool summer evening at the Seascape Sports Club, near the Pacific Ocean 80 miles south of San Francisco, Maxime Authom of Belgium rifled returns of serve and groundstrokes to oust Baker of Nashville, Tenn., 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 Tuesday.
   No top seed has won the title in the 25-year history of the tournament, the second-longest-running men's event on the USTA Pro Circuit behind Little Rock, Ark. (32 years).

Sacramento-area resident Dmitry Tursunov, middle, poses with fellow Moscow
natives Mischa Zverev, left, and Igor Andreev. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Joining Baker on the sideline were No. 3 Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., and No. 5 Tobias Kamke of Germany. Ram lost to qualifier Dmitry Tursunov, a Russian with residences in Moscow and the Sacramento suburb of Folsom, 6-3, 6-4 in a matchup of former Aptos runners-up. Kamke fell to Sergei Bubka of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6 (2).
   Three other seeds -- No. 2 Igor Andreev of Russia, No. 7 Izak Van der Merwe of South Africa and No. 8 Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va. -- exited Monday.
   An ex-Aptos champion also was upset Tuesday. Alex Kuznetsov, the 2006 titlist, succumbed to lucky loser and fellow American Michael McClune 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2). Kuznetsov, a Ukraine native who moved to the United States as a young child, complained about line calls throughout the match and declined the customary handshake with the chair umpire afterward.
   The craziness in the Comerica Bank Challenger actually started before the first ball was struck. Defending champion Laurynas Grigelis, 20, of Lithuania came to Aptos but didn't enter the tournament. He didn't feel good about his game with five straight losses and a No. 291 world ranking, according to Linda Feldbrugge, whose family housed Grigelis last year.
   Grigelis showed up anyway with the Italian contingent -- his coach is Italian -- for three days last week "to hang out and surf," Feldbrugge said. "My husband taught them how to surf last year."
   The runner-up to Grigelis -- Serbia's Ilija Bozoljac, flashy as always with his bandanna, sunglasses and earrings -- had to survive qualifying to reach this year's main draw and won his first-round match in three sets Tuesday.
   Authom was ebullient and Baker distraught after their encounter.
   "I think it was the best match of my life, " Authom gushed after his Aptos debut. The tournament is already perfect. Now is a bonus."
   Authom, 25, has struggled with physical and mental issues. The right-hander underwent surgery for tendinitis in his left wrist in 2010 and sat out for one year.
   "I had three tournaments (before Aptos) that were really bad, but they were very good players," Authom said in halting English. "My coach said to try to have fun on the court. Even after the first set, for the first time in my life I was happy. Normally, it would be 7-5, 6-2.
   "My problem is I think a lot. I say, '(Opponents) are very good. I'm not (good enough) to beat them.' Here, my goal is mental (toughness)."
   Baker, head in hands in the locker room, was not available for comment after his fourth consecutive loss. However, he repeatedly criticized himself aloud during the match.
   --After netting a down-the-line backhand: "That's not your shot today. Go cross-court."
   --After another miss with his two-fisted backhand: "If you're not going to move your feet, chip the ball."
   --And in the last game: "I've never hit my backhand this bad four weeks in a row."
   Baker, 27, launched a comeback last year after missing six years with injuries. He underwent five operations, including the Tommy John (elbow ligament replacement) surgery dreaded by baseball pitchers.
   As a qualifier, Baker reached the final at Nice on clay in May and the round of 16 at Wimbledon last month. His ranking has skyrocketed from No. 456 to No. 78 this year.
   Baker is one of the few players who has been injured more than Tursunov. Ranked a career-high No. 20 in 2006, he has plunged to No. 150.
   Tursunov, a right-hander with a two-fisted backhand, is struggling with not only a lingering left wrist injury but motivation and added responsibility following the death of his father last summer. Igor Tursunov was a tennis fanatic who recognized his son's talent when Dmitry was very young and pushed him hard to become a professional player. Dmitry's mother, Svetlana, lives in Moscow.
   "My mom feels she doesn't have a pillar," revealed Tursunov, who moved to Northern California at 12 and speaks English like a native. "I feel quite a bit of responsibility. It forces me to be there a little bit more. It definitely affects my life. Sometimes I have to compromise and go there. There's not much I can do about it."
   Tursunov's only sibling -- brother Denis, who's seven years older and single -- also lives in Moscow. But Dmitry conceded that his mother and Denis "are fighting a little bit here and there."
   Tursunov was buoyed by a one-week training camp with the rest of the Russian Olympic men's tennis team in England before competing last week in the London Games.
   "I did some fitness, and it was fun to be with the team," he said. "It was one of the rare occasions this year when I felt pretty motivated to work hard. It helps when people around you are trying to help you out."
   Tursunov fell in the first round of the Olympics to 29th-ranked Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-7 (5), 6-2, 9-7 at Wimbledon. Lopez, a left-hander, is a three-time quarterfinalist there.
   "It was a good barometer," said Tursunov, a member of Russia's 2006 Davis Cup championship team. "It shows I haven't forgotten how to play tennis. But it's still a loss. I'm not ready mentally to play well. I'm in better physical condition, but it takes more than one week."
   Tursunov has no lofty goals at this point in his career. He will turn 30 in December.
   "I want to do well in this tournament," said Tursunov, who will face 2011 and 2012 NCAA champion Steve Johnson in Wednesday's featured match at 5:30 p.m. "I want to get back in the mind-set of winning a few matches in a row, not lose my marbles on the court and play well day in and day out."
   Tursunov hopes to play for a few more years.
   "Right now, it's definitely a tough proposition," he admitted. "Sometimes I wake up and don't want to do it. But I want to get through it. If I can't, I'll quit."

CALENDAR

   Through Thursday -- USTA National Championships, girls 14s, Peachtree City, Ga.., www.usta.com.
   Through Friday -- USTA National Championships, boys 14s, San Antonio., www.usta.com. 
   Through Friday -- USTA National Championships, boys 12s, North Little Rock, Ark.., www.usta.com.
   Through Friday -- USTA National Championships, girls 12s, Alpharetta, Ga., www.usta.com. 
   Through Sunday -- USTA National Championships, boys 18s and 16s, Kalamazoo, Mich., www.usta.com. 
   Through Sunday -- USTA National Championships, girls 18s and 16s, San Diego., www.usta.com.
   Through Sunday -- $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger, Seascape Sports Club, 1505 Seascape Blvd., Aptos, Calif., 95003, www.seascapesportsclub.com/challenger, (831) 688-1993.
   Aug. 27-Sept. 9 -- U.S. OPEN, Flushing Meadows, N.Y., www.usopen.org.
   Sept. 9-16 -- $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger, Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness, 3452 Argyle Road, Redding, Calif., 96002, www.sunoakschallenger.com, (530) 227-3498.
   Sept. 14 -- World TeamTennis, Western Conference finals, Sacramento Capitals vs. Orange County Breakers, 3:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 15 -- WTT, Eastern Conference finals, Washington Kastles vs. New York Sportimes, 3:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 16 -- WTT Finals, Western Conference champion vs. Eastern Conference champion, 12:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 29-Oct. 7 -- Natomas Men's $100,000 Challenger, Natomas Racquet Club, 2450 Natomas Park Drive, Sacramento, Calif., 95833, www.natomaschallenger.com, (916) 649-0909.
   Oct. 6-14 -- First Republic Bank Men's $100,000 Challenger, Tiburon Peninsula Club, 1600 Mar West St., Tiburon, Calif., 94920, www.tiburon challenger.com, (415) 789-7900.