Querrey gives U.S. 2-0 lead in Davis Cup quarters

   San Francisco native Sam Querrey defeated Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 7-6 (5), 7-5 today in Nashville, Tenn., to give the United States a 2-0 lead over Belgium in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, ranked 14th, pounded 21 aces and won 83 percent of the points on his first serve (45 of 54).  Bemelmans, ranked 110th, had nine aces and nine double faults.
   Earlier, ninth-ranked John Isner beat No. 319 Joris De Loore 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4. The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner, who won the biggest title of his career on Sunday in Miami, hammered 43 aces and won 84 percent of the points on his first delivery (74 of 88).
   Both De Loore and Bemelmans have played in Northern California in recent years.
   De Loore, 6-foot-3 (1.91 meters) and 190 pounds (86 kilograms), ousted top-seeded Bjorn Fratangelo in the first round of the $100,000 Stockton Challenger in 2016 before losing to eventual runner-up Noah Rubin. The following week, De Loore reached the semifinals of the $100,000 Fairfield Challenger.
   Bemelmans, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander, won the $25,000 Burlingame Futures in 2016 and lost as the first seed in the opening round of the $100,000 Tiburon and Stockton Challengers last fall.
   Belgium, the Davis Cup runner-up in 2015, is playing without veterans David Goffin, ranked 10th, and Steve Darcis, ranked 143rd after reaching a career-high 37th last May, because of injuries.
   The United States can advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2012 with a victory in Saturday's doubles match (2 p.m. PDT, Tennis Channel).

How Swede it is: Ymer ousts top seed in Stockton

Elias Ymer serves during his 7-5, 6-3 victory over top-
seeded Ruben Bemelmans in the first round of the
$100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger. Ymer needed
seven match points. Photo by Paul Bauman

   STOCKTON, Calif. -- You think the United States has fallen on hard times in men's pro tennis?
   That's nothing compared to Sweden.
   The nation that cranked out International Tennis Hall of Famers Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg and a slew of other top players in the 1970s and '80s has no men in the top 200 in the world.
   All countries go through cycles. Also, Sweden has a population of only 9.9 million, about the same as the Chicago area, and a climate more suited to ice hockey and skiing.
   There is hope for Sweden, however, in the form of brothers Elias and Mikael Ymer. Elias, 21, is ranked No. 1 in Sweden at No. 208, down from his career high of No. 118 in May last year. Mikael, 19, is fourth at No. 385.
   Elias Ymer (pronounced EE-mer) needed seven match points today to oust top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the $100,000 Stockton Challenger at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   "I needed this one a lot," Ymer conceded. "I'm very happy to be through. I lost in the first round in Tiburon last week (to eighth seed and eventual champion Cameron Norrie 7-5, 3-6, 7-5) and was practicing very well. To get matches is always good (for) confidence." 
   All of the match points came with Ymer serving in the last game.
   "Ruben is a top-100 player, and it's always going to be difficult to beat those guys because they're very experienced," said Ymer, who struggled on his first serve while trying to close out the match. "That's why he's No. 90 in the world, because he fights all the time."
    Actually, Bemelmans, a 29-year-old left-hander. dropped from No. 92 to No. 101 on Monday after also losing in the first round at Tiburon as the top seed. Since reaching the third round at Wimbledon as a qualifier and the final of a $75,000 clay-court Challenger in the Netherlands in July, Bemelmans has won only one match in seven tournaments.
   Still, Bemelmans fearlessly went for his shots on the match points against Ymer.
   "That's how I should play the whole match," moaned Bemelmans, who sailed a forehand return of a second serve long on the last match point. "That's my strength, but today I wasn't solid enough to take my opportunities that I created. I must say he served well on the big points, but I should have played a bit more aggressive on (earlier) points that mattered."

   Bemelmans, who has helped Belgium reach the Davis Cup final for the second time in three years, admitted he has lost confidence.

Ruben Bemelmans lost as the top seed
in a Northern California Challenger for
the second consecutive week.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   "I haven't won too many matches, but I feel like I'm getting back slowly," he said. "My level is rising. It's just a matter of time, I think. I have to keep on working, be confident and, like I said, play my game even on the big points."
   Bemelmans became the second consecutive No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round in Stockton. Bjorn Fratangelo of Orlando, Fla., bowed out against Joris De Loore of Belgium in the inaugural tournament last year.
   Two other seeds lost today. No. 5 Ramkumar Ramanathan of India fell to Christian Harrison of Bradenton, Fla., 6-1, 6-2, and No. 7 Felix Auger-Aliassime, 17, of Canada succumbed to Dmitry Tursunov, a 34-year-old qualifier from Russia, 6-2, 6-2.
   Auger-Aliassime became the youngest player to win a match on the ATP Challenger Tour at 14 in 2015. Now 6-foot-3 (1.91 meters), he's ranked No. 161.
   "He doesn't really let you make any decisions (on the court)," said Tursunov, who trained in Northern California from age 12 into his 30s. "He either hits a winner or makes an error. There were quite a lot of mistakes coming from his end.
   "The older he gets, I think the more he's going to be able to judge when to go for his shots and when to pull off. Right now, he just has that one speed, and once he's in that drive mode, it doesn't matter if there's a turn coming up. He doesn't really have a brake pedal."
   Both Tiburon finalists, meanwhile, advanced in straight sets. No. 2 seed Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., topped Christopher O'Connell of Australia 7-5, 7-5, and No. 8 Norrie coasted past wild card Deiton Baughman of Carson in the Los Angeles area 6-3,
6-1.
   Two Stockton semifinalists last year, Americans Michael Mmoh and Mackenzie McDonald, also moved into the second round.
   Mmoh, the 19-year-old son of former Nigerian player Tony Mmoh, met former top-70 player Tobias Kamke for the second consecutive week. After saving two match points in a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7) victory in the second round at Tiburon, Mmoh breezed past the error-prone Kamke, a 31-year-old German, 6-2, 6-1 in one hour.
   "I don't think he played too hot today, to be honest," observed Mmoh, who was named after Michael Jordan. "I don't think his game was on. Tough conditions: very fast courts and a little windy. I just took advantage. I saw he was a little uncomfortable, so I made it as tough as possible. I was serving well, hitting my shots with good margins and making sure I made him play the extra ball. Considering how poorly he was playing, I thought that was the right strategy, and I executed it pretty well."
   McDonald, a 22-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, overcame the serve-and-volleying of wild card Andre Goransson, a former Cal star from Sweden, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Goransson, 23, won the Tiburon doubles title with ex-Bears teammate Florian Lakat of France.
   Anyone expecting the Ymers to have blond hair and blue eyes is in for a surprise. They are the black, Swedish-born sons of Ethiopian emigrants.
   "I love Sweden," Elias Ymer crowed. "I've lived there my whole life. ... People respect me. Sweden is a multi-cultural country now."
   In Tiburon, Ymer led by a break in the third set against Norrie but cramped in his hand and legs. A notoriously hard worker, he practiced for five hours straight the next day, according to a tournament sponsor.
   "He went through three guys," Leif Haase marveled.
   Ymer was cautious when asked about possibly helping Sweden return to prominence.
   "We'll see. I have to start by winning Challengers," said Ymer, who has won three of them, all on clay. "One step at a time."
   Here are the Stockton singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule. The tournament is being streamed live.

Top seed, defending champ ousted in 100K Tiburon

   Tom Fawcett's first Challenger main-draw victory was a big one.
   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) wild card, a Stanford senior, shocked top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 today in the first round of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.
   It was Fawcett's first win over a top-100 player. Bemelmans, a 29-year-old left-hander, is ranked No. 92. He won a $25,000 tournament in Burlingame, a one-hour drive south of Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area, last October and reached the third round at Wimbledon in July as a qualifier.

   However, Bemelmans was playing in his first tournament since losing in the first round of the U.S. Open to 16th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France in late August. Bemelmans' rustiness showed, as he made numerous forehand errors.
   Three other seeds, including defending champion Darian King of Barbados, lost today at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   Bay Area native Mackenzie McDonald knocked out the sixth-seeded King 7-5, 6-3. McDonald, a 22-year-old former UCLA star, has reached the Tiburon semifinals in each of the past two years. He fell to King 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in last year's semis.
   Lucky loser Jan Choinski of Germany ousted fifth-seeded Ramkumar Ramanathan of India 6-1, 6-2, and qualifier Deiton Baughman, a 21-year-old American, surprised seventh-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 17-year-old Canadian phenom, 6-2, 6-2.

   McDonald will face Denis Kudla, who avenged a loss to Tim Smyczek in the scintillating 2015 Tiburon final. Kudla, 25, beat his friend and fellow American 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3. Like Choinski, Smyczek was a lucky loser.
   In the last match of the day, second-seeded Tennys Sandgren downed qualifier Sekou Bangoura 6-4, 6-4 in an all-American encounter.
   Bangoura also qualified for Tiburon two years ago and ousted fourth-seeded Dustin Brown of Germany in the opening round. Bangoura then lost to McDonald 7-6 in the third set in the second round.
   Brown is 2-0 against current world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Both wins have come on grass, including a second-round meeting at Wimbledon in 2015.

   Fawcett, from Winnetka, Ill., pounded eight aces and committed four double faults. Bemelmans had one ace and six double faults.

   Fawcett broke serve to lead 5-3 in the third set on a Bemelmans forehand error. Fawcett, rather than fold under pressure, held serve at 30 with a service winner for the match.

   Fawcett will play Frank Dancevic, a 33-year-old Canadian, in the second round. Dancevic, ranked No. 356 after climbing to a career-high No. 65 in 2007, beat U.S. wild card Alexander Sarkissian 7-6 (5), 6-4.
   Here are the singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule.

Top seed Bemelmans to face Stanford star in Tiburon

   Top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium will face wild card Tom Fawcett, a Stanford senior from Winnetka, Ill., on Monday or Tuesday in the first round of the Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.
   The singles draw for the $100,000 tournament at the Tiburon Peninsula Club, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, was held today.
   Bemelmans, a 29-year-old left-hander, reached the third round of Wimbledon as a qualifier in July. He is ranked No. 92 in the world. Fawcett, 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters), is No. 8 in the college preseason rankings.
   Second-seeded Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., will meet Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sandgren, who lost in the first round of the French Open and U.S. Open this year in his first two Grand Slam main-draw appearances, is ranked No. 100.
   Sixth seed and defending champion Darian King of Barbados will play Mackenzie McDonald, who grew up in Piedmont in the Bay Area.
   Fourth-seeded Michael Mmoh, last year's runner-up, will take on Noah Rubin, the 2014 Wimbledon boys champion, in a matchup of top American prospects.
   In the first round of qualifying today, top seed and 2015 champion Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., beat Christopher O'Connell of Australia 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
   Smyczek, 29, will face another Australian, Greg Jones, on Sunday after a 10 a.m. match on Center Court.
   Andre Goransson of Sweden defeated Bernardo Saraiva of Portugal 6-4, 6-3 in a matchup of former Cal and USF standouts, respectively.
   Falling were wild cards Florian Lakat of France, John Lamble of Saratoga in the Bay Area and Stevie Gould of nearby Corte Madera. Lakat played with Goransson at Cal, and Lamble starred at Santa Clara. Gould is ranked No. 1 in the Northern California 18s.
   Here are the singles main draw, singles qualifying draw and Sunday's schedule.

Four seeds, including top two, fall in 100K Aptos

   All four seeds in action on Monday, including the top two, lost in the first round of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger in Aptos, Calif.
   U.S. qualifier Austin Krajicek, the runner-up two years ago, routed No. 1 Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-2, 6-1 at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Akira Santillan, 20, knocked off No. 2 Jordan Thompson 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in an all-Australian affair. Santillan, a Tokyo native, won last month's $75,000 Winnetka (Ill.) Challenger.
   Qualifier Liam Broady of Great Britain ousted No. 4 Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a battle of left-handers. Bemelmans won the Aptos doubles title in 2014 with Laurynas Grigelis of Lithuania.
   Also, Sam Groth of Australia downed No. 8 Bjorn Fratangelo of Orlando, Fla., 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3.
   Groth, 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters) and 220 pounds (100.0 kilograms), holds the unofficial record for the world's fastest serve. He reached 163.7-mph (263.4-kph) in the 2012 Busan (South Korea) Challenger.
   Fratangelo, 24, had reached the semifinals of the last two Aptos Challengers. He advanced to the semis on grass in Newport, R.I., on the ATP World Tour last month, losing to eventual champion John Isner.
   Jaziri is ranked No. 76, Thompson No. 78 and Bemelmans No. 97.
   Australia's John Millman, the 2015 Aptos champion, will take on Mackenzie McDonald, a 22-year-old wild card from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the opening round today not before 4:30 p.m.
   Millman became the first No. 1 seed in the then-28-year history of the Aptos tournament, the longest-running Challenger in the United States, to win the title.
   McDonald and former Cal star Ben McLachlan of Japan reached last year's doubles final, losing to South Africans Nicolaas Scholtz and Tucker Vorster 6-7 (5), 6-3 [10-8].
   Aptos, located on the Pacific Ocean, is a 90-minute drive south of San Francisco.
   Here are the Nordic Naturals Challenger qualifying draw, singles and doubles draws, and today's schedule.

Bemelmans beats Barry for 25K Burlingame title

No. 1 seed Ruben Bemelmans, shown in this
month's Fairfield Challenger, routed No. 2 Sam
Barry to win the $25,000 Burlingame Futures.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium routed second-seeded Sam Barry of Ireland 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday to win the $25,000 Broadway Tennis Center Men's Futures in the San Francisco suburb of Burlingame.
   Aside from his 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Sebastian Fanselow of Germany in the quarterfinals, the 28-year-old Bemelmans, ranked No. 216, lost no more than five games in a match in the indoor routnament.
   Last year, Bemelmans reached a career-high No. 84 in the world and helped Belgium advance to the Davis Cup final. He lost to Andy Murray of Great Britain in host Belgium's 3-1 loss in the final.
   Bemelmans qualified for Wimbledon for the third time this year and lost 8-6 in the fifth set to fellow left-hander Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round. Bemelmans advanced to the second round at Wimbledon in 2012.
   The top seeds also won the Burlingame doubles title. Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines and Ruan Roelofse of South Africa beat third-seeded Barry and Peter Kobelt, 6-foot-7 (2.01 meters) from Columbus, Ohio, and Tel Aviv, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday.
   Here are the complete Burlingame singles and doubles draws.

Irishman survives again to reach Burlingame final

   Sam Barry has survived a harrowing road to the final of the $25,000 Broadway Tennis Center Men's Futures.
   Not only has the second-seeded Irishman needed three sets in all four of his matches, the first three encounters went to 6-4 or 7-5 in the third set, and he came within a tiebreaker of losing in straight sets in the semifinals.
   Barry, ranked No. 291, subdued unseeded American Mico Santiago 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Saturday in Burlingame, near San Francisco International Airport.
   Barry, 24, is scheduled to face top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium for the first time today at noon.
   Bemelmans, ranked No. 216 after reaching a career-high No. 84 last year in September, outclassed fourth-seeded Raymond Sarmiento, a former USC All-American from Los Angeles, 6-2, 6-3.
   Bemelmans has had only one tough match in the tournament, a quarterfinal with virtually the same score as Barry's semifinal. Bemelmans, 28, beat sixth-seeded Sebastian Fanselow of Germany 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-1.
   Bemelmans qualified for Wimbledon for the third time this year and lost 8-6 in the fifth set to fellow left-hander Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round. Bemelmans reached the second round at Wimbledon in 2012. He lost to Andy Murray of Great Britain in host Belgium's 3-1 loss in the Davis Cup final last November.
   Here are the Burlingame singles and doubles draws.

Cal's Goransson falls in 25K Burlingame quarters

Andre Goransson, shown last year, lost to Mico Santiago today
in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Broadway Tennis Center
Men's Futures in Burlingame. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Unseeded American Mico Santiago defeated wild card Andre Goransson, a Cal senior from Sweden, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-1 today in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Broadway Tennis Center Men's Futures in Burlingame.
   Goransson was the runner-up in last week's $25,000 Berkeley Futures on his home courts.
   Santiago is scheduled to face No. 2 seed Sam Barry of Ireland on Saturday. Barry topped No. 7 Jose Statham of New Zealand 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
   In the other semifinal, No. 1 Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium will meet No. 4 Raymond Sarmiento of the United States.
   Bemelmans, a veteran left-hander ranked No. 216 after reaching a career-high No. 84 last year in September, beat No. 6 Sebastian Fanselow of Germany 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-1.
   Sarmiento, a former USC All-American, defeated Benjamin Hannestad of Denmark 6-4,
6-1.
   In the doubles final, No. 1 seeds Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines and Ruan Roelofse of South Africa beat No. 3 Barry and Peter Kobelt of the United States 6-4, 6-4.

Giron beats top seed in 25K Berkeley semifinals

Marcos Giron, shown last year, outlasted top-seeded Ruben
Bemelmans of Belgium 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals of the
$25,000 Berkeley Futures. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Unseeded Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles area surprised top-seeded Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday in the semifinals of the $25,000 Berkeley Futures at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
   Giron, who's listed at only 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters) and 165 pounds (75 kilograms), turned pro after winning the 2014 NCAA singles title as a UCLA junior. He is scheduled to play wild card Andre Goransson of Sweden for the Berkeley crown today at 10 a.m.
   Goransson, a Cal senior playing on his home courts, routed sixth-seeded Lucas Gomez of Mexico 6-1, 6-0.
   Bemelmans, a veteran left-hander, lost to Andy Murray of Great Britain in host Belgium's 3-1 loss in the Davis Cup final last November.
   Top-seeded Connor Smith and Rhyne Williams, both of Tampa, Fla., won the doubles title, beating unseeded Goransson and Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.
   Verbeek, a 6-foot-3 (1.91-meter) left-hander, was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in April as a Pacific senior.

For Colombia's Giraldo, it's all about having a ball

No. 2 seed Santiago Giraldo, formerly ranked in
the top 30, displays the smiley-face ball he looked
at during changeovers on Tuesday to "remember
how lucky I am." Photo by Paul Bauman

   FAIRFIELD, Calif. — Before his match on Tuesday, veteran Santiago Giraldo did something for the first time in his — and perhaps anyone's — career.
   The 28-year-old Colombian took a tennis ball out of his racket bag and placed it on the chair next to his. Not just any tennis ball. A ball with a smiley face that his new physiotherapist, David Juan, had drawn on it with a black marker.
   "This is my way to remember how lucky I am ... in everything in my life," the second-seeded Giraldo said after beating 18-year-old American prospect Michael Mmoh 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the $100,000 Fairfield Challenger at Solano Community College. "I'm healthy, and I play a sport that I like since I was a kid. I did my dream to play at the highest level, and I'm still doing my dream. When I'm angry, I look at that ball, and it helps me a lot."
   Juan, a 24-year-old Spaniard, laughed when asked why he gave Giraldo the ball.
   "We were asking about happiness," said Juan, whose English is limited.
   Juan scoffed at the notion that Giraldo is unhappy, but these are tough times for him on and off the court. Giraldo has tumbled from a career-high No. 28 in the world to No. 124, and Colombia is in turmoil. On Oct. 2, voters narrowly rejected a peace deal with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels that could prolong a 52-year war. The conflict has killed 220,000 people and displaced 7 million of the country's 47 million inhabitants from their homes.
   Briefly in the second set against the promising Mmoh, Giraldo wasn't just angry. He was irate. Giraldo fell behind 5-2 (two service breaks) and at one stage screamed at the top of his lungs in frustration. He virtually conceded the second break point, belting his second serve as hard as his first and double-faulting.
   "Yeah, I lost control a little bit," Giraldo admitted of his emotions on the second serve. "With my experience, I'm not very proud of this, but it can happen."

   Giraldo, though, quickly regained his composure during the changeover with the help of his customized tennis ball and won five straight games to close out the match.
   "I just tried to relax and say, 'OK, the worst thing that can happen is I lose the match," Giraldo said. "In the end, it's not important. Then I calmed down and started to play better."

   Meanwhile, all three singles players with NorCal ties lost.
   No. 6 seed Dennis Novikov of Milipitas in the San Francisco Bay Area fell to 19-year-old Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Giraldo beat 18-year-old U.S. prospect Michael
Mmoh 6-3, 7-5 after trailing 5-2 (two service
breaks) in the second set. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 21-year-old native of Piedmont in the Bay Area, succumbed to Brian Baker of Nashville, Tenn. 6-3, 6-4. Baker, 31, has undergone 11 operations (both hips, right elbow, back, sports hernia and four repairs of his right knee).
   Wild card Tom Fawcett, a 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Stanford junior, bowed out with a 6-4, 6-1 loss to qualifier Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. Norrie, a Texas Christian junior left-hander, reached the final of the Aptos (Calif.) Challenger as a qualifier in August.
   Also losing were fourth-seeded Darian King of Barbados and 20-year-old American Noah Rubin, the runner-up in last week's $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.
   King, who won the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger two weeks ago, fell to Belgian left-hander Ruben Bemelmans 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) in 2 hours, 44 minutes. King served at 4-3, 40-0 in the third set.
   "I never put my head down," said Bemelmans, who lost to Andy Murray of Great Britain in host Belgium's 3-1 loss in the Davis Cup final last November. "I was fighting until the end, and that made the difference."
   Top-seeded Frances Tiafoe, an 18-year-old American who won the Stockton title to crack the top 100 in the world, beat Slovenia's Blaz Rola, the 2013 NCAA singles champion from Ohio State, in the first round for the second consecutive week, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
   Longtime Northern California fans might remember Giraldo. He won the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2009 at the Natomas Racquet Club, propelling him to the elite ATP World Tour.
   Giraldo has ended each of the past six years in the top 70, but that streak is in jeopardy. He dropped from No. 32 at the end of 2014 to No. 70 last December.
   Giraldo reached his career-high ranking "not that long ago -- September of 2014, about two years. I was in the top 50 (almost) all year in 2015 and started this year in the top (70).
   "I finished last year so tired after a lot of years." explained Giraldo, who's slim at 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters) and 166 pounds (75 kilograms) and will turn 29 on Nov. 27. "My head was not there. My game is always there, and my conditioning is always there, but if your head is not there, you cannot compete because it's a very tough sport. You have to play from January to November. Sometimes you get tired. I guess that's happened to me, but now I have the opportunity to go back to the top 100. I'm still young, and I have experience. We'll see what happens, but I'm (optimistic)."

Ruben Bemelmans, who played singles for Belgium in the
Davis Cup final last November, upset No. 4 seed Darian King
of Barbados. King won the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger two
weeks ago. Photo by Paul Bauman

   A top-100 ranking ensures direct entry into Grand Slam and ATP tournaments.
   Entering the match against Mmoh, the runner-up in Tiburon and a semifinalist in Stockton, Giraldo was coming off a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 loss to 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador in the first round at Stockton. The previous week, Giraldo had reached the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Claro Open on clay in Medellin, Colombia.
   "For me, it's important this last part of the year," Giraldo said. "It's been a very tough year for me. I'm trying to finish in the top 100. I started the last (six) years in the top 100 or the 50s, and I don't want to start (lower). I'm pushing myself a little more.
   "Last week was a little unlucky because I just arrived two days before to play (on hardcourts) again, so I was not prepared. It was kind of a mistake to rush, but now I have 10 days or something like that to practice, so I'm feeling good. Now I can fight for the finals, for the championship of the tournament."
   Against Mmoh, Giraldo looked at the ball with the smiley face during every changeover.
   "I think I'll keep it forever to remind myself how lucky I am and not complain about stupid stuff," he said.
   Here are the singles and doubles draws and today's schedule.

Belgium's Goffin survives upset bid in Davis Cup final

Belgium's David Goffin, playing doubles in the
U.S. Open in September, avoided a stunning
 upset on Friday in the Davis Cup final against
 Great Britain. Photo by Paul Bauman

   David Goffin avoided a stunning upset on Friday to give host Belgium a 1-0 lead over Great Britain in the Davis Cup final.
   Andy Murray then won in straight sets to tie the best-of-five-match series on indoor clay in Ghent, Belgium, 1-1 entering today's doubles encounter.
   Great Britain seeks its first Davis Cup title in 79 years. Belgium has never won the prestigious team competition.
   Goffin defeated 20-year-old Kyle Edmund, making his Davis Cup debut, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in a virtual must-win match for Belgium. The diminutive but supremely talented Goffin, 24, overcame a two-sets-to-none deficit for the first time in his career.
   "I was a little bit worried because Kyle was playing unbelievable," Goffin, ranked No. 16 to Edmund's No. 100, told reporters. "He just had nothing to lose. He played a wonderful match. But I knew I had a chance.
   "I knew it's always tough when you are young, when you're playing your first match in Davis Cup, to play three sets like this. That's why I tried to stay calm and wait for a chance."
   Murray, ranked No. 2, defeated Ruben Bemelmans, a veteran left-hander ranked No. 108, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. Bemelmans committed 33 unforced errors, more than twice as many as Murray.
   All of the singles players except Goffin have played, and excelled, in Northern California.
   Murray won the Aptos Challenger 10 years ago at 18 and the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose on the ATP World Tour in 2006 and 2007.
   Edmund reached the semifinals of this year's Aptos Challenger, and Bemelmans won the doubles title there last year with Laurynas Grigelis of Lithuania.
   In today's doubles match, Murray and his older brother, Jamie, will play Kimmer Coppejans and Steve Darcis.
   Jamie Murray is ranked seventh in doubles. Coppejans won the 2012 French Open boys singles title.

Belgian to face Baghdatis again in Aptos Challenger

   It didn't take long for Ruben Bemelmans to get a shot at revenge against Marcos Baghdatis.
   Six days, in fact.
   Bemelmans, a 26-year-old left-hander from Belgium, upset sixth-seeded Ante Pavic of Croatia 6-2, 7-6 (2) on Thursday in the second round of the $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos.
   Baghdatis, seeded second, advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Andrea Collarini of Argentina.
   Bemelmans and Baghdatis, 29, of Cyprus will meet in this evening's featured match not before 5:45 at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Baghdatis, the runner-up to Roger Federer in the 2006 Australian Open, edged Bemelmans 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) last Saturday in the semifinals of the $100,000 Vancouver Challenger en route to the title.
   Also Thursday, fifth-seeded Somdev Devvarman of India outlasted Ze Zhang of China 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 7-5 in 3 hours, 2 minutes.
   Devvarman, an Aptos semifinalist in 2009 and 2010, will face top-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan today not before 2:30 p.m.

$100,000 COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER

At Seascape Sports Club in Aptos

Second-round singles 

   Mikhail Kukushkin (1), Kazakhstan, def. James Ward, 6-3, 6-4.
   Somdev Devvarman (5), India, def. Ze Zhang, China, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 7-5.
   Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, def. Ante Pavic (6), Croatia, 6-2, 7-6 (2).
   Marcos Baghdatis (2), Cyprus, def. Andrea Collarini, Argentina, 6-1, 6-1.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Austin Krajicek, United States, and John-Patrick Smith (1), Australia, def. Alex Bogomolov Jr., Russia, and James Cerretani, United States, 5-7, 6-3 [10-8].
   Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak (3), New Zealand, def. Gonzalo Lama, Chile, and Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina, 6-2, 6-4.
   Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, and Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania, def. Kevin King, United States, and Divij Sharan (2), India, 7-5, 6-3.

Today's schedule

Center Court

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Go Soeda (4), Japan, vs. Marton Fucsovics (8), Hungary.
   Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina, vs. Rhyne Williams, United States.

(Not before 2:30 p.m.)

   Mikhail Kukushkin (1), Kazakhstan, vs. Somdev Devvarman (5), India.
   Purav Raja and Sanam Singh (4), India, vs. Andrea Collarini, Argentina, and Cesar Ramirez, Mexico.

(Not before 5:45 p.m.)

   Marcos Baghdatis (2), Cyprus, vs. Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium.