Klahn gains another Challenger quarterfinal

   Bradley Klahn and Jeff Dadamo are beginning a spirited rivalry.
   Klahn, a wild card, edged Dadamo, a qualifier, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 Wednesday in a battle of young, talented American left-handers in the second round of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   They met for the first time as professionals, but Dadamo and Austin Krajicek of Texas A&M defeated Klahn and Ryan Thacher of Stanford 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the 2011 NCAA doubles final at Stanford, 50 miles south of Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Klahn, a 22-year-old resident of Poway in the San Diego area, reached a Challenger quarterfinal for the second consecutive week. He lost to eventual champion James Blake in that round 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) in the $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger in Sacramento.
   Dadamo, 23, of Tampa, Fla., fell to Thacher in the first round of qualifying in Sacramento.
   Steve Johnson of Orange, Calif., dismissed former USC teammate Robert Farah of Colombia  6-3, 6-3 in a rematch of the Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in July. Johnson, who also won that encounter, captured the last two NCAA singles titles before completing his eligibility. Farah won the 2008 NCAA doubles title with Kaes Van't Hof.   
   Also reaching the Tiburon quarterfinals were third-seeded Bobby Reynolds, a semifinalist last week in Sacramento, and seventh-seeded Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va. Reynolds will play Klahn, and Kudla will face Johnson.
   The second round will be completed Thursday. Top-seeded Benjamin Becker and the second-seeded Blake will meet 20-year-old U.S. prospects Jack Sock and Daniel Kosakowski, respectively. Kosakowski reached the Sacramento semifinals.

No. 4 seed Odesnik ousted in Tiburon

   Jeff Dadamo continued his Northern California success Tuesday.
   Dadamo, a 23-year-old qualifier, surprised fourth-seeded Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 6-3 in a first-round matchup of left-handed Floridians in the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon (Calif.) Peninsula Club. Dadamo is from Tampa, and Odesnik, 26, lives in Weston, near Fort Lauderdale.
   Dadamo won the 2011 NCAA doubles title with Texas A&M teammate Austin Krajicek at Stanford, 50 miles south of Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay Area, and reached the final of a $15,000 Futures tournament in Sacramento in June.
   Odesnik also has excelled in Northern California, winning the 2007 Sacramento Challenger.
   James Blake and Mischa Zverev, Sunday's finalists in the $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger, won their first-round matches in Tiburon and could meet in the quarterfinals.
   Blake, the No. 2 seed and Sacramento champion, defeated fellow American Alex Kuznetsov, a quarterfinalist the last two years in Tiburon, 6-4, 6-4. Zverev, a Moscow-born German, beat American wild card Michael McClune 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
   Top-seeded Benjamin Becker, a German who lost in the first round of the Sacramento Challenger, topped U.S. qualifier Steve Meister 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1.       
   
   

Great Britton puts on jolly good show

Singles champion Devin Britton, above, and runner-up
Jeff Dadamo, below, address the crowd after Sunday's
final at Park Terrace. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace tournament in Sacramento ended the way it began -- with high drama on the stadium court.
   And Jeff Dadamo, a powerful left-hander, was involved each time.
   Seventh-seeded Devin Britton saved two match points, the first on a self-described "lucky" shot, in a 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over wild card Dadamo on Sunday at the Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club.
   In the first match on the stadium court of the tournament, Dadamo escaped two match points to pull out a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) win over top-seeded Tennys Sandgren.
   The final between the two Americans and former NCAA champions drew a nice gathering of about 100 spectators. In contrast, the covered temporary stands were empty for Tuesday morning's battle.
   Britton, 21, earned $1,950 for his first professional singles title three years after winning the NCAA singles title as a University of Mississippi freshman in his home state and then turning pro.
   "This is huge," gushed Britton, who has won seven pro doubles crowns. "It's always good to break down different barriers. Obviously, it's a pretty big confidence booster. It gets the monkey off my back, and it will help my ranking quite a bit."

   At 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, Britton has a big serve and forehand, and he's one of the few players who likes to come to the net. But he has struggled with his confidence after a rocky start to his career. Ranked No. 555 entering the Tennis Town tournament, he'll surpass his career high of No. 551 and approach or crack the top 500 on next Monday's list. 

   Dadamo (pronounced Du-DAH-mo), 22, of Tampa, Fla., won last year's NCAA doubles title with fellow Texas A&M senior and left-hander Austin Krajicek. The 6-foot-1 Dadamo, ranked No. 641, has a devastating serve and forehand and a beautiful one-handed backhand. But he also has a short fuse. One miss is enough to set him off. During Sunday's match, he bounced his racket off the cushioned hardcourt repeatedly, kicked his racket at least once and flung it against the fence three times.
   Dadamo, whose cross-court backhand slice also gave Britton fits, twice came within one point of winning 6-2, 6-4 on a 95-degree day with mercifully light wind after Saturday's gusts. On Dadamo's first match point, with Britton serving at 4-5 in the second set, Britton flicked a forehand half volley for a winner.
   "I serve-and-volleyed on my second serve, and he hit a low slice behind me," said Britton, who lost to Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the 2009 U.S. Open in Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I was lucky to pick it up, and I put it in an awkward place for him."
   Said Dadamo, who earned $1,350 and also was seeking his first pro singles crown: "Would he make that half volley nine out of 10 times? It doesn't matter -- he made it today."
   On the second match point, two points later, Britton hit a deep second serve that handcuffed Dadamo for deuce. Britton then hit a cross-court forehand winner and a forehand volley to tie the set at 5-5.
   Both players held serve to force the tiebreaker. Britton bolted to a 5-1 lead, but Dadamo fought back to 6-6. Dadamo then double-faulted and netted a backhand return of Britton's second serve to even the match.
   Dadamo, who held his serve throughout the first and second sets, lost it twice in the third set. Meanwhile, Britton held his service games in the deciding set. He broke for 2-0 with the help of two double-faults and in the final game. Dadamo netted a forehand volley to end it.
   Dadamo denied suffering a letdown early in the third set.
   "He played a good game, and I didn't serve as well," he said. "He was going after the ball, and I had a tough time countering it."
   But as Britton said after evening his career record against Dadamo to 1-1, "It's hard not to get down after losing match points and the set. He threw in a couple of double faults, and you can't do that."
   In the doubles final, fourth-seeded Americans Vahid Mirzadeh and Phillip Simmonds edged unseeded Nicolas Meister of Trabuco Canyon in the Los Angeles area and ex-Cal star Pedro Zerbini of Brazil 6-4, 3-6, 11-9 tiebreak.
   French Open TV -- Tennis Channel will replay Rafael Nadal's record-setting victory over Novak Djokovic in the French Open men's singles final today at 4 p.m. PDT.
   Nadal completed his 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 triumph this morning to break Bjorn Borg's mark of six French Open crowns. The match had been suspended by rain early in the fourth set Sunday.   
   Men's Challenger in Nottingham, Great Britain -- Unseeded Benjamin Becker of Germany defeated fourth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, who lives in the Sacramento suburb of Folsom, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the grass-court Aegon Trophy.

Ex-NCAA champs to meet in Sacramento pro final

Seventh-seeded Devin Britton overcame a slow
start to beat unseeded Nicolas Meister in the
semifinals at Park Terrace. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Devin Britton and Sebastian Fanselow got off to horrible starts in the wind Saturday.
   Only Britton survived in the semifinals of the $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace tournament.
   The seventh-seeded Britton lost the first four games in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over unseeded Nicolas Meister of Trabuco Canyon in the Los Angeles area at the Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club.
   Fanselow, a two-time All-American at Pepperdine from Germany, dropped the first five games and lost to fellow wild card Jeff Dadamo 6-1, 7-6 (3).
   Whereas Britton was facing a steady but unimposing 5-foot-10 player in winds reaching 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph, Fanselow was going against a powerful 6-foot-1 left-hander.      
   Consequently, two former NCAA champions from the United States will meet in today's singles final at 2 p.m.  In the doubles final at 11 a.m., fourth-seeded Americans Vahid Mirzadeh and Phillip Simmonds will face Meister and former Cal star Pedro Zerbini of Brazil. Today's forecast is for a high of 95 degrees with winds of 10 to 20 mph.
   At Mississippi in 2009, Britton became the youngest NCAA singles champion at 18 years, 2 months and joined Jimmy Connors (1971), John McEnroe (1978) and Cecil Mamiit (1996) as the only male freshmen to win the title. Britton, from Brandon, Miss., then turned pro.
   The NCAA crown gave Britton a wild card in that year's U.S. Open, in which he lost to Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 in Arthur Ashe Stadium in the first round.

Jeff Dadamo held off fellow wild card Sebastian
Fanselow in the other semi. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Dadamo (pronounced Duh-DAH-mo), from Tampa, Fla., won last year's NCAA doubles crown as a Texas A&M senior with Austin Krajicek. The tournament was held at Stanford.
   Both Britton and Dadamo, who are friends, seek their first pro singles title in their biggest final. Each has lost in the final of one $10,000 tournament. Britton, 6-foot-4, has won seven pro doubles titles and Dadamo one.  
   In their only meeting, Dadamo won 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 last summer on a hardcourt in the quarterfinals at Edwardsville, Ill.
   "He has a great game," Britton said. "He has a big forehand, a nice one-handed backhand, a good transition game and a good volley. I like to watch him play. He has a nice slice."
   Dadamo said Britton "has a really big serve and solid volleys, and he'll crack a forehand here and there. He plays traditional power tennis. He comes foreward a lot. He's definitely dangerous."
   Britton admitted that he came out "a little slow and lethargic" against Meister, who's playing in his first pro tournament after an All-America career at UCLA.   
   "My feet were stuck to the ground," said Britton, adding that he initially was nervous playing for a spot in the final. "In the wind, that'll kill you. In the second set, I picked up my intensity and moved my feet.. I got into a rhythm, and that made the difference. I put balls in play and got my confidence up."
   Britton had a scare in the third set, though. Leading 4-2 (one service break), he overcame a 0-40 deficit to hold serve.
   "I was lucky to squeeze that one out," Britton conceded. "I got it to 15-40 and hit a backhand up the line that I went for and shouldn't have that went in. To squeeze out that game was huge. It was pretty much the deciding point."
   Dadamo said Fanselow, who will be a senior at Pepperdine in the fall, "had a tough time adjusting to the wind in the first set. He started to find a rhythm and get used to the conditions. He played a lot better match from then on.
   "I feel like I gutted it out. It wasn't really pretty tennis from either of us. I put a couple more balls in play."
   In the wind, that was good enough.
   French Open in Paris --Top-seeded Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Daniel Nestor of Canada prevented second-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan from winning an Open Era-record 12th French Open men's doubles title.
    Mirnyi and Nestor defeated the 1998 NCAA doubles champions from Stanford 6-4, 6-4 for their second straight crown in the event.
   "We wanted it probably a little too bad," Mike Bryan told reporters. "When it's not going your way early, it's tough to stay really positive."
   The 34-year-old Bryan twins won their first Grand Slam men's doubles title in the 2003 French Open but have not repeated. They lost in the 2005 and 2006 finals to Jonas Bjorkman and Mirnyi.
   "For us, it's probably been the toughest one to win," Mike Bryan said. "You've got to be really tough mentally to win this one. You're not going to get the easy holds that we're accustomed to. It's been elusive for the last nine years now."
   Nestor has won eight Grand Slam titles in men's doubles and Mirnyi six.
   Aegon Trophy in Nottingham, Great Britain -- The Sacramento area was represented in the men's and women's singles finals of the Aegon Trophy, a grass-court tuneup tournament for Wimbledon.
   Qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area fell to seventh-seeded Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 in the women's $75,000 event. Vandeweghe, 20, is scheduled to play at least five matches for the Sacramento Capitals during the July season in World TeamTennis.
   Fourth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, a longtime Sacramento-area resident from Moscow, was scheduled to meet unseeded Benjamin Becker of Germany in the final of the $80,000 men's event.
   Wimbledon begins June 25.

 CALENDAR  

   Today -- $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace, doubles final at 11 a.m., singles final at 2 p.m., Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club, 5500 Parkfield Court, Sacramento, www.parkterraceprotennis.org.
   Today, June 16-18 -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State, www.norcal.usta.com.
   Through June 17 -- $15,000 Chico Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave., Chico, www.chicoracquetclub.com.
   JUNE 25-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON, www.wimbledon.com.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

   July 12 -- World TeamTennis, Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

Pepperdine star rides wave in Sac pro tourney

Sebastian Fanselow, who plans to return for his
senior year at Pepperdine, has beaten the No. 3
and No. 5 seeds at Park Terrace.  Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Sebastian Fanselow is in no hurry to leave Pepperdine.
   Can you blame him?
   The university is located in Malibu, an affluent suburb of Los Angeles. The view of the Pacific Ocean is spectacular. The weather is sunny and warm year-round. What's not to like?
   "I loved it from the first time I saw it," said Fanselow, from Essen, Germany. "I thought it was pretty surreal to go to college there. It was the last place I visited. It seemed so unique."
   Even if Fanselow wins the $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace tournament in Sacramento, he said he will return for his senior year at Pepperdine. 
   "Definitely. I'd love to play for the team one more year," said Fanselow, who this week was named an All-American in singles for the second straight year.
   The 6-foot-4 Fanselow knocked off his second straight seed Friday, dismissing No. 3 Michael McClune of Irvine 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals at the Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club. Fanselow, who ousted No. 5 Fritz Wolmarans of South Africa on Thursday, is the only semifinalist who has not lost a set.
   Former Cal star Pedro Zerbini lost to friend, doubles partner and former rival Nicolas Meister 7-6 (3), 6-2 in a matchup of unseeded players. Zerbini and Meister, competing in his first pro tournament after an All-America career at UCLA, will play in Sunday's doubles final.
   Zerbini lost all five points on his serve in the tiebreaker, double-faulting twice. On Thursday, he had needed three hours in 85-degree heat to beat eighth-seeded Daniel King-Turner of New Zealand 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 while Meister breezed 6-2, 6-0 against fourth-seeded Kento Takeuchi of Japan.
   "I was a bit tired, but that wasn't the reason I lost (Friday)," Zerbini said. "He played pretty solid. It was a close first set, I lost focus in the second set, and I let it get away. Credit to him for taking advantage of that and being solid."
   Fanselow had never advanced past the second round of a Futures tournament and had to win five matches in last week's wild card event to reach the main draw. He compiled a 21-match winning streak during the college season and led the Waves to the NCAA semifinals last month before losing in the first round of NCAA singles.
   "I had some time to rest after the long team season," he said. "A few days after the NCAAs gave me some time to refocus and regain some energy."

No. 3 seed Michael McClune lost his temper and the match.
Photo by Paul Bauman

 The 6-foot-2 McClune has a big serve and forehand, but Fanselow returned well and was steadier from the backcourt.
   "I tried to put as many returns in the court as possible and make him hit as many shots as possible," he said after their first career meeting. "It paid off. I think he made more unforced errors than usual."
   McClune, 22, turned pro out of high school in 2007 as a highly touted prospect. But he has struggled since a hip injury sidelined him for six months in 2010, plunging from a career-high No. 267 to No. 452.
   Against Fanselow, McClune lost his temper early in the second set. He bashed a ball into the surrounding neighborhood, resulting in a warning, and swatted a ball against the fence.   
   Fanselow, meanwhile, maintained his composure. He's majoring in psychology, which he said helps him "rethink everything on the court and stay calm."      
   Fanselow will face Jeff Dadamo, who received a wild card without having to play for it, in today's second semifinal. Dadamo, last year's NCAA doubles champion with fellow Texas A&M senior Austin Krajicek, beat unseeded Jason Jung, a former Michigan standout from Torrance, 6-4, 6-2.
   Fanselow and the 6-foot-1 Dadamo, who saved two match points to beat No. 1 seed Tennys Sandgren in the first round, split two matches in college. They have never met in a pro tournament.
   "He's tough to play because he's a lefty," Fanselow said. "He has a very good serve, and he uses his forehand well."
   In today's first semifinal at 1 p.m., Meister will face seventh-seeded Devin Britton of Brandon, Miss. Britton -- who became the youngest player to win the NCAA singles title at 18 years, 2 months as a Mississippi freshman in 2009 -- eliminated Philip Bester of Canada 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
   Bester lost in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. He returned to the circuit in March after missing seven months with a stress fracture in his right (playing) hand.
   Britton is 1-0 lifetime against the 5-foot-10 Meister, winning 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5) on a hardcourt last summer in the first round of a Futures tournament in Edwardsville, Ill.
   "He's just a really consistent player," said the 6-foot-4 Britton. "He really fights hard. There's never an easy out. He doesn't do a whole lot to hurt players."
   See below for Friday's complete results.
   Aegon Trophy in Nottingham, Great Britain -- Qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis stunned second-seeded Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Aegon Trophy, a grass-court tuneup tournament for Wimbledon.
   Great Britain's Anne Keothavong, seeded eighth, will play her third 20-year-old in four matches when she faces Vandeweghe. Keothavong, 28, beat twins Karolina and Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively, and 18-year-old Laura Robson of Great Britain.
   Meanwhile, there's nothing like grass courts to cure Dmitry Tursunov's ills. The fourth seed and longtime Sacramento-area resident dispatched James Ward 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the Aegon Trophy.
   Tursunov, who strained a tendon in his left wrist last September and missed three months earlier this year because of it, reached his first quarterfinal since losing in that round in his hometown of Moscow last October. Tursunov, 29, is right-handed but has a two-handed backhand.
   Entering the French Open, in which Tursunov reached the second round, he had career winning percentages of .648 on grass, .567 indoors, .527 on hardcourts and .372 on clay.
   Second-seeded Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American from Huntington Beach in the Los Angeles area, and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., lost in the doubles quarterfinals. So did John Paul Fruttero, an ex-Cal All-American from San Jose, and Raven Klaasen of South Africa.
   Women's Challenger in El Paso, Texas -- Seventh-seeded Valeria Solovieva of Russia stopped fourth-seeded Maria Sanchez's winning streak at seven matches.
   Solovieva, 19, outlasted Sanchez, a 22-year-old Modesto resident, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Hunt USTA Pro Women's Classic.
   Solovieva avenged a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Sanchez in the semifinals of last week's $50,000 Gold River Challenger. Sanchez went on to win her first pro singles title.
   Colleges -- Ten players from Cal or Stanford were named 2012 All-Americans.
   Honored from the Bears were Jana Juricova and Zsofi Susanyi in singles and doubles, and Nick Andrews (from Folsom in the Sacramento area), Christoffer Konigsfeldt, Annie Goransson and Anett Schutting in doubles.
   Cardinal players selected were Bradley Klahn, Nicole Gibbs and Mallory Burdette in singles and doubles, and Ryan Thacher in doubles. Gibbs, a sophomore from Santa Monica, won the NCAA singles title and paired with Burdette for the doubles crown.
   Mississippi State's Artem Ilyushin, a resident of Granite Bay in the Sacramento area, earned All-America recognition in singles. 

$15,000 TENNIS TOWN PRO TENNIS AT PARK TERRACE

In Sacramento

At Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club

Singles quarterfinals

   Sebastian Fanselow, Germany, def. Michael McClune (3), Irvine, 6-2, 6-3.
   Devin Britton (7), Brandon, Miss., def. Philip Bester, Canada, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
   Jeff Dadamo, Tampa, Fla., def. Jason Jung, Torrance, 6-4, 6-2.
   Nicolas Meister, Trabuco Canyon (Los Angeles area), def. Pedro Zerbini (former Cal star), Brazil, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Doubles semifinals

   Vahid Mirzadeh, Wellington, Fla., and Phillip Simmonds (4), Reston, Va., def. Devin Britton, Brandon, Miss., and Jordan Cox (2), Bradenton, Fla., 6-4, 6-3.
   Nicolas Meister, Trabuco Canyon (Los Angeles area) and Pedro Zerbini (former Cal star), Brazil, def. Denny Fafek, Mountain View, and Xavier Smith (former Sacramento State star), Visalia, 6-4, 6-3. 

Today's schedule

Court 7

(Beginning at 1 p.m.)

   Nicolas Meister, Trabuco Canyon (Los Angeles area), vs. Devin Britton (7), Brandon, Miss.

(Not before 2 p.m.)

   Jeff Dadamo, Tampa, Fla., vs. Sebastian Fanselow, Germany.

FRENCH OPEN TV SCHEDULE

(All times PDT)

   Today -- Women's final, Maria Sharapova vs. Sara Errani, NBC, 6-9 a.m. (live).

   Sunday -- Men's final, Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal, NBC, 6-11 a.m. (live); Tennis Channel, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (repeat), 5-9 p.m. (repeat). Women's final, Tennis Channel, 3-5 p.m. (repeat).

 CALENDAR

   THROUGH SUNDAY -- FRENCH OPEN, www.rolandgarros.com.
   Today -- $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace, semifinals, 1 p.m., Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club, 5500 Parkfield Court, Sacramento, www.parkterraceprotennis.org.
   Today-Sunday, June 16-18 -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State, www.norcal.usta.com.
   Sunday -- $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace, finals, time TBA, Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club, 5500 Parkfield Court, Sacramento, www.parkterraceprotennis.org.

   Today-June 17 -- $15,000 Chico Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave., Chico, www.chicoracquetclub.com.
   JUNE 25-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON, www.wimbledon.com.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

   July 12 -- World TeamTennis, Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

No. 1 seed ousted in Sacramento pro thriller

Wild card Jeff Dadamo stunned top-seeded
Tennys Sandgren on Tuesday in the first round
of the $15,000 Futures tournament in Sacramento.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   The ball was headed out in the third-set tiebreaker, and top-seeded Tennys Sandgren was headed to the second round.
   Or so it seemed.
   On Sandgren's second match point Tuesday in the $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace tournament in Sacramento, left-hander Jeff Dadamo sprinted to his right to chase down a ball in the corner. Barely reaching it with his one-handed backhand, he sliced a cross-court shot that hit the tape and plopped over the net for a winner to even the tiebreaker at 6-6.
   "I thought (the match) was over," conceded Dadamo (pronounced Duh-DAH-mo), a wild card. "I thought the ball would have gone wide if it hadn't hit the tape."
   Dadamo won the next two points to pull out a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) victory in the 2-hour, 49-minute battle between two young Americans. It was the first match of the week on the stadium court, getting the tournament off to a thrilling start at the Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club. 
   Sandgren -- who has Swedish heritage and is named after his grandfather, not after tennis -- also thought he had won the match.
   "When I saw the slice, I definitely thought it was going wide," he said. "The tape stopped it. I shrugged it off and was ready to go. The next two points just didn't happen."

Sandgren literally came within an inch of advancing
to the second round. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In another upset, Jason Jung of Torrance routed No. 6 seed and 2011 semifinalist Antoine Benneteau of France 6-2, 6-1. Benneteau, the younger brother of 32nd-ranked Julien Benneteau, played with tendinitis in his left knee but said he probably would have lost anyway. He was scheduled to play doubles with Jung, but they withdrew.
   Jung, 22, graduated from Michigan in political science last year and worked for an oil company in Torrance for one month before being laid off. He planned to go to law school but didn't do as well on the admission test as he had hoped, so he launched his professional tennis career in January. Ranked No. 1,079 with two quarterfinal appearances on the Futures circuit, he's giving himself one year to crack the top 500.
   Meanwhile, former Cal No. 1 Pedro Zerbini continued his impressive rookie year with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Bjorn Fratangelo, 18, of Pittsburgh.
   Zerbini, a 23-year-old Brazilian, graduated from Cal in December in economic development. Since his pro debut in February, he has reached two Futures finals and two quarterfinals to rise from No. 1,218 to No. 675. Fratangelo last year became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys singles title.
   Both Dadamo, 22, of Tampa, Fla., and Sandgren, a 20-year-old resident of Gallatin, Tenn., turned pro after last year's NCAA Championships at Stanford. Dadamo won the doubles title with fellow Texas A&M senior Austin Krajicek, and Sandgren reached the singles semifinals as a sophomore.
   In their two previous meetings, both on the Futures circuit, Sandgren won 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 last summer on a hardcourt similar to Park Terrace's and 6-4, 6-3 five weeks ago on clay.
   Comparing Tuesday's match to the last one, the 289th-ranked Sandgren said: "He played a lot cleaner match. He has a big game and served really well. He didn't give me much of anything. If he decides he wants to play and do well, it's going to be a battle. That's what he did today.
   "If he's not playing well on that day, sometimes he gets frustrated. But he was on it today from the get-go and mentally strong."
   The match featured seemingly interminable baseline rallies. Fortunately for the players, the weather was unseasonably cool with a high of 70 degrees.
   "The first point of the match was like a 25-ball rally," said Dadamo, ranked No. 641. "I knew we were going to be into it for a while."
   Dadamo estimated a later rally in the first set at 30 balls.
   "We were both clawing and digging to to get ahead," he said. "They were definitely the longest points I've ever played in a match."
   It was hardly surprising, then, that the match came down to a third-set tiebreaker. Sandgren led 6-4 but lost the last four points. On his first match point, he hit a routine forehand wide.
   "I definitely got away with one there," Dadamo said. "He played pretty clean tennis throughout the match. I don't think he had missed one of those all match. He might have gotten a little tight."
   After Dadamo's net-cord winner, he blasted a service winner to lead 7-6. Sandgren then sprayed a backhand to end it.
   "We both got lucky in the match," Dadamo said. "Maybe the second match point was the most unlucky he got. It happens."          
   See below for Tuesday's singles and doubles results and today's schedule.
   French Open in Paris -- Second-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., outlasted Oliver Marach of Austria and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the French Open quarterfinals.
   The 34-year-old Bryan twins, who won the 1998 NCAA title as Stanford sophomores, seek their second French Open men's doubles title and an Open Era-record 12th in Grand Slam tournaments. They won their first in the 2003 French Open, beating Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands and Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, and reached the final in 2005 and 2006, losing to Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi both times.
   The Bryans will face No. 10 seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles in the semifinals. The teams have met twice on European clay this spring. Qureshi and Rojer triumphed in an 18-16 match tiebreaker in the second round at Madrid, and the Bryans won in straight sets in the Nice semifinals.
   Capitals -- The Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis named Jayna Osborne to replace Matt McEvoy as their general manager.
   The 28-year-old McEvoy recently left after two seasons with the team to run the Frys.com Open, a PGA Tour event in Silicon Valley. 
   Osborne also served as the Capitals' GM from 1993 to 1998 as a co-owner with her husband, Ramey Osborne, now the team's managing general partner. Jayna helped Sacramento win three of its record six WTT titles.
   The Capitals begin their 27th season on July 9 at Boston. They open at home July 12 with Mardy Fish, the top-ranked American man at No. 10, against Kansas City. Wayne Bryan, Bob and Mike's father, will return for his 11th season as Sacramento's coach.
   For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.saccaps.com or call (916) 859-0058.

$15,000 TENNIS TOWN PRO TENNIS AT PARK TERRACE

In Sacramento

At Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club

First-round singles

   Jeff Dadamo, United States, def. Tennys Sandgren (1), United States, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6). 

   Devin Britton (7), United States, def. Eric James Johnson, United States, 6-4, 7-6 (8). 

   Daniel King-Turner (8), New Zealand, def. Olivier Sajous, Haiti, 6-3, 6-7 (8), 7-5. 

   Jason Jung, United States, def. Antoine Benneteau (6), France, 6-2, 6-1. 

   Dennis Lajola, United States, def. Arthur Karagezian, United States, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. 

   Pedro Zerbini (former Cal star), Brazil, def. Bjorn Fratangelo, United States, 6-4, 6-1. 

First-round doubles

   Jeff Dadamo and Gregory Ouellette (3), United States, def. Keith-Patrick Crowley, South Africa, and Nathan Willis, Australia, 6-2, 6-3.
   Devin Britton and Jordan Cox (2), United States, def. Nathaniel Gorham and Thomas Shubert, United States, 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 tiebreak.
   Daniel King-Turner, New Zealand, and Kento Takeuchi (1), Japan, def. Kiryl Harbatsiuk and Anton Stryhas, Sacramento, 6-4, 7-6 (1).
   Philip Bester and Kamil Pajkowski, Canada, def. Bjorn Fratangelo and Tennys Sandgren, United States, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 10-7 tiebreak.
   Vahid Mirzadeh and Phillip Simmonds (4), United States, def. Eric Roberson and Matt Seeberger, Sacramento, 6-3, 6-4.
   Nicolas Meister, United States, and Pedro Zerbini (former Cal star), Brazil, def. Dante Saleh and Chris Wettengel, United States, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Today's schedule

 (Beginning at 10 a.m.)

Court 7

   Keith-Patrick Crowley, South Africa, vs. Roman Kislyanskiy, Russia.
   (Not before 11 a.m.) Ben McLachlan (Cal), New Zealand, vs. Vahe Assadourian, Granite Bay.
   (Not before 1 p.m.) Chris Wettengel, United States, vs. Phillip Simmonds, United States.
   (Not before 3 p.m.) Riki McLachlan, New Zealand, vs. Sebastian Fanselow, Germany.

   (Not before 5 p.m., court TBA) Denny Fafek and Xavier Smith, United States, vs. Antoine Benneteau, France, and Jason Jung, United States. 

Court 4

   Jordan Cox, United States, vs. Derek Siddiqui, United States.
   (Not before 11 a.m.) Philip Bester, Canada, vs. Gregory Ouellette (2), United States.
   (Not before 1 p.m.) Thomas Shubert, United States, vs. Kento Takeuchi (4), Japan.

   (Not before 5 p.m., court TBA) Philip Bester and Kamil Pajkowski, Canada, vs. Vahid Mirzadeh and Phillip Simmonds (4), United States. 

Court 3

   Michael McClune (3), United States, vs. Nathaniel Gorham, United States.
   (Not before 11 a.m.) Nicolas Meister, United States, vs. Mico Santiago, United States.
   (Not before 1 p.m.) Vahid Mirzadeh, United States, vs. Fritz Wolmarans (5), South Africa.
   (Not before 3 p.m.) Vahe Assadourian, Granite Bay, and Roman Kislyanskiy, Russia, vs. Dennis Lajola, United States, and Olivier Sajous, Haiti.
   (Not before 5 p.m.) Daniel King-Turner, New Zealand, and Kento Takeuchi (1), Japan, vs. Nicolas Meister, United States, and Pedro Zerbini (former Cal star), Brazil.

FRENCH OPEN TV SCHEDULE
(All times PDT)

   Today -- Quarterfinals, ESPN2, 5-10 a.m. (live); Tennis Channel, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (taped). French Open Tonight (daily wrapup), Tennis Channel, 4-7 p.m. (premiere), 7-10 p.m. (repeat). 
   Thursday --Women's semifinals, ESPN2, 5-10 a.m. (live); Tennis Channel, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (repeat). French Open Tonight (daily wrapup), Tennis Channel, 4-7 p.m. (premiere), 7-10 p.m. (repeat). 
   Friday -- Men's semifinals, Tennis Channel, 4-8 a.m. (live); NBC, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (taped), Tennis Channel, 2-9 p.m. (repeat). 
   Saturday -- Women's final, NBC, 6-9 a.m. (live).
   Sunday -- Men's final, NBC, 6-11 a.m. (live); Tennis Channel, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (repeat), 5-9 p.m. (repeat). Women's final, Tennis Channel, 3-5 p.m. (repeat).

 CALENDAR

   THROUGH SUNDAY -- FRENCH OPEN, www.rolandgarros.com.
   Through Sunday -- $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace, Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club, 5500 Parkfield Court, Sacramento, 10 a.m., www.parkterraceprotennis.org.
   Saturday-Sunday, June 16-18 -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State, www.norcal.usta.com.
   Saturday-June 17 -- $15,000 Chico Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave.
Chico, www.chicoracquetclub.com.
   JUNE 25-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON, www.wimbledon.com.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

   July 12 -- World TeamTennis, Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

Top seed to kick off men's pro tourney in Sacramento

   Last week, a women's professional tournament was held in the Sacramento area. This week, the men are in town.
   Top-seeded Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., will meet wild card Jeff Dadamo of Tampa, Fla., today at 10 a.m. in the first round of the $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace in Sacramento.
   Sandgren, 20, has won five ITF Futures singles titles since turning pro last summer after his sophomore year at Tennessee. This year, he has soared from No. 540 in the world to No. 289. Sandgren is named after his grandfather, not his sport. "Tennys" is a Swedish name.
   Dadamo, 22, won the NCAA doubles title last year as a Texas A&M senior (with Austin Krajicek). He is ranked No. 641 in singles.
   In another first-round match today, former Cal star Pedro Zerbini of Brazil will face Bjorn Fratangelo, 18, of Pittsburgh not before 11 a.m.
   Zerbini, 23, debuted in the world rankings at No. 1,218 on April 2. Since then, he has jumped to No. 675.
   Fratangelo, who is named after Bjorn Borg, last year became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys singles title.

MONDAY'S FRENCH OPEN RESULTS

(Players with Northern California ties only)

Mixed doubles quarterfinals 

   Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi (7), India, def. Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic, and Mike Bryan (2), former Stanford-All American from Wesley Chapel, Fla., 6-2, 6-3.

Boys first-round singles

   Jordan Thompson, Australia, def. Mackenzie McDonald (12), Piedmont, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8.

Boys first-round doubles

   Laurent Lokoli and Armel Rancezot, France, def. McDonald and Spencer Papa (6), Edmond, Okla., 7-5, 6-4.

   Girls first-round doubles

   Anna Danilina, Kazakhstan, and Victoria Kan, Russia, def. Krista Hardebeck, incoming Stanford freshman from Santa Ana, and Chalena Scholl (7), Pampano Beach, Fla., 6-2, 6-2.

FRENCH OPEN TV SCHEDULE
(All times PDT)

   Today -- Quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 5-10 a.m. (live); ESPN2, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (taped). French Open Tonight (daily wrapup), Tennis Channel, 4-7 p.m. (premiere), 7-10 p.m. (repeat). 
   Wednesday -- Quarterfinals, ESPN2, 5-10 a.m. (live); Tennis Channel, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (taped). French Open Tonight (daily wrapup), Tennis Channel, 4-7 p.m. (premiere), 7-10 p.m. (repeat). 
   Thursday --Women's semifinals, ESPN2, 5-10 a.m. (live); Tennis Channel, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (repeat). French Open Tonight (daily wrapup), Tennis Channel, 4-7 p.m. (premiere), 7-10 p.m. (repeat). 
   Friday -- Men's semifinals, Tennis Channel, 4-8 a.m. (live); NBC, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (taped), Tennis Channel, 2-9 p.m. (repeat). 
   Saturday -- Women's final, NBC, 6-9 a.m. (live).
   Sunday -- Men's final, NBC, 6-11 a.m. (live); Tennis Channel, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (repeat), 5-9 p.m. (repeat). Women's final, Tennis Channel, 3-5 p.m. (repeat).

 CALENDAR

   THROUGH SUNDAY -- FRENCH OPEN, www.rolandgarros.com.
   Today-Sunday -- $15,000 Tennis Town Pro Tennis at Park Terrace, Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club, 5500 Parkfield Court, Sacramento, 10 a.m. www.parkterraceprotennis.org.
   Saturday-Sunday, June 16-18 -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State, www.norcal.usta.com.
   Saturday-June 17 -- $15,000 Chico Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave.
Chico, www.chicoracquetclub.com.
   JUNE 25-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON, www.wimbledon.com.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

   July 12 -- World TeamTennis, Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., www.saccaps.com.