Fritz's rise, Bryans' fall highlight top stories of 2015

Taylor Fritz of the United States won back-
to-back Challengers in Northern California
 at 17 years old. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   This year hinted at the dawn of a new era in U.S. men's tennis.
   It's too soon to write off doubles stars Bob and Mike Bryan, even at age 37. If Daniel Nestor can play at 43 and Leander Paes at 42, so can the Bryans if they so desire. But the former Stanford All-Americans endured their worst season in more than a decade in 2015.
   Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz led a surge of promising American teenagers with back-to-back Challenger titles in Northern California.
   Following are the top 10 stories, plus 12 honorable mentions, in NorCal tennis in 2015:

Top 10

   1. Fritz, 17, coasts to second straight Challenger title
   2. Bryans' long reign at No. 1 ends
   3. Stanford product to head USTA player development
   4. Date-Krumm, 44, rallies to shock Lisicki at Stanford
   5. Ex-Sacramento champ banned for 15 years
   6. Aussie Millman makes Aptos history with title
   7. Altamirano adds NCAA team title to resume
   8. World TeamTennis returns to Sacramento
   9. Roseville's Riffice, 16, sweeps USTA Clay Court titles
   10. Juniors Volynets, Lee win USTA national titles

Honorable mention

   -- Sanchez wins third pro doubles title in three weeks
   -- Tursunov wins Moscow doubles title after long layoff
   -- Bellis falls in Stanford debut
   -- Smyczek gets the breaks in Tiburon thriller
   -- Kalinina overcomes big deficit for Challenger title
   -- Embree pulls off incredible comeback in Redding
   -- Kops-Jones, Sanchez, Bellis, Muljat highlight big day
   -- Bellis, 15, crushes Sanchez for Rancho Santa Fe title
   -- Stanford, Cal women fall in NCAA individual finals
   -- Cal's Manasse rises to No. 1 in nation
   -- Lee wins boys 12 doubles title in Winter Nationals
   -- Roseville's Riffice loses in Easter Bowl final

King ousts top seed, defending champion in Redding

   REDDING, Calif. -- Vania King's victory over top seed and defending champion Jennifer Brady highlighted a long day in The Ascension Project Women's $25,000 Challenger.
   King, a former top-50 player and a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, defeated Brady 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in a first-round match that had been postponed by rain.
   King, a 26-year-old Southern California native, then outlasted American wild card Julia Jones 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 and withdrew from her doubles quarterfinal, also scheduled for Thursday, with Robin Anderson.
   Brady, who turned pro in June after two stellar seasons at UCLA, at times employed her whipping forehand to rocket passing shots past King in their first career meeting. More often, the 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) King used her quickness to keep the ball in play until Brady slugged the ball out.
   Brady jumped out to a 3-0 lead (one service break) in the 9 a.m. match, but King reeled off the next seven games, including a Brady double fault on set point.
   Brady broke serve to lead 6-5 in the second set, but King, aided by a double fault for 0-40, broke back at love to force a tiebreaker. Brady made three consecutive unforced errors to trail 4-0 and couldn't recover.
   "She's an experienced player," Brady said of King, 26. "She knows how to play the big points well. She makes you play." 
  King is playing in her fifth tournament after missing almost one year with a herniated disc in her neck. She declined an interview request after defeating Brady, saying she had to prepare for her next match.
   Also falling were No. 3 seed Jovana Jaksic of Serbia and No. 4 Lauren Embree of Santa Monica.
   Chiara Scholl of the United States outlasted Jaksic 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the first round before losing to Klaartje Liebens of Belgium 6-4, 6-3. Liebens reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
   Scholl had two match points at 5-4 in the second set against Jaksic but failed to capitalize on them.
   "I think I played well overall," Scholl said. "I was getting really tired in the third set, so I'm glad I could still pull it out. She gave me a lot of free points in the last game of the third set. That was lucky for me."  
   Anna Zaja of Germany beat Embree, last year's runner-up, 6-4, 6-0 in the second round. They played their opening matches on Tuesday before rain wiped out Wednesday's singles schedule.
   Embree's bid for a third straight Redding doubles title ended when she and Ema Burgic Bucko of Bosnia and Herzegovina pulled out of today's scheduled semifinal against second-seeded Michelle Sammons of South Africa and Varatchaya Wongteanchai of Thailand.
   Embree, a former University of Florida All-American, won in 2013 with Anderson and last year with Brady.   

THE ASCENSION PROJECT WOMEN'S $25,000 CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.

First-round singles

   Vania King, United States, def. Jennifer Brady (1), United States, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

   Chiara Scholl, United States, def. Jovana Jaksic (3), Serbia, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

   Klaartje Liebens, Belgium, def. Amy Zhu, United States, 7-6 (9), 6-1.

   Nadja Gilchrist, United States, def. Sophie Chang, United States, 7-5, 6-3.

   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, def. Alexandra Stevenson, United States, 7-5, 7-5.

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, def. Megan McCray, United States, 6-1, 6-3.

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Ashley Weinhold, United States, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5).

 Second-round singles

   Vania King, United States, def. Julia Jones, United States, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

   Caitlin Whoriskey (6), United States, def. Piia Suomalainen, Finland, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1.

   Klaartje Liebens, Belgium, def. Chiara Scholl, United States, 6-4, 6-3.

   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, def. Nadja Gilchrist, United States, 6-2, 6-2.

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, def. Petra Rampre, Slovenia, 6-2, 6-2.

   Anna Zaja, Germany, def. Lauren Embree (4), United States, 6-4, 6-0.

   Sherazad Reix (5), France, def. Maegan Manasse, United States, walkover.

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Lauren Albanese, United States, 6-3, 6-0.

 Doubles quarterfinals

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (1), United States, def. Jennifer Brady, United States, and Caroline Doyle, San Francisco, 6-4, 6-3.

   Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, def. Robin Anderson and Vania King, United States, walkover.

   Ema Burgic Bucko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lauren Embree, United States, def. Darya Possokhova, San Francisco, and Seriana Saltzen, Cameron Park, 6-2, 6-2.

   Michelle Sammons, South Africa, and Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Laura Schaeder and Anna Zaja, Germany, 6-3, 6-4. 

Doubles semifinals

   Michelle Sammons, South Africa, and Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, def. Ema Burgic Bucko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lauren Embree, United States. 

Today's schedule

Court 2
(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, vs. Anna Zaja, Germany.

   Vania King, United States, vs. Caitlin Whoriskey (6), United States.

(Not before 4:30 p.m.)

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (1), United States, vs. Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park.

Court 1 

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, vs. Sherazad Reix (5), France.

   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, vs. Klaartje Liebens, Belgium.

Embree pulls off incredible comeback in Redding

Lauren Embree, the fourth seed and 2014 runner-up in Red-
ding, beat 17-year-old Nicole Frenkel after trailing by a set
and 1-5. Photo by Paul Bauman

   REDDING, Calif. -- It's hard to say what was more shocking today, Lauren Embree's comeback or the mercifully cool weather.
   Embree, last year's singles runner-up and a two-time defending doubles champion, wore down Nicole Frenkel, a 17-year-old left-hander with a lethal forehand and deft volley, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the first round of The Ascension Project Women's $25,000 Challenger.
   Frenkel served for the match at 5-1 in the second set at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. Embree, a 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter) counterpuncher, then became more aggressive and broke Frenkel at love.
   "At that point, I knew I had nothing to lose," the fourth-seeded Embree said. "I just wanted to make her close out the match and make it as tough on her as possible."
   Until then, Embree spent much of the match watching passing shots whiz by her. After that, she spent much of it watching Frenkel, playing with tendinitis in her left shoulder, commit unforced errors.
   Frenkel, from Winchester, Mass., politely declined an interview request as she hurriedly left the site.  
   A blatantly bad line call almost derailed Embree's comeback. With Embree serving at 4-5, 30-15 in the second set, Frenkel slugged a ball that landed clearly long. Embree did not play it, but the chair umpire called it good.
   "Are you serious?" Embree, a 24-year-old former University of Florida All-American living in Santa Monica, said incredulously. "How long does it have to be for you to call it out?"
   Embree, however, quickly regained her composure and won the next two points to hold serve.
   "I freaked out a little bit, but I tried not to let it get to me," she said. "I couldn't do anything about it at that point, so I just tried to get the next point."

Frenkel overcame two set points against
her to win the first set. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Frenkel pulled off an impressive comeback of her own to steal the first set. Embree had two set points at 6-4, but Frenkel reeled off the next four points for the set.
   "I was just rushing and not really thinking about what I wanted to do, and it got away from me," Embree said.
   Even with a one-sided third set, the late-afternoon match lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes. Fortunately for the players, the temperature reached only 69 degrees (20.6 Celsius). The average for Sept. 15 in this city of 92,000 people is 90 degrees (32.2 Celsius).
   "I like this weather. It's a good change of (pace) for me," Embree, who grew up in Florida's heat and humidity, said with a laugh.
   The weather is expected to get even stranger on Wednesday. Rain is forecast, but Sun Oaks has indoor courts.
   Embree, ranked No. 247, will meet No. 583 Anna Zaja of Germany on Thursday. Zaja, 24, defeated qualifier Klara Fabikova, a Cal senior from the Czech Republic, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
   Fabikova was one of three Cal All-American qualifiers in action.
   Maegan Manasse, a junior from Redondo Beach, routed qualifier Ashley Kratzer, a 16-year-old left-hander from Newport Beach, 6-3, 6-1. Manasse then pulled out of her second-round match on Thursday against fifth-seeded Sherazad Reix of France.
   The reason for Manasse's withdrawal was not disclosed. She is scheduled to play singles and doubles in the inaugural Oracle/ITA Masters, a college tournament Friday through Sunday in Malibu.
   Denise Starr, a junior from Brooklyn, lost to Piia Suomalainen, 31, of Finland 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
   Meanwhile, Lauren Albanese defeated fellow American Robin Anderson 7-5, 6-3. Anderson, the 2013 singles runner-up to Adriana Perez of Venezuela and doubles champion with Embree, graduated from UCLA this year.
   Petra Rampre, 35, of Slovenia outlasted UCLA-bound Ena Shibahara, 17, of Rancho Palos Verdes 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Rampre wears a bandana because she lost all the hair on her body eight years ago. She has a rare disorder called alopecia universalis.
   In doubles, Anderson and Vania King crushed fourth-seeded Kaitlyn Christian and Reix 6-1, 6-0. King, a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, is playing in her fifth tournament after missing one year with a herniated disc in her neck.
   Christian won the 2013 NCAA doubles title as a USC junior with Sabrina Santamaria. 

THE ASCENSION PROJECT WOMEN'S $25,000 CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.

First-round singles

   Anna Zaja, Germany, def. Klara Fabikova, Czech Republic,4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

   Caitlin Whoriskey (6), United States, def. Ema Burgic Bucko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

   Petra Rampre, Slovenia, def. Ena Shibahara, United States, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.  

   Julia Jones, United States, def. Lisa Whybourn, Great Britain, 6-3, 6-1.

   Sherazad Reix (5), France, def. Laura Schaeder, Germany, 6-4, 6-3.

   Maegan Manasse, United States, def. Ashley Kratzer, United States, 6-3, 6-1.

   Piia Suomalainen, Finland, def. Denise Starr, United States, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

   Lauren Albanese, United States, def. Robin Anderson, United States, 7-5, 6-3.
   Lauren Embree (4), United States, def. Nicole Frenkel, United States, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-1.

First-round doubles

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (1), United States, def. Lauren Albanese and Sophie Chang, United States, 6-4, 7-5.

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai, Thailand, and Michelle Sammons (2), South Africa, def. Tory Parravi and Karina Kristina Vyrlan, United States, 6-4, 1-6 [10-7]..

   Robin Anderson and Vania King, United States, def. Kaitlyn Christian, United States, and Sherazad Reix (4), France, 6-1, 6-0.

   Darya Possokhova and Seriana Saltzen, United States, def. Hanna Chang and Carolyn Xie, United States, walkover.

Wednesday's schedule

Court 2

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Jovana Jaksic (3), Serbia, vs. Chiara Scholl, United States.

(Not before 11 a.m.)

   Jennifer Brady (1), United States, vs. Vania King, United States.

(Not before 12:30 p.m.)

   Varatchaya Wongteanchai, Thailand, vs. Ashley Weinhold, United States.

  (Not before 2 p.m.)

   Jennifer Brady and Caroline Doyle, United States, vs. Brynn Boren and Nadja Gilchrist, United States.

Court 1

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Paula Cristina Goncalves, Brazil, vs. Megan McCray, United States.

(Not before 11 a.m.)

   Nadja Gilchrist, United States, vs. Sophie Chang, United States.

(Not before 12:30 p.m.)

   Ema Burgic Bucko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lauren Embree, United States, vs. Paula Cristina Goncalves, Brazil, and Jovana Jaksic (3), Serbia.

(Not before 2 p.m.)

   Laura Schaeder and Anna Zaja, Germany, vs. Lorraine Guillermo and Julia Jones, United States.

Court 3

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Amy Zhu, United States, vs. Klaartje Liebens, Belgium.

(Not before 11 a.m.)

   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, vs. Alexandra Stevenson, United States.

(Not before 12:30 p.m.)

   Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, United States, vs. Megan McCray and Morgan McCray, United States.

Bellis, 15, breaks through with singles crown

CiCi Bellis displays her award for winning the USTA Girls 18
National Championships in San Diego in August.
Photo courtesy of JFS Communications

   CiCi Bellis won her first ITF Pro Circuit singles title today.
   The 15-year-old resident of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area defeated Lauren Embree of Santa Monica in the Los Angeles region 6-4, 6-0 on a hardcourt in the final of the $25,000 Rock Hill (S.C.) Rocks Open.
   Bellis' only other ITF Pro Circuit title came in doubles in the $10,000 Orlando (Fla.) Women's Open in March with countrywoman Alexis Nelson.
   Bellis, the No. 1 junior in the world, will jump from No. 419 in the women's singles rankings to about No. 310.
   The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter), 110-pound (50-kilogram) right-hander stunned 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the U.S. Open in August to become the youngest player to win a main-draw match at Flushing Meadows since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   Bellis also helped the United States win the Junior Fed Cup title two weeks ago in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
   Embree, 23, was the singles runner-up to Jennifer Brady in the $25,000 Redding Challenger last month and teamed with Brady for her second straight doubles crown in the Northern California city.
   Embree underwent surgery for torn cartilage in her right hip in January and returned to the circuit in late June. She helped the University of Florida win NCAA titles in 2011 and 2012.
   Bryans complete set -- Bob and Mike Bryan reached another milestone in their illustrious doubles career, completing the set of nine Masters 1000 titles on the ATP World Tour. No one had done that in singles or doubles.
   The former Stanford All-Americans beat reigning French Open champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 6-2, 7-6 (3) in Shanghai.
   The 36-year-old Bryans have won 31 titles in Masters events, the highest level besides the Grand Slams. 

Brady, 19, routs Embree for Redding title

Jennifer Brady, right, dismantled Lauren Embree
6-2, 6-1 to win the $25,000 Redding Challenger.
Photo by Stephen Campbell

   It has been quite a year for Jennifer Brady.
   After helping UCLA win the NCAA title in May as a freshman, the 19-year-old resident of Boca Raton, Fla., won her first singles crown in a professional tournament on Sunday.
   Brady overpowered Lauren Embree, a 23-year-old Florida native living in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, 6-2, 6-1 in The Ascension Project $25,000 Women's Challenger in Redding, Calif. Both players were unseeded.
   Brady did not lose a set in her five matches at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. She knocked off top-seeded Mayo Hibi of Japan in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Zuzana Zlochlova of Slovakia in the semifinals.
   Embree ousted second-seeded Tara Moore of Great Britain in the second round, seventh-seeded Klaartje Liebens of Belgium in the quarterfinals and former Wimbledon semifinalist Alexandra Stevenson in the semis.
  Embree, who helped the University of Florida win NCAA titles in 2011 and 2012, was seeking her third singles title but first in a tournament offering more than $10,000. She underwent surgery for torn cartilage in her right hip in January and returned to the circuit in late June. 
   Brady and Embree won the Redding doubles title on Saturday. It was Embree's second straight Redding doubles crown with a UCLA player. She teamed with Robin Anderson last year, but Anderson did not return.
   Davis Cup -- San Francisco native Sam Querrey and former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan helped the United States rout Slovakia 5-0 in the Davis Cup World Group playoffs in Chicago.
   Querrey and John Isner each won twice in singles, and the Bryan brothers easily won the clinching match on Saturday to keep the United States in the elite World Group next year.
   The Bryans were coming off their fifth title in the U.S. Open, record 16th in a Grand Slam tournament and 100th overall.

Doubles champs to play for Redding singles title

Jennifer Brady, left, and Lauren Embree won
the doubles title in the Redding Challenger.
Photo by Stephen Campbell

   Jennifer Brady and Lauren Embree won the doubles title in The Ascension Project $25,000 Women's Challenger on Saturday.
   They will play each other for the first time today at 12:30 for the singles title at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.
   Both players are unseeded Americans who grew up in Florida but have Los Angeles-area ties. Brady, 19, played No. 2 singles as a freshman for UCLA's national championship team in the spring. Embree, 23, lives in nearby Santa Monica.
   They even have similar world rankings. The hard-hitting Brady is No. 524 (46th in the United States), and the counterpunching Embree is No. 527 (47th in the U.S.).
   Brady beat third-seeded Zuzana Zlochova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1 in Saturday's semifinals, and Embree routed unseeded Alexandra Stevenson 6-0, 6-2. Zlochova (pronounced ZLOCK-ova) had cold symptoms.

Twins Alexandra, left, and Kat Facey, from Cam-
eron Park in the Sacramento area, fell in the
doubles final. Photo by Stephen Campbell

   The 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Stevenson, the second-oldest player in the draw at 33, was coming off a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3) victory over Saratoga's Michaela Gordon, the youngest at 15 years and 1 month, on Friday. The temperature reached 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius) on both days.

   Fifteen years ago, Stevenson became the first female qualifier to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. The daughter of basketball legend Julius Erving, she climbed to a career-high No. 18 in 2002 before shoulder problems derailed her career. Stevenson is now ranked No. 515.   
   Embree, a former University of Florida All-American, underwent surgery for torn cartilage in her right hip in January and returned to the circuit in late June.
   Brady and Embree coasted past fraternal twins Alexandra and Kat Facey, UC Irvine juniors from Cameron Park in the Sacramento area, 6-3, 6-2 for the doubles title. Both teams were unseeded.
   It was Embree's second straight doubles crown in Redding. She won last year with UCLA star Robin Anderson.    

Embree, 15-year-old Gordon stun seeds in Challenger

Lauren Embree stunned second-seeded Tara Moore of Great
Britain 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday in the second round of the
Redding Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

    Note: A profile of Michaela Gordon will be posted next week.

   REDDING, Calif. -- Playing in their home state, Lauren Embree and 15-year-old Michaela Gordon pulled off big upsets on Thursday in the second round of The Ascension Project $25,000 Women's Challenger.
   Embree, a 23-year-old native of Naples, Fla., now based in Santa Monica, stunned second-seeded Tara Moore of Great Britain 7-5, 6-4 at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. 
   Gordon, from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, shocked fourth-seeded Tammi Patterson of Australia 6-4, 6-2.
   Only three seeds reached the quarterfinals: No. 1 Mayo Hibi of Japan and No. 3 Zuzana Zlochova of Slovakia in the top half of the draw, and No. 7 Klaartje Liebens of Belgium in the bottom half. The other five quarterfinalists are American.
   A major upset also occurred in doubles as fraternal twins Alexandra and Kat Facey, UC Irvine juniors from Cameron Park in the Sacramento area, knocked off top-seeded Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman and Jacqueline Cako of the United States 6-4, 6-3.
  Cako (pronounced CAY-ko) made her Grand Slam debut in the recent U.S. Open, falling in the first round of mixed doubles with  Joel Kielbowicz to Taylor Townsend and Donald Young 7-5, 6-3 in an all-American matchup.
   Cako was trying to reach her third straight Redding doubles final with her third partner. She won the title in 2012 with Sanaz Marand and was the runner-up last year with Allie Kiick.
   Embree, a former University of Florida All-American, underwent surgery for torn cartilage in her right hip in January and returned to the circuit in late June. She trailed 3-0 (one service break) in the first set against Moore, a hard hitter despite standing only 5-foot-4 (1.63 meters).
   "She came out pretty aggressive, and I guess I wasn't ready for that big of a ball," said Embree, a counterpuncher in singles who won last year's Redding doubles title with UCLA star Robin Anderson. "She was on the offense, and I just tried to get my balls a little bit deeper and make more balls, make her play a little bit."
   Indeed, Embree kept the ball in play until Moore would hit one of her laser forehands just wide or long.
   "She played really well," said Moore, a 22-year-old native of Hong Kong ranked No. 265. "She got a lot of balls in the court and made me play. Sometimes it's just not your day." 
   Like Embree, Moore grew up in steamy Florida. She trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton from age 9 to 16.
   Moore received a wild card in the main draw at Wimbledon in June and lost to 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-7 (3), 9-7 in the first round. Zvonareva, a right-hander, launched her latest comeback from right shoulder surgery in the tournament.
   Moore wears different colored shoes on each foot for all her matches. In Redding, one was white and the other pink.
   "It happened at one tournament (three years ago in England)," Moore explained. "I took two different shoes by accident, and I won the tournament. It's been the same (routine) since then." 

Michaela Gordon, a 15-year-old wild card from Saratoga,
shocked fourth-seeded Tammi Patterson of Australia
6-4, 6-2. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Gordon, an amateur, reached her first quarterfinal in her sixth professional tournament. Patterson, at No. 307, is the highest-ranked player Gordon has beaten.
   From 4-4 in the first set, Gordon won eight of the last 10 games in 100-degree (37.8 Celsius) heat. Patterson, 24, was coming off a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Akvile Parazinskaite, 17, of Lithuania in 2 hours, 50 minutes on Wednesday as the temperature climbed to 102 (38.9 Celsius).
   Gordon, the youngest player in the draw (by nine months over 15-year-old Karina Vyrlan of Sacramento), will meet 33-year-old Alexandra Stevenson, the second-oldest player in the field, for the first time today.
   Fifteen years ago, Stevenson became the first female qualifier to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. The 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) daughter of basketball legend Julius Erving, she climbed to a career-high No. 18 in 2002 before shoulder problems derailed her career. Stevenson is now ranked No. 515.

THE ASCENSION PROJECT $25,000 WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness

In Redding, Calif.

Second-round singles

   Lauren Embree, United States, def. Tara Moore (2), Great Britain, 7-5, 6-4.

   Mayo Hibi (1), Japan def. Felicity Maltby, Sunnyvale, 6-2, 6-0.

   Alexandra Stevenson, United States, def. Ellie Halbauer, United States, 6-3, 6-4.

   Michaela Gordon, Saratoga, def. Tammi Patterson (4), Australia, 6-4, 6-2.

   Klaartje Liebens (7), Belarus, def. Megan McCray, United States, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

   Jennifer Brady, United States, def. Jacqueline Cako, 6-3, 6-2.

   Zuzana Zlochova (3), Slovakia, def. Lauren Albanese, United States, 6-4, 6-2.

   Kristie Ahn, United States, def. Terri Fleming, United States, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Leila Hodzic and Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States, def. Ellie Halbauer and Malika Rose, United States, walkover.

   Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, def. Fatma Al Nabhani, Oman, and Jacqueline Cako (1), United States, 6-2, 3-6 [10-7].

   Sabastiani Leon, Mexico, and Mara Schmidt, United States, def. Tara Moore, Great Britain, and  Tammi Patterson (3), Australia, 6-1, 6-2.

   Jennifer Brady and Lauren Embree, United States, def. Tory Parravi and Lauren Stratman, United States, 6-1, 6-4.

Today's schedule

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

Court 2

   Klaartje Liebens (7), Belgium, vs. Lauren Embree, United States.

   Alexandra Stevenson, United States, vs. Michaela Gordon, Saratoga.

   Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, vs. Leila Hodzic and Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States.

Court 1

   Mayo Hibi (1), Japan, vs. Jennifer Brady, United States.

   Zuzana Zlochova (3), Slovakia, vs. Kristie Ahn, United States.

   Sabastiani Leon, Mexico, and Mara Schmidt, United States, vs. Jennifer Brady and Lauren Embree, United States.