Blake having a ball, even in minor leagues

   Playing in front of a few hundred spectators at the Natomas Racquet Club in Sacramento doesn't exactly compare to battling Andre Agassi before 20,000 screaming fans and a national, prime-time television audience in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
   But James Blake isn't complaining. It's still professional tennis.
   "I don't mind," the top-seeded Blake said Monday after practicing with third seed and fellow American Sam Querrey for the $100,000 Rely Aid Natomas Racquet Club Challenger. "I love competing. I haven't played since the U.S. Open (one month ago). I've just been training and wanted to get some practice in. At this point in my career, I didn't feel like going to Asia (for ATP World Tour events). I came here to get ready for the European swing and gear up for next year.
   "It's still fun to me. There are great players here like Querrey and (Ivo) Karlovic. I'm feeling great now, the best I've felt in the last two years, and I'm excited about that. Tour level or Challenger level, it just feels good to be on the court."
   Blake, who splits his time between his childhood home of Fairfield, Conn., and training base of Tampa, Fla., is scheduled to meet Amer Delic, the 2003 NCAA singles champion for Illinois from Bosnia and Herzegovina, today at 4:30 p.m. or later in the first round. 
   Ranked a career-high No. 4 in 2006, Blake plunged to No. 173 in March because of chronic tendinitis in his right knee. He "briefly considered" retiring last year but has rebounded to No. 75.
   "I was opposed to taking Advil or Motrin, but it was not getting better," said Blake, who will turn 32 in December. "Eventually, I broke down and took Motrin, which made a big difference. The knee is not perfect, but it's much better. It doesn't have to be perfect. Nothing is."
   Blake undoubtedly has the most unusual background in professional tennis. How many players do you know who:
   --Have a white, English mother and African-American father?
   --Were diagnosed with severe scoliosis (curvature of the spine) at 13 and wore a full-length back brace for 18 hours a day, though not while playing tennis, for five years?
   --Attended Harvard for two years, becoming the top-ranked player in the country before turning pro?
   --Within two months in 2004, broke his neck during practice, lost his father to stomach cancer and developed zoster (shingles)?
   Blake was injured when he slipped on a wet clay court in Rome while racing to return a drop shot and struck the net post. Zoster, a viral disease often caused by stress, temporarily paralyzed the left side of his face and affected his balance.
   But he rebounded from the horrific sequence of events to have the best years of his career. His 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (6) loss to Agassi in the 2005 U.S. Open quarterfinals is considered perhaps the greatest match in the tournament's history. Almost all of the 20,000 fans in attendance stayed until the pulsating match ended at 1:09 a.m.
   Blake was named the Comeback Player of the Year in 2005, again reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in 2006 and helped the United States end its longest Davis Cup title drought in history, 12 years, in 2007.
   "I was on the right path (before 2004), but I got injured," said the 6-foot-1 Blake, who has a fearsome serve and forehand and tremendous speed. "(The bouts of adversity) gave me great perspective on my career and life in general. Spending time with my family and friends game me peace on the court, knowing that people appreciate me as more than just a tennis player."
   Blake's 2007 book, "Breaking Back: How I lost Everything and Won Back My Life," reached No. 15 on the New York Times' bestseller list. The following year, he was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year for his fundraising efforts on behalf of cancer research.
   Blake isn't sure how much longer he'll play.
   "I always said the body or mind will determine that," he said. "One won't be able to function, probably the body. I hope for another year, but we'll see."
    Gonzalez withdraws -- Former world No. 5 Fernando Gonzalez withdrew from the Natomas Challenger because of a sinus infection, tournament spokesman Glenn Davis said.
   Gonzalez, a 31-year-old Chilean, has plunged to No. 300 after undergoing right hip surgery one year ago today. He reached the 2007 Australian Open final, losing to Roger Federer, to climb to a career-high No. 5.
   Monday's results -- Only one main-draw match was completed before rain halted play for the day. American Bobby Reynolds, seeded fourth and coming off the singles and doubles titles in the $50,000 Tulsa, Okla., Challenger three weeks ago, eked out a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory over Carlos Salamanca of Colombia.
   Salamanca, the runner-up in the $15,000 Natomas Futures in 2009, served for the match at 5-4 in the third set and twice was within two points of victory. But Reynolds, 29, of Acworth, Ga., prevailed with deep service returns against the 6-foot-5 left-hander and steady groundstrokes.
   Steve Johnson, the reigning NCAA singles champion from USC, defeated Carsten Ball, who beat Salamanca for the 2009 Natomas Futures title, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the main draw. The longtime friends and practice partners from Orange County met for the first time.
   Johnson has won 12 consecutive matches, including titles in $10,000 tournaments in Claremont and Costa Mesa. Including college matches, he had a 39-match winning streak snapped by former UCLA rival Daniel Kosakowski in the final of the $15,000 Park Terrance Futures in Sacramento in June.
   Johnson is taking this semester off to play pro tournaments as an amateur but plans to return to USC in the spring. He'll try to join Stanford's Paul Goldstein (1995-98) as the only men to play on four national championship teams and earn All-America honors all four years.


$100,000 RELY AID NATOMAS CHALLENGER
At Natomas Racquet Club
In Sacramento
Final-round singles qualifying
   Steve Johnson, United States, def. Carsten Ball (5), Australia, 6-4, 6-4. Michael Venus, New Zealand, def. Simon Stadler (6), Germany, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Blake Strode, United States, def. Jamie Baker (3), Great Britain, 6-0, 6-2. Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (4), Canada, def. Alex Bogdanovic (7), Great Britain, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
First-round singles
   Bobby Reynolds (4), United States, def. Carlos Salamanca, Colombia, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Alex Kuznetsov, United States, leads Simon Greul, Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 4-3 (postponed by rain).
First-round doubles
   Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione, Australia, def. Treat Conrad Huey, Philippines, and Izak Van Der Merwe (2), South Africa, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 10-4 tiebreak. Travis Rettenmaier, United States, and Simon Stadler, Germany, def. Denis Gremelmayr, Germany, and Bjorn Phau, Germany, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 tiebreak.
Tuesday’s schedule
(Beginning at 10 a.m.)
Center Court
   Smyczek vs. Duclos, Greul vs. Kuznetsov (to finish), Sock vs. Ward (8), Blake (1) vs. Delic not before 4:30 p.m.
Court 1
   Nielsen vs. Monroe, Grigelis vs. Querrey (3), Fischer vs. Karlovic (2), Grigelis and Ignatik vs. Duclos and Hubble (final-round qualifying).
Court 2
   Strode vs. Van der Merwe (6), Ignatik vs. Wolmarans, Phau (7) vs. Farah, Guccione vs. Cabal.
Court 3
   Borvanov vs. Johnson, Pospisil (5) vs. De Bakker, Gremelmayr vs. Baker, Venus vs. Estrella.

Gonzalez withdraws; Sacramento results, schedule

   The $100,000 Rely Aid Natomas Racquet Club Challenger lost a former top-five player Monday.
   But the Sacramento tournament still has one more, plus two competitors who have cracked the top 20.
   Fernando Gonzalez withdrew from the Natomas Challenger because of a sinus infection, spokesman Glenn Davis said.
   The 31-year-old Chilean climbed to No. 5 in the world after reaching the 2007 Australian Open final. He underwent right hip surgery one year ago tomorrow, though, and has plunged to No. 300.
   The top three seeds -- No. 1 James Blake, No. 2 Ivo Karlovic and No. 3 Sam Querrey -- are scheduled to play Tuesday (see schedule below). Blake reached No. 4 in 2006, Karlovic No. 14 in 2008 and Querrey No. 17 in January. All are coming back from injuries.    

$100,000 RELY AID NATOMAS CHALLENGER
At Natomas Racquet Club
Final-round singles qualifying
   Steve Johnson, United States, def. Carsten Ball (5), Australia, 6-4, 6-4. Michael Venus, New Zealand, def. Simon Stadler (6), Germany, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Blake Strode, United States, def. Jamie Baker (3), Great Britain, 6-0, 6-2. Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (4), Canada, def. Alex Bogdanovic (7), Great Britain, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
First-round singles
   Bobby Reynolds (4), United States, def. Carlos Salamanca, Colombia, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Alex Kuznetsov, United States, leads Simon Greul, Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 4-3 (postponed by rain).
First-round doubles
   Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione, Australia, def. Treat Conrad Huey, Philippines, and Izak Van Der Merwe (2), South Africa, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 10-4 tiebreak. Travis Rettenmaier, United States, and Simon Stadler, Germany, def. Denis Gremelmayr, Germany, and Bjorn Phau, Germany, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 tiebreak.
Tuesday’s schedule
(Beginning at 10 a.m.)
Center Court
   Smyczek vs. Duclos, Greul vs. Kuznetsov (to finish), Sock vs. Ward (8), Blake (1) vs. Delic not before 4:30 p.m.
Court 1
   Nielsen vs. Monroe, Grigelis vs. Querrey (3), Fischer vs. Karlovic (2), Grigelis and Ignatik vs. Duclos and Hubble (final-round qualifying).
Court 2
   Strode vs. Van der Merwe (6), Ignatik vs. Wolmarans, Phau (7) vs. Farah, Guccione vs. Cabal.
Court 3
   Borvanov vs. Johnson, Pospisil (5) vs. De Bakker, Gremelmayr vs. Baker, Venus vs. Estrella.

Four former top-20 players to play in Sacramento

   Officially, it's the Rely Aid Natomas Racquet Club Challenger.
   Perhaps a better name would be the Comeback Classic.
   Four former top-20 players trying to work their way back up the rankings after major injuries are entered in the $100,000 tourmament that starts Monday in Sacramento. They consist of the top three seeds -- No. 1 James Blake, No. 2 Ivo Karlovic and No. 3 Sam Querrey -- and unseeded Fernando Gonzalez. Querrey and Gonzalez accepted wild cards.
   Blake, ranked a career-high No. 4 in 2006, missed most of the clay-court season last year because of a knee injury and plunged to No. 173 in March. The 31-year-old resident of Tampa, Fla., has fought his way back to No. 74.
   The 6-foot-10 Karlovic, who reached No. 14 in 2008, has followed a similar path. The 32-year-old Croatian missed the last six months of 2010 with an Achilles' injury and plummeted to No. 239 in March. He has climbed back to No. 77.
    Querrey, ranked a career-high No. 17 in January, missed three months this summer after operations for bone spurs in his elbow and an umbilical infection. The San Francisco native, who turns 24 on Friday, has fallen to No. 119.
   Gonzalez, who reached the 2007 Australian Open final to attain a career-high ranking of No. 5, underwent hip surgery last October. The 31-year-old Chilean has dropped to No. 300.
    Natomas qualifying -- The top two seeds lost in the first round of Natomas qualifying Saturday.
   No. 1 Raven Klaasen of South Africa fell to Steve Johnson of Orange 6-1, 6-2. Johnson is coming off two consecutive titles in $10,000 tournaments in Southern California. The reigning NCAA singles champion from USC plans to return for his senior season and a shot at four NCAA team championships.
   No. 2 Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia lost to Michael Venus of New Zealand 6-4, 6-2. Venus won a $15,000 tournament in Loomis, near Sacramento, last year.
   Former Sacramento State star Kiryl Harbatsiuk of Belarus beat his doubles partner, Boris Nicola Bakalov of Bulgaria, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. In a matchup of Sacramento-area wild cards, junior player Brandon Sutter defeated Eric Roberson 6-3, 6-2.
   ATP World Tour in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Second-seeded Eric Butorac of Rochester, Minn., and Jean-Julien Rojer of Netherlands Antilles edged fourth-seeded Scott Lipsky of Huntington Beach and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-6 in the doubles semifinals of the $850,000 Malaysian Open.
   Lipsky won the doubles title in the inaugural Sacramento Challenger in 2005 with former Stanford teammate David Martin. Ram reached the Sacramento singles final in 2006 and doubles final (with John Isner) in 2008.

Blake, Gonzalez set to play in Natomas Challenger

   Although they come from different countries, James Blake and Fernando Gonzalez have much in common.
   Both are 31. Both have reached the top five in the world. Both are battling back from injuries. And both are scheduled to play in the $100,000 Natomas/USTA Challenger, Oct. 1-9 at the Natomas Racquet Club in Sacramento.
   Gonzalez, who received a wild card last week, climbed to a career-high No. 5 in the world in January 2007 after finishing as the runner-up to Roger Federer in the Australian Open. The Chilean won the singles silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished in the top 15 for the fifth consecutive year in 2009. However, he underwent right hip surgery last October and has plunged to No. 297.
   Blake, a three-time Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist, ascended to a career-high No. 4 in 2006 and played a key role on the United States' 2007 Davis Cup championship team. But the Yonkers, N.Y., native, now living in Tampa, Fla., missed 10 weeks in the spring of 2010 with a knee injury and fell to No. 173 last March. He has since climbed back to No. 73.
   Other entrants in the Natomas Challenger include former top-15 player Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, 2005 U.S. Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri of Kennesaw, Ga., and 2007 Sacramento Challenger champion Wayne Odesnik of Weston, Fla.
   Blake, Karlovic (32) and Ginepri (28) are no strangers to Northern California. All have done well in the SAP Open in San Jose.
   Blake reached the singles semifinals in 2003 and 2009 and won the doubles title in 2004 with Mardy Fish. The 6-foot-10 Karlovic came within a tiebreaker of winning the 2007 SAP Open, losing to Andy Murray.  Ginepri advanced to the semis in singles in 2008 and doubles in 2005 with Jan-Michael Gambill.
   Odesnik, 25, returned to action in January after serving a one-year suspension for possession of HGH.
   Also receiving a wild card last week was 18-year-old Jack Sock, who won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title with fellow American Melanie Oudin last week.
   Redding Women's Challenger -- Yasmin Schnack of Elk Grove, a Sacramento suburb, reached the Redding singles quarterfinals for the third time in four appearances.
   The eighth seed and former UCLA All-American defeated doubles partner and ex-USC rival Maria Sanchez of Modesto 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the second round of the $25,000 Oak River Rehab Challenger at Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness.
   Schnack, 5-10, has a good chance to reach the Redding singles semifinals for the first time when she meets unseeded Yuliana Lizarazo of Colombia today. Schnack then could face top-seeded Camila Giorgi of Italy.
   In the bottom half of the draw, second-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan will play wild card Allie Will of Boca Raton, Fla., and third-seeded Julia Boserup of Newport Beach will take on sixth-seeded Lauren Davis of Boca Raton. The 5-foot-2 Davis, nine inches shorter than Boserup, has lost only two games in two matches.
   Schnack and Sanchez, the top seeds in doubles, beat Surina de Beer of South Africa and Olga Puchkova of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Schnack is the defending champion with Sacramento native Christina Fusano, who retired two weeks ago.