Top seed Brengle plays through pain amid lawsuit

Top-seeded Madison Brengle of Dover, Del., beat Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway
6-4, 7-5 today in the first round of the $60,000 Stockton Pro Open.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   STOCKTON, Calif. — Aside from her abbreviated service motion, Madison Brengle looks fine.
   Seeded first at No. 95 in the world, the 28-year-old American scurried around the court as usual in her 6-4, 7-5 win over Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway today in the first round of the $60,000 Stockton Pro Open at the University of the Pacific's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center.
   "She's very smart; she's got a good head," said the 25-year-old Eikeri, ranked No. 254. "She reads the game well and gets everything back. She's a great fighter."
   But Brengle is not fine. Far from it. The right-hander said the last of three anti-doping blood tests in 2016 at the U.S. Open has caused lingering severe pain in her right forearm and hand.
   "This is the test my body never recovered from," Brengle told The New York Times in April, the week before she sued the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation for battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. "This is the one that changed my career, changed my life, more than you can know."
   Stuart Miller, the ITF's anti-doping chief, said in The Times that urine samples are inadequate. The WTA and ITF did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

   Months after the blood test at the U.S. Open, Brengle was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Intense reactions to needles have been an issue in her family for generations, she told the Times. Brengle, who has earned $2.4 million in prize money, seeks damages of more than $10 million.
   "After here, I'm flying back to see my neurologist because I'm playing in an amount of pain I shouldn't have to deal with," Brengle, from Dover, Del., said today. "This nerve disease is incurable, so I'll be doing physical therapy for the rest of my life. I'm in a lot of pain.
   "The majority of it is in my hand. It just burns and burns. It's like putting your hand in an oven for the rest of your life. But I enjoy playing tennis. I don't want to stop."

Qualifier Maegan Manasse, who had right elbow surgery
after her senior year at Cal, defeated Rebecca Marino of
Canada 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The pain has forced Brengle to alter her serve. Ranked a career-high No. 35 in 2015, she has not returned to the top 50 since the 2016 U.S. Open. But last year, she stunned Serena Williams in Auckland and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at the famed tournament. Both were second-round matches.
   In the last three months, Brengle has reached the second round at Wimbledon, won a $60,000 tournament in Landisville, Pa., lost to 19-year-old American Sofia Kenin 7-6 in the third set in the first round of the U.S. Open as a lucky loser, and reached the semifinals of last week's $60,000 tourney in Templeton in Southern California. In the latter tournament, she fell to eventual champion Asia Muhammad 6-4, 6-4.

   "I work really hard with my physical therapist," Brengle said of her success since her diagnosis. "There's a lot that I'm doing, down to my diet. I try not to eat inflammatory food because it's so much burning.
   "Sugar is an inflammatory. I eat a lot of salad, a lot of seafood, a lot of veggies. I've kind of given up desserts, which is probably not the worst thing for me. If it can give me .1 percent improvement, I'm going to try and do it. There's only so much I can control about this, so I will try and do everything that's still in my control.
   "You have good days and bad days. The bad days are really tough, and the good days make it kind of worth it."
   Brengle, the runner-up in the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2013, cited footwork as her greatest strength.
   "I love my (two-handed) backhand," she said, "but if I move well, that keeps me in matches because I'm not able to generate that much (power) with my right arm."
   And if Brengle is told to take another blood test?
   "That's not in the cards," she asserted. "That's not going to happen."

Rebecca Marino battled depression during a five-year
hiatus. She returned in January. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Jessica Pegula, Maegan Manasse and Rebecca Marino have had their own issues.
   Pegula, the runner-up in the inaugural $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in 2012 and daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terrence and Kim Pegula, played in just one tournament in 2014 after having knee surgery and did not compete from January to August last year because of injury. She reached her first WTA final in Quebec City last month as a qualifier and, seeded second in Stockton, beat Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 6-0, retired.
   Manasse, a right-hander from Redondo Beach in the Los Angeles area, underwent right elbow surgery in August 2017 after her senior year at Cal. As a qualifier, she advanced to the final of a $60,000 tournament in Ashland, Ky., in July and defeated the 6-foot (1.83-meter) Marino 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0 today in 2 hours, 21 minutes in 80-degree (26.7 Celsius) heat.

   Marino, after attaining a career high of No. 38 in 2011, became depressed by cruel tweets from people who had lost money betting on her matches.
   "They'll say, 'You gave that match away; you cost me such-and-such amount of money; you should go burn in hell,' or 'You should go die,' " Marino told The New York Times in 2013. "And oh, my gosh, that is really scary."
   After a five-year hiatus, the sensitive Marino returned to pro tennis in January. Since then, she has won two $25,000 tournaments, including Lubbock (Texas) two weeks ago, and reached the final of another.
   Also today, Robin Anderson edged fifth-seeded Kristie Ahn 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (4) just before an afternoon downpour halted play for the day. The match had been suspended by darkness at 4-4 in the third set on Tuesday. Overall, it lasted 3 hours, 5 minutes.
   Anderson, 25, and Ahn, 26, embraced afterward. They grew up a one-hour drive from each other in New Jersey before starring at UCLA and Stanford, respectively. Both have reached finals recently, the 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) Anderson in Lubbock and the 5-foot-5 (1.68-meter) Ahn in Landisville in August.

Robin Anderson, left, and Maegan Manasse run for cover after
a canopy on an elevated concourse blew onto a court during a
downpour. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Whitney Osuigwe of Bradenton, Fla., defeated qualifier Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area 7-5, 6-1 in a matchup of 16-year-olds.
   Osuigwe (pronouned Oh-sig-way) last year became the first American to win the French Open girls singles title since Jennifer Capriati in 1989.
   In the Stockton men's $100,000 tournament, fourth-seeded Lloyd Harris of South Africa moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Charlotte, N.C.
   Harris advanced to the final of the $100,000 Aptos (Calif.) Challenger in August. Kwiatkowski led Virginia to its third consecutive NCAA championship and won NCAA singles title last year as a senior.
   Christopher Eubanks, 6-foot-7 (2.01 meters) from Atlanta, leads fifth-seeded Casper Ruud, a 19-year-old Norwegian, 6-1, 2-2. Eubanks gained the semifinals in Aptos and quarterfinals in last week's $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger.
   Daily ticket prices for the Stockton Pro Open are:
   Through Thursday — $15 courtside/VIP, $10 general admission, $5 children 5-12.
   Friday through Sunday — $25 courtside/VIP, $20 general admission, $10 children 5-12.
   Tournament passes cost $70 for courtside/VIP, $50 for general admission and $25 for children 5-12.
   Here are the Stockton men's singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule, plus the women's singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule. The men's tournament is being streamed live.

Redding notes: Title puts Gullickson back on track

Qualifier Chelsey Gullickson rebounded from recent adversity
to win the $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger
in Redding, Calif. Photos by Paul Bauman

   Leftovers from the recent $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger in Redding, Calif.:
   That's more like it -- Chelsey Gullickson reversed a rough stretch by winning the singles title as a qualifier.
   Gullickson ended her college career on a bad note in May, then sprained her right ankle in practice the week before making her professional debut in Lexington, Ky., in July. She aggravated the injury in the second round of qualifying, lost the match and withdrew from Vancouver the following week. Redding was her first tournament since Lexington.
   Gullickson won the 2010 NCAA singles title on her home courts as a sophomore at Georgia. The tournament returned to Athens, Ga., this year, but Gullickson lost in the first round.
   "I put a bunch of pressure on myself to do the same thing," she said after reaching the Redding quarterfinals. "It was really upsetting. Then I go to Lexington and hurt my ankle. That was upsetting, but I just went back to the practice court. I'm happy to be out here."

Allie Will lost to Gullickson in the final. They were
Southeastern Conference rivals.

   The 5-foot-11Gullickson, 22, went on to beat former Southeastern Conference rival Allie Will 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the final for her second title in a pro tournament. She won a $25,000 event on clay in Raleigh, N.C., as a high school senior in May 2008.
   The 5-foot-10 Will also turned pro in July, after leading Florida to its second consecutive NCAA team title as a junior.
   Gullickson's mother, Sandy, played tennis at Western Kentucky. She introduced the game to Chelsey's older sister, Carly, and Chelsey tagged along. Carly became a professional player and won the 2009 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Travis Parrott.
   The sisters' father, Bill, pitched in the major leagues for 14 years (1979-94, including a stint in Japan). Chelsey, who was 4 when he retired, has only faint memories of him as a pitcher.
   "I remember he played for the (Detroit) Tigers, and they had family picture day," she said. "We all dressed in Tigers uniforms. He'd walk out of the house to go to work, and we'd all be hugging his feet not to go."
   So is Chelsey a baseball fan?
   "Actually, no. It's a slow-paced game for me. I'm used to tennis being fast, fast," she said, snapping her fingers.     
   Comeback kid -- Another player happy to be back on the court was 21-year-old Canadian Rebecca Marino, who lost in the second round after returning from a 6 1/2-month sabbatical.

Rebecca Marino, a former top-40 player,
says she "did the right thing" by taking
a 6 1/2-month sabbatical.

   "I was at the point where my body was telling me I needed a break," said the 6-foot Marino, who reached a career-high No. 38 in the world last year. "I could either listen to my body and prolong my career or keep going and struggle more. There were also some personal matters that I'd rather not discuss. I feel I did the right thing."
   Added Marino: "It was not an easy decision. There's a coaching team depending on you, and it's my source of income."
   Marino spent most of her time off at home in Vancouver, British Columbia.
   "I reconnected with a lot of friends and had a lot of family time," she said. "I spent time with my brother (a junior rower at Cal) and learned to snowboard. It went miserably for me. I did a backflip and landed on my face."
   Marino said she watched "bits and pieces" of the U.S. Open women's final, in which Serena Williams defeated Victoria Azarenka, on television.
   Marino played on the same court, Arthur Ashe Stadium, two years ago in the U.S. Open. As a qualifier, she lost to Venus Williams 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a second-round day match televised across the United States and Canada.
   Two things about that encounter stand out to Marino. 
   "Firstly, I felt really comfortable in that situation," she recalled. "It surprised me, because it was new territory for me.
   "And Venus is such a great athlete. She's intimidating in a sense because she's tall with a cut physique. She hit so hard, it was unbelievable. It was a great experience and helped build my game a lot."
   The tennis whisperer -- Mercifully, no players shrieked like Maria Sharapova or Azarenka during matches on Tuesday or Wednesday of the Redding tournament.
   But Angelina Gabueva made a whistling noise while blowing every time she hit the ball.
   The 23-year-old Russian reached the quarterfinals before losing to qualifier Kristie Ahn, a Stanford junior.
   Unlikely partners -- Elizabeth Ferris, who lost to Gabueva in the second round, tells a humorous story about how she hooked up with fellow American Nadia Echeverria Alam in doubles at the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area in May.
   Ferris, 26, of Anaheim, had beaten Echeverria Alam, 17, of Miami, in singles one year previously.
   "We didn't have the best on-court relationship," Ferris said in Gold River. "It was rocky. Out of the blue, she asked me to play doubles. It's funny how it worked out."
   Ferris elaborated on the friction between her and Echeverria Alam.
   "She's young and probably felt she should have beaten me. She was making fun of the way I played. I use slice, placement and spin. My game is the opposite of hers. She's a typical young player with a lot of pace," Ferris said. 
   "She was making comments to her parents: 'This is girls 12s, not women's tennis.' I was pretty shocked by her behavior, but I got to know her, and everything's been fine."
   At Echeverria Alam's request, she and Ferris wore multicolored knee socks on their right legs only during their first-round loss in Gold River to second seeds and eventual champions Asia Muhammad and Yasmin Schnack.
   "(Echeverria Alam) has a fun personality, and it loosens her up," Ferris said. "Whatever I can do to loosen her up and make it fun, I'll be glad to do as her doubles partner."
   Echeverria Alam, a Venezuela native, also wore pink war paint -- actually lipstick -- under her eyes.
   "She tried to get me to do it, but I sweat a lot," Ferris said. "I knew it would be all over my face."

'Late bloomer' scores huge upset in Redding

Qualifier Katie Le, a junior at Santa Clara, stunned
second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay
6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $25,000
USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger in Redding.
Photos by Paul Bauman

   REDDING, Calif. -- In an upset-filled tournament, Katie Le pulled off the biggest one Thursday.
   It seemed nothing could top qualifier Kristie Ahn's straight-set victory over top-seeded Florencia Molinero on Wednesday in the first round of the $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger.
   But the 6-2, 6-4 triumph by Le, another qualifier, over second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg in the second round at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness was even more stunning.
   Both Ahn and Le (pronounced Lee) will begin their junior year at universities in the San Francisco Bay Area this month. But Ahn is a high-profile, albeit injury-prone, player from powerful Stanford who qualified for the U.S. Open in women's singles at 16 years old and has won professional tournaments.
   Le, on the other hand, was lightly recruited out of high school in the Bay Area suburb of Milpitas and settled for a full scholarship at obscure Santa Clara, a few miles down the road from Stanford. She needed a wild card to get into the qualifying event for the Oak River Rehab Challenger, her first pro tournament. As amateurs, Le and Ahn can accept only expense money. 
   "I would have loved to (go to Cal or Stanford), but I wasn't good enough," the 5-foot-6 Le conceded. "You could say I'm a late bloomer."
   Also falling Thursday were No. 4 Chieh-Yu Hsu of San Antonio and No. 6 Rebecca Marino, a Canadian formerly ranked in the top 40 in the world. Only one seed, No. 7 Nicola Geuer of Germany, reached today's quarterfinals. But three qualifiers -- Le, Ahn and 2010 NCAA singles champion Chelsea Gullickson -- remain alive.

Qualifier Chelsey Gullickson, the daughter
of former major-league pitcher Bill Gullickson,
defeated fourth-seeded Chieh-Yu Hsu 6-4, 6-3.

   Last season, Le became the first player in Santa Clara history to earn a berth in the NCAA Division I Singles Championships, losing in the first round, and the second Bronco woman to be named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in tennis.
   "I've improved a lot in college, maybe because of all the training and match play I got," said Le, who also was named to the WCC All-Academic team with a 3.81 grade-point average in computer engineering.
   Le now owns a victory over a top-200 player. Cepede Royg, a 20-year-old Paraguayan, is No. 188.
   Le was much fresher for the match, despite having played three matches to Cepede Royg's one in the tournament. Le lost only two games in two qualifying matches and dispatched Vojislava Lukic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday in the first round. 
   Cepede Royg, meanwhile, survived a draining 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory over Cal freshman Klara Fabikova of the Czech Republic on Wednesday. The match, played in 95-degree heat, lasted 3 hours, 7 minutes, but Royg said that wasn't a factor against Le.
   "I played some games OK and some not," said Cepede Royg, whose English is limited.
   The Fabikova match might have taken a mental, if not physical, toll on Cepede Royg.
   "She lost focus on some points, and I was able to take advantage," Le said. "She was still playing really well. She hit a lot of deep balls."
   Cepede Royg, only 5-foot-4, has a blistering forehand, but Le ran down a surprising number of shots.
   "On the first ball (back), she'll make it, but not the third or fourth," Le said.     

Unseeded Sachie Ishizu of Japan beat sixth-seeded Rebecca Marino,
a former top-40 player returning from a 6 1/2-month sabbatical, 6-2, 6-2.

   Gullickson, 5-foot-11, overpowered Hsu, a slightly built left-hander, 6-4, 6-3.
   "These courts fit my game well," said Gullickson, who completed her eligibility at Georgia in May. "They're fast. She hits with more spin, and the courts don't suit her game well.
   "She was getting to most of my balls. It couldn't have gone either way if a few points were changed."
   Gullickson's father, Bill, went 162-136 as a major-league pitcher for 14 years, and her older sister, Carly, won the 2009 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Travis Parrott.
   "Carly gives me tips on how to handle pressure and how to play these girls," Chelsea said. "My dad didn't play tennis, but he helps me after the tough times he had. It's a good support system."
   Sachie Ishizu of Japan used her pinpoint groundstrokes to defeat the 6-foot Marino 6-2, 6-2.
   "She seemed to be teeing off on everything and not missing anything," said Marino, who was playing in her first tournament after taking 6 1/2 months off because of fatigue and personal matters. "It was hard to get into the rhythm of the match."
   Marino, who reached a career-high No. 38 in the world last year, played her second consecutive Japanese opponent.
   "It definitely wasn't my best match," said Marino, who beat Miki Miyamura 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 Wednesday in the first round. "I think I was a bit tired from yesterday. For sure, I'll improve over the next few weeks."

Stanford's Ahn stuns top seed in Redding Challenger

Qualifier Kristie Ahn, a Stanford junior, knocked off No. 1 seed
Florencia Molinero of Argentina in the first round of the $25,000
USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger in Redding, Calif. Photos by
Paul Bauman

   REDDING, Calif. -- Kristie Ahn showed Wednesday what she can do when she's healthy and relaxed.
   The 20-year-old qualifier, who's about to begin her junior year at Stanford, dismissed top-seeded Florencia Molinero of Argentina 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.
   The injury-prone Ahn is ranked No. 1,153 in the world and Molinero No. 191. But Ahn has flashed her potential before. At 16 years old, she qualified for the 2008 U.S. Open in women's singles before losing to Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. Safina was ranked seventh at the time and reached No. 1 the following year. Ahn also has won two $10,000 tournaments in singles and a $50,000 event in doubles with Stanford teammate Nicole Gibbs.
   Ahn said "words cannot describe" the frustration over her injuries.

Molinero called Ahn "a great player."

   "I guess the toughest part was expecting so much of myself," she continued. "I was really playing well before it all went downhill. I expected to jump right back in, but the (fundamentals) you take for granted -- focusing, moving your feet, getting low -- weren't there."
  Second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg almost joined her doubles partner, Molinero, on the sideline. Cepede Royg, a 20-year-old Paraguayan, held off Klara Fabikova, an 18-year-old Cal freshman from the Czech Republic, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
   Sixth-seeded Rebecca Marino, a Canadian formerly ranked among the top 40 in the world, outlasted Miki Miyamura of Japan 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Marino was playing in her first match since taking a 6 1/2-month break because of fatigue and personal matters.  
   Ahn's physical problems began when she had surgery on her right (playing) wrist during her senior year of high school in Upper Saddle River, N.J. As a Stanford freshman, she was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rookie of the Year in 2011 despite playing only one match after May 1 because of an ankle injury.

Second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay almost
joined her doubles partner, Molinero, on the sideline.

   Ahn missed almost all of her sophomore season with a stress fracture in her left foot and shoulder soreness, then tore a quadriceps muscle earlier this summer.
   Finally feeling 100 percent physically this week, Ahn decided to take the pressure off of herself against Molinero.
   "One of the most important things was staying loose," Ahn said. "I haven't been playing much in the last year, and my last few tournaments were awful because I was so nervous. I just wanted to play a good, solid match and not freak out. I did a pretty good job of that."
   Playing the top seed actually helped Ahn.
   "It was a win-win situation," she explained. "I'm excited to go back to school. If I lose, I get to go back to school. If I win, I get to play more."
   The Farm will have to wait, thanks largely to Ahn's serve and forehand. Ahn blasted four aces, not exactly Serena Williams-like but not bad for a short player (5-foot-5) and match.
   "I think that's the most aces I've hit in my entire life," Ahn marveled.

Sixth-seeded Rebecca Marino, a Canadian
formerly ranked among the top 40 in the world,
won her first match after a long layoff.

   Ahn has beaten other top-200 players but called the victory over Molinero her biggest in the last year or two.
   "She's a great player," Molinero said. "She had a good day, and I lost. She has a great forehand and serve. For me, it was not a perfect day. I didn't play my best tennis."
   When asked why not, Molinero simply shrugged her shoulders. 
   Ahn will face Jacqueline Cako (pronounced CAY-ko), a junior from Pacific-12 Conference rival Arizona State, on Thursday in the second round after a 10 a.m. match. Ahn and Cako have never met in college.
   The 5-foot-4, 143-pound Royg and the 5-11, 190-pound Fabikova traded laser groundstrokes but struggled with their serves in a 3-hour, 7-minute battle in 95-degree heat. Royg committed 17 doubles faults and Fabikova, whose toss could draw rain, nine.
   The 10th game of the third set was a marathon within a marathon. Royg, ranked No. 188, double-faulted on match point at 5-4 and finally sprayed a backhand on Fabikova's eighth break point of the game. Royg double-faulted six times in the game and three consecutive times to lose her serve at 5-5 in the first set.
   "I was a little nervous with my serve," she said.
   Fabikova was playing her first match in six weeks because of a lower-back injury and an illness requiring antibiotics.
   "It will take a few more matches for me to play my best," she said.  
   Royg will take on Katie Le, a junior at Santa Clara from Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the second round. Le, the West Coast Conference Player of the Year last season, defeated Vojislava Lukic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3.
   The 6-foot Marino described her comeback match as "difficult. My opponent didn't gve me much pace, and my game depends on pace. ... It's a bit of a relief to win my first match back. I was quite nervous at the beginning."
   Ahn, meanwhile, could face a dilemma Saturday, when the 25th-ranked Stanford football team hosts No. 2 USC at 4:30 p.m.
   "I really want to go to that game," she said. "If I'm still in the tournament, do I go down and come back? I don't know."
   It would be a nice problem to have.

U.S. teens McHale, Vandeweghe serve notice

   STANFORD -- Christina McHale and Coco Vandeweghe could have been playing low-level tournaments in the United States this summer and preparing for their sophomore year of college.
   Instead, the 19-year-old Americans are traveling around the world as professionals on the elite WTA Tour. Both have cracked the top 100 and beaten Russian stars for the biggest victories of their careers.
   "It's weird having a lot of friends in college while I'm doing this," McHale admittted Monday.
   McHale and Vandeweghe, a former Capital, had mixed results in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic. McHale crushed error-prone Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-1, 6-0, and Vandeweghe lost to Rebecca Marino of Canada 6-4, 6-4.
   The 5-foot-7 McHale, from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is ranked No. 65 (third in the United States). She reached the third round at Indian Wells in March, stunning two-time Grand Slam singles champion Svetlana Kuznetsova along the way.
   The 6-1 Vandeweghe, from Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area, is No. 99 (fifth in the U.S.). At her hometown tournament last August, she won three qualifying matches and knocked off second-ranked Vera Zvonareva, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, en route to the quarterfinals.
   Another 19-year-old American, 100th-ranked Melanie Oudin, is playing in the inaugural Citi Open in College Park, Md., this week.
  McHale and Vandeweghe have earned $149,476 and $106,343, respectively, in prize money this year, although travel expenses have eaten up a significant percentage of that.
   McHale, the youngest player in the top 100, turned pro last year after much deliberation. She doesn't know where she would have gone to college but has been impressed by Stanford.
   "After being here, I definitely would have considered it," said McHale, who also reached the second round of the Bank of the West Classic last year.
   McHale said she's not surprised by her rapid rise in the rankings.
   "It's what I've been working hard for. I'm happy to see it happening," she said.
   McHale also doesn't mind being considered the next hope for the United States, whose top-ranked player is Bethanie Mattek-Sands at No. 30.
   "It's fine," McHale said. "All I can do is try my best and keep working hard."
   Venus and Serena Williams have dropped to No. 35 and No. 169, respectively, after long layoffs caused by injuries and health problems. They returned to the circuit last month.
   Serena Williams is scheduled to meet Anastasia Rodionova, another former Capital, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic. Venus, a two-time champion and five-time runner-up in the tournament, is not entered this year.
   Vandeweghe, the 2008 U.S. Open junior champion, urged patience for fans awaiting the next American stars.
   "It's not easy to get through the rankings," said Vandeweghe, the niece of former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe. "The prize money in the U.S. Challengers is not as high as in Europe. It takes a little time.
   "I turned pro at 16 and made the top 100 at 18. The juniors to the pros is a big change. You have to find yourself on the pro tour."
   Vandeweghe and McHale are making progress.