Lu beats Querrey for first win in almost three years

   Yen-Hsun Lu, 37, of Chinese Taipei recorded his first victory in almost three years today, defeating Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, 6-3, 6-4 today in the first round of the Miami Open.

   Lu missed 20 months from May 2018 through January 2020 because of a right shoulder injury. Miami — a Masters 1000 tournament, the highest level besides Grand Slam — is only his fifth event since then.

   Lu has plummeted from a career-high No. 33 in 2010 to No. 1,020. He had not won a match since beating Maverick Banes of Australia in the first round of the Seoul Challenger in late April 2018.

   Lu reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2010, shocking Andy Roddick 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 9-5 in 4 hours, 36 minutes in the fourth round. Lu also advanced to the final of the 2007 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger, losing to Wayne Odesnik. In 2015, Odesnik was banned for 15 years for a second doping violation.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey has advanced past the third round in Miami only once in 14 appearances, reaching the fourth round in 2013. He has tumbled from a career-high No. 11 in 2018 to No. 63.

   Another San Francisco Bay Area native, qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, defeated former world No. 25 Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil of Canada 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a matchup of players rebounding from surgery in 2019. 

   Pospisil, who underwent back surgery in January 2019, was assessed a point penalty on set point in the first set for verbal abuse. Losing his serve after leading 40-0 apparently set him off, but there was more to it. He told chair umpire Arnaud Gabas that ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi yelled at him for 90 minutes during a players' meeting on Tuesday. Pospisil and Novak Djokovic launched the Professional Tennis Players Association last summer.

   Pospisil won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jack Sock in 2014, reached the singles final of the $100,000 San Francisco Challenger in 2017 and was named the ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2020.

   McDonald, who had right hamstring surgery in June 2019, improved to 14-4 this year. He was the only American man to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open last month.

   McDonald is scheduled to face 18th-seeded John Isner, the Miami champion in 2018, for the first time on Friday. The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner, who drew a first-round bye, is one foot (30.5 centimeters) taller than McDonald.

   In the Miami women's draw, Sloane Stephens, a 28-year-old Fresno, Calif., product who won the 2018 title, topped qualifier "Atlantic" Oceane Dodin of France 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2 for her first victory this year. 

   Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, had lost in the first round of her last four tournaments and in six of her last seven. She has plunged from a career-high No. 3 in 2018 to No. 49.

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

Ex-Sacramento champion banned for 15 years

Wayne Odesnik, playing in the Napa
Challenger last September, committed
a second doping offense. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   INDIAN WELLS -- Wayne Odesnik's career, it appears, is over after a second doping offense.
   The 29-year-old Floridian was suspended for 15 years after testing positive for several banned substances, including steroids, in December and January, the Tennis Anti-Doping Program and United States Anti-Doping Agency announced today.
   Odesnik, who won the 2007 Sacramento Challenger at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club, served a one-year suspension in 2010 for possession of human growth hormone.
   A 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) left-hander, Odesnik is ranked No. 267 in the world. He reached a career-high No. 77 in 2009. 
   ''Bye bye Wayne... Good riddance,'' tweeted Andy Murray, a two-time Grand Slam champion.
   After beating Adrian Mannarino of France 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open, Murray said, "I think it's good for tennis to get him off the tour because we don't want that being part of the tour."    

Potential star Donaldson gains 'special' victory

Jared Donaldson, 17, beat injured Wayne Odesnik on Wednesday in Napa
to reach his first Challenger quarterfinal. Photo by Paul Bauman

    NAPA, Calif. -- They were two of the few Americans in a stadium far from home.
   The scene was the 5,500-seat Center Court at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, known as the "Cathedral of Argentine Tennis" in a nation that has produced Guillermo Vilas, Gabriela Sabatini, David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro.
   Wayne Odesnik, a lucky loser and the only U.S. player in the draw, was facing Nalbandian at night in the first round of the 2012 Copa Claro, a clay-court tournament on the ATP World Tour.
   In the stands was Jared Donaldson, an obscure 15-year-old player from that noted tennis hotbed of Rhode Island, with his father, Courtney. They recently had moved to Buenos Aires so the lanky Jared could train on clay and work on his movement and point construction.
   Two and a half years later, Donaldson faced Odesnik on the court Wednesday at the beautiful Napa Valley Country Club and advanced to his first Challenger quarterfinal.
   It won't go down as a classic. Donaldson converted only 35 percent of his first serves, and Odesnik retired with an inflamed left big toe with Donaldson leading 6-2, 3-1, 30-0. But it was poignant for Donaldson.

Odesnik, shown Wednesday, played a 2012
match in Buenos Aires that Donaldson attend-
ed as a 15-year-old. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Odesnik won the 2007 Sacramento Challenger at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club but was suspended for one year in 2010 for importing human growth hormone into Australia.
   The 28-year-old left-hander from Florida might be the only American man or woman who lists clay as his or her favorite surface. He lost to Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon runner-up and former world No. 3 who retired last year at 31 after numerous injuries, 6-2, 6-3 in Buenos Aires. 
   "It's funny, actually," Donaldson recalled. "When I was down there, I didn't know I was going to be as good as I am now or as good as I could be. I was just playing tennis and looking up to a lot of those guys playing down there and saying, 'Another American is in Argentina; he's playing.' I thought that was really cool. Now that I have the chance to play these guys, it's pretty special for me."
   Also advancing Wednesday was Liam Broady, a 20-year-old left-hander from Great Britain who defeated 2013 Napa semifinalist Alex Kuznetsov of Tampa, Fla., 7-6 (6), 6-4. Kuznetsov had a set point in the tiebreaker on Broady's serve and led 4-1 (one service break) in the second set.
   In Friday's quarterfinals, Donaldson will play hard-serving Julian Lenz, a 21-year-old German qualifier, and Broady will meet second-seeded Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla. The other quarterfinal matchups will be determined today.
   Under the tutelage of former top-25 player Taylor Dent, the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Donaldson suddenly has emerged as perhaps the United States' top teenage prospect at 17. He and junior rival Collin Altamirano of Sacramento trained with Roger Federer for two weeks last December in Dubai, where the Swiss star has a residence.
   At No. 342 in the world, Donaldson is the third-youngest player in the top 350 after No. 140 Borna Coric of Croatia and No. 149 Alexander Zverev of Germany. Donaldson will turn 18 on Oct. 9, the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Coric on Nov. 14 and the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev next April 20.
   Donaldson won three consecutive Futures titles (in four weeks) in June and qualified for his first main draw on the elite ATP World Tour in Washington, D.C., before losing to 30-year-old American  Rajeev Ram 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5 in the opening round.
   Donaldson turned pro last month just before the U.S. Open, allowing him to pocket $35,754 for losing to 20th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round as a wild card at Flushing Meadows. Monfils advanced to the quarterfinals and had two match points against Federer in a five-set loss.
   Donaldson trained in Buenos Aires for 2 1/2 years and said it helped his game "tremendously." Andy Murray left his native Scotland at 15 and practiced on clay in sunny Barcelona, Spain, for the same amount of time.   
   Shortly after Donaldson returned to the United States early last year, he reached the final of the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Donaldson fell to Altamirano, who's 10 months older, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the title match but routed him in their next meeting less than a year later, 6-2, 6-1, en route to the title of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Futures.
   "At Kalamazoo, when I lost in the finals to him, it was really my breakout tournament. Same thing for him. I was never really the best (junior). I was good, but I wasn't the best or even close to it, to be honest. But I've been working really, really hard because I've always wanted to be really, really good," the candid Donaldson said of his turnaround against Altamirano.
   "My goal is to win Slams eventually, so I've been working really, really hard, and I've just been trying to be a professional my entire career. Even when I wasn't labeled a professional, I was training like one and had the mindset of a professional."
   Donaldson began working with Dent last November after attending his academy in Fountain Valley in the Los Angeles area.
   The affable Dent is the 33-year-old son of Australian Phil Dent, who lost to Jimmy Connors in the final of the 1974 Australian Open, and American Betty Ann (Grubb) Stuart, who reached the women's doubles final in the 1977 U.S. Open with transsexual Renee Richards. Taylor Dent is married to former WTA player Jennifer Hopkins.
   Dent, a rare serve-and-volleyer, reached a career-high No. 21 in the world in 2005 before undergoing three back operations. He returned to the top 100 in 2009 but retired the following year at 29.
   "He's helped me in a number of aspects," Donaldson said. "He's been a great influence on my serve. That's the real reason I went to him at first. My serve was a huge liability. Even though I didn't showcase it (Wednesday) as well as I would have liked, it has really become a strength in my game. Before, I never had confidence in it. Now, even when I don't have good days like (Wednesday), I still have confidence that I'm going to go up to the line and hit a really good first serve.
   "He's also helped me with my forehand, my backhand, my net game, my mental game, my defense, everything. He's been a huge influence on me on the court and also off the court. He was a 17-year-old, too, coming up and playing on the tour. Also, he's just a really, really nice person. I'm lucky that I have him around."
   Training with Federer in Dubai reinforced Dent's instructions about court positioning, opening up the court, accuracy on groundstrokes and serves, and defense.
   "I hadn't been working with him that long," Donaldson noted. "Not that I didn't believe him or have confidence in what he was saying, but I was still unsure. Look, I'm a pretty stubborn person. If someone tells me something, I don't just blindly accept it. I really need to understand it and believe it if I'm going to implement it into my game. I was a little hesitant about what he was saying. I didn't have full faith in it.
   "When I saw that Federer was doing the same things that I was trying to work on -- obviously he was doing it at a much higher level -- it gave me a lot of confidence in Taylor. I said, 'Taylor's right. He's telling me the truth. He's telling me what I need to hear.' "
   Donaldson began playing at 4 years old at the Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln, a suburb of Providence in the smallest state in area in the United States. The club has four hardcourts but, despite the snowy winters, none indoors.
   "My mom took my sister and me to the pool every single day," said Donaldson, whose father owned a construction company. "One day, I just wandered over to the tennis courts, picked up a racket and started playing. I played for five hours a day for a week in a row. My mom was like, 'Well, Jared, where do you go? I don't see you.' 'I go and play tennis.' 'Oh, really? For that long?'
   "My parents saw that I took an interest in tennis, and they started (paying for) private lessons. One thing led to another, and here I am."
   On the ATP World Tour web site, Donaldson says he'd be a poker player if he weren't a touring pro in tennis.
   "I really like playing poker, and I've studied the game pretty in-depth," he said.
   Donaldson attributes his interest to the "Moneymaker Effect."
   "When I was 6, I was watching ESPN, and I saw Moneymaker win the main event," Donaldson said. "I was like, 'Poker looks fun,' so I started playing."
   Will Donaldson reach tennis stardom? He's betting on it. 

Napa Challenger results, schedule

$50,000 NAPA VALLEY CHALLENGER

At Napa Valley Country Club in Napa, Calif.

Second-round singles

   Tim Smyczek (2), United States, def. Bjorn Fratangelo, United States, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
   Liam Broady, Great Britain, def. Alex Kuznetsov, United States, 7-6 (6), 6-4.
   Julian Lenz, Germany, def. Daniel Nguyen, United States, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
   Jared Donaldson, United States, def. Wayne Odesnik, United States, 6-2, 3-1, 30-0, retired.

First-round doubles

   Denis Kudla and Michael Russell, United States, def. Wesley Koolhof, Netherlands, and Elias Ymer, Sweden, 4-6, 7-6 (3) [10-7].
   Peter Polansky and Adil Shamasdin (1), Canada, def. Bjorn Fratangelo and Marcos Giron, United States, 6-2, 6-3.
   Alex Kuznetsov, United States, and Nils Langer, Germany, def. James Cluskey and James McGee, Ireland, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
   Liam Broady, Great Britain, and Jordan Thompson, Australia, def. Julio Peralta, Chile, and Matt Seeberger, Los Altos, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6) [10-7].

   Doubles quarterfinals

   Alex Bolt, Australia, and Frank Dancevic, Canada, def. Sekou Bangoura and Vahid Mirzadeh (3), United States, 7-6 (4), 1-6 [10-7].

Thursday's schedule

Center Court

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Michael Russell (6), United States, vs. Rhyne Williams, United States.
   Bradley Klahn and Tim Smyczek (2), United States, vs. Liam Broady, Great Britain, and Jordan Thompson, Australia.
   Marcos Baghdatis (3), Cyprus, vs. John Millman, Australia (not before 2 p.m.).
   Sam Querrey (1), United States, vs. Elias Ymer, Sweden (not before 4 p.m.).

Court 7

(Starting at noon)

   Dennis Novikov, San Jose, vs. Alex Bolt, Australia.
   Adam Hubble and John-Patrick Smith, Australia, vs. Alex Kuznetsov, United States, and Nils Langer, Germany.
   Peter Polansky and Adil Shamasdin (1), Canada, vs. Denis Kudla and Michael Russell, United States.

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.       
   
   

Wimbledon doubles champ routed in Sac singles

Frederik Nielsen, a reigning Wimbledon doubles champion,
lost to unseeded Tennys Sandgren 6-1, 6-2 Monday in the
first round of the $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger in
Sacramento. Photos by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- This is the guy who won the Wimbledon men's doubles title a few months ago?
   As John McEnroe famously said, you cannot be serious.
   Frederik Nielsen sprayed groundstrokes all over the place, served poorly and somehow dumped a high backhand volley into the bottom of the net. And he ran into a young, strong, highly motivated player on top of his game.
   It added up to a 6-1, 6-2 shellacking in 52 minutes by unseeded American Tennys Sandgren on Monday in the first round of the $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   And it wasn't that close. Saying Nielsen had a bad day is like saying the Houston Astros have had a bad year.
   OK, so this was singles and not doubles. It's still tennis, right? And Nielsen did reach the singles quarterfinals in the Natomas Challenger two years ago. 
   At least the 29-year-old Danish wild card showed strong soccer skills Monday. After double-faulting at 2-2 in the second set, he booted a stationary ball over the fence, incurring a warning for ball abuse.

Sandgren said he had extra incentive against Nielsen.

   After swatting a routine forehand way long on match point, Nielsen could only laugh out loud at his futility.
   The errant shot, Nielsen said later in impressive English, "was very symptomatic of the match. ... It was a forehand as standard as possible, and I played it in the fence."
   All three seeds in action Monday lost to Americans.
   No. 4 Wayne Odesnik, a Weston, Fla., resident who won the 2007 Sacramento Challenger, fell to Alex Kuznetsov, a Sacramento semifinalist in 2006 at 19 years old and last year, 6-4, 6-4. Odesnik, who was suspended for one year in 2010 for importing human growth hormone into Australia, had been 5-1 lifetime against Kuznetsov.
   No. 6 Peter Polansky of Canada retired with a shoulder injury with Adam El Mihdawy leading 3-6, 7-6 (2), 4-1. And Izak Van der Merwe, who won the doubles title in the 2010 Natomas Challenger with fellow South African Rik de Voest, ousted No. 7 Tim Smyczek 6-3, 6-2.
   Australia's Samuel Groth, the world's fastest server at 163 mph (263 kph), will meet fifth-seeded Matteo Viola of Italy in the first round today at 10 a.m. Then 32-year-old wild card James Blake, the second seed and last year's runner-up to 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, will face 19-year-old qualifier Taro Daniel of Japan in a matchup of the tournament's oldest and youngest players.
   Also playing separate matches today are top-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany and past Sacramento singles champions de Voest, who won the inaugural tournament in 2005 at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club, and John Millman (2010) of Australia.  
   Nielsen, who's ranked No. 23 in doubles and No. 353 in singles, took his dismal performance philosophically.
   "That's the way it is in sports sometimes," he said. "Sometimes you do everything in your power and win, and sometimes you get rewarded with nothing. That's the beauty and annoyance of sports."
   Nielsen's grandfather Kurt was the Wimbledon singles runner-up in 1953 and 1955. Frederik did not enter doubles in Sacramento, he said, so he could play singles qualifying this weekend in the Tiburon Challenger.
   Nielsen, who often wears a hangdog expression on the court, denied suffering a letdown after winning Wimbledon. But Sandgren said: "It's kind of tough if you have a result like that and come to a tournament like this. This is a great tournament, but it's not the same kind of glamour."   
   For all the benefits of a Wimbledon title -- prestige, fame, entry into top doubles events, money, etc. -- there's one major drawback. Nielsen is a marked man whenever he steps on the court.
   "It helps you focus," Sandgren observed. "You know the guy is loose and relaxed. I knew he could come out and play amazing tennis. I had to be on my toes and bring my best game."
   Sandgren did exactly that. Powerfully built at 6-foot-2, he blasted serves at up to 128 mph, pounded deep groundstrokes and returned well.  
   "I didn't miss too much," Sandgren conceded. "I served extremely well. I think my first-serve percentage was in the 70s, and they were bombs. My arm was loose, and I was feeling good. It was one of my better days, which helps, especially because this court is fast."
   Sandgren, 21, turned pro last year after reaching the NCAA singles semifinals as a sophomore at Tennessee. He has almost halved his world ranking this year from No. 540 to No. 278.
   And no, Sandgren is not named for his sport. He was given his great-grandfather's name, which is Swedish.
   On Monday, Sandgren made a name for himself.

RELYAID NATOMAS CHALLENGER - SACRAMENTO, CA, USA
$ 100,000.00
SEPT. 29 - OCT. 7, 2012

RESULTS - MONDAY, OCT. 1, 2012
Singles - First Round
A Kuznetsov (USA) d [4] W Odesnik (USA) 64 64
A El Mihdawy (USA) d [6] P Polansky (CAN) 36 76(2) 41 Retired
I Van der Merwe (RSA) d [7] T Smyczek (USA) 63 62
T Sandgren (USA) d [WC] F Nielsen (DEN) 61 62
M Zverev (GER) d S Bubka (UKR) 26 62 63

Doubles - First Round
D Britton (USA) / A Krajicek (USA) d [2] R De Voest (RSA) / R Farah (COL) 76(4) 76(4)
[WC] T Sandgren (USA) / R Williams (USA) d [WC] D Kosakowski (USA) / N Meister (USA) 62 36 10-7
S Groth (AUS) / C Guccione (AUS) d [WC] P Simmonds (USA) / J Sock (USA) 46 76(5) 10-4

Mens
Qualifying Singles - Quarterfinals
T Daniel (JPN) d A Daescu (ROU) 36 63 61
G Jones (AUS) d D Britton (USA) 46 63 63
L Gregorc (SLO) d F Wolmarans (RSA) 64 61
P Simmonds (USA) d R Thacher (USA) 16 64 62

Qualifying Doubles - Final
[1] J Dadamo (USA) / B Klahn (USA) d [2] L Gregorc (SLO) / A Pavic (CRO) 64 61

ORDER OF PLAY - TUESDAY, OCT. 2, 2012
STADIUM start 10:00 am
S Groth (AUS) vs [5] M Viola (ITA) 
Not Before 12:00 PM
[Q] T Daniel (JPN) vs [2] [WC] J Blake (USA) 
[3] R Sweeting (USA) vs M Reid (AUS) 
Not Before 4:30 PM
J Sock (USA) vs B Reynolds (USA)

COURT 1 start 10:00 am
[Q] P Simmonds (USA) vs M McClune (USA) 
R Farah (COL) vs A Bogdanovic (GBR) 
[1] B Becker (GER) vs [WC] D Kosakowski (USA) 
R Williams (USA) vs R De Voest (RSA) 
A Kuznetsov (USA) / M Zverev (GER) vs S Ianni (ITA) / M Viola (ITA)

COURT 2 start 10:00 am
[8] D Kudla (USA) vs [Q] G Jones (AUS) 
[Q] L Gregorc (SLO) vs L Vanni (ITA) 
J Millman (AUS) vs [WC] B Klahn (USA) 
[LL] L Gregorc (SLO) / A Pavic (CRO) vs [4] A Daescu (ROU) / A Hubble (AUS)

Wimbledon doubles champ to play in Sac today

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Frederik Nielsen, a reigning Wimbledon men's doubles champion, will face Tennys Sandgren today in the first round of singles in the $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club.
  Nielsen, 29, of Denmark and Jonathan Marray of Great Britain in July became the first wild cards in Wimbledon history to win the men's doubles title. Sandgren, a 21-year-old American, turned pro last year after reaching the NCAA singles semifinals at Stanford as a sophomore at Tennessee. He is named after his great-grandfather, not tennis. "Tennys" is a Swedish name.
   Nielsen, who is not playing doubles in Sacramento, and Sandgren will meet for the first time in the third match on the stadium court. The first one begins at 10 a.m. After the Nielsen-Sandgren encounter, fourth-seeded Wayne Odesnik will take on fellow American Alex Kuznetsov.
   Both Odesnik, a 26-year-old left-hander, and Kuznetsov, 25, moved from their native countries to the United States at 3 and have had success in the Sacramento Challenger.
   Odesnik, a native of South Africa, won the 2007 title at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club but was suspended for one year in 2010 for importing human growth hormone into Australia. Kuznetsov reached the Sacramento semifinals in 2006 and last year. Odesnik leads the head-to-head series 5-1.
   In the third match on Court 2, Australians Samuel Groth and Chris Guccione will meet American wild cards Phillip Simmonds and Jack Sock in the first round of doubles.
   Groth was credited with the world's fastest serve (163.4 mph/263 kph) in a South Korea Challenger in May, breaking the record of 156 mph (251 kph) by 2011 Sacramento singles champion Ivo Karlovic in the Davis Cup last year.
   Guccione won the Sacramento doubles title last year with Carsten Ball over Sock, the 2011 U.S. Open mixed doubles champion with Melanie Oudin, and Nicholas Monroe.  
   Coaching corner -- Mackenzie McDonald, a 17-year-old wild card who lost Sunday in the second round of Sacramento qualifying, is coached by South Africa native Wayne Ferreira, who peaked at No. 6 in the world in 1995.
   McDonald, from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, reached the Australian Open boys singles semifinals in January and won the boys 18 singles title at the prestigious Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in April. Brad Gilbert, who climbed to No. 4 in the world in 1990 and later became a renowned tennis coach and commentator, also grew up in Piedmont.
   Fritz Wolmarans, a 26-year-old South African who will play today for a berth in the Sacramento main draw, is coached by Brian MacPhie, the World TeamTennis Male MVP in 1996, 1997 and 1998 for the Sacramento Capitals.
   College decisions -- McDonald will play at a prominent university next fall but is waiting for the school to announce his decision this week. Sacramento's Lovedeep Singh, who lost to 2009 NCAA singles champion Devin Britton (Mississippi) in the second round of qualifying at Natomas, verbally committed to Fresno State.
   Technology time -- Video streaming and live scoring of the Sacramento Challenger are available at www.usta.com.
   Speaking of fast serves, speeds are shown on digital displays on the stadium court at the Natomas Racquet Club for the second straight year, courtesy of Sacramento-based Eagle Eye Sports.
   Eagle Eye owner Ryan Ancheta said the fastest serves he witnessed in last year's tournament were 134 mph by Guccione (6-foot-7) and 133 by Karlovic (6-foot-10) and Ball (6-foot-6).                         
   The radar gun also measures groundstrokes over 60 mph, Ancheta said. The fastest he saw in 2011 were 103-mph forehands by Sock and Sam Querrey.

RELYAID NATOMAS CHALLENGER - SACRAMENTO, CA, USA
$ 100,000.00
RESULTS - SUNDAY, SEPT. 30, 2012
Qualifying Singles - Second Round
P Simmonds (USA) d A Bossel (SUI) 62 67(5) 61
T Daniel (JPN) d S Ianni (ITA) 76(4) 75

G Jones (AUS) d [WC] M McDonald (USA) 63 46 64
F Wolmarans (RSA) d A Hubble (AUS) 76(3) 63
R Thacher (USA) d A Pavic (CRO) 64 63
D Britton (USA) d [WC] L Singh (USA) 61 63
L Gregorc (SLO) d N Meister (USA) 62 64
A Daescu (ROU) d J Jung (USA) 62 36 22 Retired

Qualifying Doubles - Semifinals 
[1] J Dadamo (USA) / B Klahn (USA) d Z Hindle (USA) / S Kolar (USA) 63 62
[2] L Gregorc (SLO) / A Pavic (CRO) d M McDonald (USA) / R Thacher (USA) 36 62 10-4
ORDER OF PLAY - MONDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2012
STADIUM start 10:00 am
Qualifying - T Daniel (JPN) vs A Daescu (ROU)
Not Before 11:30 am
M Zverev (GER) vs S Bubka (UKR)
T Sandgren (USA) vs [WC] F Nielsen (DEN)
A Kuznetsov (USA) vs [4] W Odesnik (USA)
[WC] T Sandgren (USA) / R Williams (USA) vs [WC] D Kosakowski (USA) / N Meister (USA)
COURT 1 start 10:00 am
Qualifying - G Jones (AUS) vs D Britton (USA)
Not Before 11:30 am
I Van der Merwe (RSA) vs [7] T Smyczek (USA)
[6] P Polansky (CAN) vs A El Mihdawy (USA)
D Britton (USA) / A Krajicek (USA) vs [2] R De Voest (RSA) / R Farah (COL)
COURT 2 start 10:00 am
Qualifying - P Simmonds (USA) vs R Thacher (USA)
Qualifying - F Wolmarans (RSA) vs L Gregorc (SLO)
Not Before 1:00 pm
S Groth (AUS) / C Guccione (AUS) vs [WC] P Simmonds (USA) / J Sock (USA)
Qualifying - [1] J Dadamo (USA) / B Klahn (USA) vs [2] L Gregorc (SLO) / A Pavic (CRO)

Updated: World's fastest server enters Sacramento

   The world's fastest server, the player who ended Andre Agassi's career and a Wimbledon champion head the field in next week's $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger in Sacramento.

   Samuel Groth, 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, was credited with a 163.4-mph (263-kph) serve in May at a Challenger tournament in Busan, South Korea. Groth, a 24-year-old Australian ranked No. 237 in the world, broke the record of 156 mph by 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, who won last year's Sacramento and Tiburon Challengers. 
   Benjamin Becker beat Agassi in the third round of the 2006 U.S. Open, the last tournament of the future International Tennis Hall of Famer's career. Becker, the 2004 NCAA singles champion from Baylor, is the only top-100 player entered in the RelyAid Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club. The 31-year-old German, just 5-foot-10 and 158 pounds, is ranked No. 84. He reached a career-high No. 38 in 2007 and sat out for six months last year with an elbow injury.

   Also entered in Sacramento is Frederik Nielsen, 29, of Denmark. Nielsen, the grandson of two-time Wimbledon singles runner-up Kurt Nielsen, and Jonathan Marray of Great Britain teamed in July to become the first wild cards to win the Wimbledon men's doubles title.
   James Blake, last year's runner-up, accepted a wild card to return to Sacramento. The 32-year-old American is ranked No. 99 after reaching a career-high No. 4 in 2006.
   Neither Karlovic nor 2011 semifinalist Sam Querrey is on the direct entry list this year. Both are former top-20 players who were coming back from injuries at this time last year. The 24-year-old Querrey has rebounded to No. 26, but the 33-year-old Karlovic is mired at No. 80. 
   Three former Sacramento Challenger champions plan to return: 32-year-old Rik de Voest, a South African who won the inaugural tournament at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club in 2005; Wayne Odesnik (2007) of Weston, Fla.; and John Millman (2010) of Australia. Odesnik, a 5-foot-11 left-hander, served a one-year suspension in 2010 for transporting human growth hormone into Australia.

   The Sacramento field also includes top U.S. prospects Denis Kudla (20 years old), Jack Sock (20), Rhyne Williams (21) and Steve Johnson (22). Sock won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title last year with Melanie Oudin. Johnson captured the last two NCAA singles titles, beating Williams of Tennessee in the 2011 final at Stanford, before completing his eligibility at USC in May.
   Based on current rankings, the Sacramento seeds will be Becker, 34-year-old Michael Russell (No. 104) of Houston, Ryan Sweeting (No. 135) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Odesnik (No. 136), Matteo Viola (No. 148) of Italy, Peter Polansky (No. 149) of Canada, Tim Smyczek (No. 154) of Tampa, Fla., and Kudla (No. 158) of Arlington, Va.
   Qualifying for this year's Sacramento Challenger begins Saturday at 9 a.m. The main draw starts Monday at 10 a.m., and the singles and doubles finals will be played on Oct. 7 at times to be determined.

TV SCHEDULE

(All Times PDT)

   Wednesday -- Tokyo (women), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 10 p.m.-5 a.m. Thursday (live).
   Thursday -- Tokyo (women), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday (live). Bangkok (men), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 5-9 p.m. (delay).
   Friday -- Tokyo (women), final, Tennis Channel, 9-11 p.m. (live). Bangkok (men), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 5-9 p.m. (delay).
   Saturday -- Kuala Lumpur (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 1-5 p.m. (delay). Bangkok (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 5-9 p.m. (delay).
   Sunday -- Kuala Lumpur (men), final, Tennis Channel, 1-3 p.m. (delay). Bangkok (men), final, Tennis Channel, 5-7 p.m. (delay).

CALENDAR

    Saturday-Oct. 7 -- $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger, Natomas Racquet Club, 2450 Natomas Park Drive, Sacramento, Calif., 95833, www.natomaschallenger.com, (916) 649-0909. 2011 champions: Ivo Karlovic, Carsten Ball-Chris Guccione.
   Oct. 6-14 -- $100,000 First Republic Bank Men's Challenger, Tiburon Peninsula Club, 1600 Mar West St., Tiburon, Calif., 94920, www.tiburonchallenger.com, (415) 789-7900. 2011 champions: Ivo Karlovic, Carsten Ball-Chris Guccione.
   Oct. 23-28 -- WTA Championships (top eight singles players and top four doubles teams of 2012), Istanbul, www.wtatennis.com/page/Tournaments/Info/0,,12781~742,00.html. 2011 champions: Petra Kvitova, Liezel Huber-Lisa Raymond.
   Nov. 3-4 -- Fed Cup Final, Serbia at Czech Republic, www.fedcup.com. 2011 champion: Czech Republic.
   Nov. 5-12 -- ATP World Tour Finals (top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams of 2012), London, www.atpworldtour.com/Finals/2012.aspx. 2011 champions: Roger Federer, Max Mirnyi-Daniel Nestor.
   Nov. 16-18 -- Davis Cup Final, Spain at Czech Republic, www.daviscup.com. 2011 champion: Spain.
   Jan. 14-27, 2013 -- AUSTRALIAN OPEN, www.australianopen.org. 2012 champions: Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka, Leander Paes-Radek Stepanek, Svetlana Kuznetsova-Vera Zvonareva.
   Feb. 1-3, 2013 -- Davis Cup, first round, Brazil at United States, www.daviscup.com.
   Feb. 9-10, 2013 -- Fed Cup, first round, United States at Italy, www.fedcup.com.
   Feb. 11-17, 2013 -- SAP Open, HP Pavilion in San Jose, www.sapopentennis.com. 2012 champions: Milos Raonic, Mark Knowles-Xavier Malisse.
   March 4-17, 2013 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif., www.bnpparibasopen.com. 2012 champions: Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka, Marc Lopez-Rafael Nadal, Liezel Huber-Lisa Raymond.

PRO RANKINGS

   Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   Kevin Anderson, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 35 in singles (no change), No. 96 in doubles (-3).
   Nick Andrews, Cal All-American in 2012 -- No. 1,429 in singles (-4), career-high No. 1,221 in doubles (+294).  
   Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, Capitals (2012) -- No. 22 in singles (no change), No. 728 in doubles (+2).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- No. 107 in doubles (-8), unranked in singles.
   Artem Ilyushin, Granite Bay resident -- No. 921 in singles (-1), No. 1,224 in doubles (+5).
   Bradley Klahn, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- Career-high No. 347 in singles (+2), No. 1,024 in doubles (+7). 
   Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12), three-time World TeamTennis Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) -- No. 124 in doubles (-1), unranked in singles.
   Alex Kuznetsov, Capitals (2012) -- No. 194 (+4) in singles, No. 427 in doubles (+1) in doubles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 26 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012) -- No. 26 in singles (no change), No. 46 in doubles (-2).
   Ryan Sweeting, Capitals (2012) -- No. 135 in singles (-1), No. 844 in doubles (-7).
   Ryan Thacher, 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 1,288 in singles (-7), No. 1,466 in doubles (-33).
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 100 in singles (+25, won $83,000 tournament in Izmir for second Turkish Challenger singles title in two weeks), No. 179 in doubles (-2).
   Jimmy Wang, trains part-time in Granite Bay -- No. 151 in singles (+2), No. 339 in doubles (+5).
   Pedro Zerbini, All-Pacific-10 Conference first team at Cal (2009-11) -- No. 625 in singles (no change), No. 701 in doubles (+5).

Women

   Mallory Burdette, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- Career-high No. 165 in singles (-5), No. 660 in doubles (+10). 
   Jana Juricova, NCAA singles (2011) and doubles (2009) champion from Cal -- No. 927 in singles (no change), unranked in doubles.
   Vania King, Capitals (2010-12) -- No. 13 in doubles (no change), No. 59 in singles (-2).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 20 in doubles (no change), No. 743 in singles (+19).
   Asia Muhammad, Capitals (2012) -- No. 168 in doubles (no change, won $75,000 Albuquerque Challenger), No. 474 in singles (+41, quarterfinalist in $75,000 Albuquerque Challenger).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- Career-high No. 108 in doubles (+7, runner-up in $75,000 Albuquerque Challenger), career-high No. 149 in singles (+28, won $75,000 Albuquerque Challenger).

   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Capitals (2011-12) -- No. 141 in doubles (+12, won $75,000 Albuquerque Challenger), No. 505 in singles (-50).
   Romana Tedjakusuma, Tracy resident -- No. 492 in singles (-28), No. 1,123 in doubles (-1).
   CoCo Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 83 in singles (+4), No. 490 in doubles (+5).

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.
  
            

Serena aces test against Sharapova

   Look out, women's tennis.
   Serena Williams is returning to form quickly.
   In only her third tournament since an 11-month layoff, the unseeded Williams routed second-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   "I had a good start," Williams said of the matchup between former No. 1 players in the world. “You can’t go in against the fifth-ranked player with your mind everywhere. You have to be serious. It’s a great win for the hardcourt season."
      Added Williams: "I’m a better player this month than I was last month. I’ve put in a lot of work, and I hope it continues to pay off."
    Williams improved to 7-2 against Sharapova with six straight victories.
    "It certainly wasn’t my night," said Sharapova, who at 17 shocked two-time defending champion Williams to win the 2004 Wimbledon title. "She was serving and hitting so well, and I was extremely late in my reactions. I felt sluggish. It was a bad day, but it’s also a reminder that I need to step up."
   With Sharapova's loss, both of last year's Bank of the West finalists have been eliminated. Top seed and defending champion Victoria Azarenka fell to qualifier Marina Erakovic of New Zealand on Thursday.
   Erakovic, however, fell to eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
   In today's semifinals, third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France will meet Cibulkova at
1 p.m., and Williams will face unseeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany at 7 p.m.
   Bartoli won the Bank of the West in 2009 and reached the final in 2008. Lisicki, 20, recently reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.
   Kendrick suspended -- Former top-100 player Robert Kendrick, a Fresno native, was suspended for one year by the International Tennis Federation after testing positive for a banned drug at the French Open.
   Kendrick, 31, said the drug came from a capsule he took to fight jet lag.
   Ranked a career-high No. 69 in 2009, Kendrick has fallen to No. 105. He reached the final of the Sacramento Challenger last October and in 2008, and he won the 2007 doubles title with Brian Wilson.
   Wayne Odesnik, the 2007 Sacramento Challenger singles champion, returned to action early this year after a one-year suspension for a doping violation.

Results - Friday, July 29, 2011
Singles - Quarterfinals
Serena Williams (USA) d. (2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 61 63.
(3) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. Ayumi Morita (JPN) 61 ret. (right ankle injury).
Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. (5) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 76(4) 26 62.
(8/WC) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. (Q) Marina Erakovic (NZL) 61 61.
Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1) Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Fichman/Pelletier (CAN/CAN) 62 64.

Order Of Play - Saturday, July 30, 2011
Stadium (from 13.00hrs)
1. Dominika Cibulkova vs. Marion Bartoli.
2. Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova vs. Azarenka/Kirilenko.
3. Sabine Lisicki vs. Serena Williams (NB 19.00hrs).
4. Huber/Raymond vs. Aoyama/Fujiwara.