Top three seeds ousted in Redding Challenger

Fifth-seeded Adriana Perez, a Venezuelan shown
on Thursday, beat top-seeded Olivia Rogowska
of Australia in the Redding quarterfinals.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   The top three seeds lost on Friday in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 The Ascension Project Women's Challenger at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.
   Fifth-seeded Adriana Perez of Venezuela knocked off top-seeded Olivia Rogowska of Australia 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-0.
   Second-seeded Ksenia Pervak of Russia retired with a back injury while trailing unseeded Julia Boserup, the 2011 champion from Newport Beach, 6-4, 2-2.
   And seventh-seeded Allie Kick, 18, of Plantation, Fla., ousted third-seeded Chanel Simmonds of South Africa 6-4, 6-4.
  The only quarterfinal that held form was unseeded Robin Anderson of Matawan, N.J., beating Christina Makarova, a 17-year-old qualifier from San Diego, 6-1, 7-5.
   Rogowska eached the second round of last year's Australian Open in her hometown of Melbourne. She's ranked No. 138 in the world.
   Pervak climbed to a career-high No. 37 in 2011 after advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon and winning the title in Tashkent on the WTA tour, the major leagues of women's tennis. Hampered by injuries this year, the 22-year-old left-hander has fallen to No. 142.
   In today's first semifinal at 11 a.m., Boserup will face Anderson for the first time.

Unseeded Julia Boserup, shown on Thursday,
advanced when No. 2 seed Ksenia Pervak retired
with a back injury. Boserup, the 2011 Redding
champion, led 6-4, 2-2 at the time. Photo by
Paul Bauman 

   Boserup, a hard hitter at 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters), missed the first six months of the year with a bulging disc. She did not have surgery.
   Anderson, only 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters), reached the round of 16 in singles and the final in doubles at the NCAA Championships in May as a UCLA sophomore.
   After the Boserup-Anderson match, Perez will take on Kiick. They have met once, with Kiick winning 7-6 (10), 6-2 on a hardcourt in the first round of the $25,000 Rock Hill (S.C.) Challenger last October. The Redding Challenger also is played on hardcourts.
   Kiick's father, Jim, was the starting halfback on the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team in NFL history to go undefeated. Jim Kiick and his '72 teammates were honored last month at the White House.
   Macall Harkins, who moved from the Los Angeles area to Redding in March, lost in the doubles semifinals. Unseeded Jacqueline Cako and Kiick topped fourth-seeded Harkins and Sanaz Marand 6-4, 7-6 (4) in an all-American matchup.
   Cako and Kiick will meet unseeded Anderson and Lauren Embree of Marco Island, Fla., in Sunday's final. Cako and Marand won last year's title.
   The Ascension Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of local youth, collegiate and professional athletes through a team approach.
   Here are links to the singles and doubles draws:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw283.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw284.PDF

Aussie Rogowska heads field in Redding Challenger

   Olivia Rogowska of Australia is seeded first in this week's The Ascension Project Women's Challenger in Redding, Calif.
   Main-draw play in the $25,000 tournament begins today at 10 a.m. at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. The temperature is predicted to reach 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 Celsius) later in the day.
   Rogowska reached the second round of last year's Australian Open in her hometown of Melbourne. Now ranked No. 137, she will face 19-year-old Montserrat Gonzalez of Paraguay on Wednesday in the first round at a time to be determined.
   Seeded second is Ksenia Pervak, who climbed to a career-high No. 37 in 2011 after advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon and winning the WTA tournament in Tashkent. Hampered by injuries this year, the 22-year-old left-hander from Russia has fallen to No. 142.
   Pervak will take on American qualifier Rosalia Alda today at 10 a.m.
   Also seeded, in order, are Channel Simmonds of South Africa, Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay, Adriana Perez of Venezuela, and Americans Samantha Crawford, Allie Kiick and Sanaz Marand.
   Simmonds, a 21-year-old left-hander, qualified for the recent U.S. Open before losing to countrywoman Chanelle Scheepers in the first round.
   Crawford won the U.S. Open girls singles title last year. Kiick reached the USTA girls 18 singles final and won the doubles title with Sachia Vickery last month in San Diego. Both Crawford and Kiick are 18.
   Kiick's father, Jim, was a running back on the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated team in NFL history. He scored a touchdown in Miami's 14-7 victory over Washington in the 1973 Super Bowl.
   President Barack Obama honored the 1972 Dolphins, including Kiick, last month at the White House.
   See below for today's full schedule in the Redding Challenger.

$25,000 THE ASCENSION PROJECT WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness

In Redding, Calif.

Final-round qualifying

   Catherine Harrison, United States, def. Piia Suomalainen, Finland, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
   Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States, def. Leila Hodzic, United States, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4.
   Michelle Sammons (3), South Africa, def. Maia Magill, United States, 6-1, 6-3.
   Denise Muresan (4), United States, def. Trelsie Sadler, United States, 6-0, 6-1.
   Christina Makarova (5), United States, def. Jessica Perez, United States, 6-3, 6-2.
   Rosalia Alda (11), United States, def. Wendy Qi-Wen Shang (6), Canada, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   Anamika Bhargava (7), United States, def. Sophia Bursulaya, United States, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
   Beatrice Capra, United States, def. Emily Harman (9), United States, 6-1, 6-2.

 Today's schedule

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

Court 1

   Anne-Liz Jeukeng, United States, vs. Allie Kiick (7), United States.
   Sanaz Marand (8), United States, vs. Christina Makarova, United States.
   Denise Muresan and Caitlin Whoriskey, United States, vs. Veronica Cepede Royg, Paraguay, and Adriana Perez (2), Venezuela.

Court 2

   Denise Muresan, United States, vs. Jacqueline Cako, United States.
   Krista Hardebeck, United States, vs. Robin Anderson, United States.
   Maria-Fernanda Alves, Brazil, and Olivia Rogowska (1), Australia, vs. Emily Harman and Elizabeth Lumpkin, United States.

Court 3

   Elizabeth Lumpkin, United States, vs. Veronica Cepede Royg (4), Paraguay.
   Jelena Pandzic, Croatia, vs. Despina Papamichail, Greece.
   Rosalia Alda, United States, and Montserrat Gonzalez, Paraguay, vs. Jacqueline Cako and Allie Kiick, United States.

Court 4

   Rosalia Alda, United States, vs. Ksenia Pervak (2), Russia.
   Lauren Embree, United States, vs. Ashley Weinhold, United States.
   Erin Clark, United States,and Despina Papamichail, Greece, vs. Jessica Perez and Katelyn Ross, United States.