Karlovic, Querrey to meet in Tiburon final

   One week ago, Sam Querrey and Ivo Karlovic met in the semifinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger.
   On Sunday, they'll play for the title in the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   The third-seeded Querrey, a 6-foot-6 native of nearby San Francisco, knocked out top-seeded Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday's first semifinal. The second-seeded Karlovic, a 6-10 Croat, downed eighth-seeded Bjorn Phau, 5-9 of Germany, 7-5, 7-5.
   Karlovic outlasted Querrey 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4 in Sacramento in their first meeting in three years and went on to win the title. Querrey, though, leads the head-to-head series 3-2.
   The 32-year-old Karlovic is the hardest server in tennis, and Querrey, 24, isn't far behind.
   Karlovic pounded a 156-mph serve in March to break Andy Roddick's record of 155. Karlovic also set a Davis Cup record with 78 aces two years ago in a five-set loss to Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic that lasted 5 hours, 59 minutes.
   Querrey, meanwhile, fired 10 consecutive aces in a quarterfinal victory over James Blake in Indianapolis four years ago.
   WTA tour in Osaka, Japan -- Top-seeded Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan lost to fourth-seeded Kimiko Date-Krumm, 41, and Zhang Shuai of China 7-5, 3-6, 11-9 tiebreak in the final of the $220,000 HP Japan Women's Open.
   Earlier, King and Shvedova completed a rain-suspended 6-0, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a former Cal star from Fresno, and Abigail Spears of San Diego.
   Even at 41, Date-Krumm isn't close to the record for oldest player to win a title on the WTA tour. Martina Navratilova was two months shy of her 50th birthday when she won in Montreal with Nadia Petrova in 2006.

$100,000 FIRST REPUBLIC BANK TIBURON CHALLENGER

At Tiburon Peninsula Club

Singles semifinals

   Sam Querrey (3), Las Vegas, def. Ryan Sweeting (1), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 6-4, 6-3. Ivo Karlovic (2), Croatia, def. Bjorn Phau (8), Germany, 7-5, 7-5.

Doubles semifinals

   Steve Johnson, Orange, and Sam Querrey, Las Vegas, def. Alex Kuznetsov, Tampa, Fla., and Ryan Sweeting, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 6-3, 7-5.

Today's schedule

Stadium Court

(Beginning at noon)

   Karlovic (2) vs. Querrey (3), Johnson and Querrey vs. Ball and Guccione not before 2 p.m.

With less drama, Karlovic tops Fischer again

   This time, Ivo Karlovic didn't have to save any match points.
   Not that there wasn't some suspense.
   The second-seeded Karlovic, a 6-foot-10 Croat, defeated unseeded Martin Fischer, a 5-11 Austrian, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 Friday in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   The third set was closer than the score indicated. Serving at 5-3, Karlovic saved three break points before triumphing on his third match point.
   Had Fischer converted one of the break points, he would have served to even the match at 5-5. Easier said than done against Karlovic, who unleashed a 156-mph serve in March to break Andy Roddick's record of 155.
   Last week in Sacramento, Karlovic survived two match points against him in the first round against Fischer and proceeded to win the title.
   Karlovic will play eighth-seeded Bjorn Phau, perhaps the fastest player in men's tennis, Saturday in a matchup of 32-year-olds in the Tiburon semifinals. Phau, a 5-9 German, eliminated unseeded Laurynas Grigelis, a 20-year-old Lithuanian, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
   Karlovic and Phau apparently play each other every five years. The head-to-head series is tied 1-1, with Phau winning 7-6 (5), 7-5 on a hardcourt in the Bronx, N.Y., in 2001 and Karlovic prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) on clay in Munich in 2006.
   In the other semifinal, top-seeded Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will face third-seeded Sam Querrey of Las Vegas in a matchup of 24-year-olds. Sweeting topped fifth-seeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, and Querrey dispatched unseeded Alex Kuznetsov of Tampa, Fla., 6-1, 6-4.
   Sweeting, a 6-5 native of the Bahamas, is 2-1 lifetime against Querrey, a 6-6 native of San Francisco (across the bay from Tiburon). They have met twice this year, with Sweeting winning on a hardcourt in Delray Beach, Fla., in February and on clay in Houston in April. He went on to win the Houston crown for his only ATP World Tour title.
   WTA tour in Osaka, Japan -- Top-seeded Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan led third-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a former Cal star from Fresno, and Abigail Spears of San Diego 6-0, 2-1 when rain suspended play early Saturday morning PDT in the doubles semifinals at the HP Japan Women's Open. King and Shvedova won the first eight games.

$100,000 FIRST REPUBLIC BANK TIBURON CHALLENGER

 At Tiburon Peninsula Club

 Singles quarterfinals

   Ryan Sweeting (1), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., def. Vasek Pospisil (5), Canada, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Ivo Karlovic (2), Croatia, def. Martin Fischer, Austria, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Bjorn Phau (8), Germany, def. Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania, 6-3, 6-2. Sam Querrey (3), Las Vegas, def. Alex Kuznetsov, Tampa, Fla., 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles semifinals

   Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione, Australia, def. Vasek Pospisil, Canada, and Bobby Reynolds, Acworth, Ga., 6-4, 6-3.

Saturday's schedule

Stadium Court

(Beginning at 11 a.m.)

   Sweeting (1) vs. Querrey (3), Phau (8) vs. Karlovic (2) not before 1 p.m., Kuznetsov and Sweeting vs. Johnson and Querrey.