King, Shvedova head to Istanbul on high note

   Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova know how to peak for big events.
   The second seeds, preparing for next week's TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, rallied to beat fourth-seeded Anastasia Rodionova and Galina Voskoboeva 7-6 (3), 6-3 Saturday for the doubles title at the $721,000 Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
   King and Shvedova saved two set points at 5-6 in the first set and overcame a 3-1 deficit in the second set to win their second WTA doubles title of the year and fourth since becoming partners in June 2010.
  King and Shvedova captured their first two titles in Grand Slam tournaments: Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year. They also won the Cincinnati crown in their last tournament before this year's U.S. Open, in which they lost a three-set heartbreaker to Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the final.
  "I guess Slava and I bloom late in the season," King, a member of the Sacramento Capitals living in Boynton Beach, Fla., said on the WTA's Web site. "It was a high level from all four players (Saturday). We played consistently and stepped it up on the big points. They played well. Maybe their level dropped in the second set, but overall I think we all played a really good match. I guess we were just a bit luckier on the big points.
   "We didn't know our schedule for the last few weeks, but I'm really glad we came to Moscow. We had a great week for practice and for matches, and it was a great experience to play here to get ready for Istanbul."
   All four doubles finalists except King were born in Russia but play for other countries. Shvedova and Voskoboeva hail from Moscow but compete for Kazakhstan. Rodionova, a native of Tambov (300 miles southeast of Moscow) and a former Capital, became an Australian citizen in 2009.
   Blake falls -- James Blake, the runner-up in the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger two weeks ago, lost to Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-2 in the semifinals of the $825,000 Stockholm Open.
   After losing his first six matches against Blake, Nieminen has won the last two, both in Stockholm. Blake, a 31-year-old Tampa, Fla., resident, was bidding for his third Stockholm crown after beating Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand in the 2005 final and Nieminen in the 2006 title match.
   Nieminen, a 30-year-old Finn, will face top-seeded Gael Monfils, a Frenchman who beat sixth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3.
   Monfils and Raonic were scheduled to meet in the San Jose semifinals in February, but Monfils defaulted with a left wrist injury. Raonic, who will turn 21 in December, went on to beat defending champion Fernando Verdasco of Spain for his first ATP World Tour title.
   The unseeded Nieminen, who reached a career-high No. 13 in the world in 2006, seeks his first Stockholm title in his third appearance in the final. He fell to Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands 10 years ago in addition to Blake five years ago.
   Nieminen is 1-9 in ATP World Tour finals, having beaten Mario Ancic of Croatia for the 2006 Auckland title.
   Lu tops Wang for title -- Top-seeded Yen-Hsun Lu, the runner-up in the 2007 Sacramento Challenger, defeated unseeded Jimmy Wang, a Folsom resident, 7-5, 6-3 in an all-Taiwanese final at the $100,000 Samsung Securities Cup in Seoul, South Korea.
   Wang, a former top-100 player who trains with Dmitry Tursunov at the Gorin Tennis Academy in Granite Bay, returned to action last November after missing three years because of two operations on his right (playing) wrist. He reached the semifinals of the $15,000 Sacramento Futures in June.

King eliminated in Seoul quarterfinals

   Vania King could not sustain her momentum in the Hansol Korea Open.
   After shocking 10th-ranked Marion Bartoli for her first career victory over a top-10 player, the Sacramento Capital lost to unseeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 Friday in the quarterfinals of the $220,000 tournament in Seoul, South Korea.
   It was King's first loss to Zakopalova in four career meetings. Both players are 5-foot-5. The 29-year-old Zakopalova is ranked No. 43, and the 22-year-old King is No. 98.
   Zakopalova will meet sixth-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain in one semifinal, and fifth-seeded Polona Hercog of Slovenia will play unseeded Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan in the other.
   Tiburon Challenger -- The field for the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger, Oct. 10-16 at the Tiburon Peninsula Club, is much the same as for the $100,000 Natomas/USTA Challenger in Sacramento the previous week.
   The primary difference is San Francisco native Sam Querrey playing in Tiburon instead of James Blake. Entered in both tournaments are Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, Robby Ginepri of Kennesaw, Ga., and Jack Sock of Lincoln, Neb.
   Blake and Gonzalez, both 31, are former top-five players. Karlovic, 32, and Ginepri, 28, reached the top 15. All four are coming back from serious injuries. Sock, 18, won the mixed doubles title in the recent U.S. Open with Melanie Oudin.
   Costa Mesa Futures -- Kiryl Harbatsiuk, a former Sacramento State standout from Belarus, lost to John-Patrick Smith of Australia 7-5, 6-4 in the second round of the $10,000 Costa Mesa Tennis Classic.
   Both players completed their collegiate eligibility in May. Smith, who starred at Tennessee, became the second player in college tennis history to be named a four-time All-American in singles and doubles. He joined Rick Leach of USC (1984-87).

King pulls off first win over a top-10 singles player

   Vania King, a doubles star on the WTA tour, recorded the biggest singles victory of her career Wednesday.
   The 22-year-old member of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis stunned 10th-ranked Marion Bartoli of France 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the $220,000 Hansol Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea.
   King, ranked ninth in doubles and 98th in singles, had been 0-16 against top-10 players since turning pro in July 2006. In her last match against Bartoli, King had lost 6-1, 6-2 in the first round at Brisbane, Australia, in January.
   King won the first four games of Wednesday's match and overcame a 4-2 deficit in the second set. Bartoli, seeded second, finished with 17 double faults.
   "I'm very excited to win today," King said on the WTA Web site. "Last time I played her, I won just two (sic) games, but I've changed a lot and improved things in the last year. I'm much more confident in my abilities and have been working hard to be more creative. I'm happy this hard work is starting to show on court."
   King and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year and reached the final at Flushing Meadows, N.Y., two weeks ago. Shvedova, 5-foot-11, provides the power and King, 5-5, the quickness.
   Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up, will turn 27 on Oct. 2. She has reached the Stanford final in three of the last four years, beating Venus Williams for the 2009 title.
   King, who's not playing doubles in Seoul, will meet unseeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic in Friday's quarterfinals. Zakopalova, also 5-5, demolished seventh-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-1, 6-1.
    "I played against Zakopalova about a year and a half ago," said King, who's 3-0 lifetime against the 29-year-old veteran ranked No. 43. "She has improved a lot since then -- today she won her match in less than an hour. I will need to be really focused to beat her."   
   Davis Cup draw -- If there was one unseeded team the United States didn't want to meet in the first round of the Davis Cup next year, it was Switzerland.
   But that's who the Americans, featuring doubles stars and former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan, drew in the ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand. That means, barring injury, the United States will face Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.
   In singles, Federer has won a record 16 Grand Slam titles, and Wawrinka is ranked 19th after reaching a career-high ninth in 2008. In doubles, they won the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
   Wait, it gets worse for the Americans. Switzerland will host the best-of-five-match series, Feb. 10-12. The rosters and exact location will be announced at a later date.
   The United States lost to Spain, playing without injured Rafael Nadal, in Austin, Texas, in this year's quarterfinals in July. Switzerland qualified for the World Group by coming from behind to beat host Australia 3-2 last weekend.
   The United States has won a record 32 Davis Cup titles, most recently in 2007 over Folsom resident Dmitry Tursunov and Russia in Portland, Ore. That U.S. team consisted of Andy Roddick, James Blake and the Bryans.
   Tursunov won the deciding match Sunday as host Russia rallied to defeat Brazil and remain in the World Group. The Russians will play at Austria in February. 

King advances in Seoul singles; new rankings; etc.

   The Hansol Korea Open, in which Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals advanced Tuesday, has a short but poignant history.
   Singles champions of the eight-year-old tournament in Seoul, South Korea, include Alisa Kleybanova of Russia (last year), Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan (2009) and Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic (2005). 
   Kleybanova is being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer, in Perugia, Italy. She hopes to return to the WTA tour eventually.
   "I am a strong person," Kleybanova wrote to her fellow players on July 15, her 22nd birthday. "I've shown it before. Obviously this is different than anything I've ever experienced, but after this is over I'm sure my life will be even better than ever before. This is the toughest time of my life till now, and I hope it always remains the toughest time of my life. I'm sure I'll be able to overcome this -- it's just a matter of patience and time and I believe I have enough!"
   Two years ago in Seoul, Date-Krumm capped one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. Two days short of her 39th birthday, Date-Krumm became the second-oldest player in the Open Era to win a WTA tournament. Billie Jean King was 39 years, 7 months old when she won the title in Birmingham, England, in 1983.
   Date-Krumm was playing in her first full season back on the WTA tour after retiring for 12 years. She has played in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford for the past two years, reaching the second round in 2010 and falling to eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round this year.
   Vaidisova, the 2004 World TeamTennis Female MVP and Rookie of the Year for the Capitals at 15, rocketed to No. 7 in the world at 18 but slumped badly and retired last year at 20.   
    Date-Krumm, who will turn 41 on Sept. 28, lost to Vania King 6-2, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round in Seoul. King will face second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France on Wednesday in the second round. Bartoli has reached the Stanford final in three of the past four years, winning the 2009 title.
    King -- coming off a devastating loss in the U.S. Open women's doubles final after winning the 2010 title, both with Yaroslava Shvedova -- is playing singles only in Seoul.
    Esurance Classic -- Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 men's doubles team in the world, head the field in the seventh annual Esurance Tennis Classic, Saturday and Sunday at the Harbor Point Tennis Club in Mill Valley.
   Also participating in the charity event are former top-20 player Sam Querrey, International Tennis Hall of Famers Tracy Austin and Gigi Fernandez, former French Open doubles champion Murphy Jensen and the Stanford men's and women's teams.
   Querrey, a San Francisco native who replaces injured John McEnroe, and Austin will appear Sunday only.
   Play begins at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Tickets are $35 for adult general admission, $75 for adult reserved seats and $50 for adult weekend passes. Proceeds benefit To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation and Youth Tennis Advantage.
   For more information, call (415) 383-6114 or visit http://www.tennisclassic.org/.
   Women's Challenger --Unseeded Yasmin Schnack of Elk Grove and Ashley Weinhold of Spicewood, Texas, lost to wild cards Grace Min of Lawrenceville, Ga., and Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the first round of doubles at the $75,000 ColemanVision Tennis Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.
   Oudin and Min recently won U.S. Open titles in mixed doubles and junior girls singles, respectively. Schnack, who's not playing singles in Albuquerque, teamed with Maria Sanchez of Modesto to win her second consecutive Redding doubles title Sunday.
   Men's Futures -- Former Sacramento State star Kiryl Harbatsiuk upset third seed and former top-100 player Roko Karanusic of Croatia 6-3, 2-1, retired in the first round of the $10,.000 Costa Mesa Tennis Classic.
   In the first round of doubles, Harbatsiuk and Boris Nicola Bakalov of Bulgaria lost to top-seeded Bumpei Sato of Japan and Artem Sitak of New Zealand 5-7, 7-6 (6), 10-4 tiebreak.
   New rankings -- Following are this week's world rankings of players with Northern California ties (change in parentheses):

Men

   Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- Career-high-tying No. 26 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mark Knowles, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2001-07, 2009-11) -- No. 40 in doubles (-1), unranked in singles.
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 41 in singles (no change), No. 95 in doubles (-2).
   David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 92 in doubles (+10), No. 701 in singles (+4).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- No. 147 in doubles (-2), 1,244 in singles (-9).
   Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 206 in singles (+1), unranked in doubles. 
   Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 391 in singles (-2), No. 674 in doubles (+3).
   Dusan Vemic, Capitals (2010-11) -- No. 514 in doubles (-6), No. 1,520 in singles (-5).
   Kiryl Harbatsiuk, three-time Big Sky Conference MVP (2009-11) at Sacramento State -- No. 771 in singles (-6), No. 1,227 in doubles (-3).

Women

   Vania King, Capitals (2010-11) -- No. 9 in doubles (no change), No. 98 in singles (-4).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 45 in doubles (+5), unranked in singles.
   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2011) -- No. 230 in doubles (-7), No. 379 in singles (no change).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- No. 423 in doubles (+2), No. 1,107 in singles (+2).