Capitals' Sweeting to marry TV star on Dec. 31

Ryan Sweeting practices his serve before playing for
the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTemmis in July.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   While Kaley Cuoco's career takes off, Ryan Sweeting's is in free fall.
   The television star and professional tennis player will wed on New Year's Eve in Southern California, US Weekly reported.
   Cuoco, who turned 28 on Saturday, plays Penny on the hit comedy "The Big Bang Theory."
   Sweeting, 26, has plunged to No. 660 in the world after reaching a career-high No. 64 in 2011. Playing for the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis in July, the 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) American finished last in men's singles and next to last in men's doubles. He reportedly underwent back surgery in August.
   Sweeting and Cuoco announced their engagement in September after dating for only three months.
   "I know that it seems a little crazy on paper, but it's what works for us," Cuoco told Entertainment Tonight.
   Efforts to reach Sweeting were unsuccessful.
   The 2005 U.S. Open junior champion, Sweeting won his only ATP World Tour title in the 2011 U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston.
   Cuoco has ties to tennis, according to si.com. She was ranked in the Southern California juniors and is a friend of Bob and Mike Bryan.

Capitals blanked twice in loss to Texas

   It's rare to lose a set 5-0 in World TeamTennis.
   It's even rarer to lose two sets 5-0 in a WTT match.
   And it's rarer still to lose two consecutive sets 5-0.
   That's what happened to the Sacramento Capitals on Sunday night in a 23-10 shellacking by the Texas Wild in Dallas. Substitutes Irina Falconi and Ryan Sweeting were shut out in the fourth and fifth sets, respectively.
   Sacramento's Megan Moulton-Levy and Mark Knowles opened the match with a 5-3 victory in mixed doubles, but Texas (4-2) won the last four sets by a combined score of 20-5.
   The Capitals have lost three straight matches after winning their first three.
   Falconi replaced Taylor Townsend (strained abdominal muscle), and Sweeting again took the place of marquee player Mardy Fish (groin injury).
   Falconi, who also lost in women's doubles, played her first match of the season for Sacramento. Sweeting has lost all six sets in which he has played for the Capitals this season, three in men's singles and three in men's doubles.
   The troubles of Falconi and Sweeting, aren't terribly surprising. Both have plunged in the world rankings after reaching career highs in 2011.
   Falconi, a 23-year-old Atlanta resident, has fallen from No. 73 to No. 164. That's nothing compared to Sweeting. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident, who turned 26 on Sunday, has plummeted from No. 64 to No. 525.
   Fish's stint with Sacramento will end this week, if it hasn't already ended. Fortunately for the Capitals, Sam Querrey is scheduled to play in their last four matches of the regular season. Querrey leads all American men with a world ranking of No. 19 in singles.
   The Capitals will visit Orange County (3-3) tonight after beating the Breakers 22-14 last week in the Sacramento area. Following an off day on Tuesday, the Capitals will host Texas at Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion in Citrus Heights.
   Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 doubles team in the world and identical twin sons of Capitals coach Wayne Bryan, are scheduled to play for the Wild. The Bryan brothers, 35, recently became the first doubles team to hold all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic gold medal.
   Ex-Stanford star wins title -- Nicole Gibbs, who turned pro last month after winning her second straight NCAA singles title as a Stanford junior, won the $50,000 Yakima (Wash.) Regional Hospital Challenger.
   Gibbs, seeded eighth, beat unseeded Ivana Lisjak of Croatia 6-1, 6-4 for her second title in a professional tournament.
   Lisjak, who lives in Las Vegas, gained notoriety the week before in the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area. After losing in the semifinals, Lisjak threw her racket, which skipped off the court and hit a lineswoman in the face. The official did not need medical attention.
   Mayo Hibi, the 17-year-old Gold River champion, lost in the second round of the Yakima Challenger to unseeded Storm Sanders of Australia. That ended Hibi's winning streak at 11 matches and two titles.

TEXAS 23, CAPITALS 10

In Dallas

   Mixed doubles -- Megan Moulton-Levy and Mark Knowles (Capitals) def. Darija Jurak and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, 5-3.
   Women's doubles -- Eugenie Bouchard and Jurak (Texas) def. Irina Falconi and Moulton-Levy, 5-3.
   Men's doubles -- Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Qureshi (Texas) def. Knowles and Ryan Sweeting, 5-2.
   Women's singles -- Bouchard (Texas) def. Falconi, 5-0.
   Men's singles -- Bogomolov (Texas) def. Sweeting, 5-0.

Fish hurt as Capitals suffer first loss

   The Sacramento Capitals lost Mardy Fish, then the match on Friday night.
   Fish, who reached No. 7 in the world in 2011, left with a groin injury at 3-3 against Boston's Amir Weintraub in men's singles.
   The match was tied 12-12 at that point, and host Sacramento went on to lose 23-19. It was the Capitals' first loss of the season after three wins. They play their first five matches at home.
   Fish, 31, returned to competition on Sunday in Sacramento's season opener after battling an irregular heartbeat for 17 months. He has played in only two tournaments, in March and April, since the U.S. Open last September.
   Ryan Sweeting, who has plunged from a career-high No. 64 in 2011 to No. 525, replaced Fish on Friday and lost to Weintraub 5-3.
   Megan Moulton-Levy and Taylor Townsend, 17, then won 5-4 in women's doubles to pull Sacramento within 18-17 entering the last set. But Knowles and the 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Sweeting lost to Eric Butorac, a former Capital, and Weintraub 5-2.

   Knowles, 41, and Sweeting, who turns 26 on Sunday, were both born in Nassau, Bahamas. Sweeting, though, moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at 12 and became an American citizen in 2006. He won the U.S. Open junior boys singles title in 2005.

BOSTON 23, CAPITALS 19

In Citrus Heights, Calif.

   Mixed doubles -- Mark Knowles and Megan Moulton-Levy (Capitals) def. Eric Butorac and Katalin Marosi, 5-4.
   Women's singles -- Jill Craybas (Boston) def. Taylor Townsend, 5-4.
   Men's singles -- Amir Weintraub (Boston) def. Ryan Sweeting, 5-3. Sweeting substituted for Mardy Fish at 3-3.
   Women's doubles -- Moulton-Levy and Townsend (Capitals) def. Craybas and Marosi, 5-4.
   Men's doubles -- Butorac and Weintraub (Boston) def. Knowles and Sweeting, 5-2.

Capitals have major concerns entering season

Mark Knowles, who reached No. 1 in the world in doubles
in 2002 and 2004, will return for his 12th season with the
Sacramento Capitals at age 41. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   For a team that came within three points of winning the World TeamTennis title last year, the Sacramento Capitals have an alarming number of concerns entering their 28th season.
   Topping the list is a women's lineup with zero WTT experience. Americans Taylor Townsend, 17, and Megan-Moulton Levy, 28, replace Asia Muhammad and Yasmin Schnack.
   Women are more important than men in WTT, with its no-add scoring and sets up to five games. Because women are less powerful, they are more likely to break serve and create leads.
   The Capitals' two full-time men have their issues, too. Mark Knowles, who reached No. 1 in the world in men's doubles in 2002 and 2004, is 41 years old. Ryan Sweeting's singles ranking has plummeted from a career-high No. 64 in 2011 to No. 293. 
   One of Sacramento's two marquee players, 31-year-old Mardy Fish, has missed most of the past 15 months with heart palpitations. He is scheduled to play three matches, all early in the three-week regular season that begins on Sunday night.
   Finally, there's no Kevin Anderson, Vania King or CoCo Vandeweghe to bail out the Capitals. All played part-time for Sacramento last year.
   The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, ranked 23rd in the world, will play for Washington this season. Just what the Capitals and the rest of the league need -- for the Kastles to get stronger. Washington edged Sacramento 20-19 last year in Charleston, S.C., for its second consecutive WTT title and 32nd straight victory.

Under coach Wayne Bryan, the Capitals came within
three points of winning the World TeamTennis title
last season. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   King will return to the Springfield (Mo.) Lasers, with whom she won the 2009 WTT Female MVP award, after playing three full- or part-time seasons with the Capitals.
   The 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Vandeweghe, who reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford last summer as a qualifer, will play for the Orange County Breakers. They're based in Irvine, about 90 minutes up Interstate 5 from her home in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
   Not that all is lost for the Capitals, however.
   Townsend, a 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) left-hander, ended 2012 as the No. 1 junior girl in the world. She became the first U.S. girl to hold the No. 1 year-end ranking since Gretchen Rush in 1982.
   Townsend also beat the world's 57th-ranked woman, Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, in March.
   After falling in today's Wimbledon girls final, Townsend will miss Sunday's 7:35 p.m. season opener against the Texas Wild at Sunrise Mall in the Sacramento area and possibly Monday night's home match against the Philadelphia Freedoms.
   “Many tennis insiders think Taylor has potential to be the next great American women’s
player," Sacramento coach Wayne Bryan said when the Capitals drafted Townsend in March, although 18-year-olds Madison Keys and Samantha Crawford are also in the conversation.
   Nicole Gibbs, who turned pro out of Stanford last month after winning her second straight NCAA singles title as a junior, will replace Townsend.
   Moulton-Levy, a 5-foot (1.52-meter) doubles specialist, is ranked a career-high No. 57 in that department.     
   Marquee player Sam Querrey, the top-ranked American man at No. 19 in the world, will return for his second part-time season with Sacramento. The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) San Francisco native is scheduled to play the Capitals' final four regular-season matches. He competed in six last year and finishing second in the men's singles standings.
   Because of their schedule, the Capitals could get off to a fast start and then cool off. They will play the first five of their 14 regular-season matches at home and seven of their last nine on the road.

CAPITALS’ SCHEDULE

(Home matches at Capitals Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights)

   Sunday vs. Texas, 7:35 p.m.

   Monday vs. Philadelphia, 7:35 p.m.

   Wednesday vs. Orange County, 7:35 p.m. (Mardy Fish plays for Capitals)
   Friday vs. Boston, 7:35 p.m. (Fish plays for Capitals)

   Saturday vs. Washington, 7:35 p.m. (Fish plays for Capitals)

   July 14 at Texas, 5:35 p.m.

   July 15 at Orange County, 7 p.m. 

   July 17 vs. Texas, 7:35 p.m. (Bob and Mike Bryan play for Wild)
   July 18 at Springfield, 5:05 p.m.

   July 19 at Boston, 4 p.m. (Mark Philippoussis plays for Lobsters)

   July 21 at Orange County, 5 p.m. (Sam Querrey plays for Capitals)

   July 22 vs. Orange County, 7:35 p.m. (Querrey plays for Capitals)

   July 23 at Springfield, 5:05 p.m. (Querrey plays for Capitals)

   July 24 at Texas, 5:35 p.m. (Querrey plays for Capitals)

TICKETS

   $25-$70 (discounts for children). For more information, visit www.saccaps.com or call (916) 747-6728.

2013 CAPITALS

   Mardy Fish, 31, Westwood, Calif. ... Fifth World TeamTennis season (second with Capitals). ... Scheduled to play three matches for Capitals, all early in season. ... Has missed much of last 18 months with irregular heartbeat. Has played only two tournaments this year and none since April. ... Ranked No. 43 in world after reaching career-high No. 7 in 2011. ... Singles quarterfinalist at Australian Open (2007), U.S. Open (2008) and Wimbledon (2011). ... Has won six career ATP World Tour titles in singles and eight in doubles (including San Jose in 2004 with James Blake and 2010 with Sam Querrey). ... Won singles silver medal in 2004 Olympics in Athens, losing to Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-4 in fifth set after leading two sets to one. ... Seven-time U.S. Davis Cup team member. ... Named 2006 Comeback Player of Year after undergoing two operations on left wrist.  ... Has booming serve, excellent return of serve. ... Moved from native Minnesota to Florida at age 4 and lived with Andy Roddick in 1999 during high school.

   Mark Knowles (captain), 41, Bahamas. ... Twelfth WTT season (all with Capitals). ... Retired from ATP World Tour last September as one of best doubles players in Open Era (since 1968). ...  Reached No. 1 in world in doubles in 2002 and 2004. Finished in top 10 for eight straight years (2002-09). … In April 2010, became fifth player in ATP history to record 700 doubles match wins. … Has won four Grand Slam titles: three in men’s doubles with ex-partner Daniel Nestor (2002 Australian Open, 2004 U.S. Open and 2007 French Open) and one in mixed doubles with Anna-Lena Groenefeld (2009 Wimbledon). … Overall, has won 55 men’s doubles crowns (tied for 15th in Open Era). Won at least one in 19 of 20 seasons (1992-2012). … Five-time Olympian for Bahamas (1992-2008). ... Three-time WTT Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007), tied with ex-Capital Brian MacPhie (1996-98) for men’s record. ... Has coached Fish since March 2012. ... Possesses textbook volley and return of serve.
    Megan Moulton-Levy, 28, Washington, D.C. ... First WTT season ... Doubles specialist, only 5 feet (1.52 meters), is ranked a career-high No. 57 in that category. ... Recorded first Grand Slam doubles victory of career in 2013 Australian Open. ... Reached doubles semifinals in Auckland, Memphis, Charleston and s'-Hertogenbosch this year. ... Has captured 10 doubles titles and one singles crown in minor leagues. ... Four-time Colonial Athletic Association Women's Tennis Player of the Year at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
   Sam Querrey, 25, Las Vegas. ... Third WTT season (second with Capitals). ... Top-ranked American at No. 19 in world, down two spots from career high in 2011. ... Has won seven singles and four doubles titles in career. ...  Reached fourth round of U.S. Open in 2008 and 2010 and at Wimbledon in 2010 for best Grand Slam singles results. ... Member of U.S. Davis Cup team in 2008 and 2010. ... Gashed right (playing) arm in 2009 when glass table he was sitting on at Bangkok tournament collapsed. Narrowly missed damaging nerves, which could have ended career. ... Sidelined for three months after right elbow surgery in 2011.
   Ryan Sweeting, 25, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ... Second WTT season (both with Capitals). Suffered back spasms in WTT debut last year and missed only other scheduled match for Sacramento. ... Has plunged from career-high No. 64 in 2011 to No. 293. ... Won his only ATP World Tour title on clay in Houston in 2011. ... Won 2005 U.S. Open junior title and reached No. 2 in world in juniors that year. ... Bahamas native became U.S. citizen in 2006 and attended University of Florida for one year before turning pro in 2007.

   Taylor Townsend, 17, Boca Raton, Fla.... First WTT season. ... Often compared to Serena Williams because she's stocky African-American but plays more like Martina Navratilova. Both are left-handed with strong volley. ... Became first American in 30 years to top world junior rankings in 2012. ... Won junior titles in 2012 Australian Open singles and doubles, Wimbledon doubles and U.S. Open doubles. ... Became first American to sweep the junior girls crowns in a Grand Slam event since Lindsay Davenport in 1992 U.S. Open. ... Made WTA main-draw debut at 16 in March, beating No. 57 Lucie Hradecka. ... Reach third round of women's doubles in 2011 U.S. Open at 15 with Jessica Pegula.
   Wayne Bryan, coach, Camarillo, Calif. ... Thirteenth WTT season (12^th with Capitals). ... Longest-tenured coach in the league. … Three-time WTT Coach of the Year (2004-06). … Has led Capitals to two of their record six league titles (2002 and 2007). … Father of identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who have won record 14 Grand Slam men's doubles titles. … Tennis’ unofficial ambassador. … Non-practicing attorney. … Author of 2004 book “Raising Your Child to be a Champion in Athletics, Arts and Academics.” … Front man for Bryan Bros. Band.

OTHER TEAMS

Western Conference

   Orange County – Maria Elena Camerin, Treat Huey, Steve Johnson, CoCo Vandeweghe, Liga Dekmeijere. Coach: Trevor Kronemann.

   Springfield (Mo.) Lasers – Andy Roddick, Rik de Voest, Vania King, Alisa Kleybanova, Jean-Julien Rojer. Coach: John Laffnie de Jager.
   Texas Wild – Bob and Mike Bryan, Jim Courier, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Eugenie Bouchard, Darija Jurak, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. Coach: Brent Haygarth.

Eastern Conference

   Boston Lobsters – Mark Philippoussis, Eric Butorac, Jill Craybas, Katalin Marosi, Amir Weintraub. Coach: Bud Schultz.

   New York Sportimes – John McEnroe, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Kveta Peschke, Robert Kendrick, Jesse Witten, Abigail Spears. Coach: Claude Okin.

   Philadelphia Freedoms – Sloane Stephens, Samuel Groth, Liezel Huber, Jordan Kerr, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sanchez. Coach: Josh Cohen.

   Washington Kastles – Martina Hingis (2012 WTT Female MVP), Kevin Anderson, Anastasia Rodionova, Leander Paes, Bobby Reynolds (2012 WTT Male MVP). Coach: Murphy Jensen (2012 WTT Coach of the Year).

Capitals draft 16-year-old prodigy

   The future of U.S. women's tennis is coming to Sacramento.
   The Capitals selected Taylor Townsend, 16, of Stockbridge, Ga., in the second round of Tuesday's World TeamTennis roster draft.
   Townsend, a sturdy 5-foot-6 African-American, has been compared to Serena Williams. But as an aggressive left-hander, she plays more like her idol, Martina Navratilova.
   Last year, Townsend swept the girls singles and doubles titles in the Australian Open, added the girls doubles crowns at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and ended the year as the No. 1 junior in the world.
   She became the first American to sweep the girls crowns in a Grand Slam event since Lindsay Davenport in the 1992 U.S. Open and the first U.S. girl to hold the No. 1 year-end world ranking since Gretchen Rush in 1982.
   Townsend debuted on the elite WTA tour last week as a wild card in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. She beat No. 57 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic before losing to former world No. 1 and 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic.  
   “Many tennis insiders think Taylor has potential to be the next great American women’s
player," Capitals coach Wayne Bryan said in a statement, although 18-year-olds Madison Keys and Samantha Crawford are also in the conversation. "She is good on the singles and doubles court and is very talented with a great personality.”

Mark Knowles, 41, will return for his 12th season with
the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sacramento also protected Mark Knowles of the Bahamas in the first round, picked American doubles specialist Megan Moulton-Levy in the third round and took Ryan Sweeting of the United States in the fourth and final round.
   Knowles, 41, retired from the ATP World Tour after last year's U.S. Open. But the three-time WTT Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) will return for his 12th season in the league, all with Sacramento.
   Moulton-Levy, only 5-foot (1.52 meters) and 135 pounds (61 kilograms), is ranked No. 74 in the world in doubles. Sweeting, the 2005 U.S. Open boys champion, played one match for the Capitals last season but suffered back spasms and missed his other scheduled match.
   Mardy Fish and San Francisco native Sam Querrey are set to return as Sacramento's marquee players. Fish, who reached No. 7 in the world in 2011, is scheduled to play three of the Capitals' 14 regular-season matches, and the 23rd-ranked Querrey plans to play four.
   Missing from the roster after playing for Sacramento last year are 2012 part-timers Kevin Anderson, CoCo Vandeweghe and Vania King and full-timers Asia Muhammad and Yasmin Schnack.
   Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) right-hander, underwent right elbow surgery in January after climbing to No. 28 one year ago. He and Muhammad are not scheduled to play team tennis this season.
   The 99th-ranked Vandeweghe, who lives in the San Diego area, was a roster-exempt selection by Orange County. King, the 2009 WTT Female MVP for Springfield (Mo.), went back to the Lasers in the roster-exempt draft after three seasons in Sacramento. Schnack, a 24-year-old doubles specialist, retired from professional tennis in November.
   Sacramento has won a record six WTT titles but none since 2007. The Capitals squeaked into the playoffs last season with an 8-6 mark and advanced to the WTT Finals, falling to the defending champion Washington Kastles 20-19 in Charleston, S.C. Washington has won 32 consecutive matches. 
   In the 2012 regular season, Sacramento finished third among eight teams in men's singles, fifth in women's singles, fourth in men's doubles, seventh in women's doubles and fourth in mixed doubles.
   The Capitals open the 2013 season on July 7 against the Texas Wild at Sunrise Mall in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights.   
   Alisa Kleybanova, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in May 2011, was drafted first overall by Springfield. Kleybanova, a 23-year-old Russian, ascended to No. 20 in the world in singles and No. 10 in doubles in February 2011.
   Washington acquired Martina Hingis from the New York Sportimes for financial considerations. Hingis, 32, will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July.
   BNP Paribas Open -- Querrey advanced to the fourth round at Indian Wells, ensuring that he will become the No. 1 American man and that the United States won't be shut out of the top 20 in the men's world rankings for the first time.
   Querrey, seeded and ranked 23rd, outlasted Marinko Matosevic of Australia 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 7-5 in the longest match of the tournament at 2 hours, 47 minutes.
   Querrey will return to the top 20 after reaching a career-high No. 17 in January 2011. The 6-foot-6 right-hander missed three months after undergoing right elbow surgery on June 16 that year and dropped to No. 125. He will replace John Isner as the top American.
    "It means a lot. It's a great feeling," Querrey, 25, said on www.bnpparibasopen.com. "I feel like I have worked hard to earn it. Everyone seems like they've got their shot with Andy (Roddick) and Mardy and James (Blake) and John, and so I feel like it's my turn now."
   Querrey will meet world No. 1 and two-time Indian Wells champion Novak Djokovic on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. PDT or later (Tennis Channel). Djokovic improved to 15-0 this year with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over 31st-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
   Querrey is the last player to beat Djokovic, prevailing 0-6 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the second round of the Paris Masters last October. After the match, Djokovic told reporters: "It's unfortunate, but on the brighter side, I have a little bit more time to rest because I had really difficult period in the last couple of weeks. Some things happened and a lot of things on my mind."
   Djokovic, who's 4-1 against Querrey, seeks his third title of the year after winning the Australian Open and at Dubai.
   Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated the 32nd-seeded Fish 7-6 (4), 7-6 (0) in the third round. Fish, who returned to the circuit at Indian Wells after missing six months because of heart palpitations, led 4-0 in the second set and was broken at love serving for the set at 5-4.
   "I felt like I could have easily won the match," Fish said on www.bnpparibasopen.com. "Bunch of break points obviously in the first set, and the second set was what it was. Tennis wise, it's a good sign that it hasn't taken too long to get the form back. I usually don't lose 4-0 sets.  I can't remember the last one. Maybe just not being in that position I'm sure had something to do with it."

   Fish remains alive in doubles with Blake. The wild cards are scheduled to face Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Jerzy Janowicz of Poland on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. 
   Fish won the 2009 doubles title at Indian Wells with his close friend Andy Roddick.

COLLEGE SCORE

Men

   Sacramento State def. Montana State 7-0 in Sacramento. No. 1 singles: Marek Marksoo (SS) def. Niklas Brandes 6-1, 6-2. Records: Sac State 5-9 overall, 2-0 Big Sky Conference; Montana State 9-7, 5-1.

Top seed Becker ousted in Sacramento Challenger

Daniel Kosakowski, a 20-year-old wild card, upset No. 1 seed
Benjamin Becker, below, 7-5, 6-3 Tuesday in the first round
of the $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger in Sacramento.
Photos by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- On paper, it was a stunning upset.
   Daniel Kosakowski, a 20-year-old wild card who turned pro last year in Sacramento, ousted Benjamin Becker, a 31-year-old veteran seeded first, 7-5, 6-3 Tuesday in the first round of the $100,000 RelyAid Natomas Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   Becker is ranked No. 85 in the world after reaching a career-high No. 38 five years ago. Kosakowski, meanwhile, is No. 304.
   Most glaring of all, Becker has won 97 matches on the ATP World Tour, the major leagues of men's professional tennis, to Kosakowski's one.
   But considering recent history, Kosakowski's victory wasn't all that surprising on a day featuring the exits of three more seeds, the world's fastest server, a former Sacramento champion and several U.S. prospects. Kosakowski's triumph might have even been predictable. He has been on fire while Becker has been recovering from his latest injury.

   Kosakowski, a Los Angeles-area native whose parents are Polish, has won 11 straight matches and 13 of his last 14. He reached the final round of qualifying at the U.S. Open in August, beating 82nd-ranked Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in the second round. Becker was the second top-100 win of Kosakowski's career.
   Last month, Kosakowski won $10,000 Futures tournaments in the Los Angeles suburbs of Claremont and Costa Mesa in consecutive weeks.
   "I was working on a lot of things in the summer, and things are starting to click now," said Kosakowski, who turned pro after winning the $15,000 Futures tournament in Sacramento in June 2011. "I got a lot of confidence from the Open. I know what I'm doing on the court and executing my game plan."
   Kosakowski, who won 24 of 25 points on his first serve against Becker and displayed a sensational one-handed backhand, added that he worked on his "serve and trying to be more aggressive with the backhand, trying not to give up too many freebies or short balls."     

Second-seeded James Blake, 32, wore down 19-year-old
qualifier Taro Daniel of Japan 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in a match featur-
ing the oldest and youngest players in the singles draw.

   Becker, meanwhile, tore a groin muscle three weeks ago playing in a Davis Cup doubles match for his native Germany. He lost with Philipp Petzschner, but host Germany beat Australia 3-2 on clay to qualify for the elite World Group next year.
  "When I came here, I didn't know if I could play," said Becker, a right-hander with a two-handed backhand who underwent two operations on his left elbow last year and missed seven months. "I'm happy I didn't have any pain today, but I'm not happy with the way I played. I expected not to play my best, obviously. That's how it goes when you have a tough first round.
   "I saw he won a few tournaments (recently)," added Becker, who's best known for ending Andre Agassi's career in the third round of the 2006 U.S. Open. "He had a lot of confidence, and he could see that my confidence was not very high. I'm trying to get it back and hopefully have a better week next week (in the Tiburon Challenger in the San Francisco Bay Area)."
   Despite their age difference and nationalities, Becker and Kosakowski have a few things in common. Both are undersized former college stars.
   Becker, who's listed at 5-foot-10 and 158 pounds, is one of the few pros who played for four years in college. As a junior at Baylor in Waco, Texas, he won the 2004 NCAA singles crown and helped the Bears capture their only NCAA team title.
   Kosakowski said he's 6-foot and 180, but he appears smaller. He turned pro after one year at UCLA, where he was named first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.
   After the first round of the Natomas Challenger, the only seeds left are No. 2 James Blake of Tampa, Fla., and No. 5 Matteo Viola of Italy. No. 3 Ryan Sweeting, the 2005 U.S. Open boys champion, withdrew with food poisoning, and No. 8 Denis Kudla, a 20-year-old American born in Ukraine, lost to qualifier Greg Jones of Australia 6-3, 6-0.
   Blake, a 32-year-old wild card and last year's runner-up to 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, wore down 19-year-old qualifier Taro Daniel of Japan 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on a 99-degree day in a match featuring the oldest and youngest players in the singles draw.
   "I got my legs moving a little better in the second and third sets, and I think his legs kind of went out on him  in the third set," said Blake, ranked No. 97 after reaching a career-high No. 4 in 2006. "He's already played three matches here.
   "I'm not a spring chicken anymore. Sometimes it takes a little longer to warm up. Those things are going to happen sometimes, but I'm happy I got through it."
   Blake, plagued by tendinitis in his right knee last year and earlier this year, pronounced himself fit but said he's taking his career "one match at a time at this point." He hopes to play all next year, "but you never know. One more bad injury, and that can change real quick."
   Eight years ago, Blake broke his neck while practicing in Rome. He slipped on a wet clay court while racing to return a drop shot and struck the net post. Had he not moved his head at the last moment, doctors said he could have been paralyzed.
   Viola dismissed Samuel Groth of Australia 6-2, 6-3. Groth, who blasted a 163-mph (263-kph) serve in a Challenger tournament in South Korea in May, converted only 20 percent of his first serves in the first set and 39 percent overall.
   "I felt really flat on court," said Groth, who has battled a head cold for two days. "I probably had my worst serving day for a year, and I was pretty slow in my movement. I don't think there was actually too much I did well out there. Matteo doesn't give you much, and I knew I was going to have to play a lot better than I did today, that's for sure."
   Bradley Klahn, a San Diego-area resident, and John Millman of Australia had big years in 2010. Klahn won the NCAA singles title as a Stanford sophomore, and John Millman captured the Sacramento Challenger. They met for the first time Tuesday, with wild card Klahn prevailing 7-6 (0), 6-4.
   The day ended with two 30-something veterans knocking out young Americans.
   Rik de Voest, a 32-year-old South African who won the 2005 (inaugural) Sacramento Challenger at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club, outlasted 21-year-old Rhyne Williams of Knoxville, Tenn., 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in 3 hours, 13 minutes.
   Williams, who turned pro shortly after reaching the NCAA singles final in 2011 as a Tennessee sophomore, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and led 4-1 (one service break) in the third set.
   Bobby Reynolds, 30, of Acworth, Ga., outslugged Jack Sock, 20, of Lincoln, Neb., 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) in a matchup of 2011 Sacramento Challenger quarterfinalists. Sock, last year's doubles runner-up with Nicholas Monroe, already is out of this year's tournament. He and Phillip Simmonds of Reston, Va., narrowly lost in  the first round of doubles to Groth and Chris Guccione, the defending champion with Carsten Ball, on Monday.
   
RELYAID NATOMAS CHALLENGER - SACRAMENTO, CA, USA

$ 100,000
SEPT. 29 - OCT. 7, 2012

RESULTS - TUESDAY, OCT. 2, 2012Singles - First Round
[WC] D Kosakowski (USA) d [1] B Becker (GER) 75 63
[2] [WC] J Blake (USA) d [Q] T Daniel (JPN) 46 63 61
M Reid (AUS) d [LL] F Wolmarans (RSA) 64 64
[5] M Viola (ITA) d S Groth (AUS) 62 63
[Q] G Jones (AUS) d [8] D Kudla (USA) 63 60
M McClune (USA) d [Q] P Simmonds (USA) 16 63 61
R Farah (COL) d A Bogdanovic (GBR) 61 62
B Reynolds (USA) d J Sock (USA) 76(6) 76(4)
L Vanni (ITA) d [Q] L Gregorc (SLO) 46 64 76(3)
[WC] B Klahn (USA) d J Millman (AUS) 76(0) 64
R De Voest (RSA) d R Williams (USA) 57 76(3) 64
Doubles - First Round
[4] A Daescu (ROU) / A Hubble (AUS) d [LL] L Gregorc (SLO) / A Pavic (CRO) 63 64
A Kuznetsov (USA) / M Zverev (GER) d S Ianni (ITA) / M Viola (ITA) 63 64

ORDER OF PLAY - WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3, 2012
STADIUM start 11:00 am
D Kudla (USA) / T Smyczek (USA) vs A Courtney (USA) / P Raja (IND)
Not Before 12:30 PM
A El Mihdawy (USA) vs B Reynolds (USA)
S Groth (AUS) / C Guccione (AUS) vs [4] A Daescu (ROU) / A Hubble (AUS)
Not Before 4:00 PM
L Vanni (ITA) vs A Kuznetsov (USA)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
M Reid (AUS) vs T Sandgren (USA)
M Zverev (GER) vs I Van der Merwe (RSA)
Not Before 3:30 PM
[3] B Reynolds (USA) / I Van der Merwe (RSA) vs [Q] J Dadamo (USA) / B Klahn (USA) - After suitable rest

Sweeting hurt as Capitals lose season opener

   It didn't take long for adversity to strike the Sacramento Capitals.
   The third set of their season opener, to be exact.
   Ryan Sweeting suffered back spasms in his World TeamTennis debut, and visiting Sacramento dropped its season opener 20-14 Monday night to the Boston Lobsters.
   Sweeting's status for tonight's match in Philadelphia is uncertain. His only other scheduled match for Sacramento this season is Saturday night at Orange County.
   Monday night's match began well for the Capitals as the 6-foot-5 Sweeting beat fellow American veteran Robby Ginepri 5-3 in men's singles. In the 2005 U.S. Open, Ginepri reached the men's singles semifinals for the best Grand Slam result of his career, and Sweeting won the boys singles title.
   Boston's Irina Falconi and Carly Gullickson-Eagle then defeated Asia Muhammed, making her Capitals debut, and Sacramento-area resident Yasmin Schnack 5-2 in women's doubles to give the Lobsters an 8-7 lead.
   Sweeting returned to the court for men's doubles with fellow Nassau, Bahamas, native Mark Knowles and began suffering spasms early in the set. Sweeting, who will turn 25 Saturday, continued to play, but he and Knowles lost to former Capital Eric Butorac and Ginepri 5-0 to give Boston a 13-7 lead at intermission.
   Sacramento closed to 15-12 with a 5-2 victory by Schnack and Knowles -- 24- and 40-year-old former UCLA All-Americans, respectively -- in mixed doubles. But Falconi, ranked 86th in the world in women's singles, beat No. 480 Muhammed 5-2 to end the match.
   After facing Philadelphia tonight, the Capitals will be off Wednesday and play at home Thursday and Friday night in marquee player Mardy Fish's only two scheduled appearances for the team.
   Bank of the West Classic at Stanford -- CoCo Vandeweghe, who will play the last five matches of the regular season for the Capitals, and ex-Capital Michelle Larcher de Brito won their first-round matches Monday in the Bank of the West Classic.
   Vandeweghe, a 20-year-old lucky loser from Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area, defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-4, 6-1. Vandeweghe fell in the last round of qualifying but advanced to the main draw when Bojana Jovanovski withdrew with an undisclosed injury.
   Larcher de Brito, a 19-year-old wild card from Portugal, beat Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. At 14 in 2007, Larcher De Brito helped the Capitals win the last of their record six WTT titles. She was the youngest player in league history at the time, but Madison Keys surpassed her by 19 days in 2009 as a 14-year-old with the Philadelphia Freedoms.
   Vandeweghe and Larcher de Brito each will face a seed in the second round on Wednesday. Vandeweghe will take on No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, and Larcher de Brito will play No. 6 Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa. 
   See below for Monday's full results and today's schedule.
   West Coast Junior Championships in Sacramento -- Unseeded Logan Staggs of Tracy shocked top-seeded David Hsu 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the boys 18 semifinals at the West Coast Junior Championships at the Rio del Oro Racquet Club in Sacramento.
   Staggs will meet second-seeded Garrett Auproux of Studio City today for the title. Auproux defeated Kenneth Tao of San Jose 7-5, 6-2.
   Fourth-seeded Manon Peri of Los Angeles will play unseeded Iris Lin of South San Francisco for the girls 18 singles crown.

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC

At Stanford
First-round singles

   (5) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Chang Kai-Chen (TPE) 75 26 75
   (6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) d. (Q) Grace Min (USA) 64 64
   Heather Watson (GBR) d. Sloane Stephens (USA) 76(5) 46 61
   (LL) CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) d. Melinda Czink (HUN) 64 61
   (WC) Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) d. Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 57 62 63

First-round doubles

   (4) Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE) d. (WC) Kalhorn/Parra (USA/USA) 60 60
   Daniilidou/U.Radwanska (GRE/POL) d. Lee-Waters/Moulton-Levy (USA/USA) 67(4) 64 10-2 (match tiebreaker)
   Cirstea/Keothavong (ROU/GBR) d. Glatch/Zheng (USA/CHN) 46 64 106 (match tiebreaker)

Today's schedule

Stadium (from 11 a.m.)

1. Nicole Gibbs vs. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn
2. Marina Erakovic vs. Jana Juricova
3. Eleni Daniilidou vs. Urszula Radwanska
4. Cibulkova/Husarova vs. Dekmeijere/Lertcheewakarn
5. Mallory Burdette vs. Anne Keothavong (not before 7 p.m.)
6. Vania King vs. Sorana Cirstea 

Court 6 (from 11:30 a.m.)

1. Chang/Scheepers vs. Kops-Jones/Spears
2. Erika Sema vs. Alexa Glatch (not before 12:30 p.m.)
3. Ayumi Morita vs. Zheng Saisai
4. Karatantcheva/Sema vs. Erakovic/Watson

WORLD TEAMTENNIS

Boston 20, Capitals 14
In Boston

   Men's singles -- Ryan Sweeting (Capitals) def. Robby Ginepri (Lobsters) 5-3.
   Women's doubles -- Irina Falconi-Carly Gullickson-Eagle (Lobsters) def. Asia Muhammed-Yasmin Schnack (Capitals) 5-2.
   Men's doubles -- Eric Butorac-Robby Ginepri (Lobsters) def. Mark Knowles-Ryan Sweeting (Capitals) 5-0.
   Mixed doubles -- Yasmin Schnack-Mark Knowles (Capitals) def. Irina Falconi-Eric Butorac (Lobsters) 5-2.
   Women's singles -- Irina Falconi (Lobsters) def. Asia Muhammed (Capitals) 5-2. 

CALENDAR 

   Today -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, first round, 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. http://www.saccaps.com/.
   West Coast Junior Championships, finals, Rio del Oro Racquet Club, 119 Scripps Dr., Sacramento, www.norcal.usta.com.
   Wednesday -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, second round, 11 a.m. and not before 8 p.m. Exhibition match, Pete Sampras vs. Michael Chang, 7 p.m. www.bankofthewestclassic.com. 
   Thursday -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, second round, 11 a.m. and not before 8 p.m. Exhibition match, Sampras vs. Jim Courier, 7 p.m. www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
    2012 Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame Brunch and Induction Ceremony (Nick Saviano, Andrea Norman, Steve Cornell and Martha Downing), Stanford, Pac 12 Plaza/Cardinal Plaza, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., tickets $75 each at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=230538. 
   Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., www.saccaps.com.
   Friday -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, quarterfinals, noon and 7 p.m. Exhibition match, Chang vs. Courier, not before 8 p.m. www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   Capitals (with Fish) vs. Orange County, Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   Saturday -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, semifinals, 1 and 7 p.m. www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   Capitals at Orange County, 7 p.m.
   Sunday -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, singles final at 1 p.m., doubles final to follow. www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   Monday -- Capitals (with Sam Querrey) vs. New York, Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 18 -- Capitals at Washington, 4:10 p.m.
   July 19 -- Capitals at Springfield, 5:05 p.m.
   July 20 -- Capitals at Kansas City, 5:35 p.m.
   July 22 -- Springfield at Capitals (with Querrey, Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 24 -- Orange County (with Lindsay Davenport) at Capitals (with Kevin Anderson, Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 25 -- Capitals (with Vandeweghe) at Orange County, 7 p.m.
   July 27 -- Philadelphia (with Mark Philippoussis) at Capitals (with Anderson, Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 28 -- Boston at Capitals (with Anderson, Vandeweghe), Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., http://www.saccaps.com/.
   July 28-Aug. 5 -- OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT, Wimbledon, www.london2012.com.

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.

       

Top seed Sweeting ends skid, advances in Tiburon

   TIBURON -- The best year of Ryan Sweeting's career has taken a toll on him.
   After losing three straight matches and five of six in tennis' major leagues, the top-seeded Sweeting defeated wild card and fellow American Steve Johnson 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 Wednesday in the first round of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   "I'm trying to find energy for the last run of the year," said Sweeting, the 2005 U.S. Open boys champion. "I'm trying to give it one last push. It's been a long year. I had good results early in the year, but the 10-month season is always tough for me. It's been a tough few months."
   Sweeting, who combines power and quickness at 6-foot-5, steadily rose in the world rankings from No. 249 at the end of 2007 to a career-high No. 64 one month ago. He's now No. 70.
   Sweeting achieved a significant result in each of the first four months of this year in tennis' big leagues. As a qualifier, he reached the second round of the Australian Open in January, the quarterfinals at Delray Beach (Fla.) in February and the third round at Indian Wells in March. Then Sweeting won his first career ATP World Tour title in April on clay in Houston.
   "I got physically a lot fitter and stronger," explained Sweeting, a 24-year-old native of the Bahamas who moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla, at 12 and still lives there. "I really focused on that in the offseason. I had a lot of confidence after the Australian Open, which is the name of the game."
   Rafael Nadal has been a nemesis, beating Sweeting in straight sets in the Australian Open and Indian Wells and in the first round of Wimbledon.
   Tiburon is only Sweeting's second Challenger, equivalent to Triple-A baseball, since he reached the semifinals in Sarasota, Fla., in late April. He has not advanced past the second round since Sarasota.
   But Sweeting wore down Johnson, the reigning NCAA singles champion from USC. Sweeting lost his serve twice late in the first set, double-faulting three times at 4-5, but recovered.
   "I was up a break in the first set and playing well, but then my serve went away, and I threw in a few double faults," Sweeting said. "He served well in the first set, but then I think his legs went away. He started missing first serves, and I was more aggressive on his second serve. I tried to stay more aggressive in the last two sets."
   Johnson, a senior, is taking this semester off to play professional tournaments as an amateur. He plans to return to USC in the spring in an attempt to join Stanford's Paul Goldstein (1995-98) as the only men to play on four national championship teams and earn All-America honors all four years.
   Martin Fischer of Austria, meanwhile, defeated seventh-seeded Wayne Odesnik of Weston, Fla., 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 in the second round to earn another crack at Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.
   Odesnik, the 2007 Sacramento Challenger champion who served a one-year suspension last year for bringing human growth hormone into Australia, was treated for a right thigh injury at 2-5 in the second set.
   The second-seeded Karlovic, 6-10, advanced with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Robert Farah of Colombia. Farah, a former teammate of Johnson's at USC, hurt his back reaching for a two-handed backhand early in the tiebreaker and took a medical timeout between sets.
   Karlovic saved two match points against Fischer in the first round of last week's Sacramento Challenger and went on to win the title.
   Also Wednesday, sixth-seeded Izak Van der Merwe of South Africa fell to Alex Kuznetsov of Tampa, Fla., 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Kuznetsov reached the semifinals in Sacramento for the second time.
   ATP World Tour in Shanghai -- Folsom resident Dmitry Tursunov defaulted his second-round singles match against second-seeded Andy Murray in the $3.24 million Shanghai Rolex Masters with a thigh injury.
   Tursunov is scheduled to play in the second round of doubles with Tommy Robredo of Spain against sixth-seeded Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Markowski, the runners-up in the U.S. Open last month.
   Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Marcel Granollers of Spain and Viktor Troicki of Serbia.
   WTA tour in Osaka, Japan --Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis defeated fellow American Jill Craybas 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 in the first round of the HP Japan Women's Open.
   King is scheduled to meet second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France in the second round. King recorded her first victory over a top-10 player three weeks ago when she stunned Bartoli in the second round at Seoul, South Korea.
   In doubles, top-seeded King and Yaroslava Shvedova beat Americans Lindsay Lee-Waters and Megan Moulton-Levy 7-5, 6-4 in the first round.
   If King and Shvedova defeat Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Mandy Minella of Luxembourg, they'll play third-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a former Cal All-American from Fresno, and Abigail Spears in the semifinals.
   ITF Men's Circuit in Austin, Texas -- Granite Bay resident Artem Ilyushin, a senior at Mississippi State, and Daniel Chu of Canada lost to fourth-seeded Jesse Levine of Boca Raton, Fla., and Peter Polansky of Canada 6-7 (7), 6-2, 10-8 tiebreak in the first round of doubles at the $15,000 Austin Hill Country Classic.

$100,000 FIRST REPUBLIC BANK TIBURON CHALLENGER

At Tiburon Peninsula Club

First-round singles

   Alejandro Gonzalez, Colombia, def. Jack Sock, Overland Park, Kan., 4-6, 6-0, 6-3. Bjorn Phau (8), Germany, def. Greg Jones, Australia, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1. Alex Bogdanovic, Great Britain, def. Chris Guccione, Australia, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Alex Kuznetsov, Tampa, Fla., def. Izak Van der Merwe (6), South Africa, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Amer Delic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, def. Artem Sitak, New Zealand, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Uladzimir Ignatik, Belarus, def. Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, Canada, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. Ryan Sweeting (1), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., def. Steve Johnson, Orange, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Sam Querrey (3), Las Vegas, def. Fritz Wolmarans, South Africa, 6-4, 6-4.

Second-round singles

   Ivo Karlovic (2), Croatia, def. Robert Farah, Colombia, 7-6 (2), 6-2. Martin Fischer, Austria, def. Wayne Odesnik (7), Weston, Fla., 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1.

Thursday's schedule

Stadium Court 

(Beginning at 11 a.m.)  

   Sweeting (1) vs. Bogdanovic, Querrey (3) vs. Delic not before 1 p.m., Cabal and Farah (1) vs. Kuznetsov and Sweeting, Johnson  and Querrey vs. Battistone and Wettengel not before 4:30 p.m.

Court 1

(Beginning at 11 a.m.)

   Ignatik vs. Kuznetsov, Grigelis vs. Reynolds (4), Pospisil and Reynolds vs. Huey and Van Der Merwe (2) not before 4 p.m.

Court 4

(Beginning at noon)

   Borvanov vs. Pospisil (5), Phau (8) vs. Gonzalez, Ball and Guccione vs. Grigelis and Ignatik not before 4 p.m.