King, Shvedova to face Peschke, Srebotnik

   Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova figure to be the underdogs when they play Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik on Saturday in the semifinals (first round) of doubles at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul.
  Peschke, a 36-year-old Czech, and Srebotnik, a 30-year-old Slovenian, have won a WTA-high six titles this year. Among them was Wimbledon for their first Grand Slam crown.
   Peschke and Srebotnik became the first team to qualify for the WTA Championships, featuring the top eight singles players and top four doubles teams in this year's standings. They also reached last year's final, losing to Gisela Duko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
   King, a 22-year-old American who plays for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis, and Shvedova, a 24-year-old Moscow native who competes for Kazakhstan, have won two titles this year (Cincinnati in August and Moscow last week). They also lost a heartbreaker in the U.S. Open final as the defending champions.
   King and Shvedova are 2-1 lifetime against Peschke and Srebotnik but lost the most recent meeting 6-4, 6-4 indoors in the Beijing semifinals three weeks ago. The WTA Championships also are indoors.
   "We've played them a few times and had a good match against them in Beijing so we can't wait to play!" Shvedova blogged at wtatennis.com.
   In the other semifinal, Australian Open champions Dulko and Pennetta will face U.S. Open winners Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.
   Below are this week's singles results and Friday's schedule (live on Tennis Channel at 7 a.m. PDT and taped at 4 p.m.).
   Bryans survive -- No. 1 seeds and former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan saved one match point in a 6-7 (9), 7-6 (4), 11-9 tiebreak victory over Christopher Kas of Germany and Alexander Peya of Austria in the first round of doubles at the $905,000 Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
   The Bryans are playing in Vienna for the second time after a nine-year absence.
   Tursunov ousted -- Eighth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, a Moscow native living in Folsom, lost to Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the $663,750 St. Petersburg (Russia) Open.
   Tursunov, a semifinalist in St. Petersburg last year, fell to 0-3 lifetime against Starace. The first two matches were on clay. St. Petersburg is played on an indoor hardcourt.
   Ilyushin advances -- Artem Ilyushin, a senior at Mississippi State from Granite Bay, beat wild card Austin Smith of Atlanta 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the $10,000 Players' Choice Open in Birmingham, Ala.
   Ilyushin will meet top-seeded Nicolas Devilder of France in Friday's quarterfinals.

TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS

In Istanbul

Tuesday's results

Round Robin -- Red Group

   (1) Caroline Wozniaki (DEN) d. (8) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. 

   (3) Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. (6) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 6-2, 6-4.

Round Robin -- White Group

   (7) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-1, 7-5.

Wednesday's results

Round Robin -- Red Group

   (6) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (1) Caroline Wozniaki (DEN) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Round Robin -- White Group

   (5) Li Na (CHN) d. (2) Maria Sharapova ((RUS) 7-6 (4), 6-4.

   (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (7) Samantha Stosur (AUS) 6-2, 6-2.

Thursday's results
Singles

Round Robin -- Red Group

(3) Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. (1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 64 62 (Kvitova qualifies for semifinals).
(8) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (6) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 16 62 75 (saved three match points).

Round Robin - White Group

(4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (5) Li Na (CHN) 62 62 (Azarenka qualifies for semifinals).

Friday's schedule
(Beginning at 7 a.m. PDT)

1. Li Na vs. Samantha Stosur.
2. Petra Kvitova vs. Agnieszka Radwanska.
3. Marion Bartoli (substitute for injured Maria Sharapova) vs. Victoria Azarenka.

Lipsky continues skid after strong first half of year

   Scott Lipsky had an outstanding first half of the year.
   The second half has been another story.
   The doubles specialist and former Stanford All-American suffered his fourth consecutive first-round loss Wednesday, falling with Rajeev Ram to Oliver Marach of Austria and David Marrero of Spain 7-6 (7), 6-1 in the $905,000 Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
   Playing primarily with Ram, Lipsky won three ATP World Tour titles (San Jose, Delray Beach and Barcelona) and three Challenger crowns (Singapore, Dallas and Athens) and reached another ATP final (Johannesburg) from January through April.
   In the Barcelona final on clay, Lipsky and first-time partner Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico saved four match points and beat Bob and Mike Bryan, arguably the greatest doubles team in history, 5-7, 6-2, 12-10 tiebreak.
   Lipsky, the doubles champion of the inaugural Sacramento Challenger in 2005 with ex-Stanford teammate David Martin, also reached the French Open quarterfinals with Ram and won the mixed doubles title there with Casey Dellacqua of Australia for his first Grand Slam crown.
   Since then, however, Lipsky's best results have been two semifinals on the ATP World Tour. The 30-year-old Huntington Beach resident is ranked 27th in doubles, down from his career high of No. 25 on Oct. 3.
   WTA Championships -- As Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals noted in her blog from the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, the doubles draw will be held Thursday. King is playing with Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, who's also blogging at wtatennis.com.
   The four-team doubles field also features Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, Americans Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, and defending champions Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
   Ilyushin falls in doubles -- Artem Ilyushin, a senior at Mississippi State from Granite Bay, and Gilad Ben Zvi of Israel lost to Andrei Daescu of Romania and Milan Pokrajac of Canada 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the doubles quarterfinals of the $10,000 Players' Choice Open in Birmingham, Ala.
   Ilyushin is scheduled to meet wild card Austin Smith of Atlanta on Thursday in the second round of singles.

Sacramento finalists lose early in Vienna

   It was a bad day for the finalists of the recent $100,000 Sacramento Challenger.
   Champion Ivo Karlovic and runner-up James Blake lost Tuesday in the first round of the $905,000 Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
   The 6-foot-10 Karlovic, 32, retired with a back injury after losing the first set 7-6 (4) to qualifier Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia. Karlovic was playing in his first tournament since winning Sacramento and the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger back to back.
   Blake, 31, fell to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in their first meeting in six years.
   Tursunov advances -- Eighth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, a Moscow native living in Folsom, improved to 4-0 against qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili, a Georgia native who plays for Russia, with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in the first round of the $663,750 St. Petersburg (Russia) Open.
   Tursunov, a semifinalist in St. Petersburg last year, will face Potito Starace of Italy for the first time in five years in the second round. Starace, 30, is 2-0 against Tursunov, but both matches were on clay.
   King, Shvedova blog -- Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals and Yaroslava Shvedova are blogging daily from Istanbul, where they'll compete in doubles this week in the WTA Championships. Here's the link to their latest post:
www.wtatennis.com/blog/20111025/vania-slavas-istanbul-blog-tuesday_2257191_2494282
   Ilyushin triumphs -- Artem Ilyushin, a senior at Mississippi State from Granite Bay, upset his doubles partner, seventh-seeded Gilad Ben Zvi of Israel, 7-5, 7-5 in the first round of the $10,000 Player's Choice Open in Birmingham, Ala.

   Ben Zvi and Ilyushin, meanwhile, knocked off second-seeded Haydn Lewis of Barbados and Marvin Rolle of the Bahamas 6-4, 3-6, 10-3 tiebreak in the first round of doubles.

King, Shvedova have extra incentive in elite tourney

   Of the four doubles teams in this week's TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, only Vania King and Yaroslova Shvedova did not win a Grand Slam title this year.
   Not that they didn't come close.
   As the defending U.S. Open champions, King and Shvedova lost to Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the final.
   Shvedova, a Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set. She also had the match on her racket at 5-4 in the second-set tiebreaker but double-faulted, and she and King, a member of the Sacramento Capitals living in Boynton Beach, Fla., lost the next point after Shvedova's 76-mph first serve.
   The top eight singles players and top four doubles teams in this year's point standings qualified for the WTA Championships.
   The tournament is being held in Istanbul for the first time after three years in Doha, Qatar. What, the WTA couldn't find somewhere more remote for its marquee event? Was Ulan Bator, Mongolia, booked?
   Competing in singles, in order of seeding, are Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Maria Sharapova of Russia, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Li Na of China, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Samantha Stosur of Australia and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
   Defending champion Kim Clijsters, plagued by injuries, finished 13th in the standings.
   The doubles field consists of, in order of seeding, Wimbledon champions Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, Americans Huber and Raymond, King and Shvedova, and defending champions and Australian Open winners Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy and .
   French Open champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka finished 11th in the standings.
   Of course, the Venus and Serena Williams would demolish any of these teams, but they haven't been healthy at the same time since the Bill Clinton administration.
   Besides Dulko and Pennetta, Huber and Raymond are the only other former WTA Championships titlists in the field but with different partners. Raymond has won the crown three times, with Rennae Stubbs of Australia in 2001 and Stosur in 2005 and 2006. Huber has captured the title twice, with Cara Black of Zimbabwe in 2007 and 2008.
   King and Shvedova made their WTA Championships debut last year, losing to Dulko and Pennetta in the semifinals (first round).
   King and Shvedova are blogging from Istanbul. Here's the link: www.wtatennis.com/blog/20111024/vania-slavas-istanbul-blog-monday_2257191_2492902.
   Tursunov falls in doubles -- Dmitry Tursunov, a Moscow native living in Folsom, and Igor Kunitsyn of Russia lost to Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske of Germany 7-5, 6-4 Monday in the first round of doubles at the $663,750 St. Petersburg (Russia) Open.
   Tursunov, seeded eighth in singles, will face a qualifier in the first round.
   New rankings -- Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week 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 -- No. 27 in doubles (-1), unranked in singles.
   Mark Knowles, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2001-07, 2009-11) -- No. 42 in doubles (+2), unranked in singles.
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 39 in singles (+1), No. 234 in doubles (-83).
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native -- No. 116 in singles (-2), No. 31 in doubles (no change).
   David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 106 in doubles (+2), No. 663 in singles (+39).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- Career-high No. 133 in doubles (no change), 1,236 in singles (+10).
   Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 193 in singles (+10), unranked in doubles. 
   Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 281 in singles (+99), No. 551 in doubles (+2).
   Dusan Vemic, Capitals (2010-11) -- No. 501 in doubles (no change), No. 1,525 in singles (+9).
   Kiryl Harbatsiuk, three-time Big Sky Conference MVP (2009-11) at Sacramento State -- No. 763 in singles (+1), No. 1,253 in doubles (+6).

Women

   Vania King, Capitals (2010-11) -- No. 7 in doubles (+2), No. 77 in singles (+2).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 37 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2011) -- No. 208 in doubles (career high, +4), No. 403 in singles (+3).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- No. 377 in doubles (+1), No. 688 in singles (career high, +7).

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.

Tursunov eliminated in Moscow quarterfinals

   The home-court advantage wasn't enough for Dmitry Tursunov.
   Playing in his hometown, the sixth seed lost to top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-4, 6-2 Friday in the quarterfinals of the $725,000 Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
   Tipsarevic will meet his third Russian in a row, fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, in the semifinals. It will be a rare matchup of two men under 6 feet tall. Tipsarevic, 27, is listed at 5-11 and Davydenko, 30, at 5-10.
   Three of Davydenko's 21 career ATP World Tour singles titles have come in Moscow (2004, 2006 and 2007).
   Tipsarevic, who has an outside chance to qualify for the Barclay ATP World Tour Finals next month in London, evened his career record against Tursunov, a longtime Sacramento-area resident, to 2-2.
   "It was my best match in a long time, but now it will be even tougher against Davydenko," Tipsarevic, who eliminated 2008 Moscow champion Igor Kunitsyn in the second round, said on the ATP's Web site. "It is not great to play against three Russian players in Moscow, but the crowd has been very fair, applauding my good shots."
   Tursunov beat Tipsarevic 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 7-5 two weeks ago in the first round at Tokyo. But Tipsarevic might have had a letdown after winning his first career ATP World Tour title the previous week in the Malaysian Open.
   In Saturday's other semifinal, second seed and defending champion Viktor Troicki of Serbia will face qualifier Jeremy Chardy of France.
   Troicki edged fifth-seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr., a Moscow-born American and semifinalist at last year's Sacramento Challenger, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3) in 3  hours, 38 minutes. The marathon tied the longest best-of-three-set match of the year, Rafael Nadal's 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (9) victory over Spanish countryman Fernando Verdasco in the third round at Cincinnati in August.
   "Mentally and physically it was very tough, and I am exhausted now," Troicki said. "I am in the semifinals now, and I hope I will be ready. Chardy is very talented and struggled a little bit this season but now is back in good form. I like playing here; it is almost like playing at home."
   Chardy had a much easier time than Troicki in the quarterfinals, defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-3.
   Blake advances -- James Blake, the runner-up in the recent $100,000 Sacramento Challenger, reached the semifinals of the $825,000 Stockholm Open when David Nalbandian of Argentina defaulted with a strained left hamstring.
   Blake will face Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, who beat qualifier Tobias Kamke of Germany 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, in a matchup of unseeded players in their 30s who reached the top 15 five years ago. Blake climbed to No. 4 and Nieminen to No. 13 before injuries and age took their toll.
   Blake, 31, is 6-1 lifetime against Nieminen, 30. This will be their fourth meeting in Stockholm, all in the quarterfinals or later. Blake won 6-4, 6-2 in the 2006 final for the fourth of his 10 career ATP World Tour singles titles. He also won the 2005 Stockholm crown over since-retired Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand.
   Nieminen, however, won the last meeting 6-0, 6-2 in the 2010 Stockholm quarterfinals.
   Kamke, a 25-year-old German, won last year's Tiburon Challenger.
   In the other semifinal, top-seeded Gael Monfils of France will play sixth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada. The 6-5 Raonic, 20, won his first career ATP World Tour title in San Jose in February.
   WTA tour -- Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova advanced to the doubles final of the $721,000 Kremlin Cup with yet another victory over Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova.
   The second-seeded King, a member of the Sacramento Capitals living in Boynton Beach, Fla., and Shvedova, a Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, edged the third-seeded Grandin of South Africa and Uhlirova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 tiebreak.
   King and Shvedova improved to 4-0 this year against Grandin and Uhlirova, with three of the victories coming by two points in match tiebreakers.
   The winners will meet fourth-seeded Anastasia Rodionova, an Australian citizen from Russia and a former Capital, and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan in Saturday's final.

Tursunov to face Tipsarevic again

  Dmitry Tursunov and Janko Tipsarevic have plenty of motivation entering today's quarterfinal matchup in the $725,000 Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
   The sixth-seeded Tursunov, a 28-year-old Sacramento-area resident, is playing in his hometown three months after his father died of pancreatic cancer at 59. When Dmitry was a child, Igor Tursunov quickly recognized his son's talent and pushed him hard to become a professional tennis player.
   The top-seeded Tipsarevic, a 27-year-old Serb, hopes to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and avenge a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 7-5 loss to Tursunov two weeks ago in the first round at Tokyo.
   The top eight singles players of the year qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, Nov. 20-27 in London. Tipsarevic ranks 14th in the point standings (and world rankings).
   After receiving a first-round bye in Moscow, Tipsarevic beat 2008 champion Igor Kunitsyn 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.
   "I am very motivated to do well in these last few tournaments in order to try and finish in the top 10 and maybe qualify for London," Tipsarevic said on the ATP's Web site. "I was sick in the last two weeks and had not played a match for nine days. The first match at a tournament is always tough, so I'm happy I could finish very strong."
   Tipsarevic was coming off his first ATP title, in the Malaysian Open, when he lost to Tursunov.
   "He beat me in a very tough match in Tokyo two weeks ago, so I am looking for revenge," said the 5-foot-11 Tipsarevic, who is 1-2 lifetime against Tursunov.
   Tursunov has rebounded to 40th in the world after undergoing three operations on his left ankle or foot between April 2009 and February 2010. He advanced Thursday with a 6-3, 7-6 (1) victory over Julien Benneteau of France.
   Blake vs. Nalbandian -- In a battle of former top-five players, James Blake will meet David Nalbandian today in the quarterfinals of the $825,000 Stockholm Open.
   Five years ago, Nalbandian reached No. 3 and Blake No. 4. They have dropped to No. 58 and No. 69, respectively, because of injuries and age.
   Nalbandian is a 29-year-old Argentine, and Blake, the runner-up in the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger two weeks ago, is a 31-year-old American.
   Blake is 2-0 lifetime against Nalbandian, including a 6-2, 6-4 victory in the second round at Washington, D.C., in August.
   Blake stunned second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday, and Nalbandian crushed No. 7 seed Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-1, 6-1 Thursday.
   WTA tour in Moscow -- Second-seeded Vania King, a member of the Sacramento Capitals living in Boynton Beach, Fla., and Yaroslava Shvedova, a Moscow native who plays for Kazakhstan, reached the doubles semifinals of the Kremlin Cup when Russians Vitalia Diatchenko and Elena Vesnina retired while leading 6-4, 4-2. Diatchenko suffered a right knee injury.