Pegula withdraws from Gold River Challenger

Maria Sanchez, left, defeated Jessica Pegula, right, in the final
of last year's inaugural FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   One day after last year's champion accepted a wild card in the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger, 2012 runner-up Jessica Pegula withdrew.
   Jessica Pegula, a 19-year-old resident of Boca Raton, Fla., today dropped off the acceptance list for the July 1-6 tournament. But Maria Sanchez, a 23-year-old Modesto native, plans to defend her title at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   Sanchez, a former USC All-American who's mentored by International Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert, defeated Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final of last year's inaugural tournament. Pegula's billionaire father, Terry, owns the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League.
   Five players ranked in the top 200 in the world tentatively are entered in the Gold River Challenger. Sanchez tops the list at No. 114. She is followed by Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal at No. 131, Casey Dellacqua of Australia at No. 145, Chanel Simmonds of South Africa at No. 165 and Julie Coin of France at No. 176. 
    Larcher de Brito played one season for the Sacramento Capitals, helping them win the last of their record six World TeamTennis titles in 2007. At 14, she was the youngest player in league history until Madison Keys surpassed her by 19 days two years later as a 14-year-old with the Philadelphia Freedoms. Keys, who also lives in Boca Raton, is now ranked a career-high 53rd.
   Dellacqua, a 28-year-old left-hander, won the 2011 French Open mixed doubles title with former Stanford All-American Scott Lipsky and reached this year's Australian Open women's doubles final with Ashleigh Barty, then 16. It was the first time since 1977 that two Aussie women played in the Australian Open title match. 
   See below for the full updated Gold River Challenger acceptance list.
   U.S. Open National Playoffs -- Andrew Ball, Giuliana Olmos and the mixed doubles team of Eric Roberson and Yasmin Schnack won titles in Salinas in Northern California Sectional Qualifying for the U.S. Open National Playoffs.
   All advanced to the U.S. Open National Playoffs Championship in New Haven, Conn. Winners of the men's and women's singles events, Aug. 16-19, will receive wild cards in the U.S. Open qualifying tournament scheduled for Aug. 20-23. The champions of the mixed doubles event, Aug. 21-24, will earn a berth in the mixed doubles main draw of the U.S. Open, Aug. 26-Sept. 9.
   Ball, a Palo Alto resident who will be a freshman at Harvard in the fall, defeated Joshua Pompan of Salinas 6-3, 6-1 in the sectional final. Fremont's Olmos, who recently finished her sophomore year at USC, held off Lejla Hodzic of Santa Clara 6-1, 6-4 for the title.
   Roberson and Schnack, both from the Sacramento area, routed Conor Berg and Hadley Berg of Greenbrae 6-2, 6-1 in the final. Schnack played on UCLA's NCAA championship team in 2008 as a sophomore and retired from professional tennis last year. Roberson played at Boise State.

$50,000 FSP GOLD RIVER WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

July 1-6 at Gold River Racquet Club

Updated acceptance list (subject to change)

(With world rankings as of June 10)

1	Michelle LARCHER DE BRITO (POR)	130
2	Casey DELLACQUA (AUS)	139
3	Chanel SIMMONDS (RSA)	166
4	Julie COIN (FRA)	176
5	Madison BRENGLE (USA)	219
6	Petra RAMPRE (SLO)	225
7	Ivana LISJAK (CRO)	236
8	Heidi EL TABAKH (CAN)	280
9	Jarmila GAJDOSOVA (AUS)	281
10	Storm SANDERS (AUS)	282
11	Victoria DUVAL (USA)	303
12	Allie KIICK (USA)	306
13	Sanaz MARAND (USA)	324
14	Jelena PANDZIC (CRO)	329
15	So-Ra LEE (KOR)	336
16	Allie WILL (USA)	337
17	Naomi BROADY (GBR)	345
18	Mai MINOKOSHI (JPN)	347
19	Asia MUHAMMED (USA)	356
20	Mayo HIBI (JPN)	375
21	Ashley WEINHOLD (USA)	394
22	Jan ABAZA (USA)	396
23	Sally PEERS (AUS)	413

Sanchez to defend Gold River title; Wimbledon draw

Modesto native Maria Sanchez beat Jessica
Pegula in the final of the inaugural Gold River
Women's Challenger last year. 2012 photo
by Paul Bauman 

   Maria Sanchez will defend her title in the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   The 23-year-old Modesto native accepted a wild card for the July 1-6 tournament at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area, spokesman Clint Swett announced today.
   Sanchez was eliminated from Wimbledon singles and doubles qualifying on Thursday, clearing the way for the former USC All-American to return to Gold River. With a world ranking of No. 114, she could be seeded first.
   Sanchez defeated Jessica Pegula, 18 at the time, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the inaugural Gold River Challenger last year. Pegula also is scheduled to return.
   Wimbledon draw -- Today's Wimbledon draw did no favors for Northern California players.

   Sam Querrey, seeded 21st, will face Bernard Tomic of Australia next week in a battle of tall, powerful players. Querrey is 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters) and Tomic 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters).

   Querrey, a 25-year-old San Francisco native, is scheduled to play part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis next month for the second straight year. 

   Dmitry Tursunov, a 30-year-old Russian based in the Sacramento area, will meet 13th-seeded Tommy Haas, 35, of Germany in a matchup of two injury-prone players.

   In doubles, Tursunov and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland will play 14th-seeded Rohan Bopanna of India and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. Tursunov and Nieminen won the Munich title last month in only their second tournament together. 

Sam Querrey, seeded 21st at
Wimbledon, will face Bernard
Tomic in the first  round.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   And in women's singles, former Stanford star Mallory Burdette will take on dangerous Urszula Radwanska of Poland.

   Wimbledon begins Monday and concludes on July 7.
   Tomic reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals as a qualifier two years ago at 18. Querrey advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon three years ago, matching his best Grand Slam result to date.
   In the players' only career meeting, Tomic defeated Querrey 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the second round of last year's Australian Open. Tomic, however, has fallen from a career-high No. 27 in the world one year ago to No. 64.
   Querrey is ranked 19th, two spots below his career high in January 2011. He and Tomic are in the same quarter of the draw as ninth-seeded Richard Gasquet; seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych, the 2010 runner-up; and top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the 2011 champion.   
   Tursunov, who trains at the Gorin Tennis Academy in Granite Bay, is scheduled to play for the first time since aggravating a pulled left hamstring muscle three weeks ago in the second round of the French Open.
   The 65th-ranked Tursunov is 1-4 lifetime against Haas, who's ranked 13th after ascending to a career-high No. 2 in 2002. Their last encounter came at Wimbledon in 2007, with Haas prevailing 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the third round. 
   Tursunov advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2005 and 2006 for his best Grand Slam singles results to date. Haas reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2009 before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer. Earlier this month, Haas became the oldest quarterfinalist in the French Open since 1971.
    Burdette, ranked 69th, will make her Wimbledon debut after forgoing her senior year at Stanford and turning pro last September. She and Radwanska, ranked 38th, have never met.
    Radwanska beat former No. 1 players Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams in back-to-back clay-court tournaments, the Italian Open and French Open, in May. Radwanska also reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in March, upsetting 15th-seeded Sloane Stephens in the second round.
    Burdette lost to Radwanska's older sister, fourth-ranked Agnieszka, in the second round of the French Open last month. Agnieszka reached last year's Wimbledon final, losing to Serena Williams.

Defending champ possible for Gold River Challenger

   Defending champion Maria Sanchez could receive a wild card for the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   The way was cleared for the 23-year-old Modesto native to return when she was eliminated from Wimbledon singles and doubles qualifying today. With a singles world ranking of No. 114, she could be seeded first in the July 1-6 tournament at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   An announcement might come Thursday, according to tournament spokesman Clint Swett.
   Sanchez's return tentatively would give the Gold River Challenger both finalists from last year's inaugural tournament. Sanchez defeated Jessica Pegula, then 18, of Boca Raton, Fla., 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
   Meanwhile, Russia's Alisa Kleybanova, a former top-20 player who has won two WTA titles, probably will play in the June 28-29 qualifying event for the Gold River Challenger, Swett announced. The 23-year-old Kleybanova has been fighting Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer, for the past two years.
   Sanchez, playing Wimbledon qualifying for the first time this year, lost to Israeli veteran Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-2 in the second round in London.
   Sanchez, a former All-American at USC who's mentored by International Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert, also fell in the first round of doubles qualifying. She and Olga Puchkova of Russia succumbed to fifth-seeded Raluca Olaru of Romania and Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
   Puchkova played two matches for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2008 and reached the singles final of the $25,000 Oak River Rehab Challenger in Redding in 2011.
   Peer climbed to a career-high No. 11 in the world in 2011 but, hampered by injuries, has plunged to No. 168. She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2007 and the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2008.
   In doubles, Peer advanced to the final of the 2008 Australian Open with Victoria Azarenka and won the title at Stanford with Anna-Lena Groenefeld in 2006 and Sania Mirza in 2007.

$50,000 FSP GOLD RIVER WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

July 1-6 at Gold River Racquet Club

Updated acceptance list (subject to change)

(Rankings as of June 10)

1	Jessica PEGULA (USA)	123
2	Michelle LARCHER DE BRITO (POR)	130
3	Casey DELLACQUA (AUS)	139
4	Olivia ROGOWSKA (AUS)	146
5	Chanel SIMMONDS (RSA)	166
6	Julie COIN (FRA)	176
7	Madison BRENGLE (USA)	219
8	Petra RAMPRE (SLO)	225
9	Ivana LISJAK (CRO)	236
10	Heidi EL TABAKH (CAN)	280
11	Jarmila GAJDOSOVA (AUS)	281
12	Storm SANDERS (AUS)	282
13	Victoria DUVAL (USA)	303
14	Allie KIICK (USA)	306
15	Sanaz MARAND (USA)	324
16	Jelena PANDZIC (CRO)	329
17	So-Ra LEE (KOR)	336
18	Allie WILL (USA)	337
19	Naomi BROADY (GBR)	345
20	Mai MINOKOSHI (JPN)	347
21	Asia MUHAMMED (USA)	356
22	Peangtarn PLIPUECH (THA)	364
23	Mayo HIBI (JPN)	375
24	Ashley WEINHOLD (USA)	394