Young rallies for second NorCal title in two weeks

Donald Young, left, overcame a slow start to beat Tim Smyczek, right, 7-5, 6-3
for his second Sacramento Challenger title. Also shown is tournament director
Brian Martinez. Photo by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For a while today, Donald Young's winning streak was in jeopardy.
   With the physical grind of surviving nine matches over two weeks taking a toll, the 24-year-old left-hander got off to a terrible start against fellow American Tim Smyczek in the final of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger.
   Young was broken at love in the opening game, lost eight of the first nine points and trailed 5-3 in the first set. Then he found his legs.
   And then some.
   Young, seeded eighth, reeled off the next seven games en route to a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Smyczek, seeded second, at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   After improving to 8-3 lifetime against Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-chek), Young said of his slow start: "It's disappointing. He was playing well, and I was missing a lot of shots I hadn't been missing the last two weeks. When you get to the end, it's a little tiring, but you've got to push through it. I'm happy I was able to step up and play better later."
   Young, coming off the title in the inaugural $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger, won tournaments in back-to-back weeks as a professional for the first time. He'll try for a Northern California Triple Crown in the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger, which begins Monday at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
   "It would be awesome," said Young, who did not lose a set in the Sacramento Challenger. "Next week is going to be tough. I have more miles on my legs right now than anyone else, but I also have a lot more confidence."
   Young fell just short of a Sacramento sweep. Second-seeded Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith of Australia edged wild cards Jarmere Jenkins of College Park, Ga., and Young 7-6 (1), 4-6, 14-12 match tiebreaker in the doubles final.
   Of Young's eight career Challenger singles titles, six have come in California. The Atlanta resident also won the Sacramento Challenger in 2008, the last year it was held at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club before moving to Natomas. He is the first two-time singles champion of the 9-year-old tournament.
   "I'm a lot better player (now), a lot more mature, stronger, a little faster, more experienced," said Young, who indeed seems less volatile. "I was good then, I'm pretty good now, so I'm just happy I'm improving."
   The future of the Sacramento Challenger, which began in 2005, is uncertain after Deepal Wannakuwatte withdrew as the title sponsor in August. The United States Tennis Association provided the full purse for one year only, according to Challenger tournament director Brian Martinez.
   Wannakuwatte, who owns a medical supply company based in West Sacramento, said he's focusing on rebuilding the Sacramento Capitals. The co-owner of the World TeamTennis franchise with Ramey Osborne added that he might return as the Challenger title sponsor next year. Martinez said other parties are interested but would not identify them.
   Young, who's listed at 6 feet (1.83 meters) but appears three inches (7.6 centimeters) shorter in an era of power, has failed to achieve the stardom forecast for him as a junior. When John McEnroe, another American left-hander, saw Young play at 10 years old, the legend said, "He's the first player I've seen who has hands like me."
   But Young has mostly struggled since turning pro at the almost unheard-of age -- for a boy -- of 14. He finally reached a career-high No. 38 in the world in February 2012 but then went into a tailspin. Playing at the top level of the sport, he lost in the first round of 16 consecutive tournaments and went 5-24 for the year.
   Playing mostly Challengers, equivalent to Triple A in baseball, this year, Young rebounded from No. 202 in February to No. 125 entering the Sacramento Challenger. He will jump to approximately No. 100 when the new weekly rankings are released Monday.
   "It's big," Young said of winning the Sacramento title, which was worth $14,400. "I think I'm closer to the top 100. That's my goal. I want to make the Australian Open main draw (in January) and not have to go through qualies Down Under. That's pretty much what this is, to get me to that level. It's a steppingstone."
   Smyczek, who reached the third round of the recent U.S. Open as the last American man standing, will improve from No. 100 to a career high of about No. 90.
   The 25-year-old resident of Tampa, Fla., lamented that he "went away from my game plan a little bit" against Young after leading 5-3 in the first set.
   "I had chances in the 5-3 game and felt I could have broken him there and didn't capitalize," said Smyczek, who had lost to Young 6-3, 6-2 in the Napa semifinals. "Then (serving in) the 5-4 game, I just let a little of the pressure get to me and abandoned what I was doing. But he played a great match after that, and I just had a little trouble keeping up with him."
   Smyczek, generously listed at 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters), elaborated on his game plan.
   "It just seemed like the more I did with the ball, the better he handled it, so I was trying to slow-ball him a little bit," he said. "I'll just have to go back to the drawing board and the next time I play him try something else."
   Following are links to the complete Sacramento Challenger singles and doubles draws:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw292.PDF
   Here are links to the qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws and Monday's schedule in the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/qualifying_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF

Here's the scoop: Smyczek, Young to renew rivalry

Second-seeded Tim Smyczek drubbed ailing
Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals of the Sacra-
mento Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Tim Smyczek and Donald Young know each other better than Ben and Jerry.
   Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-chek) and Young will meet for the 11th time in the final of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger after easy victories Saturday.
   Smyczek, seeded second, drubbed ailing Nick Kyrgios, a potential star from Australia, 6-3, 6-1 in 1 hour, 10 minutes at the Natomas Racquet Club as glorious weather returned after two days of wind.
   Young, seeded eighth, needed only 58 minutes to dispatch his doubles partner and fellow Atlanta-area resident, wild card Jarmere Jenkins, 6-2, 6-2.
   Young is 7-3 against Smyczek, including two meetings this year. Smyczek prevailed 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the last round of qualifying in Atlanta in July on the elite ATP World Tour. Young won 6-3, 6-2 last week in the semifinals of the $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger en route to the title.
   "I was just lucky to get through (the Napa match) like that," said Young, the 2008 Sacramento Challenger champion in its last year at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club. "It wasn't as easy as the score said. I played well on some big points, and he maybe wasn't playing his best.
   "It happens like that. He's beaten me pretty good a couple of times, and I've gotten him. (The matches) are normally close, and I expect a close one (today)."

   Smyczek said Young "played me a little differently (in Napa) that he has before, so I'll have to make some adjustments. He constructed points well. He played a lot of good one-two punches where he would go high to my backhand and then hard to my forehand. He was hitting a lot of winners."

   The rivals have several similarities.
   Most significantly in terms of their careers, both are small. Young is listed at 6 feet (1.83 meters) and Smyczek at 5-foot-9 (1.75), but both appear to be two or three inches (5.1 or 7.6 centimeters) shorter.

Eighth-seeded Donald Young needed only 58 minutes
to dispatch wild card Jarmere Jenkins.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Smyczek is 25, Young 24. Not only are both American, they were born 90 miles (145 kilometers) apart in the Midwest, Smyczek in Milwaukee and Young in Chicago, and moved to the Southeast to train. Smyczek is based in Tampa, Fla.
   Both skipped college to turn pro, Young at only 14 and Smyczek at 18.
   Both are excellent athletes.

   Smyczek on Young: "He has a lot of facets to his game. He has a lot of talent and a lot of shotmaking ability. He can win points a lot of different ways. That makes him difficult to play because even if your 'A' game is working, he's able to adjust a lot of times and change things around."
   Young on Smyczek: "He's quick. He hits pretty flat through the court. He's solid. He doesn't give you a lot. He's in good shape. He's just an all-around tough player."
   Smyczek cracked the top 100 in the world for the first time this week at No. 100. Young, once projected as the next great American, is ranked No. 125 after climbing to a career-high No. 38 in February 2012.
   Both have had success at the U.S. Open, Young reaching the round of 16 in 2011 and Smyczek advancing to the third round this year as the last American standing.
    Of course, they're also opposites in some ways. Young is black, left-handed and animated on the court. Smyczek is white, right-handed and stoical.
    Smyczek outsteadied the unseeded Kyrgios (pronounted KEER-ee-ose), a hard hitter at 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters) who had played two straight three-set matches with a sore right (playing) arm. After Kyrgios, already ranked No. 191 at 18 years old, held serve for 3-3 in the first set, Smyczek won nine of the last 10 games.
   Afterward, a reporter found Kyrgios, his right forearm wrapped in ice, in an almost deserted fitness room.
   "Not today," snapped Kyrgios, the youngest player in the top 200 by 20 months.
   When the reporter persisted and asked how much of a factor his injury was against Smyczek, Kyrgios burst out laughing at the apparently needless question.
   "A pretty big one," he allowed.      
   Young improved to 2-0 against Jenkins, who graduated from the University of Virginia in anthropology in May, in a rare matchup of African-Americans. Young won by the same score in the second round of the $50,000 Winnetka (Ill.) Challenger in July.
   During Virginia's commencement, Jenkins led the Cavaliers to the NCAA team title, reached the singles final and won the doubles crown with then-freshman Mac Styslinger.
   Young will play for two titles today. After the 1 p.m. singles final, he and Jenkins will face second-seeded Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith of Australia.
   Reid and Smith defeated wild cards Robert Kendrick and Brian Martinez, the tournament director of the Sacramento Challenger and director of tennis at the Natomas Racquet Club. 7-6 (6), 7-5.
   Kendrick, a 33-year-old Fresno native, retired from the tour last year. He reached the Sacramento Challenger singles final in 2008 and 2010 and won the doubles title with Brian Wilson in 2007. In the second round at Wimbledon in 2006, Kendrick came within a tiebreaker of beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets before losing.
   Following are links to the singles and doubles draws and today's schedule:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw292.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule292.PDF
   Here are links to the qualifying and singles main draws in the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club and today's schedule:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/qualifying_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF
   The Tiburon doubles draw will be held today.

Potential star Kyrgios upsets Klahn despite sore arm

Nick Kyrgios will meet second-seeded Tim Smyczek
in the semifinals of the Sacramento Challenger.
Photos by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Imagine what Nick Kyrgios will do with a healthy right arm.
   Despite soreness that affected his serve, the 18-year-old potential star from Australia upset seventh-seeded Bradley Klahn 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (4) on Friday in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger.
   The unseeded Kyrgios (pronounced KEER-ee-ose), already ranked No. 191 in the world, said the problem began during his three-set victory over 17-year-old countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis on Thursday in the second round.
   "It's something that's probably not going to go away in the next couple of days or in a week's time, but I can play through it," said the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter), 171-pound (78-kilogram) Kyrgios, the youngest player in the top 200 by 20 months. "Today, I had to just do what I could on serve. I could feel it on nearly every serve."
   Kyrgios faced a whopping 19 break points but, showing mental toughness in addition to his considerable physical skills, saved 14 of them during the 2-hour, 10-minute battle on a breezy day at the Natomas Racquet Club.

Bradley Klahn, a 23-year-old
Stanford graduate, said Kyr-
gios "has improved a lot."

   "Mentally, I've gone through a lot of ups and downs in the last three days," conceded Kyrgios, who also knocked off seventh-seeded Rajeev Ram in two tiebreakers in the first round. "I've played some really good tennis, and I've played some pretty average tennis. I'm trying to stay as positive as I can, but it's pretty hard knowing that one of your biggest strengths isn't there anymore -- your serve."       
   Kyrgios will meet second-seeded Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., for the first time in today's first semifinal, which follows an 11 a.m. doubles semifinal involving Natomas director of tennis Brian Martinez.
    The 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-chek) outlasted unseeded Samuel Groth of Australia 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-1. Smyczek, who cracked the top 100 for the first time on Monday at No. 100, saved five set points in the first set.   
   Groth, 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters) and 205 pounds (93 kilograms), holds the record for the fastest serve with a 163.4-mph (263-kph) rocket in the Busan (South Korea) Challenger last year.
   In the second semifinal, eighth-seeded Donald Young will face his doubles partner, wild card Jarmere Jenkins, in a rare matchup of African-Americans.
   Young, who won last week's $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger, dismissed unseeded Matt Reid of Australia 6-3, 6-4 for his eighth consecutive victory. Jenkins downed Australia's Matthew Ebden, the third seed and Napa runner-up, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4 to continue his surprising run only four months after graduating from the University of Virginia in anthropology.

Wild card Jarmere Jenkins, a recent University of
Virginia graduate, surprised No. 3 seed Matthew
Ebden of Australia.

   At the NCAA championships in May, Jenkins led the Cavaliers to the team title, reached the singles final and won the doubles crown with then-freshman Mac Styslinger.
   Young, a nine-year veteran at only 24, dominated Jenkins 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the $50,000 Winnetka (Ill.) Challenger in July in their only career meeting.
   The Atlanta-area residents will play in Sunday's doubles final in their first tournament together.
   Kyrgios, whose father is Greek-Australian and mother is Malaysian, resembles San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick facially, physically and athletically. The No. 1 junior in the world in January, Kyrgios already has made an impact at the top level of men's tennis this year.
   As a wild card playing in the singles main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, Kyrgios defeated then-No. 52 Radek Stepanek in three tiebreakers in the first round of the French Open. Stepanek reached a career-high No. 8 in 2006.

Eighth-seeded Donald Young will face Jenkins
in a rare matchup of African-Americans.

   Kyrgios also won three qualifying matches to advance to the main draw of the U.S. Open before losing to fourth-ranked David Ferrer of Spain in straight sets.
   Kyrgios made his Davis Cup debut last month, losing 6-4 in the fifth set with Chris Guccione to Poland's Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, the seventh-ranked doubles team in the world, in Warsaw.
   Australian Davis Cup captain Patrick Rafter, an International Tennis Hall of Famer, said afterward of Kyrgios, "We've got one of the great Davis Cup players coming up right now."
   Kyrgios' sore arm didn't seem to affect his groundstrokes against Klahn. Kyrgois rifled forehand and backhand passing shots past the 23-year-old Stanford graduate.
   Krygios could have crumbled when, serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set, he double-faulted twice in a row and was broken. But he shook it off, forced a tiebreaker and prevailed on his second match point with a runaround forehand passing shot.         
   Klahn had beaten Kyrgios 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of Australian Open qualifying in January in their only previous encounter.
   "Everyone gets better with time if they're working, and he's improved a lot," observed the 133rd-ranked Klahn, a left-hander who's listed at 6 feet (1.83 meters) but appears two or three inches shorter. "In Australia, I played really solid, kept the ball deep and waited for him to make mistakes, which he did. He played better at the biggest moments today. He didn't give me as many errors at the key times, especially in the breakers."
   Kyrgios has played five tiebreakers in the tournament and won them all.
   Once his arm heals, watch out.
   Links to the singles and doubles draws and today's schedule were not available.
   Following are links to the qualifying draw for the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club and today's schedule:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/qualifying_draw291.PDF 
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF

Things are looking up Down Under

Matthew Ebden of Australia is close to return-
ing to the top 100. Photos by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. — You think the United States has struggled in men's professional tennis?
   Consider Australia.
   The nation that has won 28 Davis Cup championships, second to the United States' 32, and produced legends such as Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, John Newcombe and Tony Roche has no men in the top 50 in the world. As recently as the 2010 year-end rankings, Australia had one man in the top 100 -- Lleyton Hewitt at No. 54.
   No Aussie man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Hewitt in 2002 at Wimbledon. That tops the U.S. drought by one year; Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open.
   Of course, Australia has about 1/14th the population of the United States.
   However, there's hope for Australian men's tennis. The country is up to three men in the top 100 -- No. 55 Bernard Tomic, No. 56 Marinko Matosevic and No. 59 Hewitt. Tomic is 20 years old, Matosevic 28 and Hewitt 32.
   And it appears more Aussies are on the way, as they represent half of the quarterfinalists in the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger. In fact, all four of today's quarterfinals pit Australians against Americans.

Robby Ginepri is the only active U.S. man
to have reached a Grand Slam singles semifinal.

   Third-seeded Matthew Ebden, who ascended to a career-high No. 61 last October, is No. 114 and rising. The 25-year-old veteran survived the wind and a challenge from 30-year-old Robby Ginepri, the only active U.S. man to have reached a Grand Slam singles semifinal, for a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 victory on Thursday at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   "A few years back, we might not have had one guy in the top 100 for a short time," said Ebden, the runner-up in last week's $50,000 Napa Challenger and the mixed doubles champion in this year's Australian Open with Slovakian-born Australian Jarmila Gajdosova. "Now we're looking at four or five guys maybe soon going to be in there. Then there's the potential to get to 50 or better.
   "Everybody sort of has an Australian attitude -- just keep our head down and work hard and keep improving month after month and year after year. I'm trying to do the same thing."
   Just as the Ebden-Ginepri match was beginning on the Stadium Court, a matchup of two potential stars from Australia was ending on an outside court. Nick Kyrgios, an 18-year-old right-hander, topped 17-year-old qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 despite being treated for a right wrist injury. Both players are prototypically tall and powerful.

Nick Kyrgios, 18, of Australia is by far the youngest player ranked in the
top 200 in the world.

   Kyrgios (pronounced KEER-ee-ose) also beat Kokkinakis in the Australian Open boys singles final in January, and they teamed to win the Wimbledon boys doubles title in July. Kyrgios, ranked No. 191, is the youngest player in the top 200 by 20 months over Dominic Thiem, 20, of Austria.
   Aussies Samuel Groth and Matt Reid -- ranked No. 202 and No. 235, respectively -- advanced to the Sacramento quarterfinals on Wednesday. Groth, who owns the world's fastest serve (163.4 mph or 263 kph), is 25 and Reid 23.
   Not playing in Sacramento is 19-year-old Luke Saville, who won the boys singles title at Wimbledon in 2011 and the Australian Open last year.
   Ebden cited two reasons for Australia's woes.
   "Like anything in life, there are cycles," he said. "In the economy, there are upturns and downturns. For a long time, Spain didn't have players, and then all of a sudden, they had tons of players.

Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia won this year's
Wimbledon boys doubles title with Kyrgios.

   "Australia is very far away geographically. That's one thing people have to overcome, but if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way. With some good people in charge of Australian tennis, like (two-time U.S. Open champion) Pat Rafter who bring a really strong work ethic, everyone is sort of picking up on that and fighting to get up there."
   Ebden, from Perth, used his experience in the wind and his fighting spirit to subdue a valiant Ginepri, who lost to Andre Agassi in five sets in the semifinals of the 2005 U.S. Open, in a match featuring outstanding athleticism and shotmaking.
   "Where I live in Australia, it's quite a windy place, so I don't actually mind the wind too much," Ebden said. "I think that's probably why in the first set I was settled from very early on and maybe he wasn't. But he adjusted really well, and then it was just a good fight. I tried to be a little more aggressive in the third set when I could, and I think that was the key for me."    
   Seventh-seeded Bradley Klahn, a former NCAA singles champion from Stanford who won his first career Challenger title in August at Aptos, reached the Sacramento quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. The 23-year-old left-hander from Poway in the San Diego area defeated 20-year-old Benjamin Mitchell of -- you guessed it -- Australia, 7-6 (6), 6-4.
   Wild card Jarmere Jenkins, who completed his eligibility at Virginia in May, eliminated Daniel Evans of Great Britain 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach his first Challenger quarterfinal. At the NCAA Championships in May, Jenkins led Virginia to its first team title, reached the singles title and won the doubles crown with Mac Styslinger.
   Evans reached the third round of the recent U.S. Open, upsetting No. 11 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan and 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Tomic.
   In the doubles quarterfinals, wild cards Robert Kendrick and Brian Martinez edged Americans Austin Krajicek and Denis Kudla 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 match tiebreaker.
   Kendrick, a 33-year-old Fresno native, retired from the tour last year. He reached the Sacramento Challenger singles final in 2008 and 2010 and won the doubles title with Brian Wilson in 2007. In the second round at Wimbledon in 2006, Kendrick came within a tiebreaker of beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets before losing.
   Martinez is the tournament director of the Sacramento Challenger and director of tennis at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   Krajicek, a distant relative of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek from the Netherlands, and Devin Britton of Brandon, Miss., reached last year's doubles final in Sacramento. They fell to Americans Tennys Sandgren and Rhyne Williams 4-6, 6-4, 12-10 match tiebreaker.
   Following are links to the singles and doubles draws and today's schedule:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw292.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule292.PDF

Reynolds' hot summer: Centre Court, White House

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Bobby Reynolds had two unforgettable experiences this summer.
   On June 28, the 31-year-old journeyman professional from Marietta, Ga., played top-ranked Novak Djokovic on Centre Court at Wimbledon. Eleven days later, President Barack Obama honored Reynolds and the rest of the Washington Kastles at the White House for their 2012 World TeamTennis title.

Bobby Reynolds, playing with an injured
right wrist, fell to No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek
in the second round of the Sacramento
Challenger. Photos by Paul Bauman

   Reynolds, a Wimbledon qualifier, lost to Djokovic 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-1 in the second round but was thrilled by the experience.
   "You grow up watching obviously on TV all the guys who go out on Centre Court," Reynolds said today after losing to No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club. "To have those emotions running through you before, during and after is a neat thing. It's definitely a lifetime experience for me, and to play the No. 1 guy in the world and see what it's like, there's a reason he's No. 1.
   "There really weren't any flaws that I felt I could exploit. I did everything I could on my serve just to stay in it. I spent a lot of energy obviously in the first set. He took it up a notch or two, and that's the difference."
  Reynolds admitted that he had a strong case of nerves before the match.
  "If you don't have butterflies going out before a match like that, I think there's something wrong," he said. "Walking out, you feel like your heart is beating a thousand miles a minute."  
   Reynolds, who's listed at 6 feet (1.83 meters) but appears two or three inches shorter, was the last American man left in singles at Wimbledon. Former top-five player James Blake and qualifier Denis Kudla had lost earlier in the day. It was the first time in 101 years that no U.S. man reached the third round at Wimbledon.
   Blake, who won the last year's Sacramento Challenger, retired from tennis after losing to 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Ivo Karlovic in the first round of the U.S. Open. Kudla, seeded first this year in Sacramento, lost to Daniel Cox of Great Britain in the first round.
   Reynolds also was elated to visit the White House, even though he's a Republican and was unable to chat with Obama during the team's 10- or 15-minute visit.

Smyczek, serving to Reynolds, advanced
to Friday's quarterfinals.

   "That was an unbelievable experience to meet President Obama in the Oval Office," said Reynolds, the 2012 WTT Male MVP. "It's something a lot of people are never able to do."   
   Reynolds and his teammates didn't know they were going to the White House until that afternoon. Team owner Mark Ein told the players in the morning only to bring nice clothes to work.
   "You never know with him," Reynolds said. "He has so many things up his sleeve and so many contacts that you didn't know."
   Two nights later, the host Texas Wild ended the Kastles' 34-match winning streak, one of the longest in North American professional sports history, spanning two-plus seasons. 
   Reynolds, ranked No. 142 after reaching a career-high No. 63 in 2009, endured another dose of adversity today. The right-hander, a Sacramento semifinalist last year and quarterfinalist in 2011, was treated for a right wrist injury early in the second set against Smyczek.
   "I did something in the warmup," said Reynolds, who's scheduled to play in the first round of doubles with countryman Rajeev Ram today. "(The trainer) thinks it might be the tendon. I felt it on most of the forehands I hit. We'll see how it is."         
   Reynolds declined to use the injury as an excuse, though.

Samuel Groth, who owns the world's
fastest serve, celebrates after beating
Peter Polansky in 2 hours, 30 minutes.

   "It kind of played in the back of my mind more than anything," he said. "He played well. He makes you play a lot of balls, makes you go for more than you want to go for. Right when you think you're in control of the point, he neutralizes the point well. Kudos to him. He played really well."
   Also advancing to Friday's quarterfinals were eighth-seeded Donald Young of Atlanta and Australians Matt Reid and Samuel Groth.
   Young, who won the 2008 title in the final Sacramento Challenger at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club and last week's $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger, dispatched James McGee of Ireland 6-2, 6-3.
   McGee stunned American Ryan Harrison, who reached No. 43 in the world last year at 20 years old, in the first round of the $100,000 Aptos Challenger in August after trailing 5-1 in the third set.
   Reid ousted Cox 6-4, 6-3.
   Groth outlasted Peter Polansky of Canada 6-7 (6), 7-6 (7), 6-3 in 2 hours, 30 minutes as the temperature reached 82 degrees (27.8 Celsius). Groth, 6-foot-4 (1.94 meters) and 210 pounds (95.3 kilograms), blasted a record 163.4-mph (263-kph) serve in last year's Busan (South Korea) Challenger.
   Polansky had upset sixth-seeded Alex Kuznetsov, a two-time Sacramento semifinalist, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in 2 hours, 21 minutes in the first round. The match was played on Tuesday morning before the temperature climbed to a high of 80 degrees (26.7 Celsius).
   The other four quarterfinalists will be determined Thursday.
   Doubles defending champions Tennys Sandgren and Rhyne Williams, seeded third, lost to wild cards Jarmere Jenkins and Young 6-3, 6-2 in the first round in an all-American encounter.
   As a senior at the NCAA championships in May, Jenkins led Virginia to its first tennis team title, reached the singles final and won the doubles crown with Mac Styslinger.
   Following are the singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw292.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule292.PDF

Smyczek shows he can play with the big boys

Tim Smyzcek, the last American standing at the
U.S. Open, dismantled Noah Rubin, 17, in the
Sacramento Challenger. Photos by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Every young player dreams of reaching the top 100 in the world.
   It's more than a nice, round number. It assures direct entry into most top-level tournaments, providing a comfortable living.
   Most pros never get there. For those who do, it can be a long, hard road.
   Especially if you're 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and from frigid Milwaukee like Tim Smyczek.
   Seven years after turning pro, Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-chek) completed the journey on Monday. By reaching the semifinals of last week's $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger, he rose five spots to No. 100.
   "It's been a goal of mine for a long time," the second-seeded Smyczek said after dismantling Noah Rubin, a 17-year-old wild card from Long Island, N.Y., 7-6 (3), 6-0 today in the first round of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger. "In recent months, I've been trying not to focus on rankings. I was 101 earlier this year, and I think it got a little counterproductive dwelling on that. I haven't thought about it for a long time, but now that it's happened, it's kind of monkey-off-the-back feeling. I just feel like I can play now."
   Rubin also is small and fast. He has top-50 potential at a "minimum," his mentor, John McEnroe, has said.
   Smyczek is the highest remaining seed after the first round. Three seeds, all Americans, suffered upsets on a gorgeous 80-degree (26.7 Celsius) day at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   No. 4 Rajeev Ram, the 2006 runner-up at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club, lost to 18-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2). Kyrgios (pronounced KEER-ee-ose), 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters) with a devastating serve and forehand, is by far the youngest player in the top 200 at No. 191. He's almost 20 months younger than 20-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem, who's next. 

Rubin has top-50 potential at a "minimum," his mentor,
John McEnroe, has said.

   No. 5 Rhyne Williams fell to Great Britain's Daniel Evans, who reached the third round of the U.S. Open, 6-3, 7-6 (2). And No. 6 Alex Kuznetsov, a two-time Sacramento semifinalist, was edged by Peter Polansky of Canada 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2).
   Only half of the eight seeds survived the first round. Daniel Cox of Great Britain eliminated top seed Denis Kudla of Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday.
   The doubles draw also featured an upset today as Carsten Ball of Australia and Denys Molchanov of Ukraine nipped top-seeded Samuel Groth and Chris Guccione, both of Australia, 7-6 (5), 5-7 (10-6 match tiebreaker).
   Groth is credited with the fastest serve in history, 163.4 mph (263 kph) in last year's Busan (South Korea) Challenger. Ball and Guccione, former longtime partners, won the Sacramento doubles title in 2011.
   Smyczek was the last American man standing in the recent U.S. Open. He advanced to the third round, falling 7-5 in the fifth set to Marcel Granollers of Spain, to pocket $93,000. Americans John Isner (6-foot-10, 2.08 meters) and Jack Sock (6-foot-1, 1.85 meters) also lost in the third round, but Smyczek's match followed theirs.
   "It was fun," Smyczek, 25, said of his U.S. Open distinction. "That sort of thing doesn't happen often. We've had players at the top of the game for so long that it was kind of fluky that no American made it past the third round. There was a lot of attention, and I had a great crowd that last round."

Nick Kyrgios, 18, of Australia upset
fourth-seeded Rajeev Ram.

   The tournament began auspiciously for Smyczek. On the way to his first-round match, his chauffeur-driven courtesy car ran out of gas.
   "Luckily,  I played the second match, not first," Smyczek said. "We were on the highway, and I noticed we were getting passed by a lot of cars. I looked at the speedometer, and we were just coasting. Then all of a sudden, we had to pull over under an overpass. I got kind of lucky that somebody who was working at the tournament happened to be driving by, and he gave my coach and me a ride."
   Smyczek is tied for the second-shortest player in the top 100. No. 98 Michael Russell, a 35-year-old American, is 5-foot-8. No. 4 David Ferrer and No. 58 Albert Montanes, both of Spain, and No. 89 Dudi Sela of Israel are also 5-9. 
   Smyczek began playing at 3 when his older brother, Alec, started taking lessons. After starring in the juniors, Smyczek decided to forgo college, turn pro and move to Tampa, Fla., to train full-time. He admitted it was a big gamble at his size.
   "Absolutely. I was well aware of that, and my parents were aware of that," said Smyczek, whose father, Phil, is an electrical engineer and mother, Jan, is a housewife. "We just decided that if I were to go to school right away that either my studies or my tennis would suffer.
   "I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to be a professional tennis player. At the time, I didn't see that working out for me if I went to school. My parents said, 'You can go back to school anytime you want. Give (pro tennis) a shot while you're young.' "
   Smyczek, who qualified for the Australian Open in January and beat 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Ivo Karlovic in the first round, has earned $265,742 this year and $639,917 for his career. He possesses surprising power for his size but relies on his quickness, outstanding two-handed backhand and mental toughness.
   "I work really hard on my footwork, agility and conditioning because I'm not going to serve anybody off the court," he said. "I'm going to have to play long, physical points, so I need to train for that type of tennis."
   Now that Smyczek has cracked the top 100, one of his goals is to stay there.
   "I've got some points to defend this fall," he noted. "A major goal would be to be in the main draw of the Australian next year. And just keep climbing. Completely apart from the rankings, if I'm still making strides, that's the biggest thing."   
   Following are links to the singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw292.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule292.PDF

No. 1 seed Kudla falls in Sacramento Challenger

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Denis Kudla took a step or two down to play in the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger.

Daniel Cox shocked top seed
Denis Kudla in the first round
of the Sacramento Challenger.
Photos by Paul Bauman

   Daniel Cox took a step up.
   You'd never have known it by the way they played on Monday, though. Cox, an alternate, stunned the top-seeded Kudla 7-5, 6-0 in the first round at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   Cox, ranked No. 263 in the world, replaced Michael Venus in the draw. Venus, ranked No. 358, lost in the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger on Friday after the deadline to sign up for qualifying in Sacramento.
   The 95th-ranked Kudla played at the top level of men's tennis all summer, reaching the second round at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Cox, meanwhile, has won five titles and gained another final on the Futures circuit since July 1.
   But on Monday, the blond, 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter) Cox glided around the court and rifled forehand passing shots while Kudla sprayed groundstrokes and became increasingly agitated.
   It added up to the second-biggest victory of the 23-year-old Englishman's career. Cox toppled then-No. 67 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round of qualifying at Nottingham on grass in 2008.
   "I played very smart today, very solid," Cox crowed. "I felt very good out there."
   Kudla felt the opposite.
   "I just wasn't in the right state of mind today," moaned the 21-year-old Kudla, who moved from his native Ukraine to Fairfax, Va., on his first birthday. "That definitely hurt me, and he played well. I just have to learn from it and move on."

Kudla complained that he "wasn't in the
right state of mind."

   Kudla's anguish peaked with Cox serving at 5-5 in the first set. After netting a backhand on his third break point, the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Kudla angrily bounced his racket off the court. Cox proceeded to win the last eight games of the match.
   It's the second consecutive year that the top seed has lost in the first round of the Sacramento Challenger, and both times, the winner's first name was Daniel. In 2012, Daniel Kosakowski eliminated Benjamin Becker, who was recovering from a torn groin muscle. Kudla, though, said he was fine physically.
   Just last week, Cox played in the main draw of a Challenger for the first time this year. He fell 6-1, 6-1 to second-seeded Tim Smyczek in the second round at Napa.
   "I learned from my loss last week," Cox said. "I just trained very hard and worked on some of the things I needed to work on, and it's paid off this week.
   "I was working on my serve, and I felt I needed to be a little stronger from the baseline. This is a level up for me, so I have to step it up a little."
   When asked what he learned from his loss in Napa, Cox replied: "I learned that you don't get any free points at this level. In the Futures, you probably get five, six, seven chances a set. Here, you probably get one or two, so the margins are very small. That's the main difference from the Futures to the Challengers."

Hometown favorite Collin Altamirano,
17, put up a fight against James McGee.

   Joining Cox in the second round were Samuel Groth of Australia and James McGee of Ireland.

   Groth, who owns the world's fastest serve (163.4 mph or 263 kph), dismissed Denys Molchanov of Urkaine 6-3, 6-2. McGee held off hometown favorite Collin Altamirano, a 17-year-old wild card, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
   McGee, 26, shocked American Ryan Harrison, who reached a career-high No. 43 in the world at 20 years old last year, in the first round of the $100,000 Aptos Challenger in August. After overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the third set against Harrison, McGee lost 6-2, 6-1 to fellow qualifier Farrukh Dustov of Uzbekistan in the second round.
   Altamirano won the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., in August to earn an automatic berth in the main draw of the U.S. Open. He lost in the first round to No. 22 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 but reached the boys singles quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.
   Following are the singles qualifying draw, singles and doubles main draws and today's schedule in the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club:
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/qualifying_draw289.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw291.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw292.PDF
   http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule292.PDF