All eight seeds advance in Aptos Challenger

   The $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos is notorious for upsets. In the tournament's 27-year history, no top seed has won the title.
   It's still early, but the Challenger has gone according to form so far. All eight singles seeds have reached the second round, a rarity in professional tennis.
   Third-seeded Evgeny Donskoy of Russia had the closest call today at the Seascape Sports Club. The 2013 semifinalist held off qualifier Sanam Singh of India 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 11 minutes.
   Meanwhile, top-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan and No. 2 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus coasted.
   Kukushkin, ranked 55th in the world, dismissed qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan 6-2, 6-3.
   Baghdatis, the champion of last week's Vancouver Challenger and runner-up in the 2006 Australian Open, outclassed wild card Andre Dome of the United States 6-1, 6-3.
   Dome earned All-America honors at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, a 2 1/2-hour drive down Highway 101 from Aptos, last year as a senior.
   In Wednesday's featured evening match (not before 5:45), fourth-seeded Go Soeda of Japan will play Alex Kuznetsov of the United States in a rematch of the 2006 final won by Kuznetsov.

$100,000 COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER

At Seascape Sports Club

First-round singles

   Rhyne Williams, United States, def. Kevin King, United States, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   Evgeny Donskoy (3), Russia, def. Sanam Singh, India, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.
   Ze Zhang, China, def. Chase Buchanan, United States, 6-4, 7-5.
   Andrea Collarini, Argentina, def. Daniel Nguyen, United States, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   Alex Kuznetsov, United States, def. Austin Krajicek, United States, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
   James Ward, Great Britain, def. Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
   Mikhail Kukushkin (1), Kazakhstan, def. Yasutaka Uchiyama, Japan, 6-2, 6-3.
   Farrukh Dustov (7), Uzbekistan, def. Dennis Nevolo, United States, 6-3, 6-4.
   Somdev Devvarman (5), India, def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 7-6 (2), 7-5.
   Marcos Baghdatis (2), Cyprus, def. Andre Dome, United States, 6-1, 6-3.
   Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, def. Taro Daniel, Japan, 6-4, 6-2.

Wednesday's schedule

Center Court

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Evgeny Donskoy (3), Russia, vs. Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina.
   Rhyne Williams, United States, vs. Farrukh Dustov (7), Uzbekistan.

(Not before 2:30 p.m.)

   Matt Seeberger and Clay Thompson, United States, vs. Gonzalo Lama, Chile, and Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina.

(Not before 5:45 p.m.)

   Alex Kuznetsov, United States, vs. Go Soeda (4), Japan.

Court 5

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Marton Fucsovics (8), Hungary, vs. Di Wu, China.
   Andrea Collarini, Argentina, and Cesar Ramirez, Mexico, vs. Somdev Devvarman, India, and Ante Pavic, Croatia.
   Austin Krajicek, United States, and John-Patrick Smith (1), Australia, vs. Marton Fucsovics, Hungary, and Di Wu, China.

(Not before 4 p.m.)

   Taro Daniel, Japan, and Jordan Kerr, Australia, vs. Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak (3), New Zealand.  

(Not before 5 p.m.)

   Farrukh Dustov, Uzbekistan, and Illya Marchenko, Ukraine, vs. Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, and Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania.

Court 6

(Starting at noon)

   Nicolas Meister and Dennis Novikov, United States,vs. Alex Bogomolov Jr., Russia, and James Cerretani, United States.
   Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, and Ze Zhang, China, vs. Kevin King, United States, and Divij Sharan (2), India.
   Purav Raja and Sanam Singh (4), India, vs. Chase Buchanan and Rhyne Williams, United States.  

Rankings mover of the week: Maria Sanchez (up)

Maria Sanchez, right, shown with doubles partner Zoe Scandalis
  after they lost in the Sacramento Challenger final last month,
won last week's Vancouver Challenger with Asia Muhammad.

   Modesto product Maria Sanchez improved 13 places to a career-high No. 90 in the world in doubles after winning the Vancouver Challenger last week with Asia Muhammad. 
   It was the second doubles title of the year for Sanchez, 24, and ended a four-match losing streak in Challenger finals, including Sacramento last month. She won her first career WTA crown in singles or doubles in January, teaming with Sharon Fichman of Canada in Auckland.
   The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Sanchez paired with Muhammad, a 23-year-old former member of the defunct Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis, for the first time since they reached the Yakima (Wash.) semifinals in July 2013.
   Also that month, Sanchez climbed to a career-high No. 107 in singles. She has plummeted to No. 321 but advanced to the quarterfinals of last month's Carson and Lexington Challengers, the latter as a qualifier, before falling in the first round in Vancouver to Romina Oprandi of Switzerland. Oprandi is ranked No. 157 after ascending to a career-high No. 32 in June 2013.
   Sanchez was named the 2011 Pacific-10 Conference Women's Player of the Year as a senior at USC.

PRO RANKINGS

    Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   Bob Bryan, 36 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 36 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Bradley Klahn, 23 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 92 in singles (no change), No. 249 in doubles (-20).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 44 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Sacramento Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 68 in singles (-5), No. 102 in doubles (+14).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 31 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 38 in singles (-8), No. 117 in doubles (-2).

Women

   Mallory Burdette, 23 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- No. 1,079 in singles (-25), unranked in doubles.
   Nicole Gibbs, 21 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- Career-high No. 142 in singles (+4), No. 604 in doubles (-2).

   Macall Harkins, 28 years old, Concord resident -- No. 417 in doubles (-14), No. 689 in singles (-3).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 31 years old, San Jose resident, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 18 in doubles (-5), No. 779 in singles (+276).

   Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, born and raised in Modesto -- Career-high No. 90 in doubles (+13), No. 321 in singles (-4).

   Allie Will, 23 years old, born in San Mateo -- No. 140 in doubles (+17), No. 485 in singles (+42).

TV schedule, calendar

TV SCHEDULE

(All times in California)

Wednesday

   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (live), 6-8 p.m. (repeat).

Thursday

   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), round of 16, ESPN2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (live).
   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), round of 16, Tennis Channel, 3-7 p.m. (live), 7-11 p.m. (repeat).

Friday

   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), quarterfinals, ESPN2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (live).
   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 4-6 p.m. (live). 

Saturday

   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), semifinals, ESPN2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (live).
   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 5-7 p.m. (live).

Sunday  

   Toronto/Montreal (men/women), finals, ESPN2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (live). 

CALENDAR

   Through Sunday -- USTA National Championships (boys and girls), various sites.

   Through Sunday -- $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger (men), Seascape Sports Club, Aptos, Calif. 2013 champions: Bradley Klahn, Jonathan Erlich-Andy Ram. 

   Through Sunday -- $25,000 Heritage Bank of Commerce Tennis Championships (men and women), Moraga Country Club, Moraga, Calif.

   Aug. 25-Sept. 8 -- U.S. OPEN, Flushing Meadows, N.Y. 2013 champions: Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Leander Paes/Radek Stepanek, Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, Hlavackova/Max Mirnyi.

   Sept. 8-14 -- $25,000 Redding Challenger (women), Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness, Redding, Calif. 2013 champions: Adriana Perez, Robin Anderson/Lauren Embree.

   Sept. 22-28 -- $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger (men), Napa Valley Country Club, Napa, Calif. 2013 champions: Donald Young, Bobby Reynolds/John-Patrick Smith.

   Sept. 29-Oct. 5 -- $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger (men), Natomas Racquet Club, Sacramento, Calif. 2013 champions: Donald Young, Matt Reid/John-Patrick Smith.

   Oct. 6-12 -- $100,000 Tiburon Challenger (men), Tiburon Peninsula Club, Tiburon, Calif. 2013 champions: Peter Polansky, Austin Krajicek/Rhyne Williams.

   Nov. 1-2 -- Sacramento Clay Court League finals, 8582 Westin Lane, Orangevale, Calif.

Piedmont's McDonald falls in Aptos Challenger

   Wild card Mackenzie McDonald from the San Francisco Bay Area lost to eighth-seeded Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-4, 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos.
   McDonald, an All-American as a UCLA freshman in the spring, was playing 80 miles (129 kilometers) south of his home in Piedmont. Fucsovics, 22, won the Wimbledon boys singles title in 2010.
   Marcos Giron, this year's NCAA singles champion as a junior and McDonald's doubles partner at UCLA, lost to sixth-seeded Ante Pavic of Croatia 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3. Giron graduated from Thousand Oaks High School, Sam Querrey's alma mater, in the Los Angeles region.
   Top-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin, ranked 55th, of Kazkhstan and No. 2 Marcos Baghdatis, last week's Vancouver Challenger champion and the 2006 Australian Open runner-up from Cyprus, are scheduled to play their first-round matches today at the Seascape Sports Club. 
   The Comerica Bank tournament, in its 27th straight year, is the longest-running men's Challenger in the United States.
   Past Comerica singles champions include International Tennis Hall of Famer Patrick Rafter (1993) and two-time Grand Slam singles champion Andy Murray (2005). Past doubles winners include 15-time Grand Slam men's doubles titlists Bob and Mike Bryan (1998 and 2000).

$100,000 COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER

At Seascape Sports Club in Aptos

First-round singles

   Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina, def. Alex Bogomolov Jr., Russia, 6-3, 6-1.
   Marton Fucsovics (8), Hungary, def. Mackenzie McDonald, United States, 6-4, 6-2.
   Di Wu, China, def. Illya Marchenko, Ukraine, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
   Go Soeda (4), Japan, def. Gonzalo Lama, Chile, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
   Ante Pavic (6), Croatia, def. Marcos Giron, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Today's schedule

(Starting at 9 a.m.)

Center Court

   Kevin King, United States, vs. Rhyne Williams, United States.
   Chase Buchanan, United States, vs. Ze Zhang, China.
   Alex Kuznetsov, United States, vs. Austin Krajicek, United States.
   Mikhail Kukushkin (1), Kazakhstan, vs. Yasutaka Uchiyama, Japan.
   Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, and Ze Zhang, China, vs. Richard Gabb, Great Britain, and Bumpei Sato, Japan.
   Marcos Baghdatis (2), Cyprus, vs. Andre Dome, United States.

Court 5

   Evgeny Donskoy (3), Russia, vs. Sanam Singh, India.
   Andrea Collarini, Argentina, vs. Daniel Nguyen, United States.
   James Ward, Great Britain, vs. Emilio Gomez, Ecuador.
   Dennis Nevolo, United States, vs. Farrukh Dustov (7), Uzbekistan.
   John-Patrick Smith, Australia, vs. Somdev Devvarman, India.
   Taro Daniel, Japan, vs. Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium.

Serena rallies for third Bank of the West title

Serena Williams defeated Angelique Kerber 7-6 (1), 6-3 for the
Bank of the West title after trailing 5-1 in the first set.
Tri Nguyen/TriNguyenPhotography.com

   Perhaps the defining mark of a champion is the ability to play one's best under pressure.
   Serena Williams showed her mental toughness again today at Stanford, defeating third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-6 (1), 6-3 for her third Bank of the West title. Williams, who will be ranked No. 1 for the 200th (non-consecutive) week on Monday, overcame a 5-1 deficit in the first set and two set points at 5-2.
   "When I was down 5-1, I was just thinking I had to take it one point at a time," Williams, a product of Compton in the Los Angeles area, said on wtatennis.com. "I knew I just had to relax and not be so crazy. Up until that point, I wasn't doing what I wanted to do, and what I had been doing in practice, so I knew I just had to start doing the right things going forward."
   Bank of the West fans have seen this repeatedly. Today's match was similar to the 2012 final, in which Williams survived a set point in the first set before beating lucky loser CoCo Vandeweghe 7-5, 6-3.
   Williams, who also won the Bank of the West Classic in 2011, did not return last year.
   This year, Williams was tied at 5-5 in the opening set against hard-serving Karolina Pliskova, 6-foot-1 (1.86 meters), in the second round and against former top-10 player Andrea Petkovic in the semifinals. Williams won both matches in straight sets, capturing eight of the last 10 games against Pliskova and the last eight games against Petkovic.

Williams leads the WTA tour with four singles crowns this year
but has failed to reach the quarterfinals in the year's first three
majors. Tri Nguyen/TriNguyenPhotography.com

   Williams, who received a first-round bye, dropped the first set of her quarterfinal against former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic but rallied to win.
   Kerber, who has won three WTA singles titles, fell to 0-4 in finals this year and 1-5 lifetime against Williams.
   Although Williams leads the WTA tour with four singles crowns this year, the 17-time Grand Slam singles champion has failed to reach the quarterfinals in the first three majors of 2014.
   The Bank of the West Classic was her first tournament since she retired from her second-round doubles match at Wimbledon with dizziness caused by a "viral infection."
   "I feel like I'm on the right track again," Williams, 32, said after her 13th consecutive victory at Stanford. "I feel like I can play even better -- I wasn't serving my best, and I wasn't making as many winners off the return as I wanted to, but I think I'm getting there."
   Winning the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 25, for the third straight time and sixth overall would ease the disappointment of her early Grand Slam exits this year.
   "It would definitely make it better, but it wouldn't make it go away," she admitted. "It would definitely be great, but right now I'm just focused on the next tournament, which is in Toronto."
   Williams quickly corrected herself.
   "I mean Montreal!" she said of the women's Rogers Cup, which alternates between the two Canadian cities with the men's tournament. "I definitely won't go to Toronto. I won't win a match there!"
    In the Bank of the West doubles final, third-seeded Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain edged Paula Kania of Poland and Katerina Siniakova (pronounced Sin-i-ko-vuh), 18, of the Czech Republic 6-2, 4-6 [10-5]. It was the 20-year-old Muguruza's third WTA doubles crown and the 25-year-old Suarez Navarro's first.

Serena to face Kerber in Bank of the West final

Angelique Kerber, shown in March, saved a
match point in her win over Varvara Lepchenko.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Angelique Kerber somehow pulled out a victory over Varvara Lepchenko on Saturday night in the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.
   Now comes the hard part.
   Kerber must come back 16 hours later to face more-rested Serena Williams in the final at Stanford. The match will be televised live on ESPN2 today at 2 p.m.
   Kerber outlasted Lepchenko, a U.S. citizen from Uzbekistan, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in a 2-hour, 39-minute battle of left-handed veterans. Kerber trailed 6-4, 5-2, saved a match point at 6-4, 5-4 and was behind 4-2 in the second-set tiebreaker.
   "I have no idea how I did it," the 26-year-old German, seeded third, said on wtatennis.com. "I was just trying to fight until the last point and believe in me, and just try to change my game in the middle of the match, but I have no idea how I won."
   On Saturday afternoon, Williams won the last eight games in a 7-5, 6-0 victory over eighth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany.
   "Andrea and I both had really long matches (on Friday), so I was just hoping to come out again today with fresh legs and just try to do the best I could out there," Williams said after the 1-hour, 17-minute match. "My body feels great. I'm just really excited to be in the finals of Stanford again."
   Williams, 32, seeks her third singles title in the Bank of the West Classic, fourth crown of the year and 61st overall. She is seven titles from tying Billie Jean King for sixth place in the Open era, which began in 1968.
   Regardless of today's outcome, Williams will spend her 200th (non-consecutive) week at No. 1 in the world rankings beginning Monday.
   Williams is 4-1 against Kerber, all on hardcourts similar to Stanford's. In the players' last meeting, Williams won 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at Miami in March en route to the championship. 
   Kerber, ranked eighth, will try to win her fourth WTA singles crown and first since 2012. She is 0-3 in finals this year.
   Kerber is playing in the main draw of the Bank of the West Classic for the first year. In her only other appearance at Stanford, she lost in the second round of qualifying seven years ago.
   Williams needs one more Grand Slam singles title to tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth place on the all-time list behind Margaret Court (24), Steffi Graf (22) and Helen Wills Moody (19).
   Kerber reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2011 and at Wimbledon in 2012 for her best Grand Slam results.
   In Saturday's doubles semis, unseeded Paula Kania of Poland and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic knocked off top seeds and defending champions Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears from California 6-7 (3), 6-3 [12-10].
   Kops-Jones, a San Jose resident, won the 2003 NCAA doubles title with Cal teammate and Sacramento native Christina Fusano.   

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC

At Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center

Singles semifinals

   Serena Williams (1), United States, def. Andrea Petkovic (8), Germany, 7-5, 6-0.
   Angelique Kerber (3), Germany, def. Varvara Lepchenko, United States, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Doubles semifinals

   Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro (3), Spain, def. Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, and Anastasia Rodionova (2), Australia, 5-7, 7-6 (2) [10-8].
   Paula Kania, Poland, and Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, def. Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears (1), United States, 6-7 (3), 6-3 [12-10].

Today's schedule

(Starting at 2 p.m.)

Stadium

   Serena Williams (1), United States, vs. Angelique Kerber (3), Germany.
   Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro (3), Spain, vs. Paula Kania, Poland, and Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic.

Serena reaches semis at Stanford, but Venus falls

Serena Williams, shown earlier in the week, defeated Ana Ivan-
ovic 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West
Classic. Photo by Paul Bauman

   There will be no all-Williams semifinal in the Bank of the West Classic.
   At least top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semis. Even that looked shaky for a while, to the dismay of tournament organizers who faced the prospect of the weekend's attendance and television ratings going down the drain.
   Williams pulled out a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia on Friday at Stanford to reach today's 2 p.m. semifinal (ESPN2) against eighth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany. Petkovic, a French Open semifinalist in June, edged wild card Venus Williams 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
   In the other semifinal tonight at 7 (Tennis Channel), third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany will face unseeded Varvara Lepchenko, a U.S. citizen originally from Uzbekistan, in a battle of left-handers. Both advanced easily on Friday.
   Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, outclassed rising star Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-2, 6-1. Lepchenko trounced Sachia Vickery, a 19-year-old qualifier from Hollywood, Fla., 6-1, 6-0.
   Williams has a 3-0 career record against Petkovic, including two victories this year. 
   The 59th-ranked Lepchenko is 4-2 against Kerber, ranked eighth. But Kerber has won the last two matches, both in the French Open on clay. In their last meeting, Kerber won 6-2, 7-5 in the second round at Roland Garros in May.
   Petkovic, ranked 18th, is playing in the Bank of the West Classic for the first time this year. In Kerber's only previous appearance, she lost in the second round of qualifying in 2007.

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC

At Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center

Singles quarterfinals

   Angelique Kerber (3), Germany, def. Garbine Muguruza, Spain, 6-2, 6-1.
   Varvara Lepchenko, United States, def. Sachia Vickery, United States, 6-1, 6-0.
   Andrea Petkovic (8), Germany, def. Venus Williams, United States, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
   Serena Williams (1), United States, def. Ana Ivanovic (5), Serbia, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Paula Kania, Poland, and Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, def. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, and Arantxa Parra Santonja, Spain, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Today's schedule

Stadium

(Starting at 2 p.m.)

   Serena Williams (1), United States, vs. Andrea Petkovic (8), Germany.
   Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, and Anastasia Rodionova (2), Australia, vs. Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro (3), Spain.

(Starting at 7 p.m.)

   Angelique Kerber (3), Germany, vs. Varvara Lepchenko, United States.
   Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears (1), United States, vs. Paula Kania, Poland, and Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic.