NorCal seniors reach quarters in USTA Hard Courts

Fourth-seeded Tracy Houk of Montara defeats Maria Nunez of San Diego
6-0, 6-1 on Monday in the first round of the USTA National Senior Women's
Hard Court Championships in La Jolla. Photo courtesy of JFS Communications

   Three Northern Californians have reached the 50-and-over quarterfinals of the USTA National Senior Women's Hard Court Championships in La Jolla.
   Third-seeded Erika Smith of Oakland, fourth-seeded Tracy Houk of Montara and fifth-seeded Judy Newman of Scotts Valley advanced with straight-set victories today in the second round.
   Smith outplayed Dorian Sailer of San Diego 6-2, 6-4, Newman trounced Colleen Clery Ferrell of San Diego 6-0, 6-1, and Houk routed Lis Andrade of La Quinta 6-1, 6-1.
   Houk has reached the final for four straight years, winning the title in 2013.
   Top seed and defending champion Ros (Fairbank) Nideffer of San Diego also coasted into the quarterfinals.
   Nideffer, a 54-year-old South Africa native, climbed to career highs of No. 15 in the world in singles in 1990 and No. 12 in doubles in 1986. She reached the Wimbledon singles quarterfinals in 1988 and 1989 and won two French Open women's doubles titles (with Tanya Harford of South Africa in 1981 and Candy Reynolds of the United States in 1983).
   Two other NorCal players, third-seeded Martha Downing of Shingle Springs and fifth-seeded Leslie Airola Murveit of Portola Valley, reached the 60-and-over quarterfinals.
   The tournament also features 70-, 80- and 90-and-over age divisions. All singles and doubles finals are scheduled for Saturday.

Sanchez wins third pro doubles title in three weeks

Maria Sanchez teamed with Taylor Townsend
to win the doubles title in the Indian Harbour
Beach (Fla.) Challenger. File photo
by Paul Bauman

   For the third consecutive week, Maria Sanchez won a Challenger doubles title and played Jessica Pegula in singles.
   The top-seeded Sanchez, a 25-year-old Modesto product, and Taylor Townsend of Atlanta crushed unseeded Angelina Gabueva of Russia and Alexandra Stevenson of San Diego 6-0, 6-1 Sunday on clay in the $50,000 Indian Harbour Beach (Fla.) Challenger.
   Sanchez also won the doubles title in Dothan (Ala.) with Johanna Konta of Great Britain on hardcourts two weeks ago and in Charlottesville (Va.) with 18-year-old Canadian sensation Francoise Abanda on clay last week.
   With her latest crown, Sanchez rose seven places to No. 90 in the world in doubles. Her career high is No. 79 last November.  
   Seeded fifth in singles in Indian Harbour Beach, Sanchez defeated Pegula 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in the second round en route to the semifinals. Sanchez had lost to the 21-year-old Pegula, whose billionaire father owns the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres, in the first round the previous two weeks.
   Sanchez also beat Pegula in the 2012 Sacramento Challenger for the first of her two professional singles titles. 
   Seventh-seeded Katerina Stewart won the Indian Harbour Beach singles crown, topping qualifier Louisa Chirico 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in a battle of American teenagers.
   Stewart, 17, played Chirico and reached a Challenger singles final for the third straight week. Stewart lost to Chirico 7-6 in the third set of the Dothan final and won 6-3 in the third set in the first round at Charlottesville. Stewart eventually fell there to Allie Kiick, the daughter of former Miami Dolphins running back Jim Kiick.
   Chirico, who will turn 19 on Saturday, reached the quarterfinals of the Sacramento Challenger last July.
    Stevenson, the 34-year-old daughter of basketball legend Julius Erving, advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals as a qualifier in 1999 and climbed as high as No. 18 in the world in 2002 before shoulder problems derailed her career.
   NCAA Championships -- The top-ranked USC women, with Giuliana Olmos of Fremont, advanced to the Round of 16 with a 4-0 victory over No. 32 Virginia Tech at USC.
   The Trojans (23-2) will face 16th-ranked Texas Tech (21-6) on Friday in Waco, Texas. 

Cal, Stanford women to meet in NCAA Round of 16

   The Cal and Stanford women are headed to a showdown in the NCAA Championships, while their male counterparts are headed home.
   The third-ranked Cal women advanced to the Round of 16 with a 4-0 triumph over No. 33 Mississippi State on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley.
   Across San Francisco Bay, the No. 14 Stanford women dominated No. 19 Pepperdine 4-1 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   In other women's matches, No. 1 USC women (22-2) trounced Youngstown State 4-0 at USC, and No. 40 Saint Mary's lost to No. 26 Northwestern 4-0 at UCLA. USC's Giuliana Olmos, a junior from Fremont, is ranked 14th nationally.
   Stanford (17-5) and Cal (22-3) will meet in the Round of 16 for the second straight year on Friday at 10 a.m. PDT in Waco, Texas. The Cardinal won 4-3 last May in Atlanta. The Bears swept this year's regular-season series, 4-3 at Stanford on March 1 and 5-2 in Berkeley on April 18.
   On the men's side, No. 23 Stanford and No. 26 Cal each lost 4-1 to top-10 teams playing on their home courts. The Cardinal (18-7) fell to No. 10 Duke in Durham, N.C., and the Bears (19-9) succumbed to No. 9 Texas in Austin, Texas.
   Advancing to the men's Round of 16 with 4-0 victories were No. 3 Virginia, featuring freshman Collin Altamirano of Sacramento, and No. 16 UCLA, with sophomore Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont. McDonald is ranked third and Altamirano 77th.
   On Thursday in Waco, Virginia (25-3) will face No. 17 Columbia (16-5), and UCLA (17-9) will take on No. 1 Oklahoma (26-2).

Stanford men end NCAA losing streak

   Now that's more like it.
   After uncharacteristically losing in the first round of the NCAA Championships for the past two years, the No. 23 Stanford men opened the 2015 tournament with a 4-2 victory over No. 41 Tennessee on Friday in Durham, N.C.
   The Cardinal has won 17 NCAA men's team titles, second to USC's 21, but none since 2000. Paul Goldstein replaced John Whitlinger as the coach after last season.
   Freshman David Wilczynski clinched the victory for Stanford (18-6). Wilczynski, the first player in school history to compete in at least one match at all six singles positions, outlasted Jack Schipanski 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at the No. 3 spot.
   The Cardinal will face 10th-ranked Duke (23-6) on the Blue Devils' home courts today at 10 a.m. PDT.
   The No. 25 Cal men, meanwhile, whipped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-0 in Austin, Texas. The Bears (19-8) will meet host Texas (20-6), ranked ninth, today at 11 a.m.
   The No. 3 Cal and No. 14 Stanford women advanced with 4-0 home victories. The Bears overwhelmed Bryant of Smithfield, R.I., at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley, and the Cardinal dismissed Stony Brook (N.Y.) at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
   Cal (21-3) will play at home against No. 33 Mississippi State (16-11) today at noon, and host Stanford (16-5) will take on No. 19 Pepperdine (18-6) at 1 p.m.
   The Cardinal routed the Waves 6-1 on April 12 at Stanford.

Rankings movers of the week: Sanchez, Sandgren (up)

Maria Sanchez, from Modesto, returned
to the top 100 in doubles. 2013 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Maria Sanchez returned to the top 100 in doubles in this week's rankings, while Tennys Sandgren continued to climb back in singles and doubles after undergoing hip surgery.
   Sanchez, a 25-year-old Modesto product, rose seven places in doubles to No. 97 after winning her second Challenger doubles title in two weeks in Charlottesville, Va. She reached a career-high No. 79 last November.
   Sandgren, who's scheduled to play for the Sacramento-based California Dream in World TeamTennis in July, jumped 72 spots in singles to No. 377 and 28 notches in doubles to No. 231 after advancing to the semifinals in both events in the Tallahassee Challenger.
   Sandgren has been ranked as high as No. 183 in singles in 2013 and No. 115 in doubles early last year. The 23-year-old former University of Tennessee All-American had surgery later in 2014 and missed more than six months.
   Sanchez played doubles with Francoise Abanda, an 18-year-old Canadian sensation, last week. Sandgren paired with Alex Kuznetsov of Tampa, Fla.
   Sandgren is not named after tennis. He has Swedish heritage, and Tennys was his great-grandfather's name. Sandgren's ancestor did not play tennis.

WORLD RANKINGS

   Players with Northern California ties ranked in the top 1,000 in the world (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   Collin Altamirano, 19-year-old Sacramentan -- No. 884 in singles (-1).

   Bob Bryan, 36-year-old former Stanford star -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 37-year-old former Stanford star -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Bradley Klahn, 24-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 229 in singles (+1), No. 150 in doubles (+1).

Tennys Sandgren, who's scheduled to play for the
California Dream in World Team Tennis in July,
reached the semifinals in singles and doubles in
last week's Tallahassee Challenger. 2012 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Scott Lipsky, 33-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 32 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.

   Mackenzie McDonald, 20-year-old Piedmont resident -- No. 536 in singles (-1), No. 560 in doubles (+2).

   Dennis Novikov, 21-year-old San Jose resident -- Career-high No. 188 in singles (+4), career-high No. 206 in doubles (+37).

   Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, 35-year-old member of Sacramento-based California Dream in World Team Tennis (2015) -- No. 47 in doubles (+1).
   Sam Querrey, 27-year-old San Francisco native and former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis (2012-13) -- No. 39 in singles (-1), No. 59 in doubles (no change).

   Tennys Sandgren, 23-year-old member of California Dream -- No. 231 in doubles (+28), No. 377 in singles (+72).

   Matt Seeberger, 30-year-old Los Altos resident -- Career-high No. 255 in doubles (+6).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 32-year-old resident of Folsom in Sacramento area -- No. 198 in singles (+3), No. 504 in doubles (-179).

Women

   Kristie Ahn, 22-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 528 in singles (-3), No. 601 in doubles (+2).

   CiCi Bellis, 16-year-old resident of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area -- Career-high No. 168 in singles (+5).

   Alexandra Facey, 22-year-old resident of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- No. 727 in doubles (no change).

   Kat Facey, 22-year-old resident of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- No. 727 in doubles (no change).

   Jarmila Gajdosova, 28-year-old member of California Dream (2015) -- No. 49 in singles (no change), No. 57 in doubles (-3).

   Anabel Medina Garrigues, 32-year-old member of California Dream (2015) -- No. 35 (no change) in doubles, No. 623 (-104) in singles.
   Nicole Gibbs, 22-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 98 in singles (-4), No. 990 in doubles (+2). 

   Michaela Gordon, 15-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 712 in singles (no change).

    Lejla Hodzic, 29-year-old former Stanford standout -- No. 748 in doubles (+4).

    Raquel Kops-Jones, 32-year-old San Jose resident and former Cal star -- No. 14 in doubles (no change), No. 791 in singles (-1).

   Maria Sanchez, 25-year-old Modesto product -- No. 97 in doubles (+7), No. 185 in singles (-1).

   Allie Will, 24-year-old native of San Mateo in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 219 in doubles (-5), No. 580 in singles (-4).
   Carol Zhao, 19-year-old Stanford sophomore -- No. 292 in singles (-5), No. 496 in doubles (+5).

TV schedule, calendar

TV SCHEDULE

(All broadcasts on Tennis Channel; all times in California) 

  Thursday

   Madrid (men/women), fourth round, 4 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (live).

Friday

   Madrid (men/women), quarterfinals, 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (live).

  Saturday

   Madrid, men's semifinals, women's final, 6 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (live).

   Madrid, women's final, 5-7 p.m. (repeat).

   Madrid, men's semifinal, 7-9 p.m. (repeat).

 Sunday 

   Madrid, women's final, 5-7 a.m. (repeat).

   Madrid, men's final, 7-9:30 a.m. (live). 

CALENDAR

   Friday-Sunday -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Team Championships, first and second rounds at various sites. ncaasports.com

   May 14-19 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Team Championships, round of 16 through finals, Waco, Texas. ncaasports.com

   May 15-17 -- Maze Cup (Northern California juniors vs. Southern California), Stockdale Country Club, Bakersfield. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=169425

   May 20-25 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles Championships, Waco, Texas. ncaasports.com

   MAY 25-JUNE 8 -- FRENCH OPEN, Paris. 2014 champions: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Julien Benneteau/Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Hsieh Su-Wei/Peng Shuai, Jean-Julien Rojer/Anna-Lena Groenefeld. rolandgarros.com
   June 6-7, June 13-16 -- NorCal Boys 18 and 16 Junior Sectional Championships, Rio Del Oro Racquet Club, Sacramento. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=159357
   June 6-7, June 13-16 -- NorCal Girls 18 and 16 Junior Sectional Championships, Arden Hills Country Club & Spa, Sacramento. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=159675
   June 6-7, June 13-16 -- NorCal 12s Junior Sectional Championships, Sunnyvale Tennis Center. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=159001

   June 6-7, June 13-16 -- NorCal 14s Junior Sectional Championships, Fremont Tennis Center, http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=159040

   JUNE 29-JULY 12 -- WIMBLEDON. 2014 champions: Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova, Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock, Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, Nenad Zimonjic/Samantha Stosur. wimbledon.org
   July 11-18 -- USTA Boys and Girls National Clay Court Championships, various sites. usta.com

   July 12 -- Sacramento-based California Dream's inaugural World TeamTennis match, at San Diego. californiadreamtennis.com
   July 13 -- California Dream's inaugural home match, vs. Springfield, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:30 p.m., californiadreamtennis.com
   July 13-19 -- $50,000 Stockton Women's Challenger.
   July 21-26 -- $50,000 Gold River Women's Challenger, Gold River Racquet Club in Sacramento area. Qualifying begins July 19. Champions in 2014: Olivia Rogowska, Daria Gavrilova/Storm Sanders. goldriverchallenger.com
   July 14 -- California Dream vs. Philadelphia, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:30 p.m., californiadreamtennis.com
   July 17 -- California Dream vs. Austin, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:30 p.m., californiadreamtennis.com
   July 18 -- California Dream vs. Boston, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:30 p.m., californiadreamtennis.com
   July 21 -- California Dream vs. Springfield, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:30 p.m., californiadreamtennis.com
   July 23 -- California Dream (with Bob and Mike Bryan) vs. San Diego, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:30 p.m., www.californiadreamtennis.com
   July 29 -- California Dream vs. San Diego, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:30 p.m., californiadreamtennis.com
   Aug. 1-9 -- USTA Boys and Girls National Championships, various sites. www.usta.com.
   Aug. 3-9 -- Bank of the West Classic, Stanford. 2014 champions: Serena Williams, Garbine Muguruza/Carla Suarez Navarro. bankofthewestclassic.com
   Aug. 10-16 -- $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger (men), Seascape Sports Club, Aptos. Qualifying begins Aug. 8. Champions in 2014: Marcos Baghdatis, Ruben Bemelmans/Laurynas Grigelis. seascapesportsclub/challenger
   AUG. 31-SEPT. 13 -- U.S. OPEN, Flushing Meadows, N.Y. 2014 champions: Marin Cilic, Serena Williams, Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan, Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, Bruno Soares/Sania Mirza. usopen.org
   Sept. 15-20 -- $25,000 Redding Women's Challenger, Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. Qualifying begins Sept. 13. Champions in 2014: Jennifer Brady, Brady/Lauren Embree.
   Sept. 19-20, Sept. 26-27 -- Norcal 18s and 16s Fall Sectional Championships, Broadstone Racquet Club, Folsom. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=159389
   Sept. 19-20, Sept. 26-27 -- NorCal 14s Fall Sectional Championships, Fremont Tennis Center. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=159034 
   Sept. 28-Oct. 4 -- $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger (men), Tiburon Peninsula Club, Tiburon, Calif. Qualifying begins Sept. 26. Champions in 2014: Sam Querrey, Bradley Klahn/Adil Shamasdin. tiburonchallenger.com
   Oct. 2-5 -- Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women's All-American Championships, Pacific Palisades, Calif. http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITANationalChampionships/WomensAllAmerican.htm
   Oct. 2-6 -- Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's All-American Championships, Tulsa, Okla. http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITANationalChampionships/WomensAllAmerican.htm
   Oct. 5-11 -- $100,000 Sacramento Men's Challenger, Natomas Racquet Club, Sacramento, Calif. Qualifying begins Oct. 3. Champions in 2014: Sam Querrey, Adam Hubble/John-Patrick Smith. sacchallenger.com
   Oct. 10-12 -- USTA National Selection Tournament (juniors), Alameda. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=154311 

   Oct. 12-18 -- $50,000 Fairfield Men's Challenger (qualifying begins Oct. 10). Champions in 2014 (Napa): Sam Querrey, Peter Polansky/Adil Shamasdin.

   Oct. 16-19 -- Little Mo Nationals, Austin, Texas. mcbtennis.org

   Oct. 17 -- Herb Cup Invitational (top eight junior doubles), Stanford. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=170234

   Oct. 25-Nov. 1 -- WTA Finals, Singapore. 2014 champions: Serena Williams, Cara Black/Sania Mirza. wtafinals.com

Stanford, Cal dominate All-Pac-12 women's team

Stanford's Carol Zhao was named to the All-Pacific-12 Conference first team.
2014 photo by Tri Nguyen/TriNguyenPhotography.com

   Stanford and Cal each placed two women on the six-member All-Pacific-12 Conference first team, which was announced today.
   Pac-12 coaches chose Stanford's Carol Zhao and Taylor Davidson and Cal's Maegan Manasse and  Klara Fabikova. Also selected was USC's Giuliana Olmos, a Fremont resident.
   UCLA's Robin Anderson was named the Singles Player of the Year, Davidson and Zhao took Doubles Team of the Year honors, and USC's Madison Westby was picked as the Freshman/Newcomer of the Year.
   Stanford's Caroline Doyle, from San Francisco, earned second-team honors. Cal's Zsofi Susanyi and Denise Starr received honorable mention.  
   Zhao, a sophomore from Canada, is ranked second nationally, and Manasse, a sophomore from Redondo Beach, is fourth. They are followed in the rankings by juniors Olmos (14th) and Fabikova (18th), from the Czech Republic, and Davidson (19th), a sophomore from Statesville, N.C.
   Davidson and Zhao, the Pac-12 doubles champions, are ranked second.
   Stanford and Cal will play at home on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The 14th-ranked Cardinal (15-5) will meet Stony Brook (15-1) at 2 p.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, and the third-ranked Bears (20-3) will meet Bryant (8-8) of Smithfield, R.I., at 1 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
   The men's All-Pac-12 teams have not been announced.