Altamirano, McDonald reach quarters in 25K L.A.

Collin Altamirano, shown in 2014, defeated fellow
qualifier Karue Sell 7-6 (5), 7-5 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Collin Altamirano of Sacramento defeated fellow qualifier Karue Sell of Brazil 7-6 (5), 7-5 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the USC/Los Angeles $25,000 Tennis Tournament.  
   In a matchup of diminutive former NCAA singles champions from UCLA, No. 5 seed and San Francisco Bay Area product Mackenzie McDonald topped Marcos Giron 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2.
   Altamirano, who ousted top seed and 2015 French Open junior champion Tommy Paul in the first round, will play No. 8 seed and University of Virginia teammate Carl Soderlund of Sweden.
   Soderlund beat another Virginia player, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, 7-5, 7-5.
   Altamirano, a junior, has starred on two NCAA championship teams at Virginia. He won the 2013 USTA boys 18 national title, earning an automatic wild card in the U.S. Open, and reached the 2014 final.
   Soderlund is a freshman at Virginia.
   McDonald, who grew up in Piedmont, will meet No. 2 seed Roberto Quiroz, a former USC All-American from Ecuador.
   Quiroz dispatched qualifier Henrik Wiersholm, a junior at -- you guessed it -- the University of Virginia, 6-2, 6-4.

Coming soon: Series on phenoms Bellis, Volynets

   A three-part series on San Francisco Bay Area teenage phenoms CiCi Bellis and Katie Volynets will be posted soon.
   Part 1: Bellis, a 17-year-old professional, withdraws from the Australian Open with an injury after ending 2016 on a 15-match winning streak (three titles).
   Part 2: Monique Javer, a former top-60 player from the Bay Area, coached Bellis from ages 7 to 10 and 12 to 14.
   Part 3: Volynets, 15, makes a name for herself.

Altamirano ousts top seed; his Cavaliers ranked No. 1

Collin Altamirano played in an exhibition in
Antelope, near Sacramento, in early October.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Qualifier Collin Altamirano of Sacramento stunned No. 1 seed Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday in the first round of the $25,000 Los Angeles Futures at USC.
   Paul, the 2015 French Open boys champion, is ranked No. 282 at 19 years old. He turned pro out of high school.
   Altamirano, a Virginia junior, has helped the Cavaliers win the past two NCAA team titles. He is scheduled to play qualifier Karue Sell of Brazil today, but rain is forecast.
   Sell, a former UCLA standout, dispatched yet another qualifier, Timur Khabibulin of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-2.
   If Altamirano beats Sell, he will play a Virginia teammate, either freshman Carl Soderlund of Sweden or senior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Charlotte, N.C., in the quarterfinals. Soderlund is seeded eighth.
   No. 5 seed Mackenzie McDonald, who grew up in Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated wild card Thibault Forget (pronounced For-ZHAY), a USC junior from France, 6-3, 6-2.
   Forget's father, Guy (pronounced Ghee), reached No. 4 in the world in singles in 1991 and No. 3 in doubles in 1986. He played on two Davis Cup championship teams for France and captained (coached) the team from 1999 to 2012.
   College rankings -- The Virginia men top the first rankings of the spring season. Cal is tied for fifth, and Stanford is 18th.
   Stanford's Tom Fawcett ranks eighth in singles. Cal's Florian Lakat and Andre Goransson are 12th and 15th, respectively. Cal's Filip Bergevi and Lakat are second in doubles.
   The defending champion Stanford women rank fourth, and Cal is eighth. The Bears' Karla Popovic is 17th in singles.

Year-end rankings; TV schedule; calendar

WORLD RANKINGS

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

Men's singles

   No. 31 (no change) -- Sam Querrey, 29-year-old San Francisco native.
   No. 169 (no change) -- Dennis Novikov, 23-year-old resident of Milpitas in San Francisco Bay Area.

   No. 321 (-1) -- Mackenzie McDonald, 21-year-old resident of Piedmont in San Francisco Bay Area.
   No. 411 (no change) -- Dmitry Tursunov, 34-year-old resident of Folsom in Sacramento area, 

   No. 719 (-2) -- Ryan Haviland, 36-year-old former Stanford All-American.

   No. 807 (+25) -- John Lamble, 24-year-old Saratoga resident and former Santa Clara star.
   No. 864 (-3) -- Connor Farren, 22-year-old Hillsborough product.

Men's doubles

   No. 5 (no change) -- Bob Bryan, 38-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford..
   No. 5 (no change) -- Mike Bryan, 38-year-old former NCAA doubles champion from Stanford.

   No. 48 (no change) -- Scott Lipsky, 35-year-old former Stanford All-American.
   No. 97 (-2) -- Sam Querrey, 29-year-old San Francisco native.
   No. 149 (no change) -- Dennis Novikov, 23-year-old resident of Milpitas in San Francisco Bay Area.

   No. 304 (no change) -- Mackenzie McDonald, 21-year-old resident of Piedmont in San Francisco Bay Area.

   No. 466 (-2) -- John Paul Fruttero, 35-year-old former Cal All-American.

   No. 542 (-2) -- John Lamble, 24-year-old Saratoga resident and former Santa Clara star.

Women's singles

   No. 35 (no change) -- Sloane Stephens, 23-year-old Fresno product. 

   No. 75 (career high, no change) -- CiCi Bellis, 17-year-old product of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area.

   No. 89 (no change) -- Nicole Gibbs, 23-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford..

   No. 230 (no change) -- Kristie Ahn, 24-year-old former Stanford All-American.

   No. 343 (no change) -- Maria Sanchez, 27-year-old Modesto product.

   No. 498 (-3) -- Carol Zhao, 21-year-old former Stanford star.

   No. 723 (+1) -- Michaela Gordon, 17-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area. 

Women's doubles

   No. 21 (no change) -- Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones), 34-year-old San Jose resident and 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal.
   No. 58 (no change) -- Maria Sanchez, 27-year-old Modesto product.
   No. 130 (+1) -- Nicole Gibbs, 23-year-old former NCAA singles and doubles champion from Stanford.

   No. 251 (-1) -- CiCi Bellis, 17-year-old product of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area.
   No. 311 (no change) -- Carol Zhao, 21-year-old former Stanford star.   
   No. 391 (no change) -- Kristie Ahn, 24-year-old former Stanford All-American.
   No. 615 (+1) -- Maegan Manasse, 21-year-old Cal senior.

   No. 710 (no change) -- Michaela Gordon, 17-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area. 

   No. 716 (+1) -- Felicity Maltby, 19-year-old Sunnyvale resident.

   No. 743 (+3) -- Alexandra Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area. 
   No. 743 (+3) -- Kat Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area.
   No. 888 (+5) -- Sloane Stephens, 23-year-old Fresno product.  

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

Wednesday 

   Hopman Cup, France vs. Great Britain, midnight.

Thursday

   Brisbane (men), early rounds, midnight, 2 p.m.
   Doha, quarterfinals, 1:30 a.m.

CALENDAR

   Jan. 16  (Jan. 15 in United States)-Jan. 29, 2017 -- AUSTRALIAN OPEN. 2016 champions: Novak Djokovic, Angelique Kerber, Jamie Murray-Bruno Soares, Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, Elena Vesnina/Bruno Soares.
   Jan. 19-29 -- Les Petits A's, (14-under), Tarbes, France.
   Jan. 27-29 -- Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend, 30 campus sites.
   Feb. 3-5 -- Davis Cup, World Group, first round, United States vs. Switzerland in Birmingham, Ala.

   Feb. 10-13 -- Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Women's Team Indoor Championships, New Haven, Conn.
   Feb. 11-12 -- Fed Cup, World Group, first round, United States vs. Germany at Royal Lahaina Resort, Maui.

   Feb. 17-20 -- Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Men's Team Indoor Championships, Charlottesville, Va.

   March 6-19-- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif. 2016 champions: Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka, Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/CoCo Vandeweghe.

Ovrootsky sweeps girls 12 titles in Winter Natls.

   Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose swept the girls 12 singles and doubles titles today in the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Also, Carolyn Campana of Hillsborough in the San Francisco Bay Area won the girls 18 doubles crown with Ivana Corley of Albuquerque, N.M., in Scottsdale, Ariz.
   Ovrootsky, the No. 1 seed, overwhelmed No. 2 Matilyn Wang of Scottsdale 6-1, 6-2. Then No. 4 Ovrootsky and Anushka Khune of Palo Alto in the Bay Area topped No. 8 Katherine Hui of San Diego and Emmie Moore of Salt Lake City 7-5, 6-4.
   No. 3 Campana and Corley outclassed No. 5 Jessica Aragon of Plano, Texas, and Emilee Duong of Placentia in the Los Angeles area 6-3, 6-2.
   In the rain-delayed 18s and 16s in Scottsdale, three Northern Californians lost in the singles semifinals to the eventual champions.
   No. 6 Ryan Seggerman of Coronado in the San Diego area defeated No. 16 Jenson Brooksby from the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Brooksby was the runner-up in the national hard court and clay court 16s last summer. He won the national hard court 12s in 2013.
   Eighth-seeded Chelsea Kung of Fort Worth, Texas, beat seventh-seeded Sara Choy of Palo Alto 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Choy won the 16s last year.
   Top-seeded Brandon Nakashima of San Diego dominated unseeded Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville, between San Francisco and Sacramento, 6-1, 6-3.

Ovrootsky reaches two finals in Winter Nationals

   Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose on Sunday reached the girls 12 singles and doubles finals in the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Ovrootsky, seeded No. 1, dominated No. 10 Nikita Vishwase of Phoenix 6-2, 6-0 to set up a match against No. 2 Matilyn Wang of Scottsdale, Ariz., for the title.
    No. 4 seeds Ovrootsky and Anushka Khune of Palo Alto in the San Francisco Bay Area defeated No. 2 Vishwase and Wang 7-5, 7-5 and will play No. 8 Katherine Hui of San Diego and Emmie Moore of Salt Lake City.
   Also in Tucson, No. 2 seed Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara lost to No. 3 Matthew Robinson of Wynnewood, Pa., 6-1, 7-5 in the boys 14 semifinals.
   No. 2 seeds Allura Zamarripa and Maribella Zamarripa of St. Helena in the Napa area fell to No. 3 Kailey Evans of Ennis, Texas, and Katherine Petty of Dallas 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the girls 14 semis.
   Rain wiped out play in the 18s and 16s in Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix. Scheduled to play in the singles semis today at 9 a.m. MST are No. 16 seed Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael in the Sacramento region in the boys 18s, unseeded Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville (between Sacramento and San Francisco) in the boys 16s and No. 7 Sara Choy of Palo Alto in the girls 18s. The finals are scheduled for noon.
   McDaniel will take on No. 1 seed Brandon Nakashima of San Diego. Choy won the 16s last year.
   In today's girls 18 doubles final, No. 3 seeds Carolyn Campana of Hillsborough in the Bay Area and Ivana Corley of Albuquerque, N.M., are set to meet No. 5 Jessica Aragon of Plano, Texas, and Emilee Duong of Placentia in the Los Angeles area at 9 a.m.
   There is a zero percent chance of rain today in Scottsdale and Tucson. according to weather.com.

Choy among five NorCal juniors in Winter Natl. semis

   Sara Choy of Palo Alto led a parade of five Northern California juniors into today's singles semifinals in the USTA National Winter Championships.
   Choy, the No. 7 seed in the girls 18s, routed No. 4 Elysia Bolton of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 6-2, 6-0 on Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Choy won the 16s last year.
   Joining Choy in the semis are No. 16 seed Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael in the boys 18s, unseeded Marcus McDaniel of Vacaville in the boys 16s, No. 2 Aryan Chaudhary of Santa Clara in the boys 14s and No. 1 Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose in the girls 12s.
   Brooksby, the runner-up in the national 16 hard courts and clay courts this summer, demolished No. 8 Matthew Lord of Bloomfield, Conn., 6-1, 6-0 in Scottsdale.
   McDaniel outlasted unseeded Aditya Gupta of Irvine 7-4, 4-6, 6-2 in Scottsdale to set up a match against top-seeded Brandon Nakashima of San Diego.
   The matches of Chaudhary and Ovrootsky in Tucson, Ariz., were postponed by rain.
   Chaudhary defeated McDaniel to win the boys 14 title in the NorCal Junior Sectional Championships in Sacramento last June.
   In today's girls 18 doubles final, No. 3 seeds Carolyn Campana of Hillsborough and Ivana Corley of Albuquerque, N.M., will play No. 5 Jessica Aragon of Plano, Texas, and Emilee Duong of Placentia in the Los Angeles area.