Seventeenth-seeded Catherine Bellis of Atherton demolished No. 2 Raquel Pedraza of Claremont 6-0, 6-0 Friday to reach the girls 14 singles final at the Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.
It was Bellis' second shutout in the tournament, and she has not lost a set in six matches. Bellis will face top-seeded Emma Higuchi of Los Angeles in Saturday's final. Higuchi defeated fourth-seeded Usue Arconada of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 7-5, 6-3.
In the boys 18 singles quarterfinals, third-seeded Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont beat fifth-seeded Austin Siegel of Tarrytown, N.Y., 6-2, 6-2. McDonald, a Australian Open boys semifinalist in January, will meet second-seeded Noah Rubin of Rockville Centre, N.Y., in Saturday's semifinals.
Doubles results in the Easter Bowl were not yet available.
ATP World Tour in Houston -- James Blake of Tampa, Fla., and Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, edged Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and Frank Moser of Germany 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 tiebreak in a battle of unseeded teams to gain the final of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
Blake and Querrey will meet Treat Conrad Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain for the title.
Women's Challenger in Pelham, Ala. -- Eighth-seeded Coco Vandeweghe, a resident of Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area who will play for the Sacramento Capitals in July, lost to unseeded Heidi El Tabakh of Canada 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of a $25,000 Challenger.
Men's Futures in Oklahoma City -- Qualifier Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal star from Brazil, downed unseeded Marvin Barker of New Zealand 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open
Veteran journalist Paul Bauman, based in Sacramento, covers Northern California professional, collegiate and junior tennis. Contact him at norcaltennisczar@gmail.com and follow him on Bluesky @paulbauman.bsky.com.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Qualifier stuns top-seeded Fish in Houston
Mardy Fish's disappointing year hit a new low Thursday.
It wasn't just that Fish lost his opening match at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston. Seeded first, he was trounced by a 33-year-old pipsqueak qualifier who had never beaten a top-10 player.
Wait, there's more. Fish, ranked ninth, could fall out of the top 10 and be replaced by No. 10 John Isner as the top American when the new rankings are released Sunday night. The 6-foot-10 Isner, seeded second in Houston after leading the U.S. Davis Cup team over host France last week, will meet defending champion Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., today in the quarterfinals.
In an All-American encounter, 5-foot-8 Michael Russell stunned Fish 6-3, 6-1 in the second round. Fish, who's scheduled to play two home matches for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in July, had received a bye in the first round.
Of course, Russell did have a few things going for him. The clay reduced the 6-foot-2 Fish's power, Russell was playing in his adopted hometown, and he compensates for his small size with an indomitable will.
Fish, 30, suffered his second consecutive one-sided loss. He fell to Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 on hardcourt in the quarterfinals at Key Biscayne, Fla., two weeks ago. Fish then withdrew from the Davis Cup with fatigue.
Key Biscayne marked the first time Fish had won consecutive matches since reaching the Tokyo semifinals last October. He did, however, rally to beat then-No. 28 Stanislas Wawrinka 9-7 in the fifth set to help the visiting United States beat Switzerland, which also had Roger Federer, on clay in the first round of the Davis Cup in February.
Russell, who had been 0-12 against top-10 players, advanced to his first tour-level quarterfinal of the year. He will meet Ryan Harrison, a 19-year-old Austin, Texas, resident who replaced Fish on the Davis Cup team and went 0-2 in singles (one loss coming after the United States had clinched victory).
Also in the second round at Houston, 6-foot-6 San Francisco native Sam Querrey lost to Kevin Anderson, a 6-foot-8 South African, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2). But James Blake and Querrey upended No. 1 seeds Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia and Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, 6-3, 6-3 in the doubles quarterfinals. Blake won the 2004 title with Fish.
Second-seeded Mark Knowles, a Capitals veteran from the Bahamas and two-time Houston champion with Daniel Nestor, and Xavier Malisse of Belgium also lost in the doubles quarters. They were edged by Treat Conrad Huey of the Philippines and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 tiebreak.
Other pro results -- Jean-Julien Rojer, a Capital from the Netherlands Antilles, and Robin Haase of the Netherlands ousted second-seeded Eric Butorac, a former Capital from Rochester, Minn., and Bruno Soares of Brazil 7-5, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II on clay in Casablanca, Morocco. Rojer and Butorac are former partners who reached the semifinals of last year's Australian Open.
Eighth-seeded Coco Vandeweghe, a Capital from Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area, defeated 19-year-old qualifier Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Challenger in Pelham, Ala. Rogers won the USTA girls 18 singles title in 2010 in San Diego.
Qualifier Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal star from Brazil, shocked top-seeded Stefan Seifert of Germany 7-6 (0), 7-6 (5) to gain the quarterfinals of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open. However, Zerbini and Dean O'Brien of South Africa lost in the doubles semifinals to second-seeded Edward Corrie of Great Britain and Vahid Mirzadeh of Wellington, Fla. 6-4, 6-1.
Sac State women -- In the final regular-season home matches of their careers, Tatsiana Kapshai, Clarisse Baca and Maria Meliuk won in singles to help the No. 59 Sacramento State women (13-9) win 5-1 over No. 66 UC Irvine (13-6).
Kapshai, from Belarus, won in straight sets at No. 1 singles. Baca, from Mexico, triumphed 6-0 in the third set at No. 3, and Meliuk of Belarus prevailed 7-6 (5) in the third set at No. 5.
UC Irvine's Kat Facey, a freshman from Cameron Park in the Sacramento area, lost to Sophie Lohsheidt 7-5, 6-2 at No. 4 singles.
Easter Bowl -- Piedmont's Mackenzie McDonald, seeded third in the boys 18s, and Atherton's Catherine Bellis, seeded 17th in the girls 14s, remained alive in singles at the Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.
McDonald crushed unseeded Justin Butsch of Miami Beach 6-0, 6-2 in the round of 16, but No. 8 Trey Strobel, a Stanford-bound resident of Bradenton, Fla., lost to No. 9 Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-4, 7-6 (5). Bellis dominated unseeded Adriana Reami of Miami 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
Caroline Doyle of San Francisco fell to Mayo Hibi of Irvine 6-3, 7-5 in a clash of unseeded players in the girls 18 quarterfinals. Losing in the boys 16 round of 16 were unseeded Logan Staggs of Tracy, Kial Kaiser of Saratoga and Cameron Klinger of San Jose.
In the boys 16 doubles semifinals, Klinger and Jake Devine of Boca Raton, Fla., will face Winston Limhengco of Sacramento and Cody Rakela of Scotts Valley.
Reaching the boys 14 doubles semis in opposite halves of the draw were seventh-seeded Lane Leschly of Atherton and Victor Pham of Saratoga and unseeded Alexander Hwang of Orinda and Sreyas Kolachalam of Campbell.
Advancing to the girls 16 doubles quarters were ninth-seeded Hadley Berg of Greenbrae and Kristina Hovsepyan of Danville and unseeded Paige Cline of Kentfield and Annika Ringblom of Palos Verdes Estates.
In the girls 14 doubles semis, top-seeded Bellis and Helen Altick of Monroe, La., lost to No. 8 Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and Parris Todd of Irvine 6-2, 7-5.
It wasn't just that Fish lost his opening match at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston. Seeded first, he was trounced by a 33-year-old pipsqueak qualifier who had never beaten a top-10 player.
Wait, there's more. Fish, ranked ninth, could fall out of the top 10 and be replaced by No. 10 John Isner as the top American when the new rankings are released Sunday night. The 6-foot-10 Isner, seeded second in Houston after leading the U.S. Davis Cup team over host France last week, will meet defending champion Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., today in the quarterfinals.
In an All-American encounter, 5-foot-8 Michael Russell stunned Fish 6-3, 6-1 in the second round. Fish, who's scheduled to play two home matches for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in July, had received a bye in the first round.
Of course, Russell did have a few things going for him. The clay reduced the 6-foot-2 Fish's power, Russell was playing in his adopted hometown, and he compensates for his small size with an indomitable will.
Fish, 30, suffered his second consecutive one-sided loss. He fell to Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 on hardcourt in the quarterfinals at Key Biscayne, Fla., two weeks ago. Fish then withdrew from the Davis Cup with fatigue.
Key Biscayne marked the first time Fish had won consecutive matches since reaching the Tokyo semifinals last October. He did, however, rally to beat then-No. 28 Stanislas Wawrinka 9-7 in the fifth set to help the visiting United States beat Switzerland, which also had Roger Federer, on clay in the first round of the Davis Cup in February.
Russell, who had been 0-12 against top-10 players, advanced to his first tour-level quarterfinal of the year. He will meet Ryan Harrison, a 19-year-old Austin, Texas, resident who replaced Fish on the Davis Cup team and went 0-2 in singles (one loss coming after the United States had clinched victory).
Also in the second round at Houston, 6-foot-6 San Francisco native Sam Querrey lost to Kevin Anderson, a 6-foot-8 South African, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2). But James Blake and Querrey upended No. 1 seeds Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia and Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, 6-3, 6-3 in the doubles quarterfinals. Blake won the 2004 title with Fish.
Second-seeded Mark Knowles, a Capitals veteran from the Bahamas and two-time Houston champion with Daniel Nestor, and Xavier Malisse of Belgium also lost in the doubles quarters. They were edged by Treat Conrad Huey of the Philippines and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 tiebreak.
Other pro results -- Jean-Julien Rojer, a Capital from the Netherlands Antilles, and Robin Haase of the Netherlands ousted second-seeded Eric Butorac, a former Capital from Rochester, Minn., and Bruno Soares of Brazil 7-5, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II on clay in Casablanca, Morocco. Rojer and Butorac are former partners who reached the semifinals of last year's Australian Open.
Eighth-seeded Coco Vandeweghe, a Capital from Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area, defeated 19-year-old qualifier Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Challenger in Pelham, Ala. Rogers won the USTA girls 18 singles title in 2010 in San Diego.
Qualifier Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal star from Brazil, shocked top-seeded Stefan Seifert of Germany 7-6 (0), 7-6 (5) to gain the quarterfinals of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open. However, Zerbini and Dean O'Brien of South Africa lost in the doubles semifinals to second-seeded Edward Corrie of Great Britain and Vahid Mirzadeh of Wellington, Fla. 6-4, 6-1.
Sac State women -- In the final regular-season home matches of their careers, Tatsiana Kapshai, Clarisse Baca and Maria Meliuk won in singles to help the No. 59 Sacramento State women (13-9) win 5-1 over No. 66 UC Irvine (13-6).
Kapshai, from Belarus, won in straight sets at No. 1 singles. Baca, from Mexico, triumphed 6-0 in the third set at No. 3, and Meliuk of Belarus prevailed 7-6 (5) in the third set at No. 5.
UC Irvine's Kat Facey, a freshman from Cameron Park in the Sacramento area, lost to Sophie Lohsheidt 7-5, 6-2 at No. 4 singles.
Easter Bowl -- Piedmont's Mackenzie McDonald, seeded third in the boys 18s, and Atherton's Catherine Bellis, seeded 17th in the girls 14s, remained alive in singles at the Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.
McDonald crushed unseeded Justin Butsch of Miami Beach 6-0, 6-2 in the round of 16, but No. 8 Trey Strobel, a Stanford-bound resident of Bradenton, Fla., lost to No. 9 Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-4, 7-6 (5). Bellis dominated unseeded Adriana Reami of Miami 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
Caroline Doyle of San Francisco fell to Mayo Hibi of Irvine 6-3, 7-5 in a clash of unseeded players in the girls 18 quarterfinals. Losing in the boys 16 round of 16 were unseeded Logan Staggs of Tracy, Kial Kaiser of Saratoga and Cameron Klinger of San Jose.
In the boys 16 doubles semifinals, Klinger and Jake Devine of Boca Raton, Fla., will face Winston Limhengco of Sacramento and Cody Rakela of Scotts Valley.
Reaching the boys 14 doubles semis in opposite halves of the draw were seventh-seeded Lane Leschly of Atherton and Victor Pham of Saratoga and unseeded Alexander Hwang of Orinda and Sreyas Kolachalam of Campbell.
Advancing to the girls 16 doubles quarters were ninth-seeded Hadley Berg of Greenbrae and Kristina Hovsepyan of Danville and unseeded Paige Cline of Kentfield and Annika Ringblom of Palos Verdes Estates.
In the girls 14 doubles semis, top-seeded Bellis and Helen Altick of Monroe, La., lost to No. 8 Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and Parris Todd of Irvine 6-2, 7-5.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tracy's Staggs tops No. 3 seed in Easter Bowl
Logan Staggs of Tracy knocked off third-seeded Elliott Sprecher of Cadott, Wis., 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 Wednesday in the third round of the boys 16s at the prestigious Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.
Staggs will meet Ernesto Escobedo of West Covina today in a round-of-16 matchup of unseeded players.
Also advancing in the boys 16s were Kial Kaiser of Saratoga and Cameron Klinger of San Jose.
The last two Northern Californians were eliminated from the girls 16s. No. 17 Emma Critser of Mountain View lost to Luisa Fernandez of Pittsford, N.Y., 6-0, 7-5 in the second round, and Kristina Hovsepyan of Danville lost to Kaitlyn McCarthy, also No. 17, of Cary, N.C., 6-2, 6-4 in the third round. Hovsepyan stunned No. 2 Olivia Sneed of Prairie Village, Kan., in the first round.
In the boys 18s, third-seeded Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and No. 8 Trey Strobel, a Stanford-bound resident of Bradenton, Fla., won second-round matches. Strobel ousted Seth Stolar of Encino 6-4, 6-3, and McDonald outlasted Nikko Madregallejo of Monrovia 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.
Caroline Doyle, a San Franciscan who trains at the USTA facility in Boca Raton, Fla., reached the girls 18 quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Maegan Manasse of Redondo Beach. Doyle, who won the girls 16s last year, has lost only 10 games in three matches.
All remaining Northern Californians lost in the boys 14s. No. 9 Victor Pham of Saratoga fell in the round of 16, and No. 17s Sreyas Kolachalam of Campbell and Andrew Gu of El Cerrito exited in the third round.
No. 17 Catherine Bellis of Atherton reached the girls 14 quarterfinals, but No. 17 Michaela Gordon of Los Altos Hills lost to No. 2 Raquel Pedraza of Claremont 6-3, 6-1.
In the boys 12s at the USTA National Spring Championships in Delray Beach, Fla., No. 10 Paul Barretto of Tiburon and No. 17 Keenan Mayo of Roseville lost in the quarterfinals.
ATP World Tour in Houston -- Second-seeded Mark Knowles of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis and Xavier Malisse of Belgium nipped Martin Emmrich of Germany and Andreas Siljestrom of Sweden 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 tiebreaker in the first round at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
Knowles, a 40-year-old Bahamian and two-time Houston doubles champion with Daniel Nestor, paired with Malisse to win the SAP Open in San Jose in February.
Americans James Blake and Sam Querrey edged Joao Souza of Brazil and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 2-6, 7-6 (10), 10-8 in Houston. Blake, the singles runner-up in the Sacramento Challenger last October, won the Houston doubles title in 2004 with Mardy Fish.
Women's Challenger in Pelham, Ala. -- Eighth-seeded Coco Vandeweghe of the Capitals defeated Elena Bovina of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the $25,000 Pelham Racquet Club Challenger.
Men's Futures in Oklahoma City -- Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal star from Brazil, beat fellow qualifier Mate Cutura of Croatia 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the opening round of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open.
Zerbini also reached the doubles semifinals, teaming with Dean O'Brien of South Africa to rout fourth-seeded Jaan-Frederik Brunken and Stefan Seifert of Germany 6-0, 6-1.
Staggs will meet Ernesto Escobedo of West Covina today in a round-of-16 matchup of unseeded players.
Also advancing in the boys 16s were Kial Kaiser of Saratoga and Cameron Klinger of San Jose.
The last two Northern Californians were eliminated from the girls 16s. No. 17 Emma Critser of Mountain View lost to Luisa Fernandez of Pittsford, N.Y., 6-0, 7-5 in the second round, and Kristina Hovsepyan of Danville lost to Kaitlyn McCarthy, also No. 17, of Cary, N.C., 6-2, 6-4 in the third round. Hovsepyan stunned No. 2 Olivia Sneed of Prairie Village, Kan., in the first round.
In the boys 18s, third-seeded Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and No. 8 Trey Strobel, a Stanford-bound resident of Bradenton, Fla., won second-round matches. Strobel ousted Seth Stolar of Encino 6-4, 6-3, and McDonald outlasted Nikko Madregallejo of Monrovia 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.
Caroline Doyle, a San Franciscan who trains at the USTA facility in Boca Raton, Fla., reached the girls 18 quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Maegan Manasse of Redondo Beach. Doyle, who won the girls 16s last year, has lost only 10 games in three matches.
All remaining Northern Californians lost in the boys 14s. No. 9 Victor Pham of Saratoga fell in the round of 16, and No. 17s Sreyas Kolachalam of Campbell and Andrew Gu of El Cerrito exited in the third round.
No. 17 Catherine Bellis of Atherton reached the girls 14 quarterfinals, but No. 17 Michaela Gordon of Los Altos Hills lost to No. 2 Raquel Pedraza of Claremont 6-3, 6-1.
In the boys 12s at the USTA National Spring Championships in Delray Beach, Fla., No. 10 Paul Barretto of Tiburon and No. 17 Keenan Mayo of Roseville lost in the quarterfinals.
ATP World Tour in Houston -- Second-seeded Mark Knowles of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis and Xavier Malisse of Belgium nipped Martin Emmrich of Germany and Andreas Siljestrom of Sweden 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 tiebreaker in the first round at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
Knowles, a 40-year-old Bahamian and two-time Houston doubles champion with Daniel Nestor, paired with Malisse to win the SAP Open in San Jose in February.
Americans James Blake and Sam Querrey edged Joao Souza of Brazil and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 2-6, 7-6 (10), 10-8 in Houston. Blake, the singles runner-up in the Sacramento Challenger last October, won the Houston doubles title in 2004 with Mardy Fish.
Women's Challenger in Pelham, Ala. -- Eighth-seeded Coco Vandeweghe of the Capitals defeated Elena Bovina of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the $25,000 Pelham Racquet Club Challenger.
Men's Futures in Oklahoma City -- Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal star from Brazil, beat fellow qualifier Mate Cutura of Croatia 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the opening round of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open.
Zerbini also reached the doubles semifinals, teaming with Dean O'Brien of South Africa to rout fourth-seeded Jaan-Frederik Brunken and Stefan Seifert of Germany 6-0, 6-1.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
San Franciscan ousts No. 4 seed in Easter Bowl
Caroline Doyle of San Francisco toppled fourth-seeded Gabrielle Andrews of Pomona 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday in the second round of the girls 18s at the Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.
Doyle, the only Northern Californian left in girls 18 singles, will face Maegan Manasse of Redondo Beach on Wednesday in the round of 16. Manasse outlasted June Lee of West Windsor, N.J., 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
In the third round of girls 14 singles, 17th-seeded Catherine Bellis of Atherton upended third-seeded Alexis Nelson of Saint Paul, Minn., 7-5, 6-4, and Michaela Gordon, also seeded 17th, of Los Altos Hills dismissed Dominique Vasile of Oakland, Mich., 6-3, 6-2.
Sacramento's Karina Vyrlan, who had upset sixth-seeded Samantha Martinelli of Denver, lost to Adriana Reami of Miami 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Winning first-round matches in the boys 18 singles were third-seeded Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and eighth-seeded Trey Strobel, a Stanford-bound resident of Bradenton, Fla. McDonald, an Australian Open boys semifinalist in January, coasted past Brian Patrick Foley of Las Vegas 6-3, 6-1. Strobel wore down Samuel Shropshire of Philadelphia 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
Stanford-bound Anthony Tsodikov of San Francisco lost to seventh-seeded Jordan Daigle of Lafayette, La., 6-2, 6-3, and Brandon Sutter of El Dorado Hills fell to Brendan McClain of Ventura 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Two Northern Californians knocked off seeds in the second round of boys 16 singles. Logan Staggs of Tracy routed No. 17 Javier Restrepo of Miami 6-0, 6-3, and Kial Kaiser of Saratoga downed No. 17 Alexandru Gozun of Sarasota, Fla., 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Reaching the third round of girls 16 singles were 17th-seeded Emma Critser of Mountain View and unseeded players Kristina Hovsepyan of Danville and Ayla Aksu of San Francisco. Hovsepyan had stunned No. 2 seed Olivia Sneed of Prairie Village, Kan., in the opening round.
Advancing to the round of 16 in boys 14 singles were ninth-seeded Victor Pham of Saratoga, No. 17 Sreyas Kolachalam of Campbell and No. 17 Andrew Gu of El Cerrito.
At the USTA Spring National Championships in Delray Beach, 10th-seeded Paul Barretto of Tiburon and No. 17 Keenan Mayo of Roseville reached the boys 12 quarterfinals, but No. 17 Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento lost to No. 7 Josh Mukherjee of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 6-4, 6-0.
ATP World Tour in Houston -- Top-seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia and Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American living in Huntington Beach, defeated Philipp Marx of Germany of Lovro Zovko of Croatia 7-6 (6), 6-0 in the first round of doubles at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
Men's Futures in Oklahoma City -- Dean O'Brien of South Africa and Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal star from Brazil, edged Nick Papac of the United States and Rudolf Siwy of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 tiebreak in the opening round of doubles at the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open.
Wild cards Zachary Gilbert and Dante Saleh lost to Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant 6-4, 6-1 in an All-American matchup. Gilbert, who played at Cal, is the son of renowned coach and tennis commentator Brad Gilbert, a resident of San Rafael in the San Francisco Bay Area. Saleh is a 16-year-old amateur from Newport Beach.
Colleges -- The Sacramento State men (8-12) lost 4-2 to Pacific (8-11) in a nonconference match in Stockton. Hornets freshmen Marek Marksoo and Tom Miller earned victories at No. 3 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
Following are this week's national rankings of Northern California college teams and players:
Men's team -- 11. Stanford; 12. Cal; 32. Santa Clara.
Men's singles -- 12. Artem Ilyushin (Granite Bay), Mississippi State; 30, Ryan Thacher, Stanford; 41. Ben McLachlan, Cal; 46. Bradley Klahn, Stanford; 55. Nick Andrews (Folsom), Cal; 57. Carlos Cueto, Cal; 76 Kyle Dandan (Santa Clara).
Men's doubles -- 3. Andrews and Christoffer Konigsfeldt, Cal; 5. Klahn and Thacher, Stanford; 38. Cueto and McLachlan, Cal; 53. George Coupland and Ilyushin, Mississippi State; 57. John Morrissey and Thacher, Stanford; 59. Ilya Osintev and John Lamble, Santa Clara.
Women's team -- 6. Stanford; 10. Cal; 39. Saint Mary's; 59. Sacramento State.
Women's singles -- 3. Nicole Gibbs, Stanford; 7. Mallory Burdette, Stanford; 8. Jana Juricova, Cal; 12. Zsofi Susanyi, Cal; 22. Denise Dy (San Jose), Washington; 41. Katie Le (Santa Clara); 52. Stacey Tan, Stanford; 55. Tayler Davis (San Jose), Cal; 57. Ellen Tsay, Stanford; 81. Anett Schutting, Cal; 90. Jenny Jullien, Saint Mary's; 99. Annie Goransson, Cal.
Women's doubles -- 3. Burdette and Gibbs, Stanford; 17. Goransson and Schutting, Cal; 41. Tan and Tsay, Stanford; 43. Juricova and Susanyi, Cal; 82. Rebeca Delgado and Tatsiana Kapshai, Sac State.
Doyle, the only Northern Californian left in girls 18 singles, will face Maegan Manasse of Redondo Beach on Wednesday in the round of 16. Manasse outlasted June Lee of West Windsor, N.J., 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
In the third round of girls 14 singles, 17th-seeded Catherine Bellis of Atherton upended third-seeded Alexis Nelson of Saint Paul, Minn., 7-5, 6-4, and Michaela Gordon, also seeded 17th, of Los Altos Hills dismissed Dominique Vasile of Oakland, Mich., 6-3, 6-2.
Sacramento's Karina Vyrlan, who had upset sixth-seeded Samantha Martinelli of Denver, lost to Adriana Reami of Miami 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Winning first-round matches in the boys 18 singles were third-seeded Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and eighth-seeded Trey Strobel, a Stanford-bound resident of Bradenton, Fla. McDonald, an Australian Open boys semifinalist in January, coasted past Brian Patrick Foley of Las Vegas 6-3, 6-1. Strobel wore down Samuel Shropshire of Philadelphia 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
Stanford-bound Anthony Tsodikov of San Francisco lost to seventh-seeded Jordan Daigle of Lafayette, La., 6-2, 6-3, and Brandon Sutter of El Dorado Hills fell to Brendan McClain of Ventura 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Two Northern Californians knocked off seeds in the second round of boys 16 singles. Logan Staggs of Tracy routed No. 17 Javier Restrepo of Miami 6-0, 6-3, and Kial Kaiser of Saratoga downed No. 17 Alexandru Gozun of Sarasota, Fla., 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Reaching the third round of girls 16 singles were 17th-seeded Emma Critser of Mountain View and unseeded players Kristina Hovsepyan of Danville and Ayla Aksu of San Francisco. Hovsepyan had stunned No. 2 seed Olivia Sneed of Prairie Village, Kan., in the opening round.
Advancing to the round of 16 in boys 14 singles were ninth-seeded Victor Pham of Saratoga, No. 17 Sreyas Kolachalam of Campbell and No. 17 Andrew Gu of El Cerrito.
At the USTA Spring National Championships in Delray Beach, 10th-seeded Paul Barretto of Tiburon and No. 17 Keenan Mayo of Roseville reached the boys 12 quarterfinals, but No. 17 Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento lost to No. 7 Josh Mukherjee of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 6-4, 6-0.
ATP World Tour in Houston -- Top-seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia and Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American living in Huntington Beach, defeated Philipp Marx of Germany of Lovro Zovko of Croatia 7-6 (6), 6-0 in the first round of doubles at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
Men's Futures in Oklahoma City -- Dean O'Brien of South Africa and Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal star from Brazil, edged Nick Papac of the United States and Rudolf Siwy of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 tiebreak in the opening round of doubles at the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open.
Wild cards Zachary Gilbert and Dante Saleh lost to Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant 6-4, 6-1 in an All-American matchup. Gilbert, who played at Cal, is the son of renowned coach and tennis commentator Brad Gilbert, a resident of San Rafael in the San Francisco Bay Area. Saleh is a 16-year-old amateur from Newport Beach.
Colleges -- The Sacramento State men (8-12) lost 4-2 to Pacific (8-11) in a nonconference match in Stockton. Hornets freshmen Marek Marksoo and Tom Miller earned victories at No. 3 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
Following are this week's national rankings of Northern California college teams and players:
Men's team -- 11. Stanford; 12. Cal; 32. Santa Clara.
Men's singles -- 12. Artem Ilyushin (Granite Bay), Mississippi State; 30, Ryan Thacher, Stanford; 41. Ben McLachlan, Cal; 46. Bradley Klahn, Stanford; 55. Nick Andrews (Folsom), Cal; 57. Carlos Cueto, Cal; 76 Kyle Dandan (Santa Clara).
Men's doubles -- 3. Andrews and Christoffer Konigsfeldt, Cal; 5. Klahn and Thacher, Stanford; 38. Cueto and McLachlan, Cal; 53. George Coupland and Ilyushin, Mississippi State; 57. John Morrissey and Thacher, Stanford; 59. Ilya Osintev and John Lamble, Santa Clara.
Women's team -- 6. Stanford; 10. Cal; 39. Saint Mary's; 59. Sacramento State.
Women's singles -- 3. Nicole Gibbs, Stanford; 7. Mallory Burdette, Stanford; 8. Jana Juricova, Cal; 12. Zsofi Susanyi, Cal; 22. Denise Dy (San Jose), Washington; 41. Katie Le (Santa Clara); 52. Stacey Tan, Stanford; 55. Tayler Davis (San Jose), Cal; 57. Ellen Tsay, Stanford; 81. Anett Schutting, Cal; 90. Jenny Jullien, Saint Mary's; 99. Annie Goransson, Cal.
Women's doubles -- 3. Burdette and Gibbs, Stanford; 17. Goransson and Schutting, Cal; 41. Tan and Tsay, Stanford; 43. Juricova and Susanyi, Cal; 82. Rebeca Delgado and Tatsiana Kapshai, Sac State.
Bay Area girl scores big upset in Easter Bowl
Kristina Hovsepyan of Danville surprised second-seeded Olivia Sneed of Prairie Village, Kan., 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 Monday in the first round of the girls 16s at the prestigious Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.
Hovsepyan will meet Olivia Myers of Belmont, Ohio, today in the second round. Myers routed Michelle Wang of Sammamish, Wash., 6-0, 6-1.
Also in the girls 16s, ninth-seeded Hadley Berg of Greenbrae lost to Carolyn Xie of Rancho Santa Fe 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, and Ayla Aksu of San Francisco upset 15th-seeded Caroline Turner of Dallas 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In the first round of the girls 18s, Caroline Doyle of San Francisco dispatched Madison Westby of Tulsa, Okla., 6-2, 6-1, and Mary Closs of Menlo Park lost to second-seeded Kyle McPhillips of Willoughby, Ohio, 6-2, 6-1. The boys 18s start today.
Karina Vyrlan of Sacramento knocked off sixth-seeded Samantha Martinelli of Denver 7-5, 6-1 in the opening round of the girls 14s.
Meanwhile, three Northern Californians reached the round of 16 in the boys 12s at the USTA National Spring Championships in Delray Beach, Fla. Advancing were No. 10 Paul Barretto of Tiburon, No. 17 Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento and No. 17 Keenan Mayo of Roseville.
Querrey advances -- Sam Querrey, a 6-foot-6 San Francisco native, beat Eric Prodon of France 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston.
Querrey, the 2010 runner-up in Houston to Juan Ignacio Chela, will play the winner of Wednesday's match between fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson, a 6-8 South African, and Joao Souza of Brazil.
Querrey is 6-2 against Anderson, beginning with a three-set victory in the 2007 Sacramento Challenger. Anderson, however, won the last meeting, a three-setter in Key Biscayne, Fla., last month.
Cal's Andrews honored -- Cal's Nick Andrews was named the Pacific-12 Conference Men's Player of the Week for the second time this season after helping the No. 12 Bears shut out No. 22 Washington and No. 62 Oregon 7-0 in Berkeley.
The Folsom resident extended his winning streaks to four matches in singles and seven in doubles. Ranked No. 76 in singles, he defeated No. 14 Kyle McMorrow of Washington and Robin Cambier of Oregon in straight sets. Andrews and Christoffer Konigsfeldt are ranked third in doubles.
Sac State men rebound -- The Sacramento State men (8-11, 6-1) rebounded from the end of their 24-match Big Sky Conference winning streak with a 7-0 victory over visiting Portland State (2-15, 0-7). The Hornets lost at Montana 4-3 Sunday.
New rankings -- Following are this week's rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):
Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
Mardy Fish, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 9 in singles (no change), No. 105 in doubles (+3).
John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- No. 100 in doubles (-1), unranked in singles.
Kiryl Harbatsiuk, three-time Big Sky Conference MVP (2009-11) at Sacramento State -- No. 771 in singles (-3), No. 1,258 in doubles (-4).
Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12), three-time World TeamTennis Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) -- No. 69 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.
Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 35 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 153 in doubles (-1), No. 763 in singles (-2).
Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 317 in singles (-5), unranked in doubles.
Sam Querrey, San Francisco native -- No. 103 in singles (+3), No. 33 in doubles (-5).
Jean-Julien Rojer, Capitals (2012) -- No. 38 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 75 in singles (+1), No. 228 in doubles (-1).
Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 193 in singles (-4), No. 380 in doubles (+3).
Pedro Zerbini, Pacific-10 All-Conference first team at Cal (2009-11) -- No. 1,226 (-8) in singles, unranked in doubles.
Hovsepyan will meet Olivia Myers of Belmont, Ohio, today in the second round. Myers routed Michelle Wang of Sammamish, Wash., 6-0, 6-1.
Also in the girls 16s, ninth-seeded Hadley Berg of Greenbrae lost to Carolyn Xie of Rancho Santa Fe 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, and Ayla Aksu of San Francisco upset 15th-seeded Caroline Turner of Dallas 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In the first round of the girls 18s, Caroline Doyle of San Francisco dispatched Madison Westby of Tulsa, Okla., 6-2, 6-1, and Mary Closs of Menlo Park lost to second-seeded Kyle McPhillips of Willoughby, Ohio, 6-2, 6-1. The boys 18s start today.
Karina Vyrlan of Sacramento knocked off sixth-seeded Samantha Martinelli of Denver 7-5, 6-1 in the opening round of the girls 14s.
Meanwhile, three Northern Californians reached the round of 16 in the boys 12s at the USTA National Spring Championships in Delray Beach, Fla. Advancing were No. 10 Paul Barretto of Tiburon, No. 17 Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento and No. 17 Keenan Mayo of Roseville.
Querrey advances -- Sam Querrey, a 6-foot-6 San Francisco native, beat Eric Prodon of France 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston.
Querrey, the 2010 runner-up in Houston to Juan Ignacio Chela, will play the winner of Wednesday's match between fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson, a 6-8 South African, and Joao Souza of Brazil.
Querrey is 6-2 against Anderson, beginning with a three-set victory in the 2007 Sacramento Challenger. Anderson, however, won the last meeting, a three-setter in Key Biscayne, Fla., last month.
Cal's Andrews honored -- Cal's Nick Andrews was named the Pacific-12 Conference Men's Player of the Week for the second time this season after helping the No. 12 Bears shut out No. 22 Washington and No. 62 Oregon 7-0 in Berkeley.
The Folsom resident extended his winning streaks to four matches in singles and seven in doubles. Ranked No. 76 in singles, he defeated No. 14 Kyle McMorrow of Washington and Robin Cambier of Oregon in straight sets. Andrews and Christoffer Konigsfeldt are ranked third in doubles.
Sac State men rebound -- The Sacramento State men (8-11, 6-1) rebounded from the end of their 24-match Big Sky Conference winning streak with a 7-0 victory over visiting Portland State (2-15, 0-7). The Hornets lost at Montana 4-3 Sunday.
New rankings -- Following are this week's rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):
Men
Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
Mardy Fish, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 9 in singles (no change), No. 105 in doubles (+3).
John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- No. 100 in doubles (-1), unranked in singles.
Kiryl Harbatsiuk, three-time Big Sky Conference MVP (2009-11) at Sacramento State -- No. 771 in singles (-3), No. 1,258 in doubles (-4).
Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12), three-time World TeamTennis Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) -- No. 69 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.
Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 35 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 153 in doubles (-1), No. 763 in singles (-2).
Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 317 in singles (-5), unranked in doubles.
Sam Querrey, San Francisco native -- No. 103 in singles (+3), No. 33 in doubles (-5).
Jean-Julien Rojer, Capitals (2012) -- No. 38 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 75 in singles (+1), No. 228 in doubles (-1).
Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 193 in singles (-4), No. 380 in doubles (+3).
Pedro Zerbini, Pacific-10 All-Conference first team at Cal (2009-11) -- No. 1,226 (-8) in singles, unranked in doubles.
Women
Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- CAREER-HIGH No. 24 in doubles (+1), No. 722 in singles (no change).
Asia Muhammed, Capitals (2012) -- No. 180 in doubles (no change), No. 386 in singles (-2).
Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- CAREER-HIGH No. 184 in doubles (+1), CAREER-HIGH No. 383 in singles (+2).
Asia Muhammed, Capitals (2012) -- No. 180 in doubles (no change), No. 386 in singles (-2).
Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- CAREER-HIGH No. 184 in doubles (+1), CAREER-HIGH No. 383 in singles (+2).
Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Capitals (2011-12) -- CAREER-HIGH No. 169 in doubles (no change), No. 378 in singles (+2).
Coco Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 164 in singles (+1), No. 378 in doubles (+1).
Coco Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 164 in singles (+1), No. 378 in doubles (+1).
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Isner puts U.S. in Davis Cup semis
Nice job, U.S. Davis Cup team.
Now comes the hard part.
The United States, led by surging John Isner, extended its Davis Cup schedule from hell with a 3-2 quarterfinal victory Sunday over host France on clay in Roquebrune.
The Americans, who upset Roger Federer and host Switzerland on clay in the first round, will play defending champion Spain on -- you guessed it -- clay in -- you guessed it again -- Spain on Sept. 14-16. The Spaniards, playing without ailing Rafael Nadal, defeated visiting Austria 4-1.
The 6-foot-10 Isner, ranked 11th in the world, continued his outstanding season by beating No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 to put the United States in the semifinals for the first time since 2008.
“He just played well, and I wasn’t in good shape,” Tsonga said. “John was just better than me, and he played the important points pretty well. When you play like that, serve like that, you can play everywhere, so I was not surprised he played well on clay.”
France's Gilles Simon then beat 19-year-old Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-3 in a meaningless match.
Isner, who made his pro debut in 2007 by winning a Futures title in the Sacramento area, also defeated the 13th-ranked Simon in straight sets Friday to pull the United States into a 1-1 tie.
Former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan gave the United States a 2-1 lead with a straight-set victory over Julien Benneteau, a semifinalist in his SAP Open debut in San Jose in February, and Michael Llodra on Saturday.
No. 9 Mardy Fish of the United States and No. 14 Gael Monfils of France missed the series with fatigue and an abdominal injury, respectively. Fish is scheduled to play home matches for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis on July 12 and 13.
"If I play like I have this weekend, I can beat a lot of people," said Isner, who will turn 27 on April 26. "Beating Gilles and beating Jo are two very good wins. If I can keep this level up, I am going to be very hard to beat."
Isner also beat Federer in the first round of the Davis Cup and top-ranked Novak Djokovic on hardcourt at Indian Wells to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 singles final (before losing to Federer).
Former Cal star falls -- Top-seeded James Cerretani of Reading, Mass., and John Paul Fruttero, a former Cal All-American from San Jose, lost to Roman Borvanov of Moldova and Denis Zivkovic of Miami 7-5, 6-1 last week in the first round of doubles at the $35,000 Challenger in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
College streak ends -- Michael Facey of Cameron Park outside Sacramento helped the Montana men end Sacramento State's 24-match Big Sky Conference winning streak dating to 2010.
Facey beat freshman Sean Kolar of Loomis, another Sacramento suburb, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 at No. 4 singles as the host Grizzlies edged the Hornets 4-3 in a match for sole possession of first place. Montana improved to 13-4 overall and 6-0 in the Big Sky. Sac State dropped to 7-11 and 5-1.
Now comes the hard part.
The United States, led by surging John Isner, extended its Davis Cup schedule from hell with a 3-2 quarterfinal victory Sunday over host France on clay in Roquebrune.
The Americans, who upset Roger Federer and host Switzerland on clay in the first round, will play defending champion Spain on -- you guessed it -- clay in -- you guessed it again -- Spain on Sept. 14-16. The Spaniards, playing without ailing Rafael Nadal, defeated visiting Austria 4-1.
The 6-foot-10 Isner, ranked 11th in the world, continued his outstanding season by beating No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 to put the United States in the semifinals for the first time since 2008.
“He just played well, and I wasn’t in good shape,” Tsonga said. “John was just better than me, and he played the important points pretty well. When you play like that, serve like that, you can play everywhere, so I was not surprised he played well on clay.”
France's Gilles Simon then beat 19-year-old Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-3 in a meaningless match.
Isner, who made his pro debut in 2007 by winning a Futures title in the Sacramento area, also defeated the 13th-ranked Simon in straight sets Friday to pull the United States into a 1-1 tie.
Former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan gave the United States a 2-1 lead with a straight-set victory over Julien Benneteau, a semifinalist in his SAP Open debut in San Jose in February, and Michael Llodra on Saturday.
No. 9 Mardy Fish of the United States and No. 14 Gael Monfils of France missed the series with fatigue and an abdominal injury, respectively. Fish is scheduled to play home matches for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis on July 12 and 13.
"If I play like I have this weekend, I can beat a lot of people," said Isner, who will turn 27 on April 26. "Beating Gilles and beating Jo are two very good wins. If I can keep this level up, I am going to be very hard to beat."
Isner also beat Federer in the first round of the Davis Cup and top-ranked Novak Djokovic on hardcourt at Indian Wells to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 singles final (before losing to Federer).
Former Cal star falls -- Top-seeded James Cerretani of Reading, Mass., and John Paul Fruttero, a former Cal All-American from San Jose, lost to Roman Borvanov of Moldova and Denis Zivkovic of Miami 7-5, 6-1 last week in the first round of doubles at the $35,000 Challenger in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
College streak ends -- Michael Facey of Cameron Park outside Sacramento helped the Montana men end Sacramento State's 24-match Big Sky Conference winning streak dating to 2010.
Facey beat freshman Sean Kolar of Loomis, another Sacramento suburb, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 at No. 4 singles as the host Grizzlies edged the Hornets 4-3 in a match for sole possession of first place. Montana improved to 13-4 overall and 6-0 in the Big Sky. Sac State dropped to 7-11 and 5-1.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Bryans give U.S. 2-1 lead over France
Bob and Mike Bryan came through again for the United States.
The top-ranked twins defeated Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra of France 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) Saturday on clay in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, to give the United States a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The United States can beat France away for only the second time by winning one of Sunday's two singles matches, far from certain. Eleventh-ranked John Isner will face No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, followed by No. 66 Ryan Harrison vs. No. 13 Gilles Simon. Tennis Channel will televise the matches live beginning at 2 a.m. PDT and again at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Harrison, 19 years old, and Simon, 27, are replacing No. 9 Mardy Fish (fatigue) and No. 14 Gael Monfils (abdominal injury), respectively, in the quarterfinals.
The 33-year-old Bryans, perhaps the greatest men's doubles team ever with 11 Grand Slam titles, faced no break points as they improved to 19-2 in Davis Cup doubles. One of the losses came to Arnaud Clement and Llodra, a three-time Grand Slam champion in men's doubles, in the 2008 Davis Cup quarterfinals in Winston-Salem, N.C. Benneteau, 30, has reached the doubles quarterfinals or semifinals in every Grand Slam tournament.
“We came in today and played a really solid match, especially on our serve,” Mike Bryan, who starred with Bob at Stanford in the late 1990s, told reporters. “Not being down a break point on serve especially against a great team on dirt is a great stat with us. It wasn’t flashy; we just played our workmanlike doubles today.”
The Bryans also improved to 10-0 away.
“We’ve played every away tie on dirt and we’re comfortable on clay,” Mike said. “It’s a little easier to focus sometimes when you’re on the road. You kind of just go into a zone and block out the crowd, pull our hats down and focus on our tennis.”
The 6-foot-10 Isner is 1-1 against Tsonga, with both matches going to 7-6 in the third set on hardcourt. Harrison and Simon met for the first time last month at Indian Wells, with Simon winning 7-6 (0), 5-7, 6-1 on hardcourt.
“The way that John played (Friday) will give him confidence and give the team confidence,” U.S. captain Jim Courier said of Isner's straight-set victory over Simon that pulled the Americans into a 1-1 tie. “He’s going to have to come out at that level to beat Jo as Jo’s a fantastic player and he’ll be inspired. We’re looking forward to the battle, and we’ll be ready to play both matches tomorrow.”
French captain Guy Forget remains optimistic.
“I think so far the best players won, and that’s a fact,” he said. “I hope it will stay that way, and if it does, we will win the last two singles tomorrow, and that’s what I’m hoping.”
Capital's Dutch treat -- Jean-Julien Rojer of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis and Igor Sijsling gave the host Netherlands an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Romania in Group I with a thrilling doubles victory.
Rojer, from the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, and Sijsling edged Andrei Daescu and Florin Mergea 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 3-6, 9-7 in 4 hours, 31 minutes in Amsterdam.
Romania's Horia Tecau, the Wimbledon runner-up in men's doubles for the past two years with Robert Lindstedt of Sweden, skipped the match because of a player boycott after the firing of captain Andrei Pavel.
The Netherlands will play Sept. 14-16 against a team to be determined for a berth in the 2013 World Group, the top level of the Davis Cup. The WTT playoffs are scheduled for the same weekend in Charleston, S.C., so if the Capitals qualify, they likely will have to replace Rojer, ranked 38th in the world in men's doubles. Rojer is scheduled to play singles and men's doubles for the Capitals this season.
Colleges -- The No. 6 Stanford women (15-0, 6-0 Pacific-12 Conference) earned their seventh consecutive shutout, 7-0 over visiting Santa Clara (8-8, 2-2 West Coast Conference). Third-ranked Nicole Gibbs defeated No. 38 Katie Le 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
Also notching 7-0 victories at home were the No. 11 Stanford men and No. 12 Cal men. The Cardinal (14-5, 4-0 Pac-12) blanked No. 22 Washington (12-7, 0-4), and the Bears (11-7, 4-0) pounded No. 62 Oregon (15-5, 0-4).
The Sacramento State men (7-10, 5-0) extended their Big Sky Conference winning streak to 24 matches dating to 2010 with a 6-1 triumph at Montana State (6-10, 2-3).
The UC Davis men (3-13) lost 6-1 at No. 29 Fresno State (15-3) in a nonconference match.
The top-ranked twins defeated Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra of France 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) Saturday on clay in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, to give the United States a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The United States can beat France away for only the second time by winning one of Sunday's two singles matches, far from certain. Eleventh-ranked John Isner will face No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, followed by No. 66 Ryan Harrison vs. No. 13 Gilles Simon. Tennis Channel will televise the matches live beginning at 2 a.m. PDT and again at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Harrison, 19 years old, and Simon, 27, are replacing No. 9 Mardy Fish (fatigue) and No. 14 Gael Monfils (abdominal injury), respectively, in the quarterfinals.
The 33-year-old Bryans, perhaps the greatest men's doubles team ever with 11 Grand Slam titles, faced no break points as they improved to 19-2 in Davis Cup doubles. One of the losses came to Arnaud Clement and Llodra, a three-time Grand Slam champion in men's doubles, in the 2008 Davis Cup quarterfinals in Winston-Salem, N.C. Benneteau, 30, has reached the doubles quarterfinals or semifinals in every Grand Slam tournament.
“We came in today and played a really solid match, especially on our serve,” Mike Bryan, who starred with Bob at Stanford in the late 1990s, told reporters. “Not being down a break point on serve especially against a great team on dirt is a great stat with us. It wasn’t flashy; we just played our workmanlike doubles today.”
The Bryans also improved to 10-0 away.
“We’ve played every away tie on dirt and we’re comfortable on clay,” Mike said. “It’s a little easier to focus sometimes when you’re on the road. You kind of just go into a zone and block out the crowd, pull our hats down and focus on our tennis.”
The 6-foot-10 Isner is 1-1 against Tsonga, with both matches going to 7-6 in the third set on hardcourt. Harrison and Simon met for the first time last month at Indian Wells, with Simon winning 7-6 (0), 5-7, 6-1 on hardcourt.
“The way that John played (Friday) will give him confidence and give the team confidence,” U.S. captain Jim Courier said of Isner's straight-set victory over Simon that pulled the Americans into a 1-1 tie. “He’s going to have to come out at that level to beat Jo as Jo’s a fantastic player and he’ll be inspired. We’re looking forward to the battle, and we’ll be ready to play both matches tomorrow.”
French captain Guy Forget remains optimistic.
“I think so far the best players won, and that’s a fact,” he said. “I hope it will stay that way, and if it does, we will win the last two singles tomorrow, and that’s what I’m hoping.”
Capital's Dutch treat -- Jean-Julien Rojer of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis and Igor Sijsling gave the host Netherlands an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Romania in Group I with a thrilling doubles victory.
Rojer, from the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, and Sijsling edged Andrei Daescu and Florin Mergea 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 3-6, 9-7 in 4 hours, 31 minutes in Amsterdam.
Romania's Horia Tecau, the Wimbledon runner-up in men's doubles for the past two years with Robert Lindstedt of Sweden, skipped the match because of a player boycott after the firing of captain Andrei Pavel.
The Netherlands will play Sept. 14-16 against a team to be determined for a berth in the 2013 World Group, the top level of the Davis Cup. The WTT playoffs are scheduled for the same weekend in Charleston, S.C., so if the Capitals qualify, they likely will have to replace Rojer, ranked 38th in the world in men's doubles. Rojer is scheduled to play singles and men's doubles for the Capitals this season.
Colleges -- The No. 6 Stanford women (15-0, 6-0 Pacific-12 Conference) earned their seventh consecutive shutout, 7-0 over visiting Santa Clara (8-8, 2-2 West Coast Conference). Third-ranked Nicole Gibbs defeated No. 38 Katie Le 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
Also notching 7-0 victories at home were the No. 11 Stanford men and No. 12 Cal men. The Cardinal (14-5, 4-0 Pac-12) blanked No. 22 Washington (12-7, 0-4), and the Bears (11-7, 4-0) pounded No. 62 Oregon (15-5, 0-4).
The Sacramento State men (7-10, 5-0) extended their Big Sky Conference winning streak to 24 matches dating to 2010 with a 6-1 triumph at Montana State (6-10, 2-3).
The UC Davis men (3-13) lost 6-1 at No. 29 Fresno State (15-3) in a nonconference match.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)