Rankings, TV schedule, calendar

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, 20-year-old Sacramentan -- No. 825 in singles (no change), 960 in doubles (+9).

   Bob Bryan, 37-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 6 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 37-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 7 in doubles (+1), unranked in singles.

   Scott Lipsky, 34-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 43 in doubles (no change).

   Mackenzie McDonald, 20-year-old resident of Piedmont in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 424 in singles (+1), No. 565 in doubles (+2).

   Dennis Novikov, 22-year-old resident of Milpitas in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 149 in singles (+2), career-high No. 160 in doubles (+6).

   Sam Querrey, 28-year-old San Francisco native -- No. 39 in singles (-4), No. 44 in doubles (no change).

   Matt Seeberger, 31-year-old San Francisco native and former UC Santa Cruz star -- No. 158 in doubles (+3).

   Dmitry Tursunov, 33-year-old resident of Folsom in Sacramento area -- No. 490 in singles (+6), No. 261 in doubles (+6).

Women

   Kristie Ahn, 23-year-old former Stanford star -- Career-high No. 194 in singles (no change), No. 442 in doubles (+3).

   Raquel Atawo (formerly Kops-Jones), 33-year-old San Jose resident and former Cal star -- No. 21 in doubles (no change).
   CiCi Bellis, 17-year-old resident of Atherton in San Francisco Bay Area -- No. 264 in singles (-2), No. 329 in doubles (+3).
   Alexandra Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- Career-high No. 606 in doubles (+5). 
   Kat Facey, 23-year-old product of Cameron Park in Sacramento area -- Career-high No. 606 in doubles (+5).
   Nicole Gibbs, 23-year-old former Stanford star -- No. 73 in singles (-2), No. 124 in doubles (-3).
   Michaela Gordon, 16-year-old resident of Saratoga in San Francisco Bay Area -- Career-high No. 604 in singles (+1), No. 727 in doubles (-1). 
   Maegan Manasse, 20-year-old Cal junior -- No. 529 in doubles (+4), No. 757 in singles (+5).
   Maria Sanchez, 26-year-old Modesto product -- Career-high No. 67 in doubles (no change), No. 228 in singles (-10).

   Karina Vyrlan, 17-year-old Sacramentan -- No. 813 in doubles (no change).

   Carol Zhao, 20-year-old Stanford junior -- Career-high No. 167 in doubles (+1), No. 314 in singles (+1).

TV SCHEDULE

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

Wednesday

   Monte Carlo (men), early rounds, 2-10 a.m. (live), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (repeat), 7 p.m.-midnight (repeat).

Thursday

   Monte Carlo (men), early rounds, 2-10 a.m. (live), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (repeat), 7 p.m.-midnight (repeat).

Friday

   Monte Carlo (men), quarterfinals, 2-10 a.m. (live), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-midnight (repeat).
   Fed Cup, United States at Australia, 6-10 p.m. (live).  

Saturday

   Monte Carlo (men), semifinals, 4-9:30 a.m. (live), 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-midnight (repeat).
   Fed Cup, United States at Australia, 6-10 p.m. (live).

   Sunday

   TBA.

CALENDAR

   Friday-Sunday -- Maze Cup (Northern California vs. Southern California juniors), Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming Club, Portola Valley.

   Saturday -- Stanford men at Cal, noon.

   Saturday -- Cal women at Stanford, noon.

   Saturday-Sunday -- Fed Cup, World Group playoffs (United States at Australia).

   Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24 -- NorCal Junior Excellence, Rio Del Oro Racquet Club, Sacramento, Calif.

   April 20-24 -- Pacific-12 Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Ojai, Calif.

   April 27-30 -- Big West Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Indian Wells, Calif. www.bigwest.org.

   April 28-30 -- West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Claremont, Calif.

   April 28-May 1 -- Mountain West Conference Women's Championships, Fort Collins, Colo. www.themw.com.

   April 29-May 1 -- Mountain West Conference Men's Championships, Las Vegas. www.themw.com.

   April 29-May 1 -- Big Sky Conference Men's and Women's Championships, Gold River Racquet Club, Gold River, Calif., www.bigskyconf.com.

   April 29-May 2 -- USTA National Men's, Women's and Mixed 30 Indoor Championships, Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center, Gold River, Calif.
   May 13-14 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Team Championships, first and second rounds at campus sites.

   May 19-24 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Team Championships, round of 16 through finals, Tulsa, Okla.
   May 25-30 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles Championships, Tulsa, Okla. 

   May 22-June 5 -- FRENCH OPEN, Paris. 2015 champions: Stan Wawrinka, Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo, Serena Williams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Mike Bryan.

Gibbs receives WTA honor; Bryans end title drought

Former Stanford All-American Nicole Gibbs,
playing in Indian Wells recently, was voted
the WTA Breakthrough Performer of the
Month for March. Photo by Paul Bauman

   It was a good week for former Stanford All-Americans.

   The WTA announced on Friday that fans had voted Nicole Gibbs as the Breakthrough Performer of the Month for March, and Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won their sixth Houston title on Saturday. 

   Gibbs, who turned 23 on March 3, reached the quarterfinals in Monterrey as a qualifier, the fourth round in Indian Wells as a qualifier and the third round in Miami to improve to a career-high No. 71 in the rankings.

   Gibbs upset two top-30 players during March, No. 24 Madison Keys in Indian Wells and No. 29 Kristina Mladenovic in Miami.

   Gibbs also pushed No. 9 Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, to 6-4 in the third set in Indian Wells but was drubbed by No. 4 Garbine Muguruza 6-1, 6-0 in Miami.

   The top-seeded Bryan twins, who will turn 38 on April 29, edged unseeded Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico 4-6, 6-3 [10-8] in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.

   "It was a battle from the first point to the last, but we feel like we played our best tennis down the stretch," Bob Bryan said on atpworldtour.com. "It's nice to pull out some close wins after losing a few tight matches to start the season. We're looking forward to building momentum through the clay-court season."

   The Bryans ended their title drought at 12 tournaments since winning Montreal last August, made Houston the third tournament they have won at least six times (along with the Australian Open and now-defunct Los Angeles) and captured their 110th title overall.

   "It feels great to get over the hump and win number 110 after a bit of a drought," Mike Bryan said. "There's no better place to do it than in Houston, where we've enjoyed so much success and had unbelievable fan support. Thanks to the River Oaks Country Club and its members for another fantastic tournament."

   Easter Bowl in Indian Wells -- Elysia Bolton of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., and Chiara Lommer of Skokie, Ill., beat Michaela Gordon of Saratoga and Ena Shibahara of Rancho Palos Verdes 6-1, 5-7 [10-6] in the girls 18 doubles semifinals. Both teams were unseeded.

NorCal's Riffice, Gordon fall in Easter Bowl quarters

   Northern Californians Sam Riffice and Michaela Gordon lost today in the boys and girls 18 quarterfinals, respectively, at the Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif.
   The fifth-seeded Riffice, from Granite Bay, fell to third-seeded Nathan Ponwith of Scottsdale, Ariz., 6-4, 6-4. Riffice, the runner-up to Taylor Fritz last year, is ranked No. 1 nationally in the 18s.
   The fourth-seeded Gordon, from Saratoga, bowed out against eighth-seeded Alexandra Sanford of Westerville, Ohio, 7-5, 6-3.
   Sanford, 17, reached the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Mich., in February as a qualifier.
   In the girls 18 doubles quarterfinals, unseeded Gordon and Ena Shibahara of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., outclassed second-seeded Hurricane Tyra Black of Boca Raton, Fla., and Caty McNally of Cincinnati 6-2, 6-2.
   Gordon and Shibahara will face unseeded Elysia Bolton of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., and Chiara Lommer of Skokie, Ill.

Riffice beats ex-Roseville neighbor in Easter Bowl

   Sam Riffice and Keenan Mayo grew up a few houses apart in the Sacramento, Calif., suburb of Roseville.
   Riffice, seeded No. 5, defeated Mayo 6-2, 6-4 Thursday to reach the boys 18 quarterfinals in the prestigious Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif.
   Riffice, 17, is ranked No. 1 nationally in the 18s, and Mayo, 15, is No. 32 in the 16s. They train at the USTA centers in Boca Raton, Fla., and Carson, Calif., respectively.
   Riffice, who will face third-seeded Nathan Ponwith of Scottsdale, Ariz., was the runner-up to Taylor Fritz in last year's Easter Bowl 18s. Fritz, 18, has skyrocketed to No. 79 in the men's world rankings since turning pro last August.
   Meanwhile, No. 4 seed Michaela Gordon of Saratoga, Calif., advanced to the girls 18 quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sofia Sewing of Doral, Fla.
   Gordon, 16, will play No. 8 Alexandra Sanford of Westerville, Ohio. Sanford, 17, reached the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Mich., in February as a qualifier.
   No. 13 Elie Douglas of McKinney, Texas, held off No. 8 Emma Higuchi of Los Angeles 6-4, 7-6 (8). Higuchi plans to enroll at Stanford in the fall.
   In the girls 16 semifinals, No. 7 Angelica Blake of Boca Raton, Fla., routed No. 6 Rachel Eason of Union City, Calif., 6-1, 6-2.
   No. 11 Max Fardanesh of Albany, Calif., won the boys 12 title, knocking off No. 1 Samuel Landau of Los Angeles 6-4, 6-2.

Qualifier Choy takes out sixth seed in Easter Bowl

   Sara Choy overcame a terrible start and pulled off a big upset in the Easter Bowl on Tuesday.
   The qualifier from Palo Alto shocked No. 6 seed Taylor Johnson of Redondo Beach 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the girls 18s in Indian Wells.
   Choy trailed 0-5 in the first set in a matchup of 15-year-olds.
   "When I caught up in the first set, I still had momentum going into the second set," Choy, who won the 16s in the USTA National Winter Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., in January, told Zoo Tennis. "I was feeling pretty confident, even though I lost in the tiebreaker. I knew if I just forgot about what happened in the tiebreaker and treated the new set like a new match, it would be OK for me."
   Another qualifier from Northern California, Darya Possokhova of San Francisco, lost to No. 3 seed Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks 6-0, 6-1. On Sunday, Liu came up short against fellow 15-year-old Kayla Day of Santa Barbara in the final of the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson.
   In the first round of boys 18 singles in the Easter Bowl, No. 5 seed Sam Riffice of Roseville and Paul Barretto of Tiburon advanced, but Austen Huang of Elk Grove lost to qualifier Timothy Sah of San Diego 6-3, 6-4.  
   Riffice was the 18s runner-up in USTA International Spring Championships. Huang won the Winter National boys 18s, and Barretto defeated Huang for the 18s title in the NorCal Junior Sectional Championships in Sacramento last June.
   Four days after falling in the boys 18 doubles final in the International Spring Championships, No. 4 seeds Brian Cernoch of North Bethesda, Md., and Riffice lost to Vasil Kirkov of Tampa, Fla., and Sebastian Korda of Bradenton, Fla., 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Easter Bowl.
   Korda is the son of Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion who subsequently tested positive for steroids, was banned and retired.
   No. 9 Ajai Shekhera of Campbell and No. 15 Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael won their opening-round matches in the Easter Bowl boys 16s, and No. 6 Rachel Eason of Union City and No. 14 Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek advanced in the girls 16s.
   Volynets, the 14-year-old runner-up to Jessi Muljat of Sacramento in the International Spring Championships, will face No. 1 seed Sedona Gallagher of Henderson, Nev.
   Muljat, 15, lost to No. 11 Dasha Kourkina of Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Easter Bowl. 
   In the boys 14 doubles final, No. 1 Joshua Rabb of Woodstock, Ga., and Andres Martin of Flowery Branch, Ga., beat No. 2 Stefan Leustian of Mather and Zachery Lim of Fairfield 8-4.
   In the boys 12 singles semifinals, No. 11 Max Fardanesh of Albany edged No. 5 Noelle Andrey Ampong of Downers Grover, Ill., 4-6, 6-2 [10-7]. Fardanesh is scheduled to play No. 1 seed Samuel Landau of Los Angeles today for the title.  

NorCal's Keyser upsets seed in Easter Bowl boys 18s

   Alexander Keyser of Danville surprised 12th-seeded Sebastian Arcila of Puerto Rico 7-6 (5), 6-1 on Monday in the first round of the boys 18s at the Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif.
   Keyser will face Gianni Ross, a Boca Raton, Fla., resident who defeated Peter Conklin of Fairfield, Conn., 6-1, 7-5.
   Keegan Smith of San Diego stunned top-seeded Ulises Blanch of Deerfield Beach, Fla., 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6), and Keenan Mayo of Roseville defeated Robert Loeb of Hilton Head Island, S.C., 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   Fifth-seeded Sam Riffice of Roseville, Austen Huang of Elk Grove and Paul Barretto of Tiburon are scheduled to play their first-round matches today.
   Riffice was the boys 18 runner-up in last week's USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif. Huang won the boys 18 title in the USTA National Winter Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., in late December and early January. Barretto defeated Huang for the boys 18 title in the NorCal Junior Sectional Championships in Sacramento last June.
   In the first round of the Easter Bowl girls 18s, fourth-seeded Michaela Gordon of Saratoga dismissed Nicole Anderson of Camarillo 6-1, 6-3.
   Qualifiers Darya Possokhova of San Francisco and Sara Choy of Palo Alto will play seeds in the opening round.
   No. 2 seeds Stefan Leustian of Mather and Zachery Lim of Fairfield will play No. 1 Joshua Rabb of Woodstock, Ga., and Andres Martin of Flowery Branch, Ga., for the boys 14 doubles title.
   In the boys 12 singles quarterfinals, No. 11 Max Fardanesh of Albany beat No. 3 Eli Gordon of Highland Park, Ill., 6-3, 6-4. 

NorCal's Riffice falls in USTA Spring boys 18 final

   First, Liam Caruana was overmatched. Then Sam Riffice was.
   The 11th-seeded Caruana, a resident of Austin, Texas, who recently began playing for his native Italy, beat the fourth-seeded Riffice, from the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 today for the boys 18 singles title in the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif.
   Caruana trailed 1-5 in the first set, which he attributed to nerves, and took a medical timeout at 2-5.       
   “Earlier in the tournament, I strained my (abdominal) muscle, so I’ve carried that throughout the tournament,” Caruana, 18, said on usta.com. “It wasn’t enough to default, but it hurt when I was serving. After that medical timeout, I told myself to play loose and free because, if not, I was just getting destroyed.”
   Instead, Riffice got destroyed.
   “I don’t think there was much I could have done to beat him today,” said the 17-year-old Riffice, ranked No. 1 nationally in the 18s. “I think he just started slow and picked up his game. There was a lot I could have done better to make it closer. I didn’t play as offensive as I would have liked, and he was dictating the points. I didn’t get to pressure him much, and my balls didn’t have a lot on them.
   “He mixed up the pace a lot, and he hit a lot of different shots and didn’t give me the same ball too many times in a row.”
   Second-seeded Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., won the girls 18 singles title. The 16-year-old left-hander topped fifth-seeded Claire Liu, 15, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in just under three hours. Liu led 6-4, 2-0.
   In the prestigious Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif., third-seeded Ryder Jackson of Nicasio in the San Francisco Bay Area, Aidan Mayo of Roseville and Karl Lee of Los Altos reached the round of 16 in the boys 14s.
   Top-seeded Stefan Leustian of Mather lost to Ronald Hohmann of Oyster Bay, N.Y., 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the boys 14 round of 32.
   India Houghton of Tiburon advanced to the round of 16 in the girls 14s.
   The Easter Bowl boys and girls 18s and 16s begin Monday.