Roseville junior falls short in two national finals

   Twice on Sunday, Sam Riffice came within one set of winning a national title.
   And twice the Roseville resident came up short.
   Riffice, seeded third, lost to top-seeded Noah Makarome of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in the boys 12 singles final at the USTA Winter National Championships in Tucson, Ariz.
   Riffice and Noah Schachter of Steilacoom, Wash., seeded first in doubles, then fell to fifth-seeded Ryan Seggerman of Coronado and Ivan Thamma of San Diego 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   WTA --Qualifier Vania King of the Sacramento Capitals defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-3, 6-4 today in the first round of the $655,000 Brisbane (Australia) International.
   King, a 22-year-old Long Beach product, will meet Daniela Hantuchova, who upset sixth seed and fellow Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   In the opening round of doubles, King and Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands lost to second-seeded Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (6), 6-4, 11-9 tiebreak. King has won two Grand Slam doubles titles, both with regular partner Yaroslova Shvedova.
   In Auckland, New Zealand, Aravane Rezai of France outplayed former Capital Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4 in the final round of qualifying for the $220,000 ASB Classic.
   ATP World Tour -- Russian Dmitry Tursunov, a longtime Sacramento-area resident, lost to Albert Ramos of Spain 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the $1.024 million Qatar Open in Doha.
   It was the second career meeting between the 29-year-old Tursunov, ranked 40th, and Ramos, a 23-year-old left-hander ranked 66th. Tursunov won 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the first round at Moscow, his hometown, in October en route to the quarterfinals.     
   The $434,250 Brisbane International will feature a first-round matchup between Colombia's Santiago Giraldo and Australian qualifier John Millman, the winners of the 2009 and 2010 Sacramento Challengers, respectively.
   Jesse Levine, whom Giraldo beat for the Sacramento title, remained red hot by advancing to the main draw in Brisbane as the No. 8 qualifying seed. The Canadian-born American beat top-seeded Tobias Kamke, a German who won the 2010 Tiburon Challenger, 7-4, 6-4 in the final round.