Isner to replace Fish as top American

John Isner acknowledges the
crowd after an early-round
victory at Indian Wells
last month. Isner went on
to reach the final.

   John Isner will replace Mardy Fish of the Sacramento Capitals as the top American when this week's ATP World Tour rankings are released tonight.
   The 6-foot-10 Isner, who won a 2007 Futures tournament in the Sacramento area in his professional debut, will improve from No. 10 to No. 9. Fish, 30, will fall from No. 9 to at least No. 10.
   Isner, seeded second, outlasted No. 3 Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-3 Saturday to reach the final of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston. Isner will meet fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina today at noon PDT (Tennis Channel).
   Monaco ended the run of 33-year-old qualifier Michael Russell 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. Russell, a 5-foot-8 Detroit native, was playing in his adopted hometown.
   Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, and James Blake of Tampa, Fla., won the doubles title with a 7-6 (14), 6-4 tiebreak victory over Treat Conrad Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain. 
   Men's Futures -- Qualifier Pedro Zerbini, a former Cal standout from Brazil, ousted third-seeded Tennys Sandgren of the United States 7-6 (5), 7-5 to advance to the final of the $15,000 Oklahoma City Open.
   Zerbini, who also knocked off top-seeded Stefan Seifert of Germany in the quarterfinals, will meet No. 2 Greg Ouellette of the United States in the final. Ouellette beat unseeded Mark Verryth of Australia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
   Easter Bowl -- Third-seeded Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, near Oakland, overwhelmed No. 2 Noah Rubin of Rockville Centre, N.Y., 6-2, 6-0 to reach the boys 18 final at the Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.
   McDonald, who has lost only eight games in his last three matches, will play fourth-seeded Alexios Halebian of Glendale in the Los Angeles area for the title. Halebian downed sixth-seeded Thai Kwiatkowski of Charlotte, N.C., 6-3, 6-3.
   In the girls 14 final, 17th-seeded Catherine Bellis of Atherton lost to No. 1 Emma Higuchi of Los Angeles 6-4, 6-4. Bellis turned 13 last Sunday.
   Doubles results will be posted later.