Bryans seek their first Olympic gold medal

   For the first time in their illustrious careers, Bob and Mike Bryan will play for an Olympic gold medal.
   The No. 1 seeds and former NCAA doubles champions from Stanford defeated Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 6-4 Friday in the semifinals at Wimbledon. The 34-year-old Bryan twins had eliminated Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel 7-6 (4), 7-6 (10) Thursday.
   The Bryans have won 11 Grand Slam men's doubles titles to tie the Open Era record. They will face another French team, second-seeded Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, on Saturday (8:30-11 a.m. PDT, NBCSN) for the gold. Llodra and Tsonga outlasted Spaniards David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 4-6, 18-16 in 3 hours and 29 minutes.    
   "This will top off everything we have ever done if we win gold," Mike Bryan said on atpworldtour.com. "But it will be a very difficult match. Tomorrow, we will begin to focus and prepare for the match. But we’re definitely in for a sleepless night."
   The American pair won the bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics four years ago, defeating Arnaud Clement and Llodra. 
   In mixed doubles at the London Olympics, third-seeded Lisa Raymond and Mike Bryan have reached the semifinals, but second-seeded Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan lost in the first round to Sabine Lisicki and Christopher Kas of Germany. Mixed doubles returned to the Olympics for the first time since 1924.
   ATP World Tour/WTA tour in Washington, D.C. -- Eighth-seeded Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, extended his winning streak to seven matches with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over third seed and doubles partner Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the quarterfinals of the Citi Open.
   Querrey played six matches for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in July. While Querrey was winning the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles last week, Anderson played the last four matches of the regular season for Sacramento.
   Top-seeded Mardy Fish, who played two matches for the Capitals early in the three-week season, joined Querrey in the semifinals of the Citi Open with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Xavier Malisse of Belgium.
   Fish, 30, will meet fourth-seeded Tommy Haas, a 34-year-old German, and Querrey will play fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine.
   Anderson and Querrey reached the doubles final with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
   In the women's singles semifinals, top-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia held off fourth-seeded Vania King 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a battle of former and current Capitals, respectively. King had beaten seventh seed and Sacramento teammate CoCo Vandeweghe 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 Thursday.   
    Women's/men's Challenger in Vancouver, British Columbia -- Mallory Burdette, a wild card from Stanford, knocked off second-seeded Olivia Rogowska of Australia 7-5, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the Odlum Brown Vanopen. Qualifiers Nicole Gibbs and Krista Hardebeck of Stanford lost in the second round earlier in the week.    
   On the men's side, Chinese Taipei's Jimmy Wang, who trains in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, lost to sixth-seeded Sergei Bubka of Ukraine in the singles quarterfinals but reached the doubles semifinals with Danai Udomchoke of Thailand.
   Men's Futures in Decatur, Ill. -- Artem Ilyushin, a Russian living in Granite Bay, lost in the singles and doubles quarterfinals of the $10,000 Ursula Beck Pro Tennis Classic.

TV SCHEDULE

(All times PDT)

   Saturday -- Olympics, women's singles final, NBC, 6-8 a.m. (live); men's doubles final, NBCSN, 8:30-11 a.m. (live).
   Sunday -- Olympics, mixed doubles final, NBCSN, 4-5:30 a.m. (live); men's singles bronze-medal match, MSNBC, 4-6 a.m. (live); men's singles final, NBC, 6-8:30 a.m. (live); women's doubles final, NBCSN, 9:15-11 a.m. (live).  

CALENDAR

   Through Sunday -- OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT, Wimbledon, www.london2012.com.
   Through Aug. 12 -- USTA National Championships, boys 18s and 16s, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
   Saturday-Aug. 12 -- USTA National Championships, girls 18s and 16s, San Diego.
   Saturday-Aug. 9 -- USTA National Championships, girls 14s, Peachtree City, Ga.
   Saturday-Aug. 12 -- $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger, Seascape Sports Club, 1505 Seascape Blvd., Aptos, Calif., 95003, www.seascapesportsclub.com/challenger, (831) 688-1993.
   Sunday-Aug. 10 -- USTA National Championships, boys 14s, San Antonio.
   Sunday-Aug. 10 -- USTA National Championships, boys 12s, North Little Rock, Ark.
   Sunday-Aug. 10 -- USTA National Championships, girls 12s, Alpharetta, Ga. 
   Aug. 27-Sept. 9 -- U.S. OPEN, Flushing Meadows, N.Y., www.usopen.org.
   Sept. 9-16 -- $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger, Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness, 3452 Argyle Road, Redding, Calif., 96002, www.sunoakschallenger.com, (530) 227-3498.
   Sept. 14 -- World TeamTennis, Western Conference finals, Sacramento Capitals vs. Orange County Breakers, 3:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 15 -- WTT, Eastern Conference finals, Washington Kastles vs. New York Sportimes, 3:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 16 -- WTT Finals, Western Conference champion vs. Eastern Conference champion, 12:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 29-Oct. 7 -- Natomas Men's $100,000 Challenger, Natomas Racquet Club, 2450 Natomas Park Drive, Sacramento, Calif., 95833, www.natomaschallenger.com, (916) 649-0909.
   Oct. 6-14 -- First Republic Bank Men's $100,000 Challenger, Tiburon Peninsula Club, 1600 Mar West St., Tiburon, Calif., 94920, www.tiburon challenger.com, (415) 789-7900.