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| Modesto native Maria Sanchez beat Jessica Pegula in the final of the inaugural Gold River Women's Challenger last year. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman |
The 23-year-old Modesto native accepted a wild card for the July 1-6 tournament at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area, spokesman Clint Swett announced today.
Sanchez was eliminated from Wimbledon singles and doubles qualifying on Thursday, clearing the way for the former USC All-American to return to Gold River. With a world ranking of No. 114, she could be seeded first.
Sanchez defeated Jessica Pegula, 18 at the time, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the inaugural Gold River Challenger last year. Pegula also is scheduled to return.
Wimbledon draw -- Today's Wimbledon draw did no favors for Northern California players.
Sam Querrey, seeded 21st, will face Bernard Tomic of Australia next week in a battle of tall, powerful players. Querrey is 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters) and Tomic 6-foot-5 (1.96 meters).
Querrey, a 25-year-old San Francisco native, is scheduled to play part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis next month for the second straight year.
Dmitry Tursunov, a 30-year-old Russian based in the Sacramento area, will meet 13th-seeded Tommy Haas, 35, of Germany in a matchup of two injury-prone players.
In doubles, Tursunov and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland will play 14th-seeded Rohan Bopanna of India and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. Tursunov and Nieminen won the Munich title last month in only their second tournament together.
And in women's singles, former Stanford star Mallory Burdette will take on dangerous Urszula Radwanska of Poland.
Wimbledon begins Monday and concludes on July 7. |
| Sam Querrey, seeded 21st at Wimbledon, will face Bernard Tomic in the first round. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman |
Tomic reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals as a qualifier two years ago at 18. Querrey advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon three years ago, matching his best Grand Slam result to date.
In the players' only career meeting, Tomic defeated Querrey 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the second round of last year's Australian Open. Tomic, however, has fallen from a career-high No. 27 in the world one year ago to No. 64.
Querrey is ranked 19th, two spots below his career high in January 2011. He and Tomic are in the same quarter of the draw as ninth-seeded Richard Gasquet; seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych, the 2010 runner-up; and top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the 2011 champion.
Tursunov, who trains at the Gorin Tennis Academy in Granite Bay, is scheduled to play for the first time since aggravating a pulled left hamstring muscle three weeks ago in the second round of the French Open.
The 65th-ranked Tursunov is 1-4 lifetime against Haas, who's ranked 13th after ascending to a career-high No. 2 in 2002. Their last encounter came at Wimbledon in 2007, with Haas prevailing 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the third round.
Tursunov advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2005 and 2006 for his best Grand Slam singles results to date. Haas reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2009 before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer. Earlier this month, Haas became the oldest quarterfinalist in the French Open since 1971.
Burdette, ranked 69th, will make her Wimbledon debut after forgoing her senior year at Stanford and turning pro last September. She and Radwanska, ranked 38th, have never met.
Radwanska beat former No. 1 players Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams in back-to-back clay-court tournaments, the Italian Open and French Open, in May. Radwanska also reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in March, upsetting 15th-seeded Sloane Stephens in the second round.
Burdette lost to Radwanska's older sister, fourth-ranked Agnieszka, in the second round of the French Open last month. Agnieszka reached last year's Wimbledon final, losing to Serena Williams.
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