Brooksby wins national title; Altamirano eyes one

   Northern California players had a spectacular day in the USTA Boys Nationals.
   Top-seeded Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento won the 12s singles title on Saturday in Little Rock, Ark., routing fourth-seeded Thomas Yu of Bellevue, Wash., 6-3, 6-1.
   Unseeded Collin Altamirano of Yuba City crushed top-seeded Gage Brymer of Irvine 6-0, 6-1 to reach the final of the boys 18s in Kalamazoo, Mich.
   Altamirano will play 14th-seeded Jared Donaldson of Cumberland, R.I., today for the title. Donaldson surprised second-seeded Noah Rubin of Rockville Centre, N.Y., 7-6 (4), 7-5.
   Brooksby and Altamirano train under Joseph Gilbert at Arden Hills, the former home of Olympic swimming champions Mark Spitz and Debbie Meyer, in Sacramento.
   Altamirano became the second unseeded finalist in tournament history. Cecil Mamiit lost to Paul Goldstein in 1993. They went on to star at USC and Stanford, respectively, and enjoy long professional careers as undersized players.
   Mamiit in 1996 became the first freshman to win the NCAA singles title since John McEnroe at Stanford in 1978. Goldstein became the first player to help his team win four NCAA team crowns while earning All-America honors each year. 
   The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Goldstein reached a career-high No. 58 in the world in 2006, and the 5-foot-8 (1.73-meter) Mamiit peaked at No. 72 in 1999.
   The news on Saturday wasn't all good for players with NorCal ties.
   In the boys 18 doubles semifinals, the unseeded team of William Griffith of Fresno and J.T. Nishimura of San Jose lost to fourth-seeded Henry Craig of Murrieta and George Goldhoff of Irvine 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
   Taylor Townsend, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis last month, fell in the girls 18 singles semifinals and doubles final in San Diego.
   Seeded fourth in singles, the Boca Raton, Fla., resident succumbed to second-seeded Alexandra Kiick of Plantation, Fla., 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. Kiick is the daughter of former Miami Dolphins running back Jim Kiick.
   The top-seeded pair of Gabrielle Andrews of Pomona and Townsend came up short against second-seeded Kiick and Sachia Vickery of Boca Raton, 6-3, 6-4.