NorCal Tennis Czar: 2013

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Two NorCal boys gain quarters in Winter Nationals

   William Griffith of Fresno and Logan Staggs of Tracy reached the boys 18 quarterfinals in the USTA National Winter Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Monday.
   The third-seeded Griffth, who's headed to Cal, dispatched unseeded Oliver Sec of New York 6-1, 6-2. The fifth-seeded Staggs -- a 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter), 135-pound (61.2-kilogram) left-hander who will attend Northwestern -- topped ninth-seeded McClain Kessler of Calhoun, Ga., 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
   Today, Griffith will face seventh-seeded Aron Hiltzik of Wilmette, Ill., and Staggs will meet 15th-seeded Walker Duncan of Atlanta.
   In the boys 14 quarterfinals in Tucson, Ariz., top-seeded Patrick Kypson of Greenville, N.C., dominated 16th-seeded Keenan Mayo of Roseville 6-3, 6-1.
   Ninth-seeded Randy Cory of Salinas and Andrew Ton of Milpitas reached the boys 14 doubles semifinals, and unseeded Isabella Harvison of Cardiff and Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek advanced to the girls doubles semis.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

New rankings, calendar

PRO RANKINGS

Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

Bob Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, 32 years old, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2012-13) -- No. 374 in singles (no change), No. 125 in doubles (no change).
   Bradley Klahn, 23 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- Career-high No. 97 in singles (no change), No. 147 in doubles (no change).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 31 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 46 in singles (no change), No. 216 in doubles (no change).
   Ryan Sweeting, 26 years old, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 666 in singles (-1), No. 1,109 in doubles (-3).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 31 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 29 in singles (no change), No. 138 in doubles (no change).

Women

Mallory Burdette, 22 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- No. 140 in singles (no change), No. 688 in doubles (-9).
Nicole Gibbs, 20 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- No. 185 in singles (-1), No. 437 in doubles (-6).

Macall Harkins, Redding resident -- No. 286 in doubles (-7), No. 694 in singles (-7).
Raquel Kops-Jones, 31 years old, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 23 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Megan Moulton-Levy, 28 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 56 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, Modesto product -- No. 144 in doubles (no change), No. 175 in singles (no change).

Taylor Townsend, 17 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 196 in doubles (-4), No. 362 in singles (-1).

TV SCHEDULE

No tournaments scheduled.

CALENDAR

Friday-Jan. 1 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Tucson, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122724.

Friday-Jan. 2 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Scottsdale, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122192

Jan. 13-26, 2014 -- AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Melbourne, www.australianopen.com. 2013 champions: Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka, Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Sara Errani-Roberta Vinci, Jarmila Gajdosova-Matthew Ebden.

Jan. 14 -- College spring season begins. Pacific men at Stanford, 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 -- Davis Cup, first round, Great Britain vs. United States in San Diego, www.daviscup.com.

Feb. 8-9 -- Fed Cup, first round, defending champion Italy vs. United States in Cleveland, www.fedcupcom.

Feb. 26 -- Champions Shootout (Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, James Blake), 7 p.m., Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, Calif., www.powersharesseries.com.

March 3-16 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif., www.bnpparibasopen.com. 2013 champions: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Ekaterina Makarova-Elena Vesnina.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Note to readers: E-mail problem solved

Dear readers,

Because of a technical problem, I have not received any e-mails for the past few weeks. The issue has been resolved, though, and my account is working fine.

I apologize for missing any e-mails that you might have sent. Please feel free to reach me at norcaltennisczar@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading NorCal Tennis Czar.

Happy holidays,
Paul Bauman

Roseville's Riffice falls in Junior Orange Bowl

   Ninth-seeded Sam Riffice of Roseville in the Sacramento area lost to second-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4 Saturday in the boys 14 quarterfinals at the Junior Orange Bowl in Coral Gables, Fla.
   Riffice reached the boys 12 singles and doubles final in last year's USTA Winter National Championships in Tucson, Ariz., losing in three sets both times.
   Riffice is not entered in this year's Winter Nationals, which begin Friday, but many other Northern California juniors are. Boys and girls 18s and 16s will be played in Scottsdale, Ariz., and boys and girls 14s and 12s will be in Tucson.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Roseville's Riffice gains quarters in Jr. Orange Bowl

   Sam Riffice of Roseville in the Sacramento area reached the boys 14 quarterfinals in the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl in Coral Gables, Fla.
   Riffice, seeded ninth, topped 17th seeded Rudolf Molleker of Germany 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 on Friday to set up today's match against second-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia.
   Jessi Muljat, a wild card from the Sacramento suburb of Gold River, lost to fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova of Hallandale Beach, Fla., 6-1, 6-3 in the girls 12 round of 16.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Schnack on Slams, hellish tourney, 'stinky feet'

About two months after playing mixed doubles together in
the U.S. Open, Eric Roberson and Yasmin Schnack won the
mixed title in the Sacramento Clay Court League.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Playing in front of family and friends at the U.S. Open.
   Competing at Wimbledon with her best friend.
   A tournament that should have been heavenly but instead was hellish.
   And, of course, the "stinky feet" episode.
   Those were some of the highs and lows of Yasmin Schnack's two-plus years as a professional tennis player.
   Burdened by loneliness, financial struggles and family issues, the Sacramento-area resident retired last year at 24. The 5-foot-10 (1.77-meter) Schnack considered a comeback after playing mixed doubles in the U.S. Open as a wild card last August but decided to start nursing school in Phoenix next month.
   "I got really hyped up after the U.S. Open and really inspired to play again," said Schnack, whose father is a retired family doctor. "But I didn't fare well in Redding (in September), and my ranking has dropped so much. I'm not afraid of working hard, but I knew it would take a year or two to get my ranking back up.
   "I applied to different schools and found I could get in and start really soon. I weighed the pros and cons, my family supported me, and I decided to go to nursing school. I'm happy with my decision. It's something I've thought about off and on since college.
   "I'm glad I'm taking the step. I delayed because I was afraid to lose tennis, which has been such a huge part of my life. Once I was able to get over that fear, I was able to let go. This is a really good decision. It's a new direction, a new path."
   Schnack played on UCLA's national championship team as a sophomore in 2008 and was named the Pacific-10 Conference Women's Player of the Year as a senior in 2010. As a pro, she won 11 doubles and two singles titles and reached career highs of No. 140 and No. 371, respectively.
   Schnack might be too nice for the cutthroat world of pro tennis. She recently reflected on her career, providing a behind-the-scenes look at life on the tour and a glimpse of her warm personality.
   Most memorable match -- "Playing Madison Brengle in my first World TeamTennis season (2011), for the Sacramento Capitals. One of the big reasons -- or only reason -- I was drafted was Vania King (Schnack's best friend and the 2009 WTT Female MVP for the Springfield Lasers before being traded to Sacramento) pushed for me to be on the team. She said, 'I won't play if my friend Yasmin doesn't.' I owe her a lot for being drafted that first year.
   "I played some of my best tennis that night (against Brengle) and beat her 5-0 in front of a really big crowd (in Kansas City), all basically rooting against me, but I had my supportive teammates there. It was a great victory for me. I was able to earn respect not only from my teammates and coach but everyone in World TeamTennis."
   Biggest thrill -- "Playing U.S. Open mixed doubles this past August with Eric Roberson (of Sacramento). We've played mixed doubles together for a long, long time. When we won the wild card into mixed (by emerging from a national playoff), we were so happy. We actually came pretty close [in a 6-4, 7-6 (3) loss to Slovakians Janette Husarova and Filip Polasek in the first round].
   "What was nice was our families and friends were there. To experience that with them was definitely my biggest thrill."
   Biggest disappointment -- "I played a $50,000 tournament in Carson, California, in 2011 with (Sacramento native and doubles specialist) Christina Fusano. We played a lot of matches together. We won some tough matches to get to the final, and we ended up losing 6-2, 6-3 (to Americans Alexandra Mueller and Asia Muhammad). Neither of us played that well.
   "After the match, she gave a speech, and her whole family was there. I didn't know it beforehand, but she said she was retiring. I came off so disappointed in how I performed. I wanted her career to end with a victory. I definitely could have done a lot more, tried harder, just done something different."
   Toughest singles opponent -- "I played Jarmila Gajdosova [a 5-foot-7 (1.71-meter) Slovakia-born Australian] my first year I turned pro (in 2010). I think it was my fourth tournament. I played a 100K in Taipei, and I went through the qualifying, played really well, and bam, I got the first seed in the first round of the main draw.
   "I was nervous and really excited to play someone in the top 30. I lost 6-2, 6-3. It was indoors, so she had an advantage with serves and the fast pace of the court. She overpowered me, and not many people can do that. I'm pretty strong. I can handle difficult, hard shots."
   Toughest doubles opponent -- "Asia Muhammad and I played (Modesto native) Maria Sanchez and Irina Falconi in a $75,000 tournament in Albuquerque (last year). We had just lost in the final of World TeamTennis in Charleston (S.C.).
   "It's tough (in Albuquerque) with the altitude. Sometimes you have no idea what shot is going to come off your strings, and we had this epic doubles match against them. They were ranked 130 spots ahead of us, and we won 12-10 in the (match) tiebreaker. We were really lucky to sneak away with the 'W.' "
   Favorite tournament -- "Playing Wimbledon (last year) with (2010 women's doubles champion) Vania King, my best friend. When she asked me to play, I was beyond happy. Wimbledon has a lot of history, and there's something about playing on the grass courts. That's where it all started."
   (King and Schnack lost to eighth-seeded Czechs Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-1 in the first round.)
   Least favorite tournament -- "I played a 100K in the Bahamas (last year). I went there thinking, Oh, it's the Bahamas. There's (the) beach. It's going to be fun. Unfortunately, it ended up being really unorganized, and ... no one got paid."
(Schnack lost in the second round of singles qualifying to eighth-seeded Valeria Solovyeva of Russia 6-1, 6-3 and in the first round of doubles with Sanchez to fourth-seeded Jill Craybas of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 match tiebreaker. Schnack would have earned $570.)
   Best friend -- "Vania. We've known each other since she was 11 and I was 12. We were on a USTA trip to Costa Rica and Panama for ITF tournaments. It was my first time playing international tournaments, and I was really excited.
   "We roomed together that first week, and we were instant friends. We get along really well. She's my pseudo-sister, and her family is my second family."
   Funniest moment -- "Elizabeth Lumpkin, a former UCLA teammate of mine, and I roomed together at a $50,000 tournament in Raleigh (N.C.). We get back from practice, and we're sitting on the bed trying to figure out who's going to take a shower first. So she takes off her shoes and socks and goes, 'Oh, man, my feet are really stinky.' I'm like, 'Well, I can't smell anything, so it's not that bad.' She proceeds to tell me, 'Oh, no, they smell like rotten eggs,' and Jason, her husband, says the same thing, like, 'Keep your shoes on or take them outside, because if they're in the house, the whole house will be really smelly.'
   "It was hilarious. She's telling me this and looking at me, seeing the look on my face, and we just burst out laughing."
   Best thing about being a pro tennis player -- "Traveling. Staying with really awesome housing parents, as we call them. I traveled mainly in the U.S., but every place I went to, there are really no negatives. There's always something cool to see about this city, and the tennis community is really close. Everyone was just wonderful."
   Favorite destination -- "My first tournament as a professional, I went to Mazatlan (Mexico). It was just a small $10,000 tournament. I traveled with Ivana King, Vania's sister. We're also really close. We won doubles, and I lost in the final of singles. It was a fun trip because we went parasailing, we went to the beach ... We were able to do all these really fun off-court things, shopping ... It was a fun tournament."
   Worst thing about being a pro tennis player -- "Traveling alone for weeks and months on end. That's really hard. Coming out of UCLA, I had all these girls, my teammates. We used each other for support, so it was a transition to go from a team environment to traveling alone. No coach, no family. You'd meet up with the girls (on the tour), but it's a competitive environment. They're not there to pat you on the back or feed you balls. That was really tough for me."

New rankings, calendar

PRO RANKINGS

Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

Bob Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, 32 years old, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2012-13) -- No. 374 in singles (+6), No. 125 in doubles (+1).
   Bradley Klahn, 23 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- Career-high No. 97 in singles (no change), No. 147 in doubles (-1).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 31 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 46 in singles (no change), No. 216 in doubles (no change).
   Ryan Sweeting, 26 years old, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 665 in singles (-1), No. 1,106 in doubles (no change).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 31 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 29 in singles (no change), No. 138 in doubles (no change).

Women

Mallory Burdette, 22 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- No. 140 in singles (-1), No. 679 in doubles (-1).
Nicole Gibbs, 20 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- No. 184 in singles (no change), No. 431 in doubles (-3).

Macall Harkins, Redding resident -- No. 279 in doubles (no change), No. 687 in singles (-11).
Raquel Kops-Jones, 31 years old, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 23 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Megan Moulton-Levy, 28 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 56 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, Modesto product -- No. 144 in doubles (no change), No. 175 in singles (no change).

Taylor Townsend, 17 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 192 in doubles (no change), No. 361 in singles (-7).

TV SCHEDULE

No tournaments scheduled.

CALENDAR

Through Monday -- Junior Orange Bowl, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Coral Gables, Fla., www.juniororangebowl.org.

Dec. 27-Jan. 1 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Tucson, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122724.

Dec. 27-Jan. 2 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Scottsdale, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122192

Jan. 14 -- College spring season begins. Pacific men at Stanford, 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 -- Davis Cup, first round, Great Britain vs. United States in San Diego, www.daviscup.com.

Feb. 8-9 -- Fed Cup, first round, defending champion Italy vs. United States in Cleveland, www.fedcupcom.

Feb. 26 -- Champions Shootout (Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, James Blake), 7 p.m., Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, Calif., www.powersharesseries.com.

March 3-16 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif., www.bnpparibasopen.com. 2013 champions: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Ekaterina Makarova-Elena Vesnina.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Bellis falls in doubles quarters at Orange Bowl

   CiCi Bellis, the last remaining Northern Californian in the prestigious Orange Bowl junior tournament, was eliminated on Saturday in the doubles quarterfinals of the girls 18 division.
   Bellis, 14, of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area and Katerina Stewart of Miami lost to top-seeded Varvara Flink of Russia and Ivana Jorovic of Serbia 7-5, 2-6 [10-4] on clay in Plantation, Fla.
   The match had been suspended at 5-5 in the first set on Friday.
   The Junior Orange Bowl, for boys and girls 14s and 12s, is scheduled for Tuesday through Dec. 23 in Coral Gables, Fla.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Bellis' doubles quarterfinal in Orange Bowl suspended

   CiCi Bellis' doubles quarterfinal against the top seeds in the girls 18s at the Orange Bowl was suspended at 5-5 on Friday.
   Bellis, 14, of Atherton and Katerina Stewart of Miami are scheduled to resume their match against Varvara Flink of Russia and Ivana Jorovic of Serbia today in the prestigious junior tournament on clay in Plantation, Fala.
   Of the three Northern Californians entered in the Orange Bowl, Bellis is the only one remaining. She and Michaela Gordon, 14, of Los Altos Hills lost in the first round of girls 18 singles, and Lane Leschly, 15, of Atherton fell in the opening round of boys 16 singles.
Gordon and Anna Bondar of Hungary lost in the second round of girls 18 doubles to Flink and Jorovic. Leschly, the grandson of former Danish Davis Cup veteran Jan Leschly, did not play doubles.
   Atherton and Los Altos Hills are located near Stanford University in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Bellis, 14, gains doubles quarters in Orange Bowl

   Northern California has one player left in the Orange Bowl.
   And she might not last much longer in the prestigious junior tournament.
   CiCi Bellis, 14, of Atherton and Katerina Stewart of Miami trounced Gabriella Castaneda of Miramar, Fla., and Lana Rush of Great Britain 6-2, 6-1 Thursday to reach the doubles quarterfinals of the girls 18s on clay in Plantation, Fla.
   Bellis and Stewart will meet top-seeded Varvara Flink of Russia and Ivana Jorovic of Serbia today. Flink and Jorovic advanced with a 4-6, 6-3 [10-4] victory over Michaela Gordon of Los Altos Hills and Anna Bondar of Hungary.
   Atherton and Los Altos Hills are located near Stanford University in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   The Orange Bowl features many of the world's top juniors. The tournament was played on clay from 1947 through 1997 and hardcourt from 1998 through 2010 before returning to clay.
   Past champions include Chris Evert (1969-70), Bjorn Borg (1972), John McEnroe (1976), Gabriela Sabatini (1984), Roger Federer (1998) and Caroline Wozniacki (2005).
   The Junior Orange Bowl, for boys and girls 14s and 12s, is scheduled for Saturday through Dec. 23 in Coral Gables, Fla.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Hacker heaven: Playing recently retired touring pro

Former touring professional Yasmin Schnack
follows through on a backhand during a recent
match against one of her pupils, Paul Bauman.
Photo by Dave Goldschmidt

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For one fleeting moment, I felt as if I had just won Wimbledon.
   Or at least the Gerry Weber Open, a Wimbledon tuneup tournament in Halle, Germany. (By the way, who the hell is Gerry Weber? As a former newspaper colleague of mine used to say about any so-called bigwig, "Where did he ever tend bar?")
   I was playing Yasmin Schnack, my tennis teacher for the last six months and a recently retired professional player, on a chilly morning last week at the Rio del Oro Racquet Club.
   Late in the second set, I ripped a topspin cross-court passing shot with my one-handed backhand. My timing was perfect, for a change, and I hit a rocket a few inches over the net that left Schnack flat-footed. She had no chance.
   A wave of euphoria swept over me -- for a few seconds, anyway. It was the best I've ever felt on a tennis court, and at 58, I've been playing a long time.
   The rest of the match did not, um, go as well. I lost 6-0, 6-0. Not that that was any surprise.
   I'm a 4.0 player who didn't even play on my high school team. I got interested in tennis at the advanced age of 15, about the time of the Civil War, and I've played recreationally ever since.
   Schnack, meanwhile, played mixed doubles in the U.S. Open less than four months ago and women's doubles at Wimbledon last year. She lost in the first round each time and reached career highs of No. 140 in the world in doubles and No. 371 in singles before retiring last year at 24. (Schnack won a national playoff with Eric Roberson, a fellow pro at Rio del Oro, to earn a wild card into U.S. Open mixed doubles.)
   Schnack, 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and lean, won 11 doubles and two singles titles on the ITF circuit, the minor leagues in women's tennis.
   The daughter of a retired family doctor, Schnack will begin nursing school in Phoenix next month after having considered a return to pro tennis. Had she stayed on the tour, she almost certainly would have cracked the top 100 in the world in doubles.
   "I've always thought she had amazing potential from when we were little," 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Vania King -- Schnack's best friend, her partner at Wimbledon and a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles -- said in March. "She never had proper coaching or support. She's more talented than I am."
   At UCLA, Schnack helped the Bruins win the 2008 NCAA title as a sophomore and was named the 2010 Pacific-10 Conference Women's Player of the Year.
   "She has great athletic ability," Stella Sampras Webster, Pete's older sister and the UCLA women's coach, told The Sacramento Bee in 2010. "She's a shotmaker. She has a lot of weapons and can dominate a lot of players with big groundstrokes. She's powerful but also very graceful. She moves very well. ... Her (two-handed) backhand is one of the prettiest you'll ever see."

As Schnack has been telling me during my lessons, I need
to snap my wrist more on my serve. Maybe that's why it
lacked pop during our match. Photo by Dave Goldschmidt

   Schnack, who was born four months before my son at the same hospital in Reno, is by far the best player I've ever faced in a match. She is not, however, the best player with whom I've ever hit. I rallied with Bjorn Borg for five minutes almost exactly 24 years ago -- on Dec. 5, 1989 -- in Tokyo. I was working at an English-language newspaper there at the time, and he made a promotional appearance for his fashion company.
   Here's what I wrote in my journal about the session with Borg: "I was a little nervous. He told me I was taking my racket back late. I hit some good shots, and I don't think he missed one."
   Schnack, in turn, used to hit with Pete Sampras at UCLA. She commented to The Bee in 2010: "At first, it was nerve-wracking and scary. I must have said "Sorry" about a hundred times. His shots have so much pace and weight -- every ball is deep -- that it's hard to control."
   I felt similarly against Schnack.
   The question wasn't whether I'd win any games. It was whether I'd win any points. There was a distinct possibility of Schnack pulling off at least one golden set -- winning all 24 points.
   That has happened only twice at the top level of men's or women's tennis. American Bill Scanlon destroyed Marcos Hocevar of Brazil 6-2, 6-0 in the first round at Delray Beach, Fla., in 1983, and 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan drubbed 5-foot-4 1/2 (1.64-meter) Sara Errani of Italy 6-0, 6-4 in the third round at Wimbledon last year.
   Shvedova and King won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2010.
   And Errani is no slouch. Ranked No. 10 in the world at the time, she's now No. 7 in singles and No. 1 in doubles with countrywoman Roberta Vinci.
   So at least I was in good company if I suffered the same fate. That's how it was looking for a while.
   Schnack reeled off the first 19 points. Finally, at 4-0, 40-0, I hit a decent first serve to Schnack's backhand that she returned wide.
   Schnack also double-faulted at 5-0, 30-0 for my only other point of the first set, which lasted all of 15 minutes, 37 seconds.
   In the second set, I managed to win five points -- a veritable bonanza as Schnack probably let down.
   Overall in the match, I reached 30 in a game only once and led in a game only once, 15-0 late in the second set.
   Basically, it was 33 minutes of target practice for Schnack, who's an inch taller than I am. She pounced on my weak first serve and took immediate control of almost every point with her impeccable groundstrokes. I spent most of the time watching passing shots whiz by, scrambling to get a racket on shots to the corners or hitting feeble replies that Schnack put away at the net.
   Most of all, Schnack is an incredible volleyer with textbook form. Twice when she was at the net, I blasted forehands at her shoetops only to watch her counter with effortless, amazing drop volleys for winners.
   Given Schnack's height and athleticism, I didn't want to lob her. But sometimes I had no choice, and I paid the price.
   With nothing to lose, I did want to play aggressively. But that's not my nature, and Schnack gave me little chance. The match was over before I knew it.
   I was fortunate to win seven points. Schnack struggled on her serve, the weakest part of her game. Her first-serve percentage was low, especially in the opening set, and although she placed her second serve well to my backhand, I usually was able to return it.
   That's more than I can say about facing Schnack's other strokes, but I've never had so much fun getting my butt kicked. It was an honor to be on the court with such a skilled player.
   And I'll always have that topspin backhand passing shot.
   Coming soon -- Schnack reflects on the highs and lows of her pro career.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

New rankings, calendar

PRO RANKINGS

Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

Bob Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, 32 years old, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2012-13) -- No. 380 in singles (-1), No. 126 in doubles (+1).
   Bradley Klahn, 23 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- Career-high No. 97 in singles (no change), No. 147 in doubles (-1).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 31 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 46 in singles (no change), No. 216 in doubles (no change).
   Ryan Sweeting, 26 years old, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 664 in singles (-2), No. 1,106 in doubles (-7).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 31 years old tomorrow, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 29 in singles (no change), No. 138 in doubles (no change).

Women

Mallory Burdette, 22 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- No. 139 in singles (no change), No. 678 in doubles (-5).
Nicole Gibbs, 20 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- No. 184 in singles (no change), No. 428 in doubles (-1).

Macall Harkins, Redding resident -- No. 279 in doubles (no change), No. 676 in singles (no change).
Raquel Kops-Jones, 31 years old, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 23 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Megan Moulton-Levy, 28 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 56 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, Modesto product -- No. 175 in singles (no change), No. 144 in doubles (no change).

Taylor Townsend, 17 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 192 in doubles (+1), No. 354 in singles (+1).

TV SCHEDULE

No tournaments scheduled.

CALENDAR

Through Sunday -- Orange Bowl, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Plantation, Fla., www.orangebowltennis.org.

Dec. 17-23 -- Junior Orange Bowl, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Coral Gables, Fla., www.juniororangebowl.org.

Dec. 27-Jan. 1 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Tucson, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122724.

Dec. 27-Jan. 2 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Scottsdale, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122192

Jan. 13-26, 2014 -- AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Melbourne, www.australianopen.com. Defending champions: Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka, Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Sara Errani-Roberta Vinci, Jarmila Gajdosova-Matthew Ebden.

Jan. 14 -- College spring season begins. Pacific men at Stanford, 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 -- Davis Cup, first round, Great Britain vs. United States in San Diego, www.daviscup.com.

Feb. 8-9 -- Fed Cup, first round, defending champion Italy vs. United States in Cleveland, www.fedcupcom.

Feb. 26, 2014 -- Champions Shootout (Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, James Blake), 7 p.m., Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, Calif., www.powersharesseries.com.

March 3-16, 2014 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif., www.bnpparibasopen.com. Defending champions: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Ekaterina Makarova-Elena Vesnina.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

NorCal hopes rest in Orange Bowl doubles

CiCi Bellis, 14, of Atherton lost in the
first round of girls 18 singles in the
Orange Bowl. 2012 photo
by Paul Bauman

   All Northern California juniors have been eliminated after the first round of singles in the prestigious Orange Bowl.
   But two NorCal players remain alive in doubles in the clay-court tournament in Plantation, Fla.
   Wild card CiCi Bellis of Atherton fell to qualifier Katherine Sebov of Canada 6-3, 7-6 (3) today in the girls 18s. Both players are 14 years old.
   Bellis won the USTA National Grass Court 18s and Clay Court 16s and the Easter Bowl 16s this year.
   The other two NorCal representatives in the Orange Bowl -- Michaela Gordon, 14, of Los Altos Hills in the girls 18s and Lane Leschly, 15, of Atherton in the boys 16s -- lost on Monday.
   Atherton and Los Altos Hills are located near Stanford University in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Bellis and Gordon, meanwhile, won their first-round doubles matches today. Bellis and Katerina Stewart of Miami topped Asiya Dair of Kazakhstan and Anastasiya Rychagova of Russia 7-5, 6-2. Gordon and Anna Bondar of Hungary edged Sabrina Faybyshev of Morganville, N.J., and Julia Grabher of Austria 3-6, 6-0 [11-9].
   Bondar and Gordon will take on top-seeded Varvara Flink of Russia and Ivana Jorovic of Serbia. Bellis and Stewart will meet Gabriella Castaneda of Miramar, Fla., and Lana Rush of Great Britain. Both second-round matches are scheduled for Thursday.
    The Orange Bowl features many of the world's top juniors. The tournament was played on clay from 1947 through 1997 and hardcourt from 1998 through 2010 before returning to clay.
   Past champions include Chris Evert (1969-70), Bjorn Borg (1972), John McEnroe (1976), Gabriela Sabatini (1984), Roger Federer (1998) and Caroline Wozniacki (2005).
   The Junior Orange Bowl, for boys and girls 14s and 12s, is scheduled for Saturday through Dec. 23 in Coral Gables, Fla.

Gordon, Leschly ousted in Orange Bowl openers

   Both Northern Californians in action Monday lost to seeds in the first round of the Orange Bowl on clay in Plantation, Fla.
   Michaela Gordon, 14, of Los Altos Hills fell to sixth-seeded Ioana Ducu of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the girls 18s.
   Lane Leschly, a 15-year-old Atherton resident, dropped a 6-4, 6-1 decision to eighth-seeded Soon Woo Kwon of South Korea in the boys 16s. Leschly's grandfather, Jan Leschly, played Davis Cup for Denmark.
   Los Altos Hills and Atherton are located near Stanford University in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   The only other NorCal player in the Orange Bowl, wild card CiCi Bellis of Atherton, is scheduled to face qualifier Katherine Sebov of Canada today in the opening round of the girls 18s. Both players are 14.
   Bellis has won the USTA National Grass Court 18s and Clay Court 16s and the Easter Bowl 16s this year. She and Gordon also will play separately in the first round of doubles today. Leschly is not entered in doubles.
   The Orange Bowl features many of the world's top juniors. It was played on clay from 1947 through 1997 and hardcourt from 1998 through 2010 before returning to clay.
   Past champions include Chris Evert (1969-70), Bjorn Borg (1972), John McEnroe (1976), Gabriela Sabatini (1984), Roger Federer (1998) and Caroline Wozniacki (2005).

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Bay Area juniors to play in elite Orange Bowl

Lane Leschly of Atherton is scheduled
to play in the first round of boys 16
singles in the Orange Bowl on Monday.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Three San Francisco Bay Area juniors are scheduled to compete in the Orange Bowl, one of the top junior tournaments in the world, this coming week.
   CiCi Bellis and Michaela Gordon, both 14, are entered in girls 18 singles, and Lane Leschly, 15, will play in boys 16 singles.
   The clay-court tournament is set for Monday through next Sunday in Plantation, Fla.
   Gordon, from Los Altos Hills, and Leschly, a resident of Atherton, will challenge seeds on Monday.
   Gordon will face No. 6 Ioana Ducu of Romania. Leschly, the grandson of former Danish Davis Cup veteran Jan Leschly, will meet No. 8 Soon Woo Kwon of South Korea.
   Bellis, a wild card from Atherton, will play qualifier Katherine Sebov, also 14, of Canada on Tuesday.
   The Orange Bowl was played on clay from 1947 through 1997 and hardcourt from 1998 through 2010 before returning to clay.
   Past winners include Chris Evert (1969-70), Bjorn Borg (1972), John McEnroe (1976), Gabriela Sabatini (1984), Roger Federer (1998) and Caroline Wozniacki (2005).

San Jose's Motevassel upset in National 40s

   Top seed and two-time defending champion Oren Motevassel of San Jose lost to fourth-seeded Tony Bujan of San Clemente 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals of the USTA National 40 Hard Court Championships in La Jolla.
   Bujan will meet fifth-seeded Michael Chang -- no, not that Michael Chang -- of Anaheim today for the title. Chang beat second-seeded Julien Heine of Laguna Beach 6-3, 7-5.
   In the women's final, top-seeded Sophie Woorons-Johnston of Anderson, S.C., routed fourth-seeded Ros (Fairbank) Nideffer of San Diego 6-3, 6-1.
   Woorons-Johnston, a former Clemson All-American, became eligible to play in the tournament after turning 40 on Sept. 4.
   Nideffer, a 53-year-old former touring professional originally from South Africa, reached career highs of No. 12 in the world in doubles in 1986 and No. 15 in singles in 1990.
   She won the French Open women's doubles title in 1981 with Tanya Harford of South Africa and in 1983 with Candy Reynolds of the United States.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

New rankings, calendar

PRO RANKINGS

Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

Bob Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, 31 years old, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2012-13) -- No. 379 in singles (-3), No. 127 in doubles (no change).
   Bradley Klahn, 23 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- Career-high No. 97 in singles (no change), No. 146 in doubles (no change).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 31 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 46 in singles (no change), No. 216 in doubles (+2).
   Ryan Sweeting, 26 years old, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 662 in singles (-2), No. 1,099 in doubles (-8).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 30 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 29 in singles (no change), No. 138 in doubles (no change).

Women

Mallory Burdette, 22 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- No. 139 in singles (no change), No. 673 in doubles (-2).
Nicole Gibbs, 20 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- No. 185 in singles (no change), No. 427 in doubles (+1).

Macall Harkins, Redding resident -- No. 279 in doubles (no change), No. 676 in singles (-4).
Raquel Kops-Jones, 30 years old, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 23 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Megan Moulton-Levy, 28 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 56 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, Modesto product -- No. 175 in singles (+1), No. 144 in doubles (no change).

Taylor Townsend, 17 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 193 in doubles (-1), No. 355 in singles (no change).

TV SCHEDULE

No tournaments scheduled.

CALENDAR

Monday-Dec. 15 -- Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Plantation, Fla., www.orangebowltennis.org.

Dec. 17-23 -- Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Coral Gables, Fla., www.juniororangebowl.org.

Dec. 27-Jan. 1 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Tucson, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122724.

Dec. 27-Jan. 2 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Scottsdale, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122192

Jan. 14 -- College spring season begins. Pacific men at Stanford, 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 -- Davis Cup, first round, Great Britain vs. United States in San Diego, www.daviscup.com.

Feb. 8-9 -- Fed Cup, first round, defending champion Italy vs. United States in Cleveland, www.fedcupcom.

Feb. 26, 2014 -- Champions Shootout (Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, James Blake), 7 p.m., Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, Calif., www.powersharesseries.com.

March 3-16, 2014 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif., www.bnpparibasopen.com. Defending champions: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Ekaterina Makarova-Elena Vesnina.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Capitals' Sweeting to marry TV star on Dec. 31

Ryan Sweeting practices his serve before playing for
the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTemmis in July.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   While Kaley Cuoco's career takes off, Ryan Sweeting's is in free fall.
   The television star and professional tennis player will wed on New Year's Eve in Southern California, US Weekly reported.
   Cuoco, who turned 28 on Saturday, plays Penny on the hit comedy "The Big Bang Theory."
   Sweeting, 26, has plunged to No. 660 in the world after reaching a career-high No. 64 in 2011. Playing for the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis in July, the 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) American finished last in men's singles and next to last in men's doubles. He reportedly underwent back surgery in August.
   Sweeting and Cuoco announced their engagement in September after dating for only three months.
   "I know that it seems a little crazy on paper, but it's what works for us," Cuoco told Entertainment Tonight.
   Efforts to reach Sweeting were unsuccessful.
   The 2005 U.S. Open junior champion, Sweeting won his only ATP World Tour title in the 2011 U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston.
   Cuoco has ties to tennis, according to si.com. She was ranked in the Southern California juniors and is a friend of Bob and Mike Bryan.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Spaniard banned for two years after positive test

   Nuria Llagostera Vives has had better weeks.
   The former top-five doubles player from Spain was set to return to the WTA tour in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in July after undergoing wrist surgery in March.
   Not only did Llagostera Vives fail to get on the court, she tested positive for methamphetamine.
   The doubles specialist was notified of the positive test on Aug. 28, two days after the U.S. Open began, and the International Tennis Federation announced it last month.
   The ITF suspended Llagostera Vives, 33, for two years in a move that could end her career.
   Llagostera Vives and Francesca Schiavone defaulted their first-round match at Stanford after the Italian fell ill. Llagostera Vives instead returned the following week, reaching the second round at Carlsbad in the San Diego area with American Liezel Huber.
   Llagostera Vives played four more tournaments, all with Huber, through a third-round appearance in the U.S. Open. She was allowed to keep her prize money of more than $30,000 after Stanford.
   Only 5-foot-1 (1.56 meters) and 117 pounds (53 kilograms), Llagostera Vives has won two singles and 16 doubles titles on the WTA tour.
   Llagostera Vives reached career highs of No. 35 in singles in 2005 and No. 5 in doubles in 2009. She advanced to the fourth round of singles in the 2005 French Open and the doubles semifinals of the French Open in 2010 and 2012 and the U.S. Open last year.
   In addition, Llagostera Vives won the doubles title in the 2009 WTA Championships with countrywoman Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Coming in December

   I'm planning to write these stories, among others, in December:
   --A Spanish player is suspended for two years after a positive drug test during the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in July.
   --A member of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis is engaged to a television star.
   --I play a set or two against a recently retired touring pro.
   --The pro reflects on career highlights and lowlights.
   --The top 10 Northern California tennis stories in 2013.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Gold River places 2nd in USTA League mixed doubles

    A team from the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area finished second in the USTA League 10.0 Adult Mixed Doubles National Championships.
   Gold River fell to Hilton Head Island, S.C., 2-1 in Sunday's final in Tucson, Ariz.
   Representing Gold River were captain Isabella Kling, Jeff Shin, Laura McGaffigan, Loren Harmon, Petra Wallace and Dave Hagiwara.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Roseville junior to play in elite European tourneys

   Keenan Mayo of Roseville in the Sacramento area recently earned berths in two prestigious junior tournaments in Europe in January.
   Mayo, 13, qualified for Teen Tennis in Bolton, England, and Les Petit As (The Little Champions) in Tarbes, France, by reaching the final of a playoff tournament in Boca Raton, Fla., last week.
   Mayo lost to Andrew Fenty of College Park, Md., 6-4, 6-2. Fenty's father, Adrian, served as the mayor of Washington, D.C., from 2007 to 2011.
   Past winners of Les Petit As include Rafael Nadal, Michael Chang, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters.
   Mayo won the boys 12 singles title in the USTA National Winter Championships last December in Tucson, Ariz., and ended the year ranked No. 1 nationally in the division.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Gold River Challenger champ signs with UCLA

Mayo Hibi, 17, of Irvine is ranked No. 232 in the world.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Professional tennis can wait for Mayo Hibi.
   The 17-year-old Los Angeles-area resident, who won Challengers in the Sacramento area and Las Cruces, N.M., this year as an amateur, signed a letter of intent last week to attend UCLA.
   Ranked No. 232 in the world, Hibi is rated as the No. 1 recruit in this year's class by Tennisrecruiting.net. She won consecutive titles in the Las Cruces $25,000 Women's Challenger in June and the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in July.
   Only 5-foot-5 (1.65 meters) and 117 pounds (53 kilograms), Hibi won the U.S. Open National Playoff in August to earn a wild card into women's qualifying at the year's last Grand Slam tournament. She lost to 13th-seeded Anastasia Rodionova, a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis from Australia, in the second round but reached the junior girls semifinals in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Hibi plays for her native Japan but has lived in California since she was 2 1/2, first in the San Francisco suburb of Foster City and for the past 12 years in Irvine.
   Hibi's father, a sales manager for a branch of a Japanese music company, taught her an old-school game featuring a one-handed backhand and occasional volleys.
   "My dad liked that style more than the modern game," Hibi said in July. "Since I'm not going to be 6-foot tall like Maria Sharapova, since I'm going to be one of the shortest and smallest players on the tour, my dad knew I had to do something different from everyone else to become one of the top players like Justine Henin. She (had) an all-court game."
   UCLA is coached by Stella Sampras Webster, the older sister of Pete Sampras.
   The Bruins won their only NCAA women's tennis team title in 2008 with the help of sophomore Yasmin Schnack of Elk Grove in the Sacramento area.
   UCLA reached the semifinals of this year's NCAAs, losing a 4-3 heartbreaker to Texas A&M in Urbana, Ill. The Bruins' Chanelle Van Nguyen led Ines Deheza 4-2 in the third set of the deciding match at No. 4 singles before falling 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-4. The Aggies then lost to Stanford in the final.
   The UCLA men's team features freshman Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, a suburb of Oakland.
   Other signings -- The Cal men added William Griffith of Fresno and J.T. Nishimura of San Jose.
   Griffith is ranked third and Nishimura 44th in this year's class by Tennisrecruiting.net. They played doubles together in the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in August, reaching the semifinals.
   The Cal women signed Australian Lyann Hoang, who won a bronze medal in the 2010 World Junior Teams Competition in the Czech Republic. She has captured seven national junior doubles titles and one in singles.
   Lani-Rae Green, from Kekaha on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, became the first member of the UC Davis women's class. Green has earned eight varsity letters in four sports (tennis, cross country, swimming, and track and field).

New rankings, calendar

PRO RANKINGS

Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

Bob Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 35 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, 31 years old, Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis (2012-13) -- No. 376 in singles (-1), No. 127 in doubles (no change).
   Bradley Klahn, 23 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 98 in singles (-1), No. 146 in doubles (-2).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 31 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 46 in singles (no change), No. 218 in doubles (+2).
   Ryan Sweeting, 26 years old, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 660 in singles (-1), No. 1,091 in doubles (+5).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 30 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 29 in singles (no change), No. 138 in doubles (+1).

Women

Mallory Burdette, 22 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- No. 139 in singles (+2), No. 671 in doubles (-1).
Nicole Gibbs, 20 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- No. 185 in singles (-5), No. 428 in doubles (-12).

Macall Harkins, Redding resident -- No. 279 in doubles (-3), No. 672 in singles (-12).
Raquel Kops-Jones, 30 years old, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 23 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Megan Moulton-Levy, 28 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 56 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, Modesto product -- No. 176 in singles (-1), No. 144 in doubles (+1).

Taylor Townsend, 17 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 192 in doubles (-2), No. 355 in singles (-1).

TV SCHEDULE

No tournaments scheduled.

CALENDAR

Dec. 9-15 -- Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Plantation, Fla., www.orangebowltennis.org.

Dec. 17-23 -- Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Coral Gables, Fla., www.juniororangebowl.org.

Dec. 27-Jan. 1 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 14s and 12s, Tucson, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122724.

Dec. 27-Jan. 2 -- USTA National Winter Championships, boys and girls 18s and 16s, Scottsdale, Ariz., http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=122192

Jan. 14 -- College spring season begins. Pacific men at Stanford, 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 -- Davis Cup, first round, Great Britain vs. United States in San Diego, www.daviscup.com.

Feb. 8-9 -- Fed Cup, first round, defending champion Italy vs. United States in Cleveland, www.fedcupcom.

Feb. 26, 2014 -- Champions Shootout (Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, James Blake), 7 p.m., Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, Calif., www.powersharesseries.com.

March 3-16, 2014 -- BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Calif., www.bnpparibasopen.com. Defending champions: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Ekaterina Makarova-Elena Vesnina.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Serena -- who else? -- picked as WTA Player of Year

Serena Williams had one of the greatest years in
women's tennis history. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   There hasn't been this little suspense since the Harlem Globetrotters last played the Washington Generals.
   After one of the best seasons in women's tennis history, Serena Williams was named the WTA Player of the Year for the second straight time and fifth overall on Friday.
   Also, Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci were chosen as the WTA Doubles Team of the Year for the second consecutive time.
   Williams collected 78 match wins, the most since Kim Clijsters won 90 in 2003, against four losses. Her 11 WTA titles, including her second French Open and fifth U.S. Open, were the most since Martina Hingis won 12 in 1997. Williams' first French Open crown came in 2002.
   Williams earned $12,385,572 in prize money, shattering the previous record of $7,923,920 set by Victoria Azarenka last year, and became the oldest world No. 1 in February at age 31. The Los Angeles-area product turned 32 on Sept. 26.
   "The French Open was probably the thing that stands out most," Williams -- also the Player of the Year in 2002, 2008 and 2009 -- said on the WTA's web site. "I really wanted to win that for a number of years now, so that was definitely something exciting. Being undefeated on clay was pretty exciting, too. So my results on clay this year definitely stand out.
   "Overall, I'll remember the wins, but I also want to learn from my mistakes so I don't repeat them."
   Only two other women have been named the Player of the Year at least five times: Steffi Graf (eight) and Martina Navratilova (seven).
   Williams skipped the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford this year after winning the title in 2011 and 2012.
   The Doubles Team of the Year was less clear-cut than the singles award, as four different teams won Grand Slam titles. But Errani and Vinci, in addition to capturing the Australian Open, ended the year as the top-ranked pair.
   Neither has played in the Bank of the West Classic.
   Friday's announcements complete this year's WTA awards. Eugenie Bouchard of Canada was selected as the Newcomer of the Year on Wednesday. Alisa Kleybanova of Russia and Simona Halep of Romania were honored as the Comeback Player of the Year and Most Improved Player of the Year, respectively, on Thursday.

WTA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
(Since 1995)

1995--Steffi Graf, Germany
1996--Steffi Graf, Germany
1997--Martina Hingis, Switzerland
1998--Lindsay Davenport, United States
1999--Lindsay Davenport, United States
2000--Venus Williams, United States
2001--Jennifer Capriati, United States
2002--Serena Williams, United States
2003--Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium
2004--Maria Sharapova, Russia
2005--Kim Clijsters, Belgium
2006--Amelie Mauresmo, France
2007--Justine Henin, Belgium
2008--Serena Williams, United States
2009--Serena Williams, United States
2010--Kim Clijsters, Belgium
2011--Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
2012--Serena Williams, United States
2013--Serena Williams, United States

WTA DOUBLES TEAM OF THE YEAR

(Since 1995)

1995--Gigi Fernandez, United States, and Natasha Zvereva, Belarus
1996--Jana Novotna, Czech Republic, and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Spain
1997--Gigi Fernandez, United States, and Natasha Zvereva, Belarus
1998--Martina Hingis, Switzerland, and Jana Novotna, Czech Republic
1999--Martina Hingis, Switzerland, and Anna Kournikova, Russia
2000--Serena Williams and Venus Williams, United States
2001--Lisa Raymond, United States, and Rennae Stubbs, Australia
2002--Virginia Ruano Pascual, Spain, and Paola Suarez, Argentina
2003--Virginia Ruano Pascual, Spain, and Paola Suarez, Argentina
2004--Virginia Ruano Pascual, Spain, and Paola Suarez, Argentina
2005--Lisa Raymond, United States, and Samantha Stosur, Australia
2006--Lisa Raymond, United States, and Samantha Stosur, Australia
2007--Cara Black, Zimbabwe, and Liezel Huber, United States
2008--Cara Black, Zimbabwe, and Liezel Huber, United States
2009--Serena Williams and Venus Williams, United States
2010--Gisela Dulko, Argentina, and Flavia Pennetta, Italy
2011--Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic, and Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenia
2012--Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, Italy
2013--Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, Italy

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Cancer survivor named WTA Comeback Player of Year

Alisa Kleybanova returned to the WTA tour after
missing almost all of two years with Hodgkin's
lymphoma. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Rising to No. 185 in the world might not seem like much of a comeback.
   But only one other winner of the WTA Comeback Player of the Year award, which began in 1987, is as deserving as Alisa Kleybanova.
   The WTA announced the 2013 honor today, along with Simona Halep of Romania as the Most Improved Player.
   The organization's awards will be completed on Friday when the Player of the Year, surely Serena Williams, and Doubles Team of the Year, likely Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci or Peng Shuai and Su-Wei Hsieh, are named. The first honor, Newcomer of the Year, went to Eugenie Bouchard of Canada on Thursday.
   Five months after Kleybanova reached a career-high No. 20 in February 2011, the 5-foot-11 (1.81-meter), 159-pound (72-kilogram) Russian revealed that she was suffering from Hodgkin's lymphoma (cancer of the lymph glands).
   Kleybanova, 24, is the second player to win the comeback award after overcoming cancer. American Corina Morariu, a former Sacramento Capital in World TeamTennis who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, earned the honor the following year.
   Kleybanova sat out for almost all of two years, undergoing chemotherapy and radiation in Italy, and dropped out of the rankings. She returned in May, winning a $10,000 Futures tournament in Landisville, Pa.
   In the third tournament of her comeback, Kleybanova reached the quarterfinals of the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area in July. She lost to former top-100 player Ivana Lisjak of Croatia 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2) in 108-degree (42-degree Celsius) heat.
   Kleybanova then returned to the major leagues of women's tennis, playing in four tournaments and the Fed Cup final. She lost in the first round at Toronto, reached the second round at Cincinnati and the U.S. Open and advanced to the quarterfinals in her native Moscow.
   Kleybanova knocked off then-No. 17 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in the second round at Moscow before losing to eventual champion Halep.
   Russia, playing without its top 11 players in the Fed Cup final on Nov. 2-3, lost to full-strength Italy 4-0 on clay in Cagliari, Sardinia. Kleybanova dropped her only match, 6-1, 6-1 to the seventh-ranked Errani.

"I know things are always going to be up and down. I'm not expecting to win everything and come back to the Top 20 so quickly. But I'm ready for the journey," Kleybanova said after her Fed Cup defeat to Errani. "I'm really happy to be back. I've been through enough tough things already. I'm feeling great physically now, I know what I need to work on, and I got my ranking up pretty quickly already this year.
"I just have to stay positive about things, have a nice off-season, train hard, stay healthy, stay away from injuries, and just have a good preparation over the next weeks to get ready for the new season.
"And after that, I hope to play the 2014 season from the first month to the last month."
- See more at: http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3544165/title/comeback-player-of-the-year-alisa#sthash.O13A6rI7.dpuf

   "I know things are always going to be up and down," Kleybanova said after losing to Errani. "I'm not expecting to win everything and come back to the top 20 so quickly. But I'm ready for the journey.
   "I'm really happy to be back. I've been through enough tough things already. I'm feeling great physically now, I know what I need to work on, and I got my ranking up pretty quickly already this year.
   "I just have to stay positive about things, have a nice offseason, train hard, stay healthy and just have a good preparation over the next weeks to get ready for the new season. And after that, I hope to play the 2014 season from the first month to the last month."
   Halep, 22, earned the first six WTA singles titles of her career from June through October, jumping from No. 58 in the world to a year-end No. 11.

WTA COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
(Since 1995)

1995--Monica Seles, United States
1996--Jennifer Capriati, United States
1997--Mary Pierce, France
1998--Monica Seles, United States
1999--Sabine Appelmans, Belgium
2000--Iva Majoli, Croatia
2001--Barbara Schwartz, Austria
2002--Corina Morariu, United States
2003--Amelie Mauresmo, France
2004--Serena Williams, United States
2005--Kim Clijsters, Belgium
2006--Martina Hingis, Switzerland
2007--Lindsay Davenport, United States
2008--Zheng Jie, China
2009--Kim Clijsters, Belgium
2010--Justine Henin, Belgium
2011--Sabine Lisicki, Germany
2012--Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan
2013--Alisa Kleybanova, Russia

WTA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

(Since 1995)

1995--Chanda Rubin, United States
1996--Martina Hingis, Switzerland
1997--Amanda Coetzer, South Africa
1998--Patty Schnyder, Switzerland
1999--Serena Williams, United States
2000--Elena Dementieva, Russia
2001--Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium
2002--Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia
2003--Nadia Petrova, Russia
2004--Maria Sharapova, Russia
2005--Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
2006--Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
2007--Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
2008--Dinara Safina, Russia
2009--Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium
2010--Francesca Schiavone, Italy
2011--Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
2012--Sara Errani, Italy
2013--Simona Halep, Romania

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Canadian chosen as WTA Newcomer of the Year

Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard of the Texas Wild warms
up before a World TeamTennis match against the host
Sacramento Capitals in July. Photos by Paul Bauman

   It didn't take long for the Genie to come out of the bottle.
   Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard, 19, of Canada was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year today after soaring from No. 144 in the world at the end of 2012 to No. 32 currently.
   Bouchard, the No. 1 Canadian and teenager in the world, played in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights twice in July during the World TeamTennis season.
   Since Venus and Serena Williams in 1997 and 1998, respectively, the only American to win the Newcomer of the Year award is Melanie Oudin in 2009 (see list below).
   But the 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Oudin has struggled since then.
   The WTA will announce the Comeback Player of the Year and Most Improved Player on Thursday and the Player of the Year and Doubles Team of the Year on Friday.
   Bouchard's honor caps a tremendous year for Canada, known mostly for its bone-chilling winters and hockey success.
   Led by rising stars Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil, the world's second-largest nation in area (behind Russia) reached the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time. Raonic is ranked No. 11, one notch below his career high in August, and Pospisil has zoomed from No. 125 at the end of 2012 to a career-high No. 32 this week.
   Peter Polansky, who won the Tiburon Challenger last month, has jumped from No. 260 in July to a career-high No. 140.

Bouchard

   Meanwhile, the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) Bouchard reached the quarterfinals or better five times this year, including her first WTA final, and earned her first two top-10 wins.
   Bouchard fell to Samantha Stosur in the title match at Osaka last month after beating the 2011 U.S. Open champion to reach the Charleston quarterfinals in April as a qualifier. Stosur, ranked ninth at the time, retired from the match at 1-6, 0-2 with a leg injury.
   Bouchard also knocked off then-No. 10 Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-2 to gain the Tokyo quarters in September.
   As a qualifier at Cincinnati in August, Bouchard won the first set against top-ranked Serena Williams 6-4 but lost the last two 6-2, 6-2 in the second round.
   Bouchard, from the Montreal suburb of Westmount, last year became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam title when she took the junior girls singles crown at Wimbledon. The next day, Filip Peliwo of Vancouver, British Columbia, became the second by capturing the junior boys singles title at the All England Club.
   Bouchard also won the Wimbledon junior girls doubles title in 2011 and 2012 with Americans Grace Min and Taylor Townsend, respectively. Townsend made her WTT debut for the Sacramento Capitals this season at 17.
   Bouchard debuted in WTT at 15 for the Kansas City Explorers in 2009 and returned for her second season this year as the franchise moved to Irving, Texas, and became the Texas Wild.
   Against host Sacramento, Texas lost the season opener for both teams, 22-17 in overtime, but won 22-19 one week later as doubles stars Bob and Mike Bryan joined the team.
   Ironically, Bouchard lost all four of her sets (two in singles and two in women's doubles with Darija Jurak of Croatia) in those matches.
   Bouchard has never played in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on the WTA tour but might next July.

WTA NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

(Since 1995)

1995--Martina Hingis, Switzerland
1996--Anna Kournikova, Russia
1997--Venus Williams, United States
1998--Serena Williams, United States
1999--Kim Clijsters, Belgium
2000--Daja Bedanova, Czech Republic
2001--Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia
2002--Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
2003--Maria Sharapova, Russia
2004--Tatiana Golovin, France
2005--Sania Mirza, India
2006--Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
2007--Agnes Szavay, Hungary
2008--Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
2009--Melanie Oudin, United States
2010--Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
2011--Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania
2012--Laura Robson, Great Britain
2013--Eugenie Bouchard, Canada