Altamirano serves as Davis Cup practice partner

Collin Altamirano, a Sacramento-area resident, joined
the U.S. Davis Cup team this week as a practice partner.
2013 photo by Paul Bauman

   Collin Altamirano's title in the USTA Boys 18 National Championships last August continues to pay dividends.
   First, it gave the Sacramento-area resident an automatic wild card in men's singles at the U.S. Open later that month. Then he trained with Roger Federer in Dubai for the first two weeks of December. And Altamirano, 18, is serving as a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup team in San Diego this week. 
   The best-of-five-match series against Andy Murray and Great Britain begins today on clay at Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres.
   The sixth-ranked Murray will face No. 79 Donald Young, a late replacement for injured John Isner, in the first match at 11 a.m. PST. Then No. 49 Sam Querrey of the United States will meet No. 175 James Ward.
   In Saturday's doubles match, top-ranked Bob and Mike Bryan of the U.S. are scheduled to play Colin Fleming and Murray at noon.
   In Sunday's reverse singles, it will be Querrey vs. Murray at 11 a.m., followed by Young vs. Ward.
   All matches will be televised live by the Tennis Channel.
   Isner retired from his first-round match in the Australian Open two weeks ago with an ankle injury while trailing Martin Klizan of Slovakia two sets to none.
   Young, who will make his Davis Cup debut at 24, beat Murray in the second round at Indian Wells in 2011 for the best win of his career. They have met twice since then, both times in 2011, with Murray easily winning all five sets.
   The entire U.S. Davis Cup team, including captain Jim Courier, has Northern California ties. Querrey, 26, was born in San Francisco and has played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis for the past two seasons.
   Young made his ATP World Tour debut at 15 in the 2005 SAP Open in San Jose and has won four Challenger singles titles in NorCal.
   The Bryans helped Stanford win NCAA titles in both of their years on the Farm, 1997 and 1998.
   Courier, a 43-year-old International Tennis Hall of Famer, is scheduled to play in Sacramento for the first time in the Champions Shootout on Feb. 26 at Sleep Train Arena.
   Murray also is well-known to longtime fans in NorCal. He won the SAP Open at 18 in 2006 and repeated the following year. Murray never returned, and the tournament will be replaced on the calendar by Rio de Janeiro beginning next month after 125 years in NorCal.

COLLEGE RESULT
Men

   No. 12 Cal def. Hawaii 4-0 in Berkeley. No. 1 singles: Ben McLachlan vs. Jonathan Brooklyn, abandoned. Clinching match: At No. 2, Filip Bergevi def. Danilo Casanova 6-3, 6-5 (4). Team records: Cal 4-0, Hawaii 1-2.