Querrey falls to 15th seed in Australian Open

   Sam Querrey flamed out again in a Grand Slam tournament.
   After leading 5-2 in the first set, the 26-year-old San Francisco native lost to 15th-seeded Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 early today (California time) in the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
    Fognini will meet second seed and three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic for a berth in the quarterfinals.
    The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey equaled his best result in the Australian Open by reaching the third round, which he has achieved four times in eight attempts. His best result in a Grand Slam tournament is fourth-round appearances in the 2008 and 2010 U.S. Open and at Wimbledon in 2010.
   Querrey, who has played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis for the past two seasons, has dropped from a career-high No. 17 in the world in January 2011 to No. 51.
   In men's doubles, top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan successfully opened their bid for their second straight and seventh overall Australian Open title and 16th Grand Slam crown. The former Stanford stars defeated Paul Hanley of Australia and Jonathan Marray of Great Britain 6-4, 7-6 (3).  
   Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Dmitry Tursunov, a Russian based in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, defeated Andre Begemann and Martin Emmrich of Germany 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the first round.
   In women's doubles, eighth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones from Fresno and Cal and Abigail Spears of San Diego beat Garbine Muguruza and Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (4) to reach the third round.