Rankings mover of the week: Dmitry Tursunov

Dmitry Tursunov, middle, poses with fellow Moscow natives
Mischa Zverev, left, and Igor Andreev.
File photo by Paul Bauman

   Dmitry Tursunov improved six places to No. 26 in the world after reaching the semifinals of the Sydney International last week.
   The 31-year-old Moscow native, who trains at the Gorin Tennis Academy in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, is approaching his career high of No. 20 in 2006.
   Tursunov underwent two operations on his left ankle in 2009 and one on his left foot in early 2010 and fell as low as No. 516 in July 2010.
   Mark Knowles, formerly ranked No. 1 in doubles, played with Tursunov on the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2004. In 2006, Knowles said of Tursunov in The Sacramento Bee: "He's a top-10 player for sure, maybe top five. The first time I saw him (in 2001), I thought he was a great player. He hits the ball as clean as anyone off both sides, he has a lot of power, and he serves big. He moves well and is a great athlete.
   "The only thing that has held him back is the mental side. He needs to develop points and use his strength better. He has a tendency to overhit, which is normal for a guy with that much power. It's hard to know when to pull the trigger and when to harness your power."

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. 369 in singles (+2), 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. 93 in singles (+2), career-high No. 143 in doubles (no change).
   Scott Lipsky, 32 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 32 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 51 in singles (-5), No. 214 in doubles (+1).
   Ryan Sweeting, 26 years old, Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 667 in singles (+1), No. 1,114 in doubles (+1).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 31 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 26 in singles (+6), No. 128 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. 690 in doubles (+1).
   Nicole Gibbs, 20 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- No. 186 in singles (-1), No. 436 in doubles (+2).

   Macall Harkins, Redding resident -- No. 284 in doubles (+5), No. 691 in singles (+1).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 31 years old, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- No. 24 in doubles (no change), No. 1,084 in singles (previously unranked).

   Megan Moulton-Levy, 28 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 58 in doubles (-1), unranked in singles.

   Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, Modesto product -- Career-high No. 107 in doubles (+2), No. 177 in singles (no change).

   Taylor Townsend, 17 years old, Capitals (2013) -- No. 192 in doubles (+3), No. 357 in singles (+6).