Altamirano to face seed in Sacramento Challenger

Fifth-seeded Denis Kudla, playing in last year's Sacra-
mento Challenger, will meet 18-year-old hometown
favorite Collin Altamirano. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Fifth-seeded Denis Kudla of Boca Raton, Fla., will meet Collin Altamirano, an 18-year-old wild card playing in his hometown, on Monday in the first round of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger.
   The match is scheduled to begin not before 4:30 p.m. at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   Kudla, 22, will be playing his second match since July after being diagnosed with mononucleosis. Seeded seventh in this week's $50,000 Napa Challenger, he lost to countryman Alex Kuznetsov 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in the first round.
   Both Kudla and Kuznetsov were born in Kiev, Ukraine, and moved to the United States at a young age. Kuznetsov, however, is five years older.
   Kudla was seeded first in last year's Sacramento Challenger but lost in the first round to Daniel Cox of Great Britain 7-5, 6-0.
   Altamirano won last year's USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., and was the runner-up there this year to Noah Rubin, the reigning Wimbledon boys champion.
   Also on Monday, Ryan Harrison will face teenage sensation Stefan Kozlov in a matchup of top American hopes.
   Kozlov, a 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) right-hander who's named after International Tennis Hall of Famer Stefan Edberg, is ranked No. 762 in the world. But Jim Courier, the U.S. Davis Cup captain and a Tennis Channel commentator, asserted during the recent U.S. Open that Kozlov "will be in the top 50 by the time he's 20."
   Harrison did exactly that two years ago at 20, ascending to a career-high No. 43. However, the intense, volatile Boca Raton resident has plunged to No. 183.
   Meanwhile, 31-year-old Robby Ginepri, the only active American man to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, will play James McGee of Ireland not before 3:30 p.m. Ginepri lost to Andre Agassi in five sets in the 2005 U.S. Open semis. 
   In the second round of Sacramento qualifying on Sunday, Mitchell Frank of Annandale, Va., ousted top-seeded Matt Reid of Australia 6-2, 6-3.  Reid gained direct entry in last year's Sacramento Challenger and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Donald Young.
   The 57th-ranked Young is playing in Tokyo on the elite ATP World Tour next week.
   Frank clinched Virginia's first NCAA team title with a 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over UCLA's Adrien Puget at No. 3 singles in last year's final, saving a championship point in the process.     
   Now a senior at Virginia, Frank will meet fifth-seeded Dimitar Kutrovsky of Bulgaria today at 11 a.m. for a berth in the main draw.
   Admission to the Sacramento Challenger is $5 daily through Thursday, $10 for Friday's quarterfinals and $15 daily for Saturday's semifinals and the Oct. 5 finals.

$100,000 SACRAMENTO PRO CIRCUIT CHALLENGER

At Natomas Racquet Club

Second-round singles qualifying

   Liam Broady (3), Great Britain, def. Lovedeep Singh, Sacramento, 6-1, 6-0.
   Alexander Ritschard, Switzerland, def. Spencer Papa, United States, 6-2, 6-4.
   Thomas Fabbiano (2), Italy, def. Philip Bester, Canada, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).
   Eric Quigley, United States, def. Dennis Novikov, San Jose, 7-6 (6), 6-4.
   Nils Langer (4), Germany, def. Sekou Bangoura, United States, 7-6 (1), 6-3.
   Mitchell Frank, United States, def. Matt Reid (1), Australia, 6-2, 6-3.
   Marcos Giron (8), United States, def. Alexios Halebian, United States, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
   Dimitar Kutrovsky (5), Bulgaria, def. Lucas Gomez, Mexico, 6-1, 6-2.

First-round doubles qualifying 

   Sebastian Bader, Austria, and Erik Elliott (2), United States, def. Nils Langer, Germany, and Louk Sorensen, Ireland, walkover.

Today's schedule

Court 1

(Starting at 11 a.m.)

   Mitchell Frank, United States, vs. Dimitar Kutrovsky (5) (final-round qualifying).
   Ryan Harrison, United States, vs. Stefan Kozlov, United States (not before 1 p.m.).
   Alex Kuznetsov and Vahid Mirzadeh, United States, vs. Alexios Halebian and Dennis Novikov, United States.
   Denis Kudla (5), United States, vs. Collin Altamirano, Sacramento (not before 4:30 p.m.).

 Court 7

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Thomas Fabbiano (2), Italy, vs. Eric Quigley, United States (final-round qualifying).
   Rhyne Williams, United States, vs. Louk Sorensen, Ireland (not before 11:30 a.m.).
   Thomas Fabbiano and Luca Vanni, Italy, vs. Thiemo de Bakker and Wesley Koolhof, Netherlands.
   Robby Ginepri, United States, vs. James McGee, Ireland (not before 3:30 p.m.).

Court 6

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

   Nils Langer (4), Germany, vs. Marcos Giron (8), United States (final-round qualifying).
   Liam Broady, Great Britain, vs. Alexander Ritschard, Switzerland (final-round qualifying).
   Sekou Bangoura and Tennys Sandgren, United States, vs. Adam Hubble and John-Patrick Smith, Australia.
   Liam Broady, Great Britain, and Jordan Thompson, Australia, vs. Sebastian Bader, Austria, and Erik Elliott, United States (final-round qualifying).