Sweet 16s Bellis, Vyrlan to meet in Sacramento

No. 3 seed CiCi Bellis, shown in last week's Stockton
Challenger, is scheduled to play wild card Karina Vyrlan
today in a matchup of 16-year-old Northern Californians.
Photo by Paul Bauman 

  Third-seeded CiCi Bellis is scheduled to play wild card Karina Vyrlan today in a matchup of 16-year-old Northern Californians in the first round of the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger.
   Bellis, from Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Vyrlan, playing in her hometown of Sacramento, are set to meet on the stadium court at the Gold River Racquet Club after a 10 a.m. match. Bellis is ranked No. 167 in the world, and Vyrlan is No. 1,091.
   Bellis last year became the youngest player to win the USTA Girls 18 National Hardcourt Championships since Lindsay Davenport in 1991.
   That gave Bellis a berth in the women's draw at the U.S. Open, where she stunned No. 12 seed and 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. Bellis thereby became the youngest player to win a main-draw match in Flushing Meadows since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   Bellis ended last year as the top-ranked junior in the world. Still an amateur, she has won three Challenger (minor-league) singles titles.
   Two other seeds, No. 2 Eri Hozumi of Japan and No. 8 Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, also will be in action today.
   Michaela Gordon, a resident of Saratoga in the Bay Area who will turn 16 on Sunday, will play fifth-seeded Jacqueline Cako of the United States at 10 a.m. on Court 3 in the final round of qualifying.
   Main-draw top seed An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium and No. 4 Nao Hibino of Japan are scheduled to play their opening singles matches on Wednesday. Hibino defeated Mestach 6-1, 7-6 (6) on Sunday to win the inaugural Stockton Challenger and reached the semifinals of last year's Gold River Women's Challenger.
   Mestach, a 21-year-old Fed Cup veteran, will face Melanie Oudin, 23, of Marietta, Ga., in the Atlanta area. Oudin reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 U.S. Open and won the mixed doubles title at Flushing Meadows with Jack Sock in 2011 but has battled health problems for the past two years.
   Hibino, 20, will meet Sanaz Marand, a 27-year-old American, in a rematch of Saturday's semifinal in Stockton. Hibino prevailed 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).
   Also, seventh-seeded Kimiko Date-Krumm, 44, is set to open against Jessica Pegula on Wednesday.
   Date-Krumm reached a career-high No. 4 in the world 20 years ago but retired at age 26 for 12 years. Pegula, whose billionaire father owns the NFL's Buffalo Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, returns to the Gold River Challenger for the first time since losing to Maria Sanchez in the inaugural final three years ago at age 18. 

$50,000 FSP GOLD RIVER WOMEN'S CHALLENGER

At Gold River Racquet Club in Gold River, Calif.
Second-round qualifying

   Ashley Weinhold, United States, def. Ena Shibahara, United States, 6-4, 6-4.

   Nicole Frenkel (8), United States, def. Kat Facey, Cameron Park, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.

   Michaela Gordon, Saratoga, def. Usue Maitane Arconada (3), United States, 7-5, 6-2.
   Alexandra Stevenson, United States, def. Rosie Johanson, Canada, 6-4, 6-4.

   Renata Zarazua (7), Mexico, def. Brynn Boren, United States, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
   Kelly Chen, United States, def. Tori Kinard (4), United States, 6-4, 6-2.

   Mari Osaka (6), Japan, def. Maegan Manasse (Cal), United States, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
   Jacqueline Cako (5), United States, def. Kylie McKenzie, United States, 6-2, 6-2.

Today's schedule

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

Stadium

   Ashley Weinhold, United States, vs. Renata Zarazua, Mexico (final-round qualifying).
   CiCi Bellis (3), Atherton, vs. Karina Vyrlan, Sacramento.
   Jamie Loeb and Sanaz Marand (4), United States, vs. Mayo Hibi, Japan, and Jessica Pegula, United States.
   Nao Hibino, Japan, and Rosie Johanson, Canada, vs. Catherine Bellis and Rianna Valdes, United States.    

Court 3

   Jacqueline Cako (5), United States, vs. Michaela Gordon, United States (final-round qualifying).
   Alexandra Stevenson (1), United States, vs. Mari Osaka (6), Japan (final-round qualifying).
   Eri Hozumi (2), Japan, vs. Caitlin Whoriskey, United States.
   Jacqueline Cako, United States, and Chanel Simmonds, South Africa, vs. Robin Anderson and Maegan Manasse, United States.

Court 4 

   Nicole Frenkel (8), United States, vs. Kelly Chen, United States (final-round qualifying).
   Anhelina Kalinina (8), Ukraine, vs. Samantha Crawford, United States.