Sanchez loses in first round of U.S. Open qualifying

Maria Sanchez, playing in last month's Stock-
ton Challenger, fell to 19-year-old Ipek Soylu
of Turkey in the first round of U.S. Open
qualifying. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Ipek Soylu, 19, of Turkey beat Modesto product Maria Sanchez 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 today in the first round of qualifying for the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Sanchez, a 25-year-old USC graduate, made her fourth appearance in the U.S. Open main draw or qualifying. She lost to Daniela Hantuchova in the opening round of the main draw in 2013 and fell in the final round of qualifying in 2012 and 2014.
   Sanchez has played in the doubles main draw at Flushing Meadows for the past three years. She reached the second round in 2012 with Irina Falconi and lost in the first round with Shelby Rogers in 2013 and ex-Stanford star Nicole Gibbs last year.
   Sanchez is ranked No. 172 in singles and No. 89 in doubles. She won the doubles title in the $100,000 Vancouver Challenger for the second straight year last week, this time with Johanna Konta of Great Britain.
   Soylu won last year's U.S. Open girls doubles title with Jil Teichmann of Switzerland.
   U.S. Open National Playoffs in New Haven, Conn. -- Sacramento-area residents Yasmin Schnack and Katsiaryna Zheltova moved into the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Americans Rima Asatrian and Katharine Fahey.
   Schnack, who has won 11 doubles titles on the ITF women's circuit, and Zheltova, a former Sacramento State All-American from Belarus, will meet Josephine Cao and Dilara Spicer. They outclassed fellow Americans Brittany Collens and Michelle Fuca 6-1, 6-3.
   Advancing to the men's semifinals were top-seeded Matt Seeberger of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Julio Peralta of Chile. They defeated Ace Matias of the United States and Denys Pume of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4.
   Seeberger, 31, was born in San Francisco and starred at UC Santa Cruz.
   The men's and women's champions will receive wild cards into the main draws of the U.S. Open.