Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Anderson, ranked 30th, to join Capitals

   The Sacramento Capitals added 30th-ranked Kevin Anderson for their last four matches this season, the team announced Tuesday.
   Anderson, 6-foot-8, will make his World TeamTennis debut July 24 against the Orange County Breakers at Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights.
Kevin Anderson
   The 26-year-old South African also will play July 25 at Orange County, July 27 at home against the Philadelphia Freedoms and July 28 at home against the Boston Lobsters. Playing for Orange County will be Lindsay Davenport, formerly ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles. Competing for Philadelphia will be Mark Philippoussis, an ex-Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist.
   Anderson has won two ATP World Tour singles titles (Johannesburg last year and Delray Beach, Fla., this year). He also has had extensive success in Northern California from the highest level of professional tennis to the lowest.
   In February, he reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles final (with Frank Moser of Germany) at the SAP Open in San Jose. Anderson and Moser fell to Mark Knowles, a longtime Capital, and Xavier Malisse.
   In $15,000 Futures tournaments in the Sacramento area, Anderson won doubles titles in Woodland and Rocklin in 2006 and the singles crown at the Natomas Racquet Club in 2007.          
   On the Capitals, Anderson will join marquee player Mardy Fish (July 12 and 13), Knowles, Sam Querrey (five matches), Ryan Sweeting (three matches), CoCo Vandeweghe (at least five matches), hometown favorite Yasmin Schnack and Asia Muhammed. Wayne Bryan will return for his 11th season as the Capitals' coach.
   Fish, who has not played since undergoing a procedure for an irregular heartbeat in May, was ranked in the top 10 until falling to 12th two weeks ago. Querrey, a 6-foot-6 San Francisco native, reached No. 17 in January 2011, and the 40-year-old Knowles climbed to No. 1 in doubles in 2002 and 2004.
   Sweeting, 24, and Vandeweghe, 20, won U.S. Open junior singles titles in 2005 and 2008, respectively. Schnack, a 24-year-old former UCLA All-American, has won 10 doubles crowns (five this year) in tennis' minor leagues and the 21-year-old Muhammed five. 
  “I'm really excited to be part of what sounds like a great WTT squad over the summer," Anderson, who won the 2006 NCAA doubles title with Ryan Rowe at Illinois, said in a statement. "I've always loved the team format since I played college tennis at Illinois, so when the opportunity came to play for Sacramento, I couldn't pass it up.  I've known coach Bryan for a long time, so it will be a pleasure to play for him. 
   Capitals individual match tickets and three match packages are on sale at www.saccaps.com. Prices for individual tickets start at $25, and three-match packages begin at $60. Children’s tickets are $15. Home matches begin at 7:35 p.m.
   Pro results --  Querrey quit his first-round match with a back injury while trailing 5-2 against sixth-seeded Andy Roddick at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England.
   Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia and Sacramento-area resident Dmitry Tursunov of Russia knocked off fourth-seeded Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, and Leander Paes of India 6-2, 7-5 in the opening round of the UNICEF Open in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
   Advancing to the final round of Wimbledon qualifying were Sweeting, seeded 21st; Jimmy Wang, a Sacramento-area resident from Taiwan; and Vandeweghe, seeded 14th.
CALENDAR  
   Wednesday -- Wimbledon seedings announced.
   Wednesday-Thursday -- Wimbledon qualifying continues.
   Friday -- Wimbledon draw conducted.
   MONDAY-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON, www.wimbledon.com.
   June 29 -- Speech by renowned tennis psychologist and author Allen Fox, 5:30 p.m., Gorin Tennis Academy, 8970 Carriage Drive, Granite Bay (Sacramento area), $10, (916) 797-8444.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford University, www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m., www.saccaps.com.
   July 12 -- World TeamTennis, Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., www.saccaps.com.
   July 12 -- 2012 Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame Brunch and Induction Ceremony (Nick Saviano, Andrea Norman, Steve Cornell and Martha Downing), Stanford University, Pac 12 Plaza/Cardinal Plaza, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., tickets $75 each at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=230538.

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