Sunday, August 12, 2012

Ex-USC teammates reach Aptos final

   Former USC teammates Robert Farah and Steve Johnson will meet today in the final of the $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos, Calif.
   Farah, an unseeded Colombian, outlasted Serb qualifier Ilija Bozoljac, last year's runner-up, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Saturday at the Seascape Sports Club.
   Johnson, a wild card from Orange, Calif., dispatched unseeded Jan Hernych, a 33-year-old Czech, 6-3, 6-4. Johnson has yet to lose a set in the tournament, which is celebrating its 25th year.
   Farah, 25, is 1-1 in Challenger singles finals. Johnson, 22, will play in his first. They have never met on the pro tour.
   Farah won the NCAA doubles title as a sophomore in 2008 with Kaes Van't Hof and played with Johnson on the Trojans' NCAA championship teams in 2009 and 2010. Johnson led USC to two more NCAA team titles in 2011 and 2012, also winning the singles crown each year.     
   Today's title match will follow the 1 p.m. doubles final, in which second-seeded Chris Guccione of Australia and Frank Moser of Germany will face third-seeded John Peers of Australia and Rik de Voest of South Africa.
   Guccione, a 6-foot-7 left-hander, will seek his fourth consecutive Aptos doubles crown. The other three came with ex-partner Carsten Ball, a Southern California native who plays for Australia. He did not enter the Comerica Bank Challenger this year.
TV SCHEDULE  
(All times PDT)
   Today -- Montreal (women), semifinal, ESPN2, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (live). Toronto (men), final, ESPN2, 4-6 p.m. (live).
   Monday -- Montreal (women), final, ESPN2, 7-9 p.m. (delay).
PRO RANKINGS
   Following are this week's world rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):
Men
   Kevin Anderson, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 32 in singles (+2), No. 92 in doubles (+52).
   Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 3 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 3 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, Capitals (2012) -- No. 13 in singles (+2), No. 733 in doubles (-1).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- No. 96 in doubles (-2), unranked in singles.
   Artem Ilyushin, Granite Bay resident -- No. 912 in singles (no change), No. 1,565 in doubles (-5).
   Bradley Klahn, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 555 in singles (+4), No. 1,043 in doubles (-179). 
   Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12), three-time World TeamTennis Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) -- No. 100 in doubles (-9), unranked in singles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 32 in doubles (+2), unranked in singles.
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native, Capitals (2012) -- No. 35 in singles (+3), No. 45 in doubles (+13).
   Ryan Sweeting, Capitals (2012) -- No. 130 in singles (-6), No. 852 in doubles (-2).
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 150 in singles (-9), No. 181 in doubles (+2).
   Jimmy Wang, trains part-time in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 195 in singles (+16), No. 344 in doubles (+50).
   Pedro Zerbini, All-Pacific-10 Conference first team at Cal (2009-11) -- No. 630 in singles (-2), No. 734 in doubles (-1).
Women
   Jana Juricova, NCAA singles (2011) and doubles (2009) champion from Cal -- No. 938 in singles (+2), unranked in doubles.
   Vania King, Capitals (2010-12) -- No. 5 in doubles (no change), No. 52 in singles (+3).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- Career-high No. 19 in doubles (no change), No. 705 in singles (-4).
   Asia Muhammad, Capitals (2012) -- No. 218 in doubles (-35), No. 549 in singles (-20).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- No. 154 in doubles (-11), career-high No. 217 in singles (+5).
   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Capitals (2011-12) -- No. 153 in doubles (+2), No. 455 in singles (-5).
   Romana Tedjakusuma, Tracy resident -- No. 464 in singles (-11), No. 1,131 in doubles (+16).
   CoCo Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 74 in singles (-1), No. 501 in doubles (-2).
CALENDAR
   Through today -- $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger, Seascape Sports Club, 1505 Seascape Blvd., Aptos, Calif., 95003, www.seascapesportsclub.com/challenger, (831) 688-1993. 
   Through today -- USTA National Championships, boys 18s and 16s, Kalamazoo, Mich., www.usta.com.
   Through today -- USTA National Championships, girls 18s and 16s, San Diego., www.usta.com.
   Aug. 27-Sept. 9 -- U.S. OPEN, Flushing Meadows, N.Y., www.usopen.org.
   Sept. 9-16 -- $25,000 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger, Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness, 3452 Argyle Road, Redding, Calif., 96002, www.sunoakschallenger.com, (530) 227-3498.
   Sept. 14 -- World TeamTennis, Western Conference finals, Sacramento Capitals vs. Orange County Breakers, 3:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 15 -- WTT, Eastern Conference finals, Washington Kastles vs. New York Sportimes, 3:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 16 -- WTT Finals, Western Conference champion vs. Eastern Conference champion, 12:30 p.m. PDT, Charleston, S.C.
   Sept. 29-Oct. 7 -- Natomas Men's $100,000 Challenger, Natomas Racquet Club, 2450 Natomas Park Drive, Sacramento, Calif., 95833, www.natomaschallenger.com, (916) 649-0909.
   Oct. 6-14 -- First Republic Bank Men's $100,000 Challenger, Tiburon Peninsula Club, 1600 Mar West St., Tiburon, Calif., 94920, www.tiburon challenger.com, (415) 789-7900.

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