Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Capitals land Fish again; Young upset in SAP Open

   Mardy Fish will try again.
   The Sacramento Capitals protected Fish, the top-ranked American at No. 8 in the world, with the seventh pick in Tuesday's World TeamTennis marquee draft.
   Fish was scheduled to play one match for the Capitals last year but withdrew with an abdominal injury. This year, the 30-year-old Los Angeles resident is set to play two matches, both at  home, for Sacramento during the July 9-29 regular season. Dates for all marquee player appearances will be announced when the league schedule is released next month.
   Visiting Capitals Stadium at Sunrise Mall will be 35-year-old retired stars Lindsay Davenport, chosen third by the Orange County Breakers, and Mark Philippoussis, picked first by the Philadelphia Freedoms. 
   Davenport, a Laguna Beach resident formerly ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles, was named WTT's 1993 Female Rookie of the Year at 17 and 1997 Female MVP as a member of the Capitals. Philippoussis, an Australian living in Las Vegas, reached the singles final at the U.S. Open in 1998 and at Wimbledon in 2003. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 8 in 1999.
   Returning marquee players are former Stanford stars John McEnroe of the New York Sportimes and Bob and Mike Bryan of the Kansas City Explorers, Serena and Venus Williams of the defending champion Washington Kastles, Martina Hingis of the Sportimes and John Isner of the Boston Lobsters. Also, James Blake will play for Philadelphia. The Springfield (Mo.) Lasers did not make a selection, and the St. Louis Aces folded after last season.
   Team lineups will be finalized in the WTT roster draft on March 13.  Marquee players typically play a limited schedule, while roster players play the full season.  Additional marquee players could be added before the start of the season. 
   Young upset in SAP Open -- Thirty-three-year-old Michael Russell, 5-foot-8, upset fellow American Donald Young, seeded seventh, 6-1, 7-6 (6) Tuesday night in the first round of the $531,000 SAP Open at HP Pavilion in San Jose.
   Young, 22, made his ATP World Tour debut seven years ago in the SAP Open as the future of U.S. men's tennis. The gifted left-hander from Atlanta has failed to achieve stardom, although he did soar from No. 127 to No. 39 in the world rankings last year.
   Russell could meet another American, Sam Querrey, in the second round. Querrey, 6-6, beat Russell 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the 2010 SAP Open.
   In a matchup of former SAP Open semifinalists, 29-year-old wild card Robby Ginepri of Kennesaw, Ga., dismissed 31-year-old Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-1, 6-2. Ginepri has fallen from No. 15 in the world in 2005, when he reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open, to No. 235. The right-hander broke his left elbow in a bicycle accident in September 2010 and missed 10 months.
   In a battle of 19-year-old American prospects, qualifier Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., outlasted wild card Jack Sock of Overland Park, Kan., 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3. Kudla, who avenged a loss to Sock in the 2010 U.S. Open junior final, is scheduled to meet second-seeded Andy Roddick, a three-time SAP Open champion, tonight at 7 in the second round.
   Ex-Cal star advances in doubles -- Raquel Kops-Jones, a former NCAA doubles champion from Cal, and fellow Californian Abigail Spears dominated Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the $2,168,400 Qatar Ladies Open in Doha.
SAP OPEN
In San Jose
First-round singles
   Dimitar Kutrovsky, Bulgaria, def. Dennis Lajola, United States, 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (3).
   Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, def. Tim Smyczek, United States, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
   Denis Kudla, United States, def. Jack Sock, United States, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
   Steve Darcis, Belgium, def. Steve Johnson, United States, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).
   Robby Ginepri, United States, def. Xavier Malisse, Belgium, 6-1, 6-2.
   Michael Russell, United States, def. Donald Young (7), United States, 6-1, 7-6 (6).
   First-round doubles
   Kevin Anderson, South Africa, and Frank Moser, Germany, def. Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, and Igor Zelenay, Slovakia, 6-2, 6-3.
   Defending champions Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram (2), United States, def. Julien Benneteau and Gael Monfils, France, 6-3, 7-6 (6).  
Today's schedule
(First-round matches unless noted)
Stadium Court
(Beginning at 9:30 a.m.)
   Matthew Ebden, Australia, vs. Dudi Sela, Israel.
   Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, vs. Sam Querrey, United States.
   Ryan Harrison (wild card), United States, vs. Olivier Rochus (8), Belgium.
   Julien Benneteau (5), France, vs. Ryan Sweeting, United States
   James Cerretani, United States, and Matthew Ebden, Australia, vs. Robby Ginepri and Travis Rettenmaier (wild cards), United States.
(Beginning at 7 p.m.)
   Denis Kudla (qualifier), United States, vs. Andy Roddick (2), United States, second round.
   Defending champion Milos Raonic (3), Canada, vs. Tobias Kamke, Germany, second round.
Courtside Club in Los Gatos
(Beginning at 1 p.m.)
   Santiago Gonzalez, Mexico and Christopher Kas (1), Germany, vs. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, and John Paul Fruttero, United States.
   Kevin Anderson, South Africa, and Frank Moser, Germany, vs. Paul Hanley, Australia, and Jamie Murray (3), Great Britain, quarterfinals.
   Mark Knowles, Bahamas, and Xavier Malisse (4), Belgium, vs. Mikhail Elgin, Russia, and Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan.
   Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, and Olivier Rochus, Belgium, vs. Carsten Ball, Australia, and Treat Conrad Huey, Philippines.
  To be arranged
  Sam Querrey and Jack Sock (wild cards), United States, vs. defending champions Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram (2), United States, quarterfinals.

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