Women's Challenger tickets available

   Tickets are available for the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger at www.goldriverchallenger.com, organizers announced Monday.
   The inaugural tournament is scheduled for May 27-June 3 at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   General admission prices are $5 to $20 daily, $47 for an all-tournament pass or $25 for a weekend pass. Premium prices are $25 to $50 daily, $142 for an all-tournament pass or $60 for a weekend pass.
   Heading the field is Philadelphia's Julia Cohen, ranked No. 139 in the world. Also entered are Sacramento Capitals teammates CoCo Vandeweghe, Yasmin Schnack and Asia Muhammed. Schnack lives in Elk Grove, a Sacramento suburb.
   In addition, Modesto's Maria Sanchez, Schnack's doubles partner, is scheduled to play singles and doubles.
   WTA in Rome -- Eighth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a former NCAA doubles champion from Cal, and Abigail Spears of San Diego lost to Chia-Jung Chuang of Taiwan and Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Italian Open.
   USTA Nationals in La Jolla -- Third-seeded Martha Downing of Shingle Springs in the Sacramento area routed Ellen Furman of San Diego 6-1, 6-0 in the opening round of women's 60 singles at the USTA National Senior Hard Court Championships.
   Other matches involving Northern California women:
   50 singles -- Anne Lowry, Oakland, def. Sue Sprague, San Diego, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
   60 singles -- Barbara Hubbard, Lihue, Hawaii, def. Brookes Byrd, Davis, 6-1, 6-1.
   70 singles -- Nancy Garcia, Menlo Park, def. Penny Maag, Tucson, Ariz., 6-2, 6-2. Linda Friedlander, Lake Placid, N.Y., def. Hideko Azama, Santa Clara, 6-1, 6-4.

THIS WEEK'S TV SCHEDULE

(All times PDT)

   Today -- Rome (men), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 2 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (live), 1:30-11:30 p.m. (repeat).
   Wednesday -- Rome (men), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 3 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (live), 1:30-11:30 p.m. (repeat).
   Thursday -- Rome (men), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 3 a.m.-2 p.m. (live), 2 p.m.-midnight (repeat).
   Friday -- Rome (men), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 3-9 a.m. (live), 12:30-2:30 p.m. (live), 4:30-8:30 p.m. (repeat). Rome (women), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (live), 2:30-4:30 p.m. (delay), 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (repeat).
   Saturday -- Rome (women), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 3-7 a.m. (live), 7-11 p.m. (repeat). Rome (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 7-9 a.m. (live), 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (live), 2-7 p.m. (repeat). 
   Sunday -- Rome (women), final, Tennis Channel, 4:30-7 a.m. (live), 9:30-11:30 a.m. (repeat), 2-4 p.m. (repeat), 6:30-8:30 p.m. (repeat). Rome (men), final, Tennis Channel, 7-9:30 a.m. (live), 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (repeat), 4-6:30 p.m. (repeat), 8:30-11 p.m. (repeat). 

CALENDAR

   Thursday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, round of 16, Athens, Ga. Cal women (9) vs. Georgia Tech, 6 a.m. (PDT); Stanford women (4) vs. Northwestern (13), 9 a.m. 
   Friday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, round of 16, Athens, Ga. Stanford men (11) vs. Kentucky (6), 1 p.m. (PDT); Cal men (14) vs. Virginia (3), 1 p.m.
   Saturday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, women's quarterfinals, Athens, Ga.
   Sunday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, men's quarterfinals, Athens, Ga. 
   Monday -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, men's and women's semifinals, Athens, Ga.
   May 22 -- NCAA Division I Team Championships, men's and women's finals, Athens, Ga. 
   May 23-28 -- NCAA Division I Singles and Doubles Championships, men and women, Athens, Ga.
   May 27-June 3 -- $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger, Gold River Racquet Club, 2201 Gold Rush Drive, Gold River.
   MAY 27-JUNE 10 -- FRENCH OPEN.
   June 2-10 -- $15,000 Sacramento Men's Futures, Park Terrace Swim & Tennis Club, 5500 Parkfield Court, Sacramento.
   June 9-10, 16-18 -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State.
   June 9-17 -- $15,000 Chico Men's Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave.
Chico.
   JUNE 25-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m.

   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. 

PRO RANKINGS

   Following are this week's rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   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, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 11 in singles (-2), No. 456 in doubles (-357).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- Career-high No. 83 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12), three-time World TeamTennis Male MVP (2001, 2005 and 2007) -- No. 80 in doubles (-4), unranked in singles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 38 in doubles (+3), unranked in singles.
   David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 188 in doubles (-10), No. 767 in singles (+7).
   Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 343 in singles (no change), unranked in doubles.
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native -- No. 89 in singles (-13), No. 60 in doubles (-28).
   Jean-Julien Rojer, Capitals (2012) -- No. 32 in doubles (+3), unranked in singles.
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 86 in singles (+2), No. 225 in doubles (+1).
   Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 195 in singles (-3), No. 383 in doubles (+6).
   Pedro Zerbini, All-Pacific-10 Conference first team at Cal (2009-11) -- Career-high No. 683 in singles (+90), No. 1,391 in doubles (-20).

Women

   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- Career-high No. 23 in doubles (+1), No. 721 in singles (-2).
   Asia Muhammed, Capitals (2012) -- No. 206 in doubles (-22), No. 474 in singles (-58).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- Career-high No. 146 in doubles (+2), No. 278 in singles (-1).

   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Capitals (2011-12) -- Career-high No. 147 in doubles (+2), No. 394 in singles (-20).
   Romana Tedjakusuma, Tracy resident -- No. 727 in singles (-2), unranked in doubles.

   Coco Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 155 in singles (+1), No. 284 in doubles (+7).