Saturday, June 30, 2012

Querrey ousts Raonic in 'Comeback Classic'

   Officially, it was a second-round men's singles match at Wimbledon.
   Unofficially, it was the Comeback Classic.
   Unseeded Sam Querrey topped 21st-seeded Milos Raonic 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (8), 6-4 Friday in their first career meeting.
   Querrey, 24, and Raonic, 21, have several similarities.
   Querrey is 6-foot-6 and Raonic 6-foot-5.
   Both have strong ties to Northern California. Querrey, a San Francisco native, is scheduled to play five matches for the Sacramento Capitals during the World TeamTennis season next month. Raonic has won the last two SAP Open titles in San Jose.
   And both underwent surgery at about this time last year. Querrey, who's right-handed, missed Wimbledon in 2011 after a June 16 operation for bone spurs in his right elbow. Ranked a career-high No. 17 in January last year, he is No. 64 after plunging to No. 120 in October.
   Raonic played Wimbledon for the first time in 2011. He retired from his second-round match against Gilles Muller with a right hip injury and had surgery on July 5. Raonic is ranked No. 22, one notch below his career high in May.
   Querrey next will face 16th-seeded Marin Cilic, a 6-foot-6 Croat who won the Queen's Club title on grass two weeks ago.
   Querrey is 0-2 against the 23-year-old Cilic, losing two close matches on grass. Cilic prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the semifinals at the recent Queen's Club tournament, where Querrey was the defending champion, and 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4 in the second round at Wimbledon in 2009.
   Top seeds ousted in men's doubles -- Second-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan's hopes of winning their third Wimbledon men's doubles title received a big boost when top-seeded Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor lost to Daniele Bracciali and Julian Knowle 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.
   Knowle, from Austria, reached the 2003 Wimbledon final with Nenad Zimonjic.
   Mirnyi and Nestor had won 11 straight matches, beating the Bryan twins 6-4, 6-4 for the French Open crown and 6-3, 6-4 in the Queen's Club final.
   The Bryans, former NCAA doubles champions from Stanford, won Wimbledon last year and in 2006. They are tied with Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde for the Open era record of 11 Grand Slam men's doubles titles.
OTHER WIMBLEDON RESULTS
(Players with Northern California connections only)
Men's second-round doubles
   Scott Lipsky (ex-Stanford All-American), Huntington Beach, and Rajeev Ram, Carmel, Ind., def. Dustin Brown, Germany, and Oliver Marach, Austria, 7-5, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Women's second-round doubles
   Raquel Kops-Jones (ex-Cal All-American), Fresno, and Abigail Spears (10), San Diego, def. Liga Dekmeijere, Latvia, and Varvara Lepchenko, Allentown, Pa., 6-3, 7-6 (4).
First-round mixed doubles  
   Mark Knowles (Capitals), Bahamas, and Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, def. Robert Farah, Colombia, and Monica Niculescu, Romania, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
   Treat Conrad Huey, Philippines, and Raquel Kops-Jones (ex-Cal All-American), Fresno, def. Bruno Soares, Brazil, and Jarmila Gajdosova, Australia, 6-7 (13), 6-4, 6-4.
WIMBLEDON TV SCHEDULE
(All times PDT)
   Today -- Early rounds, 5 a.m.-noon, ESPN (live). Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 2-6 p.m. (premiere), 6-10 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (repeat).  
   Sunday -- No matches scheduled. Wimbledon Primetime (first-week highlights), Tennis Channel, 1 p.m. (premiere), 5-9 p.m. (repeat), 9 p.m.-1 a.m. (repeat). 
   Monday -- Fourth round, Courts 1 & 2 and outer courts, ESPN2, 4 a.m.-2 p.m. (live), Centre Court, ESPN, 5 a.m.-noon (live). Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 2-6 p.m. (premiere), 6-10 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (repeat).
   Tuesday, July 3 -- Women's quarterfinals, Courts 1 & 2, ESPN2, 4 a.m.-1 p.m. (live), Centre Court, ESPN, 5-10 a.m. (live). Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 2-6 p.m. (premiere), 6-10 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (repeat).
   Wednesday, July 4 -- Men's quarterfinals, Courts 1 & 2, ESPN2, 4 a.m.-1 p.m. (live), Center Court, ESPN, 5 a.m.-noon (live). Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 2-6 p.m. (premiere), 6-10 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-2 p.m. (repeat).
   Thursday, July 5 -- Women's semifinals, ESPN, 5-10 a.m. (live). Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 2-6 p.m. (premiere), 6-10 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (repeat).
   Friday, July 6 -- Men's semifinals, ESPN, 5-11 a.m. (live). Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 2-6 p.m. (premiere), 6-10 p.m. (repeat), 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (repeat).
   Saturday, July 7 -- Women's final, ESPN, 6-11 a.m. (live), ABC, noon-3 p.m. (repeat), Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 4-8 p.m. (premiere), 8 p.m.-midnight (repeat), midnight-4 a.m. (repeat).
   Sunday, July 8 -- Men's final, ESPN, 6 a.m.-noon (live), ABC, noon-3 p.m. (repeat). Wimbledon Primetime, Tennis Channel, 4-8 p.m. (premiere), 8 p.m.-midnight (repeat), midnight-4 a.m. (repeat).
CALENDAR  
   THROUGH-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON, www.wimbledon.com.
   Friday -- Renowned tennis psychologist and author Allen Fox speaks at 5:30 p.m. at the Gorin Tennis Academy, 8970 Carriage Drive, Granite Bay (Sacramento area), public invited ($10), (916) 797-8444.
   July 7-10 -- West Coast Junior Championships, Rio Del Oro Racquet Club, 119 Scripps Dr., Sacramento, www.norcal.usta.com.
   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.
   July 28-Aug. 5 -- OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT, Wimbledon, www.london2012.com.

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