Thursday, August 22, 2013

Querrey could meet Federer early in U.S. Open

Five-time champion Roger Federer is seeded seventh
in the U.S. Open. It's his lowest seeding in the tourna-
ment since 2002, when he was No. 13.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman
   Sam Querrey could face a formidable obstacle as he seeks his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
   Querrey, seeded 26th in the U.S. Open, has a potential third-round match against five-time champion Roger Federer, seeded seventh. It's Federer's lowest seeding at the U.S. Open since 2002, when he was No. 13.
   The draw for the U.S. Open, Monday through Sept. 9 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., was held today. Four men and three women with Northern California ties were placed in the singles fields.
   Two of the seven are seeded, and four received wild cards. Also, 17-year-old Taylor Townsend of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis is trying to qualify for the women's main draw.
   Querrey, a 25-year-old San Francisco native and part-time Capital for the past two seasons, is 0-2 lifetime against Federer, who turned 32 on Aug. 8. Querrey has lost all five sets they have played, never winning more than four games. The last meeting occurred five years ago, when Federer won 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the French Open.
   The way Federer has played this summer, there is no guarantee he will reach the third round. He lost to then-No. 116 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in the second round at Wimbledon, the Swiss star's earliest Grand Slam exit in 10 years.
   Federer then lost to qualifier Federico Delbonis, a 6-foot-3 (1.90-meter) left-hander from Argentina, in the semifinals at Hamburg and to 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Daniel Brands, a hard-hitting German, in the second round at Gstaad in Federer's home country. Delbonis and Brands were ranked No. 114 and No. 55, respectively.
   Federer will face 61st-ranked Grega Zemlja of Slovenia in the first round of the U.S. Open. Federer has beaten Zemlja easily in their two career meetings, including 6-3, 6-1 indoors in the first round at Rotterdam in February.
   Querrey, 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), will meet No. 94 Guido Pella, a 23-year-old left-hander from Argentina, for the first time in the opening round. Pella was seeded first in the $100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos two weeks ago, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Daniel Evans of Great Britain.
   Wild card Bradley Klahn, a former Stanford star who won the Comerica Bank Challenger, drew Kenny de Schepper, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) left-hander from France, in the first round of the U.S. Open.
   Klahn, who turned 23 on Tuesday, qualified for last year's U.S. Open and upset Austrian Jurgen Melzer in the first round before falling to 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France. Melzer was ranked No. 36 after reaching a career-high No. 8 in 2011.
   Gasquet is seeded eighth this year and could meet No. 32 Dmitry Tursunov, a Russian who trains in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay, in the third round. Tursunov, 30, is 5-2 lifetime against Gasquet, 27.
   Tursunov will open against 107th-ranked Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia. In their only meeting, Tursunov won 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying at Cincinnati this month.     
   Tursunov has not won a main-draw match in the U.S. Open in five years, losing in the first round in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and retiring from his third-round qualifying match against Brands last year with an injury. Tursunov reached the third round in 2003, 2006 and 2008 for his best results in Flushing Meadows.
   Collin Altamirano, a 17-year-old Yuba City resident who trains in Sacramento, will face 22nd-seeded Philipp Kohlschbreiber of Germany in the first round.
   Altamirano received an automatic wild card for winning the USTA National Boys 18 Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., this month. He became the first unseeded player in the tournament's 71-year history to earn the title.
   The three women with Northern California connections will have their hands full in the opening round.
   Ex-Stanford star Mallory Burdette will take on No. 27 seed and 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. Burdette turned pro last September after reaching the third round of the U.S. Open.
   Wild card Nicole Gibbs will go against 31-year-old Italian Flavia Pennetta, a three-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist. Gibbs turned pro last month out of Stanford after winning the last two NCAA singles titles.
   Wild card Maria Sanchez, a Modesto product, will play in the singles main draw of the U.S. Open for the first time against Daniela Hantuchova, 30, of Slovakia. Hantuchova has lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows for the past two years but reached the quarterfinals in 2002. She climbed to a career-high No. 5 in singles in 2003 and No. 5 in doubles in 2002.
   Here are links to the men's and women's draws:
   http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/ms/msdraw.pdf
   http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/ws/wsdraw.pdf 
   U.S. Open qualifying -- Townsend, a 17-year-old American, defeated Samantha Murray of Great Britain 6-4, 7-5 to reach the final round. Townsend will meet Chanel Simmonds of South Africa today for a berth in the main draw.
   Another 17-year-old, Mayo Hibi, lost to 13th-seeded Anastasia Rodionova, a Russian-born Australian and former Capital, 6-4, 6-2. Hibi, who plays for Japan but lives in Irvine, won the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area last month.
   American Madison Brengle, the runner-up to Hibi, defeated Erika Sema of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (1). Brengle, 23, will face 25th-seeded Ying-Ying Duan of China for a spot in the main draw.
   U.S. Open National Playoffs -- Eric Roberson of Sacramento and Yasmin Schnack of Elk Grove in the Sacramento area defeated Daniel Quiceno of Beverly, Mass., and Meghan Kelley of Falmouth, Maine, 6-3, 6-2 in the mixed doubles quarterfinals in New Haven, Conn.
   Roberson and Schnack will play either John Mee of Dallas and Karina Traxler of Rockwell, Texas, or Dante Cipulli of Murietta and Kaitlyn Christian of Orange today in the semifinals. Christian won the NCAA doubles title with USC teammate Sabrina Santamaria in May.
   The playoff champions will receive a wild card in the U.S. Open mixed doubles main draw, which begins Wednesday.

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