No lobs allowed

Doubles steals Challenger spotlight

Thursday’s quarterfinal doubles match at the AT&T Challenger of Dallas between Benedikt Dorsch and Bjorn Phau and the second-seeded team of Robert Kendrick and Amer Delic, right, had everything, including the largest crowd of the week at T Bar M Racquet Club.

Dorsch, who won the 2005 NCAA singles championship for Baylor, hit an around-the-post shot at Delic’s feet to win the second set after he and Phau saved seven match points on the way to a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 10-5 victory.

“I thought we actually deserved to win the first set,” Phau said. “I thought we were the better team. We were up a break and we were in control, but somehow we lost it. It was the other way in the second set; they were better and deserved to win it. We were better again in the super tiebreaker, and we deserved to win."

In Thursday's quarterfinal singles action, Kendrick defeated 2006 Challenger of Dallas doubles champion Rajeev Ram 6-3, 7-6 (5). He will play Stephane Bohli in Friday's first semifinal. Bohli was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over 2006 singles champion Kevin Kim. Delic defeated No. 8 seed Leonardo Mayer, Argentina, 6-4, 6-2, and fellow American Brendan Evans defeated Ryan Sweeting 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5). Delic will take on Evans in Friday's semifinals.

The tournament runs through Saturday. Check out Friday's schedule here:

Individual tickets are $28 for Friday's afternoon session and $34 for evening session; Saturday's final is $40. All matches are indoors. Call 972-385-3619 for more information.

Thursday's results

Quarterfinal singles: Brendan Evans, USA, d. Ryan Sweeting, USA 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5); Robert Kendrick, USA (1) d. Rajeev Ram, USA, 6-3, 7-6 (5); Stephane Bohli, Switzerland, d. Kevin Kim, USA, 6-1, 6-2; Amer Delic, USA (4) d. Leonardo Mayer, Argentina (8) 6-4, 6-2.

Quarterfinal doubles: Ramon Delgado, Paraguay/Bruno Soares, Brazil, d. Scoville Jenkins, USA/Scott Oudsema, USA, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8; Jean-Julien Rojer, Curacao/Marcio Torres, Brazil, d. Alex Kuznetsov, USA/Ryan Sweeting, USA (3), 3-6, 6-3, 10-5; Benedikt Dorsch, Germany/Bjorn Phau, Germany d. Amer Delic, USA/Robert Kendrick, USA (2) 5-7, 7-6 (6), 10-5; Scott Lipsey, USA/David Martin, USA (1) d. Pavel Chekhov, Russia/Vladimir Obradovic, Serbia, 6-3, 6-4.

Photo credit: Walter Michot/Miami Herald/MCT

Fed Cup kicks off Saturday

The U.S. Fed Cup team, led by Lindsay Davenport and missing Venus and Serena Williams, will play Germany at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club on Saturday and Sunday. Joining Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, are former top-ranked doubles player Lisa Raymond, and rookies Ashley Harkleroad and Laura Granville.

After falling to Russia in the semifinals last year, the Americans are trying to reach their first Fed Cup final since 2003. Davenport, who is 20-2 in Fed Cup play, 16-2 in singles, is expected to play the lead No. 1 singles role and also play doubles with Raymond. Harkleroad or Granville will take the No. 2 singles spot.

The United States last won the Fed Cup title in 2000, with Davenport, Raymond, Monica Seles, and Jennifer Capriati beating Spain in Las Vegas.

The weekend's matches will be broadcast live on the Tennis Channel starting at 2 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Replays start at 7 p.m. both nights. The Tennis Channel will also televise the matches between defending Fed Cup champion Russia and Israel starting at 3 a.m. both days.

Sampras to face Safin in exhibition

Pete Sampras will face former world No. 1 player Marat Safin in an exhibition during the SAP Open on Feb. 18. Safin was granted a wild-card entry into the tournament Thursday. He will start his week by playing the exhibition against Sampras in a rematch of the 2000 U.S. Open final won by Safin in straight sets. Safin has won four of his seven career matches against Sampras.

Sampras, who retired after winning his record 14th major singles title at the 2002 U.S. Open, spent the past two summers playing in World Team Tennis events and participated on a limited basis last season on the senior circuit formed by former rival Jim Courier.

Sampras played an exhibition match last September in Frisco against Robby Genepri and a series of exhibitions against Roger Federer in November, winning the final of the three matches. Sampras will play Federer again at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 10.

Safin will play in San Jose for the second straight year. He lost in the quarterfinals last year to Benjamin Becker of Germany.

Photo credit: AP/Steve Campbell via the Houston Chronicle

Fort Worth claims Texas team title

Team Fort Worth captured the USPTA Texas State Team League Championship in Houston last weekend. Teams were made up of players from teams that won fall leagues at the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 levels. The Fort Worth team included members of Ridglea (3.0), RTC Love-15 (3.5), UTA Hammers (4.0) and RTC (4.5). Check out complete day-by-day details of the tournament here.

The tournament featured 553 players representing 14 regions in Texas plus one team from Denver participating in the three-day event.

Team Fort Worth pictured from left to right:
Ronnie Offut (3.0), Danny Terrell (3.0), Ted Samples (3.0), Cade Tims (3.5), Jesus Aranda (3.5), Rex Benson (3.0), Alan Adamcik (3.5), Steve Bolton (3.0), Robin Phillips (4.0), Chris Pongratz (4.0), Rick Lowry (4.0), Steve Miller (4.0), John Myller (4.0), Sean Kissinger (4.5), Fernando Gonzalez (3.5) and TJ Planas (4.5). Played by not pictured: Mike McGuinn (4.0), Greg Morrill (4.0) and Kerry Koppa (4.5).

Americans roll at Dallas Challenger

Top seed Robert Kendrick, the defending Challenger singles champion from Naples, Fla., defeated German Bjorn Phau 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in the second round of the AT&T Challenger of Dallas on Wednesday at T Bar M Racquet Club.

Kendrick, above, who is ranked No. 103 in the world, will be joined in the third round by fellow American Kevin Kim, the 2006 Challenger singles champion from Newport Coast, Calif., who upset eighth-seeded Kristian Pless of Denmark 6-2, 6-4.

No. 4 seed Amer Delic of Jacksonville, Fla., held off former Baylor star Benedikt Dorsch of Germany 6-4, 6-4; and Ryan Sweeting upset second-seeded Denis Gremelmayr of Germany 6-4, 6-4. Rajeev Ram, of Carmel, Ind., who won the 2006 Challenger of Dallas doubles title, defeated fellow American Jesse Witten, of Naples, Fla., 6-4, 6-3.

It was a tougher day for No. 7 seed Sam Warburg of Sacramento, who lost to Brendan Evans of Key Biscayne, Fla., 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (4).

The tournament runs through Saturday. Check out Thursday's here:

Individual tickets are $23 for Thursday's afternoon sessions and $32 for the evening sessions; Friday's afternoon session is $28 and $34 for evening session; Saturday's final is $40. All matches are indoors. Call 972-385-3619 for more information. 

Wednesday's results
Second-round singles: Rajeev Ram, USA, d. Jesse Witten, USA, 6-4, 6-3; Leonardo Mayer, Argentina (8) d. Adrian Menendez, Spain, 6-2, 6-1; Stephane Bohli, Switzerland, d. Christophe Rochus, Belgium, 6-1, 6-3; Ryan Sweeting, USA, d. Denis Gremelmayr, Germany (2) 6-4, 6-4; Amer Delic, USA (4) d. Benedikt Dorsch, Germany, 6-4, 6-4; Kevin Kim, USA, d. Kristian Pless, Denmark (8) 6-2, 6-4; Brendan Evans, USA, d. Sam Warburg, USA (7) 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (4); Robert Kendrick, USA (1) d. Bjorn Phau, Germany, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

First-round doubles: Benedikt Dorsch, Germany/Bjorn Phau, Germany, d. Jan-Michael Gambill, USA/Jesse Witten, USA, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 12-10; Scott Lipsky, USA/David Martin, USA (1) d. Alex Bogomolov Jr., USA/Kevin Kim, USA, 7-6 (4), 6-2; Ramon Delgado, Paraguay/Bruno Soares, Brazil, d. Byron Talbot, South Africa/Ignacio Hirigoyen, Argentina, 6-2, 6-2.

Photo credit: Lucas Dawson/Getty Images

Courier has the answers

In addition to winning four Grand Slam singles titles, Jim Courier is also one of the best tennis commentators around. Alas, stateside viewers don't get to see his work during the Australian Open.

Instead, we get Bud Collins. Ugh.

Courier, seen at right interviewing Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, spends the Australian Open working for Australian TV's Channel 7, but he found time to respond to a few questions from Tennis.com readers.

Among his best responses was to the question: If Roger Federer had been playing in your day, do you think you could have beaten him?

Courier's answer: "I had to deal with Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Lendl, Edberg, Agassi, Sampras, Chang, Rafter, Ivanisevic, Muster, etc. ... I don't want to think about Roger if you don't mind -- psychologically, I'm still suffering the effects of the guys I did deal with in the 90's!"

Check out the rest of the Q&A here.

-- Rusty Hall

Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Bohli stops top-ranked junior

Stephane Bohli and Ricardas Berankis entered the AT&T Challenger of Dallas with impressive credentials. Bohli reached the finals of the Challenger of Caledonia, played in the Australian Open qualifying and advanced to the semifinals in the Hawaii Challenger last week. Berankis, the world’s top-ranked junior, trained with Roger Federer and won the Junior U.S. Open last summer.

Bohli beat Berankis 6-4, 6-4 as at T Bar M Racquet Club on Tuesday in their first-round match.

“I was a junior playing against the best in the world when I was 17, too, so I know what he’s going through,” Bohli said. “I arrived from Hawaii yesterday, so I’m still tired. But I’m playing well and have been winning a lot of matches lately so I’m really confident … but I took it very seriously. He played well, so I had to be 100 percent today.

“He has a much better forehand and he was missing a little too much with his backhand,” Bohli said. “I was surprised when I kept serving down the middle to his forehand that he didn’t move over and go for it more. I just kept serving there because he wasn’t going for it and I wanted to open up the court.”

Check out Wednesday's schedule here:

Individual tickets are $23 for Wednesday and Thursday's afternoon sessions and $32 for evening sessions; Friday's afternoon session is $28 and $34 for evening session; Saturday's final is $40. Group tickets and all session passes are also available. All matches are indoors. Call 972-385-3619 for more information. 

Tuesday's results

First-Round Singles - Jesse Witten, USA, d. Bruno Echagaray, Mexico, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5); Leonardo Mayer, Argentina (8), d. Tobias Clemens, Germany, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5; Kevin Kim, USA d. K.J. Hippensteel, USA, 6-3, 7-6 (4); Brendan Evans, USA, d. Todd Widom, USA, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5); Ryan Sweeting, USA, d. Alberto Francis, USA, 6-4, 6-3; Bjorn Phau, Germany, d. Scott Oudsema, USA, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Adrian Menendez, Spain, d. Guillermo Alcaide, Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (12); Stephane Bohli, Switzerland, d. Ricardas Bernkis, Lithuania, 6-4, 6-4; Beneditk Dorsch, Germany, d. Jan-Michael Gambill, USA, 7-5, 6-2.

First Round Doubles -- Pavel Chekhov, Russia/Vladimir Obradovic, Serbia, d. Bruno Echagaray, Mexico/Leonardo Mayer, Argentina, 7-6 (4), 6-3; Amer Delic, USA/Robert Kendrick, USA (2) d. Johan Brunstrom, Sweden/Brian Wilson, USA, 1-6, 7-5, 10-3; Scoville Jenkins, USA/Scott Oudsema, USA, d. Brendan Evans, USA/Sam Warburg, USA (4) 6-7 (6), 6-4, 10-7; Alex Kuznetsov, USA/Ryan Sweeting, USA (3) d. Andre Ghem, Brazil/Ricardo Mello, Brazil, 7-5, 7-6 (3).

TCU sophomore receives honor

TCU sophomore Nina Munch-Soegaard was named the Tennis Athlete of the Year on Sunday, as recognized by the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame. Munch-Soegaard was one of eight athletes with roots in the Panhandle area to be named a player of the year.

“I am very honored to be selected by the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame,” Munch-Soegaard said. “I grew up playing out of Amarillo and traveling a lot but the Panhandle was always the place I came home to, so it an honor to have been recognized by the Hall of Fame.”

The honorees will be recognized at the Amarillo College campus on Feb. 10. Headlining the list of Hall of Fame inductees includes two-time Super Bowl champion Kenny King, Marsha Sharp, the winningest women’s basketball coach in Texas Tech history, and Olympic gold medalist Brandon Slay.

Munch-Soegaard had a memorable freshman season at TCU last year, recording a team-leading 21-6 dual-match record to earn the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year award. Munch-Soegaard began the year playing at the No. 3 position, but ended the season playing at the No. 1 spot for the last six matches.

Munch-Soegaard also led the Frogs last fall, putting together a 10-3 mark, including five consecutive wins en route to The Racquet Club Invitational singles title. Munch-Soegaard posted a 31-9 record overall in 2007, and will enter the 2008 dual season ranked No. 66 nationally.

The TCU women open the fall season Feb. 9 against Texas at noon in Austin. The Lady Frogs will travel to Denton on Feb. 13 to play the North Texas at 3 p.m. before hosting Texas A&M on Feb. 16 at noon at TCU.

The TCU men kickoff the fall campaign Saturday in San Antonio with matches against UT-San Antonio starting at 10 a.m. and St. Edwards at 3 p.m. The Frogs begin a stretch of nine home matches on Feb. 4 when they play Idaho at 2 p.m. at TCU.

Dallas Challenger features seasoned field

This week's AT&T Challenger of Dallas is not the Australian Open, but many of the names are the same. Among the players competing Monday in Dallas was American Sam Warburg, right, whose Australian Open run was ended by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tsonga went on to become the darling of Melbourne, despite losing to Novak Djokovic in Sunday's championship match. Also returning to action after a trip to Australia are No. 2 seed Denis Gremelmayr of Germany, who lost in an epic five-set match in Melbourne to Vincent Spadea, and Americans Rajeev Ram, Amer Delic and top seed Robert Kendrick. The tournament runs through Saturday at T Bar M Racquet Club in Dallas.

Check out Tuesday's schedule here.

Individual tickets are $23 for Wednesday and Thursday's afternoon sessions and $32 for evening sessions; Friday's afternoon session is $28 and $34 for evening session; Saturday's final is $40. Group tickets and all session passes are also available. All matches are indoors. Call 972-385-3619 for more information. 

Monday's results

First-round singles

Rajeev Ram, United States, d. Alex Kuznetsov, United States, 6-4, 6-4; Sam Warburg (7), United States, d. Michael McClune, United States, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Denis Gremelmayr (2), Germany, d. Scoville Jenkins, United States, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; Kristian Pless (3), Denmark, d. Ricardo Mello, Brazil, 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-4; Christophe Rochus, Belgium, d. Zach Fleishman (5), United States, 6-3, 6-0; Robert Kendrick (1), United States, d. Ramon Delgado, Paraguay, 7-6 (3), 7-5; Amer Delic (4), United States, d. Alex Bogomolov Jr., United States, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

For the record

Andy Roddick's tournament-fastest serve of 147 mph was just one of an eclectic range of facts and figures released by Australian Open organizers, according to the Associated Press. Venus and Serena Williams recorded the women's fastest serves of 124 mph. Onsite racket stringers strung more than 3,067 rackets using more than 23 miles of string.