WITTEN'S FUTURE

At the beginning of this year, Jesse Witten's world ranking in professional tennis was so low, fans needed sonar to find him.

He lost his primary sponsor. He was forced to drop from Challenger to Futures tournaments, comparable to being demoted from Triple A to Class A in baseball. He considered quitting.

Less than nine months later, the 26-year-old Naples, Fla., resident lived the dream of every struggling pro.

Witten, who's scheduled to play at 11 a.m. today in the first round of the Natomas/USTA $50,000 Men's Professional Tournament at the Natomas Racquet Club, barely got into the U.S. Open qualifying tournament, won three matches to enter the main draw and advanced to the third round.

There, he met Novak Djokovic and served for a two-sets-to-one lead against the world's fourth-ranked player.

The stands at 10,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium were packed, and millions watched the enthralling match on CBS on Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

Then reality finally set in for Witten, as he lost his serve, the set and the following one to end the match.

Still, he pocketed $48,000, more than double his 2009 earnings of $19,284 to that point, soared 89 places in the rankings to No. 187 and revived his career. Witten is now No. 174, three spots below his career high.

"I've been playing well and able to get on a roll ever since team tennis (in July)," said the former four-time singles All-American at Kentucky and the NCAA singles runner-up as a freshman in 2002. "It really helped me out, and it kept building and building."

After nagging injuries last year caused his ranking to plummet to No. 397, Witten won three Futures singles titles in the first half of 2009.

One came at Del Oro High School in Loomis in June as he saved three match points in the final against Russian Artem Sitak.

Was Witten nervous on the national stage in the U.S. Open?

"Surprisingly, I wasn't," said Witten, unusually stocky for a pro tennis player at 5-foot-10 with a devastating forehand. "I had nothing to lose, and I played like it.

SACRAMENTO BEE