Tennis: Hodgepodge tennis at Costa Mesa

Richard Dunn

COSTA MESA - Amid a collection of well-chiseled tennis players you

get every walk of life.

This week is qualifying for the $15,000 Costa Mesa Pro Classic at the

Costa Mesa Tennis Center, a stop on the United States Tennis Association

Futures circuit.

But, while the purse is nothing compared to a Grand Slam, there is

fire and hope in the eyes of every player trying desperately to qualify

for the event.

Beginning Friday, there were 128 players signed up to fill eight spots

by Sunday’s end in order to play in the main event, in which former

Newport Harbor High standout Geoff Abrams received a berth.

But not everyone is like Abrams, the 23-year-old 6-foot-5 Stanford

premed graduate who is ranked about 500th in the world in singles.

There are players here who are 30-something lifers, folks who work

other jobs (read: tennis lessons) and have traveled the world in search

of coveted ATP Tour computer points.

There are highly touted teenagers, like Corona del Mar’s Cameron Ball,

who are getting their pro tennis baptisms in the nomadic lifestyle and

cutthroat competition of the satellite and Futures tours -- among the

bottom feeders of men’s professional tennis.

“It’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s a good thing to participate in and it’s

high-level competition,” said Ball, who defeated Russia’s Eugene Karimov,

6-2, 5-7, 6-4, in a qualifying round Friday to advance to today’s Round

of 64.

The single-elimination event, believed to be the first of its kind in

the Newport-Mesa area, runs through Nov. 18. As a promotion, women’s

tennis star Lindsay Davenport will appear at the event Sunday.

Other players competing this weekend in Costa Mesa include Mattias

Johansson, a 32-year-old from Sweden who coaches the men’s and women’s

tennis teams at Vanguard University.

“I’m pretty old, playing against some of these guys who are 16, 18 and

20, but I want to see if I still have it,” Johansson said. “I try to be

in good shape and I really don’t want to lose to my (VU men) players.”

Johansson, ranked ninth in the USTA 25s, said he’ll continue to

challenge the satellite and Futures circuits in the fall season “as long

as I’ll be coaching.”

With most of the players in the field looking for a breakthrough in

their careers, Johansson is aiming for the USTA 35s and senior Grand Slam

events.

“The difference between the top players in the world and the players

at Vanguard is very slim,” said Johansson, the VU men’s tennis coach for

seven years and the women’s for two.

For the players here this weekend, they’re battling hard and focusing

on every point to qualify, in hopes of scrounging up enough computer

points to reach the ATP Tour.

The USTA Challenger circuit is the triple A of pro tennis and a notch

above the Futures tour, which is a notch above the satellites.

Hank Lloyd, who has revived the Costa Mesa Tennis Center since taking

over as operator of the city-owned public facility in early 1998, is the

host of Costa Mesa’s first men’s pro tennis event.

The Costa Mesa Pro Classic is the first of three USTA Futures stops in

Southern California, preceding events in Malibu and Laguna Niguel.

Today’s schedule

First series (10 a.m.)

Juan Pablo Di Cesare vs. Jeremy Mitchell; Kyle Spencer vs. Zoltan

Hites; Aaron White vs. Nicolas Brochu; Anthony Ross vs. Trent Aaron;

Lesley Joseph vs. Ryan Eveloff; Marshall Brown vs. Rylan Rizza; Jeff

Greenwald vs. Kile Sherry; Jong Min Lee vs. Andrew Scorteanu; Conor

Niland vs. Adam Loucks; Mattias Johansson vs. Go Fukugaki; Cameron Ball

vs. Daishi Murakami; Martin Suchanek vs. Robert Topalo.

Second series

Jason Cook vs. Travis Rettenmaier; James Bloore vs. Alex Krohn; Witold

Cudny vs. Dentry Mortimer; Ryan Heinberg vs. Brandon Kramer; Marcus

Fluitt vs. Lester Cook; Caesar Regaliza vs. Matt Daly; Rishan Kuruppu vs.

Alexandre Renard; Derrick Bauer vs. Ryan Moore; Jason Mallaiah vs. Amir

Marandy; Stefan Suta vs. Arnaud Agniel; Chris Sands vs. Nima Roshan;

Vicent Owens vs. Rouslan Nourmatov.

Third series (not before noon)

Ramsey Smith vs. Alexander Nikolic; Roeland Brateanu vs. Dean Graham;

Lance Johnson vs. Eric Basica; Daniel Dauber vs. Michal Ciszek; Bertrand

Contzier vs. Jamil Al-Agba; Jeffrey Lawrence vs. Brian Battistone; Tin

Dong vs. Alex Menichini; Kean Feeder vs. Robert Kowalczyk.