iTennis/Andulka Park Adult Open Championships

SOME STRUGGLE, SOME DON’T
By Marcus Tennis

RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov. 3, 2019) – Late morning brought the first round of semifinals on the last day of the 9th annual iTennis Andulka Park Open Championships. Mild autumn weather, for the Inland Empire, would find temperatures reaching into the mid 80s, making a perfect day to wrap up this fan-favorite event.��

Mariano Argote, the number one seed from Tijuana, Mexico, came out strong against the number twelve seed, Zachary Leslie, from San Diego. Despite Leslie’s vocal grunting style of play, and his repeated verbal admiration for his opponent (which made for an entertaining running commentary), Argote was able to hold off the improved Leslie game in the second set, winning the match: 6-2, 6-4.��

In the other men’s single semifinal, Alex Kuperstein’s overnight rest found him fully recovered from cramping that had plagued him in his quarterfinal the day before. His opponent, Raymundo Chavez Baez, of Ensenada, Baja California, didn’t have many answers to Kuperstein’s aggressive style, only winning one game the entire match. San Diego’s Kuperstein moved into the final: 6-0, 6-1.��

Kuperstein, Argote, and Chavez Baez, got limited rest after their matches, as they also had to play a semifinal doubles match against each other. In that early afternoon match, Argote and Chavez Baez bested Kuperstein and Carter Quigly: 6-1, 6-3.�

Ginger Foster, from Los Angeles, who took out the number two seed the day before, struggled in a semifinal match against San Diego’s Midori Castillo. After winning the first set 6-1, Castillo appeared to be up in the second set, but stopped the match in order to request an umpire. “I wasn’t sure if I was getting good line calls,” said the fifteen year old Castillo, “I just wanted to play a fair match and I felt like I should go get the umpire, so that we could both play freely.” Ironically, once the umpire was on the court, when Castillo questioned a couple of Foster’s calls, the umpire confirmed that Foster was correct. Castillo moved into the final: 6-1, 6-4.

In the other women’s singles semifinal, number one seeded Skyler Grishuk was rolling through her round when, in the second set, her opponent, fourth seeded Camille Kiss from Redlands, stopped play and retired. Despite showing promise by improving her score, and breaking Grishuk early in the second set, Kiss had a shoulder injury that became too much of a hindrance. Laguna Niguel’s Grishuk moved into the final: 6-1, 1-2 (Retirement).

The afternoon mixed doubles championship round was won by Shekina Daffon and Lucas Hammond, over Julianna Gates and Alan Chang: 6-1, 6-3. There was no women’s doubles final, as one of the teams had withdrawn before the final round, leaving the championship to Tomi Main and Vivian Ovrootsky.��

The men’s doubles championship was put on hold, as Mariano Agote had to play in the singles championship round first, then decide if he needed rest, or not, to participate in the doubles final.��

The women’s singles championship round was a blowout in the first set. Skyler Grishuk came out firing over Castillo, taking the the set: 6-0. “She’s a very tough player,” said Castillo, “She’s a lefty, her ball has a lot of topspin, and I just needed to improve some things.”��

In the second set, Castillo gained some ground, “I just wanted to make the volleys, ‘cause I was making a lot of unforced errors in the first set. I just tried to put the ball in place, and make her make the mistakes.”

Castillo improved, but could not overcome the seventeen year old Grishuk, as last years’ finalist became this year’s champion: 6-0, 6-3.

“She played really well,” said Grishuk of Castillo, “I just felt confident in my game. I’m very happy and proud of myself.”��

When asked about the state of her game, and what she may have learned from this match, Grishuk said, “There’s always something that you can improve, and now I know what I need to work on, but, . . . it’s a secret.”

The men’s singles championship round didn’t start well for Kuperstein, “I was down 4-1 in the first set. I was playing okay, I got off to a good start, but was a little bit shaky. I didn’t feel like I was nervous, or tight, I just kept sticking to my game plan, and eventually, I started getting into a rhythm. Once I got my rhythm, it was game-on, from there.”

Kuperstein was able to win the next five games, and the first set.��“In the middle of the second set I was feeling a little cramp,” said Agote, “Not too bad, as I was still able to move.” Kuperstein had issues a bit later, “It was during an important part of the second set, I think I was serving 5-6 and my left leg started giving out, just like yesterday. I was actually making my serve but, it’s tough to stay in there when your leg’s cramping.”��

Agote won the second set, as both players had a “medical timeout” following the split. Each player had members of their supporting groups come on court, to either administer massages, or provide extra sports drinks during the break.

The championship would be decided by a 10-point tiebreak. ��Agote got an early mini-break, but both players showed incredible fortitude, despite the physical extremes they were putting each other through. “That was bizarre,” said Kuperstein, “I thought I had at least five points on him, and he showed some really good speed. He doesn’t look like the fastest guy out there, but he will track it down. You have to be ready no matter what.”��

“Alex is tough,” countered Agote, “He makes a lot of balls into long points. I usually attack the backhand, but he has a better backhand, so that’s tough for me, tough for my game. I think we both get the best out of each other. It’s a good rivalry.”

Kuperstein was able to recover, and became the 2019 men’s singles champion: 6-4, 5-7, 10-7.��

“I’m playing a tournament in Mexicali, starting Thursday, so right back to it,” said Kuperstein, of his newfound goal of playing tournaments, “This is a good start, to see what I can do. Now I’m ready to see how far I can go. Now that I know I can play, I gotta start training.”

“That match was the last of my energy,” said Agote, “I don’t have anything else.”��

Ultimately, the combination of over exertion, and a 7:00am class at College of the Desert, factored into Agote’s decision to withdraw from the late afternoon, postponed, doubles championship round. He informed his partner, Raymundo Chavez Baez, and the title went to the team of Jordan Angus of San Jose, and Raunak Sood of Los Altos.

This event was made possible through our wonderful sponsors,�Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate and Bud’s Tire Pros.��

Updated information can be found at tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments, ID #: 650021619, and follow this official page.

WHEN YOU’RE NUMBER TWO, YOU FALL HARDER
By Marcus Tennis

RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov. 2, 2019) – It was “Men First” on the second day of the 9th annual iTennis Andulka Park Open Championships. The occasional odd sprinkle from the sky, through the billowy clouds, yielded to a day full of sunshine and temps in the low 90’s.

The day began with the Round of 16 of the men’s draw.��All of the seeds had made it to the Round of 16, so it was inevitable that half of them would not make it into the afternoon. The higher seeded players prevailed in five of the eight matches. The exceptions being San Diego’s Zachary Leslie (12) besting Atherton’s Casey Morris (7), Palm Desert’s Alex Kuperstein (16) dispatching Tecate’s Eugenio Gonzalez (8), and Murietta’s Joseph Corse (9) taking out Cardiff’s Shervin Dehmoubed (5) in the tightest match of the tournament, so far, 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-3, with a third set 10-point tiebreak played, in lieu of a full third set.

On the women’s side of the draw, which began late morning, the top four seeds each made it through, into the quarterfinals, without dropping a set.

The men’s quarterfinals were marked by competitive matches on the drawsheet. Each one of the quarterfinal matches went to the deciding third set 10-point tiebreaker. The number one seed, Mariano Agote, from Tijuana, Mexico, was the only player who beat his higher seeded opponent, Joseph Corse (9). Gilbert Chung (3) fell to Raymundo Chavez Baez (6), Yangeng Jiang (4) fell to Zachary Leslie (12), and in the biggest upset of the tournament, sixteen seeded Alex Kuperstein barely took out the number two seed, Nikolai Parodi, from Tacoma Park, Maryland.��

“I was ready to retire in the first set,” said Kuperstein, who had been cramping up, after playing earlier singles and doubles matches, “If he’d have just made a couple more balls, and moved me around, I was looking to be defeated that match, for sure. I somehow won a couple of games, and pulled it out in the first.”��

The Palm Desert native struggled through the next set, as well, “I got extremely, extremely tired in the second, so I kind of just of let him have it. I was hoping that I could pull it out in the third, maybe by saving some energy.”

At one point, late in the second, Kuperstein took a slightly extended changeover, hardly moving from his side of the court, as he gripped and massaged his right forearm, wincing at the pain from his primary weapon.��

Surprisingly, Parodi didn’t use this to his advantage, as he placed most of the shots toward the two-handed backhand of Kuperstein. “It's tough playing someone across the net, that’s cramping, because you start thinking . . . ,” said Kuperstein, “I couldn’t move much. When you can’t move, all you can do is fight, and that’s what I did. I couldn’t even serve, but at eight all, I somehow pulled out a slider serve, and that was insane, I don’t know how I had the energy to do it, mostly adrenaline.”��

Kuperstein won the next two points on Parodi’s errors, narrowly scraping by the number two seed 6-2, 1-6, 10-8. Following the last point, he collapsed on the court, writhing in pain from cramps in multiple areas all over his body.��

The former College of the Desert player has decided to switch to playing tournaments full time, “This is my first USTA tournament in three years, so it’s a good comeback for me to start.”

There was an upset on the women’s side of the draw when unseeded Ginger Foster, of Los Angeles, was able to tough it out against the number two seed, Vivian Ovrootsky, of San Jose, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8. Also into the quarterfinals is the number three seeded Midori Castillo of Bonita, and the number four seed, Camille Kiss of Redlands.��

The number one seed, and last year’s finalist, Skyler Grishuk, had a solid showing in the quarterfinal against Jessica Warren, from Culver City, winning 6-1, 6-2. “She played really well,” said the homeschooled seventeen year old from Laguna Nigel, “I just played my best, trying to play my game.”��

Currently ranked #65 in the ITF (International Tennis Federation) World Tennis Tour Juniors, Grishuk is unsure about her future, “I’m still deciding whether or not to go to college, or straight into the pros. I want to play pro, my goal is to win a Grand Slam, but education is very important to me.”��

Her biggest accomplishment this year was playing her first pro tournament, nearly making it to the main draw, through three rounds of qualifying in the 25K Claremont ITF event, “I played qualifying and I lost in the last round, by two points in the third set tiebreaker.”��

Grishuk moves on into the semifinals with a lot of confidence.

The late afternoon doubles action was highlighted by star power, once again, as the number one seeds, Tournament Director Andy Chang and DJ Redfoo (Stefan Gordy) put on a valiant effort, but were ultimately beaten by Las Vegas’ Lucas Hammond and New York’s Ameer Hosain, 6-3, 6-3.��

Matches resume Sunday morning at 10:00am, with more men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles added to the action. Play continues throughout the morning and afternoon, at Andulka Park Tennis Center. Finals begin at 1:00pm. Free entry to all events for spectators.��

This event is made possible through our wonderful sponsors,�Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate and Bud’s Tire Pros.��Updated information can be found at tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments, ID #: 650021619, and this official page.

STAR POWER, I’M NOT FOO-LIN’!
By Marcus Tennis

RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov. 1, 2019) – Tennis players from eight of these United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, are competing this weekend at the 9th annual iTennis Andulka Park Open Championships. With temperatures peaking in the 80s, and cool evenings, it is a very comfortable setting for watching a lot of quality action on the hardcourts.

With a total purse of $2,350, the early afternoon matches yielded expected results from the seeded players who did not get a bye in the first round.��

The second round got a little tougher, as the top seed on the men’s singles side, Mariano Agote, from Tijuana, Mexico, was taken to a tiebreak in the first set, by unseeded Arten Iermolov, from Las Vegas. “He played pretty well, better than I expected. The first set was tough”, said Agote. “After I won the first set in the tiebreaker, I did better on the second set.”��

Agote, now living in Palm Desert, had a bye in the first round, but that is not necessarily an advantage, “Sometimes if you get that rest, it’s worse, because the other guy has some rhythm, played on these courts before, is used to the weather, and all that. Always the first round is the toughest.”��

Moving into the next round, the current sophomore at College of the Desert isn’t concerned about the pressure of being the top seed, “I just started a little rusty, and maybe made a few more mistakes than I should have. I’m feeling confident, I have to play good, and try to earn that (top) spot, but, I ‘m playing pretty well.”�

The featured match on center court for the early evening session drew a crowd, not necessarily for the expectation of the tennis prowess, but the star power. Stefan Gordy, better know by his stage name “Redfoo”, had made it into the second round because of an injury walkover in the first. Redfoo, the youngest son of legendary Motown founder Barry Gordy, is a former top junior tennis player. As an adult, he has many titles in the music and entertainment industry, but is best know as one half of the electro-pop duo “LMFAO”, whose number one singles are the oft celebrated “Party Rock Anthem” and “I’m Sexy and I Know It”.

His opponent, San Diego’s Jared Thompkins, had his work cut out for him, after dispatching Riverside’s Antione Voisin in the first round. “It took all of me to keep his songs out of my head when standing across the net from (Redfoo),” said Thompkins, “That’s his advantage, when you play him, it takes all of you to stay focused, and not think about anything off court. Once I got that dialed in, I was able to just play tennis, and that helped.”

�Earlier in the day, watching his first round match, Redfoo was not unfamiliar with Thompkins, “He’s great!,” said Redfoo, “I’ve seen him play. We’ve seen each other at tournaments three or four times.”��

"I had a sloppy first set in the first round,” said Thompkins, “and then pulled it together. I got that win, then tonight, it was just a little more working on my headspace, the mental focus.”��

Thompkins stayed focused in his second round match against Redfoo, and won an exciting, but comfortable: 6-2, 6-1. “At least it got some people watching,” added Thompkins, “I like playing in front of a crowd. He was cool. It was a straight-up match, no bullcrap, or nothing.”

��“I felt like I was moving pretty good today,” said Redfoo, despite the loss, “My energy was the best it’s ever been, because it’s cool, and I got my plant-based diet. I’ve been eating fruits, and I feel like I had a lot of energy, I just gotta make some more returns and play more.”

Redfoo’s trademark wild hairdo was tied back, and somewhat in control for the showdown. Thompkins has been working on what he considers HIS trademark hair, as well. “He’s got me beat,” said Thompkins, “It was the battle of the ‘doos out there, which was fun. It was great.”��

Thompkins moves on to the Round of 16, and Redfoo will stick around as one half of the top seeded men’s doubles team, with Tournament Director Andy Chang as his partner.��

All of the seeded players on both the men’s and women’s side of the draw made it through the first day of competition.��

Matches resume Saturday morning at 10:00am, with more men’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s singles action. The Round of 16 women’s draw features the return of last year’s women’s finalist, and repeating number one seed, Skyler Grishuk. Play continues throughout the day, evening and the weekend, at Andulka Park Tennis Center. Finals begin at 1:00pm on Sunday. Free entry to all events for spectators.��

This event is made possible through our wonderful sponsors,�Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate and Bud’s Tire Pros.��

Updated information can be found at tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments, ID #: 650021619, and follow this official page.

SQUEEZING IT ALL INTO SUNDAY!

RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov. 4, 2018) – In what may or may not have been the final day of the 8th annual iTennis Andulka Park Open Championships tennis tournament, matches began briskly in late morning. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, the players gained a much needed extra hour of sleep, after two days full of frenetic competition.

Men’s quarterfinal action began with only three matches, as the number seven seeded Julio Pulido-Sanchez Mora withdrew for personal reasons, giving number one seeded Deiton Baughman a walkover. All of the remaining quarterfinalists were seeded players, but the top seeds prevailed, bringing all four top seeds into the semifinal round.

Another player, the second seeded Govind Nanda, withdrew for personal reasons, giving a semifinal walkover to the number three seeded Alessandro Ventre. In the only men’s semifinal played, the number four seeded Phillip Bester, from Canada, made quick work of the frustrated Deiton Baughman in the first set, 6-0. Baughman recouped his mojo enough to put up a fight in the second set, but Bester stayed consistent enough to take the second set 7-6(4), setting up a final with Ventre.

All four of the women’s top seeds started out the day with their semifinal matches. Number two seeded Jwany Sherif was up against number four seeded Alexis Valenzuela, and number one seeded Skyler Grishuk took on number three seeded Midori Castillo.

After a slow start, Sherif was able to dispatch Valenzuela in under 90 minutes, 3-6, 6-3, 10-7. Grishuk versus Castillo, however, was an all-out marathon. The match was over in two sets, but it took the skilled players over three hours to complete, with Grishuk the victor, 7-5, 7-6(3).

After adequate rest, the final round of women’s singles was played under the lights. Sherif had a bit of confidence going her way, “She had a really tough match beforehand,” said the 22 year old from Huntington Beach, about her opponent, “I was kind of hoping that she’d be a little exhausted. I went three sets in my semis, but, it sure wasn’t as long as theirs, ours was pretty quick.”

Grishuk, the 16 year old from Aliso Viejo, may have been exhausted, as she dropped the first four games of the championship round, yet Sherif couldn’t close out the first set until the score reached 6-4. The second set began with a similar slump from Grishuk, “I was up 3-0, and had so many game points, literally every game was duece,” said Sherif, “Some were in her favor, some in mine. At the end she was able to win it 6-4.”

With split sets, a 10-point match tiebreak, in lieu of a third set would decide the winner. “At that point,” said Sherif, “I think that we were both getting tired, but she had the momentum, so she was fired up. I was down 4-1 and I told myself I’ve got to keep pushing, ‘cause it’s all going to be over in 10 minutes, and I just didn’t want to regret not going for my shots.” Sherif came back to win the tiebreak, and the championship, 10-6 in the third set. “I was just lucky to close it out,” said Sherif, “She’s a really tough player.”

Also played in the newly darkened late afternoon, early evening, were the doubles finals on both sides of the draw. Crowd favorite Brian Battistone, and his student-partner Jack Vance, were unseeded at this event, yet were able to take out the number two seeded team, Brazilians Alessandro Ventre and Victor Castro, 6-3, 6-4, for the championship.

The women’s doubles featured the top two seeded teams, and was an all-California affair. The number one seeded team of Julianna Gates, of San Diego, and Mackenzie White, or Coronado, was nearly blanked in the first set, 6-1, by the number two seeds of Yuu Ishikawa, of Mountain View, and singles semifinalist Midori Castillo, of Bonita. Gates/White made a comeback in the second set, taking it in a tiebreak, 7-6(5).

The third set match tiebreak, and championship, was won by Castillo/Ishikawa 10-6.

Because of the size of the draw, there was speculation that there wouldn’t be enough time for adequate rest for the players, to field the men’s final, and it may have to be pushed to Monday. Both of the players, and Tournament Director Andy Chang, came to the agreement to continue with play and finish it on this day.

In a very tough, but exciting, men’s singles final, two former ATP World Tour players entertained the crowd. Canadian Philip Bester, . . . um, . . . bested . . . three-time champ Alessandro Ventre, 7-6(4), 6-4, to take this year’s title.

“I thought he played really well,” said Bester, “The conditions were tough, a couple of points here and there decided it. I was happy that the tournament was flexible enough to get it done this weekend so we can all go on with our weeks tomorrow.”

Currently residing in Malibu, California, and competing in money tournaments, Bester really likes these local events, “I thought it was great. I just retired from the ATP tour in August of last year. When you get tennis like this, in places like this, it’s good for people and kids to watch.”

Now 30 years old, Bester has a pretty good outlook on his near future, “I still compete in these tournaments because I can play at the young age that I am, so I’m trying to soak it all in, because I know that one day, I won’t be able to.”

Congratulations to all of the players and champions!

See you next year!

This event is made possible through our wonderful sponsors:
Vinod Desar, Tarbell Realtors Postal Annex+, Victoria Village Dentistry, Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Bud’s Tire Pros, and Caring Companions.

Updated information can be found at tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments, ID #: 650021618, and follow the official page: facebook.com/AndulkaParkAdultOpen

NEAR PERFECTION FOR TOP SEEDS!

RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov. 3, 2018) – On a very busy Saturday, with large draws all around, the 8th annual iTennis Andulka Park Open Championships tennis tournament had another day overflowing with matches. Some players, who are in both the singles and doubles draws, had to play two rounds each, in each draw. That’s four matches (two singles, two doubles) in one day!

On the men’s side of the singles draw, number one seeded Deiton Baughman made it through his two rounds without dropping a set, and only lost a combined five games.

The number two seed, Govind Nanda, a seventeen year old Redlands native, played unseeded Turkish seventeen year old, Alper Kulturel, who now resides in Irvine, in the Round of 32. “Every match is tough, especially the men’s Opens,” said Nanda, speaking about his match, “He had a pretty big serve, I thought I handled it pretty well.”

Late in the match, Kulturel barked out some frustration in his game, “It kind of made me seem like I got him a little bit, got him where I want him,” said Nanda, “It gave me a little bit of positive energy.” Nanda won the match, 6-1, 6-2.

Less than a month ago, Nanda took home the championship trophy at the ITF Pan American international junior event in Charlottesville, North Carolina. “That was the biggest tournament I’ve won, so far, in my career.”

Now living in Cerritos, where he is closer to the USTA Training Center West in Carson, the high school senior will be graduating early, and joining the UCLA tennis team in January. After training at Carson for seven years, “I guess the college grind is the next step in the process of becoming a pro.”

In the Round of 16, Nanda took on the number sixteen seed and former two time champion, Brian Battistone. Both players had played one singles and one doubles match earlier in the day, although Nanda’s matches were nearly continuous, as he chose not to take the optional breaks between his matches, which were back to back, to back.

The 39 year old Battistone, who is over twice the age of his opponent, came out firing with his volleyball serve, that really threw Nanda into frustration. Battistone’s high bouncing serve, and subsequent rushing volley, made short work of a lot of points, winning the first set, 6-3.

The second set evened out, so much so that although Nanda seemed to get a handle on Battistone’s serve, he couldn’t break him to win the set, and a set-tiebreak ended up leveling the match, as Nanda won, 7-6(3).

Despite Battistone’s seemingly youthful surge, Nanda held it together in the third set, winning the match-tiebreak (in lieu of a third set), 10-3, and moving into the quarterfinals.

Still in the doubles draw, Nanda and his partner Rian Ta, from Fremont, California, have moved into the doubles semifinals, as has Battistone and his partner Jack Vance, of Henderson, Nevada.

Seven of the top eight seeds have made it to the men’s singles quarterfinal round, with the number 15 seed, Nicholas Reyes of West Hollywood, taking the slot for the number five seed, who was eliminated in earlier rounds .

On the women’s side of the singles draw, the number two seed, Jwany Sherif, of Huntington Beach, blanked Russian Alena Sergeychik, 6-0, 6-0, in the Round of 16, and took on Laguna Beach’s Kelly Keller in the quarterfinals.

“We had some pretty good points, lots of deuce games,” said Sherif about Keller, “She was also really tough, she was just getting a lot of balls back, so, I had to play really good points to close it out.” Sherif, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals last year, was able tome the semifinals by winning the match, 6-2, 6-2. “It was tough for me to close some parts of the set, so the score didn’t reflect what happened, but she was a good player.”

Assessing the draw, before she knew her next opponent, Sherif said, “I think that everyone’s pretty good in this draw. You could play an unseeded player, or a high seed, everyone’s pretty good, so it’s good to only focus on it one match at a time, . . . that’s what I try to do, at least.”

Occasionally coaching part time, she has chosen to focus everything on tennis, “That’s pretty much all I do right now. If I’m not playing in a tournament, then I’m training for one, doing it full time.”

All four of the top seeds on the women’s side, including Sherif, have made it into the semifinals.

Matches resume Sunday morning at 11:00am, continuing throughout the day, culminating in the afternoon finals, at Andulka Park Tennis Center. Free entry to all events for spectators.

This event is made possible through our wonderful sponsors:
Vinod Desar, Tarbell Realtors Postal Annex+, Victoria Village Dentistry, Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Bud’s Tire Pros, and Caring Companions.

Updated information can be found at tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments, ID #: 650021618, and follow the official page: facebook.com/AndulkaParkAdultOpen

Photo credit: Marcus Tennis

MOST SEEDS HOLD, THROUGH TWO ROUNDS!

RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov. 2, 2018) – With the largest total draw ever, the 8th annual iTennis Andulka Park Open Championships tennis tournament had an extended day of play on its first day. With matches starting at 9:30am and finally ending at 10:00pm, there was non-stop action from morning, through the night, on the hardcourts.

In an early afternoon second round match, inaugural and two-time champion (2011, 2012), Brian Battistone, took on Japanese junior Shin Inoue. Battistone, a full time tennis coach in Las Vegas, struggled throughout the first set. “I got off to a really slow start,” said Battistone, “I didn’t have the right racket with me, so I was playing with a single-handled racket, and couldn't make a ball go into the court. I was serving okay, but he returned really well, and from the back court, I couldn’t keep anything in. The conditions were pretty lively.”

Known for his unconventional ‘volleyball serve’, as well as his Natural Tennis two-handled rackets, Battistone sometimes competes with a single-handled racket, but doesn’t do as well. This was illustrated by getting beat in the first set 6-1, by the seventeen year old Inoue.

Midway during the second set, one of Battistone’s students (two are entered in this event) brought his ‘regular’ rackets to him, “I got my two-handled rackets back and was able to find some consistency from the back court, and just kind of work myself back into the match.”

Battistone took the second set, 6-3, but his battle wasn’t over, as Inoue wasn’t ready to concede. “He played really well when I came to the net, he passed well, he would dip it at my feet,” said Battistone of Inoue, “once I got my two-handled racket back, I kind of used the angles to open up the court, then work my way forward.”

As per Tournament Director Andy Chang, this event has employed a 10 point tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. “I was up 9-3 and then, he won a few points,” said Battistone, the number 16 seed, “I finished it off at 10-7, for the final score.”

Asked if he felt pressure coming back to this event, and having expectations from fans of winning the title again, the thirty-nine year old responded, “Not as much anymore, I’m not quite in the same shape as I was back then, but I still go into every tournament trying to win every match.”

After a bye in the first round of the women’s singles draw, the number one seeded player, Skyler Grishuk, played a mid-afternoon match against Ayline Samardzic, a fellow teen, living in Southern California, who plays for Croatia.

Grishuk, a sixteen year old from Aliso Viejo took out the fifteen year old Newport Beach resident, 6-2, 6-3. "She’s a good player,” said Grishuk of Samardzic, “but I think I could have played a little better.”

That’s not just idle bravado. Grishuk has a high ranking for college tennis recruiting, and made it to the Round of 16 at this year’s USTA International Spring Championships, held in Carson, California. “I’ve been playing a lot of high-level ITFs, and I’ve been doing pretty well,” said Grishuk of her play on the International Tennis Federation circuit, ”I’ve made quarterfinals of G1s and I’ve won G3s. I’ve been doing pretty well.”

Doing more then pretty well, with an ITF current combined ranking of 154, Grishuk doesn’t consider a local Open level event a step down, “It’s matchplay and it’s good for me to play some matches.”

Assessing the final tally, on the men’s side, only the 13th and 14th seeds were eliminated, with only the 7th and 8th seeds dropping from the women’s singles draw.

Matches resume Saturday morning at 9:30am, continuing throughout the day, evening and the weekend, at Andulka Park Tennis Center. Free entry to all events for spectators.

This event is made possible through our wonderful sponsors:
Vinod Desar, Tarbell Realtors Postal Annex+, Victoria Village Dentistry, Magnolia Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center, Bud’s Tire Pros, and Caring Companions.

Updated information can be found at tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments, ID #: 650021618, and follow the official page: facebook.com/AndulkaParkAdultOpen

Photo credit: Marcus Tennis