Ojai Tennis Tournament

Transcription

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The Ojai official 2014 event program
President’s Message
As always, there is plenty to be excited about
elcome to the 114th Ojai
Tennis Tournament.
Again this year we are
excited about the level of
competition and the everexpanding tournament.
Basically, the tournament is
the same now as it has been
for the past 100 years, with the
exception of ever-changing
modern updates that keep the
event fresh and exciting.
The level of play in the
Open Division has increased
dramatically in recent years
and will be at an even higher
level due to perks that bring on
high-quality players.
The Pac-12 men’s change of
format to team play has added
a higher spirit of competition
among the schools and will
again be one of active and
vocal play.
W
Boys’ and Girls’ 18Pac-12 women’s
16-14 and under,
has always been
there will be play
hard-hitting and a
sure to amaze you.
joy to watch.
All of us, our
The big change
active staff of 40,
that occurred last
some 500
year and will
volunteers and the
continue this year
entire community
is the addition of
of the Ojai Valley,
the California
welcome you to the
men’s and
oldest and largest
women’s state
Alan Rains
amateur tennis
championships.
tournament held in the same
That means schools from both
location in the U.S.
Southern and Northern
In 2009, Ojai was voted the
California will compete in final
matches to determine the state second best tennis town in the
U.S. which, considering the
team championship. This will
small size of our little valley, is
be in addition to play later in
some feat.
the week to determine the Ojai
On a personal note, I have
individual community college
been asked from time to time
champions.
how long I have been
As we work on down
through Independent Colleges, associated with The Ojai. In
the 1940s, all junior boys and
girls were housed in private
homes in the Valley. My
parents had a home just two
blocks from the main courts in
downtown Ojai and always
opened their home to players.
I would move out of my
bedroom, that had twin beds,
to the shed next to the chicken
pen for the duration of the
tournament. That’s just the
way we did it in those days. In
1957 I was asked to be a part of
the management team, and a
few years later, Jan, my wife,
joined me and we have been
active ever since. I served as
president from 1998 to 2000
when we celebrated our 100th
year. And this year, 2014, I
wholeheartedly welcome you
to enjoy The Ojai’s 114th year!
President Alan Rains
Ojai Valley Tennis Club
TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS
Open Tournament Director: -----------------Anne Williamson
Pac-12 Tournament Director: ----------------------Jeff Jenkins
Colleges Tournament Director: --------------------Terry Lynch
Junior Tournament Director: -----------------------Craig Fugle
Player Activities Liaison:-------------------------------Mark Weil
I.T.A. Referee/Chief of Umpires: -------------Jane Goodman
Pac-12 Women’s Referee: -------------------Joan Vormbaum
Open Referee:---------------------------------------Annette Buck
Men’s Division III Referee: ---------------------David Martinez
Junior Referee:------------------------------------David Martinez
TENNIS CLUB OFFICIALS
President: ------------------------------------------------Alan Rains
Vice President: --------------------------------------Mike Borders
Secretary:-----------------------------------------Robin Neumann
Treasurer: -------------------------------------------Mandi Roberts
YOUTH TENNIS PROGRAMS
Chair: ------------------------------------------------------Jakob Vos
Vice Chair: ----------------------------------------------Craig Fugle
VCJTA Liaison: ----------------------------------------Terry Lynch
Policy Board: ----------------------------------------Tony Thacher
TOURNAMENT COMMITTEES
Executive Director:---------------------------Duane Williamson
Administration: --------------------------------Sandy McElwaine
Directory & Draw Sheets: ---------------------Cynthia Duncan
Libbey Tournament Desk: -------------------------------Jan Key
Libbey Tournament Desk: --------------------------Sandi White
Score Reporting: --------------------Duane & Rhonda Basore
Tournament Scheduling: -----------------------------Tina Leslie
Volunteer Coordinator: ------------------------------------Jill Cox
Volunteer Coordinator: ---------------------Suzanne St. Claire
Competition Support: ------------------------Jim Kasser, Chair
Accommodations: ------------------------------Anne Williamson
Pac-12 Housing: ----------------------------------Nancy Pierson
Ball Boys & Girls:-Peter Fagan, Rick Thompson & Brice Pace
Trophies & Photos:----------------------------Jan & Alan Rains
Volunteer Social: Leslie Gache, Jill Cox & Nikki Neumann
Lunches: ------------------------------------------Robin Neumann
Umpire Coordinator: ----------------------------------Jeff Becker
Libbey Venue Management: -----------John Kretzers, Chair
Vice Chair:------------------------------------------Dennis Jenks
Security:---------------------------------------------David Breese
Security Assistant:----------------------------------Terry Wright
Safety:------------------------------------------------Tom McCalla
Barbecue:-----------------------Mark Weil & George Conrad
Orange Juice: ---------------------------------------Roy Bennett
Merchandise Sales: -------------------------------Lori Herman
Tournament Physician:--------------Dr. Kenneth Hartenstein
Libbey Venue Set up:--------------------Bruce Purvine, Chair
Vice Chair: -------------------------------------Kathleen Rogers
Ojai Courts — Desk Managers: -------------------Mike Burke
Venue Set up:---------------------------------------Gary Belshe
Private Courts: -----------------------------------Carolyn Burke
Private Courts:------------------------------------Susan Kasser
Private Court Monitors: ------------------Mark Zimmermann
Ventura Area — Venue Management: ----------Lester Tong
Venue Set up: ------------------------------------Bill Flothmeier
Merchandise Sales: --------------Pam Speitel & Kris Etzler
Tickets: -------------------------------------------Brian Ford, Chair
Marketing & Promotion: -----------------Steve Pratt, BZA PR
Chair: ----------------------------------------------------Woody Gair
Vice Chair: -----------------------------------Harry Oppenheimer
Program: ----------------------------------------------Vivian Perrett
Sponsors: ----------------------------------Ronnie Wilson, Chair
Media Relations: -----------------------------------Samuel Eaton
Info Technology: ---------------------------------George Walden
Tea Tent:------------------------------------Mandi Roberts, Chair
Vice Chair: --------------------------------------------Anne Kaplan
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Schedule of Events
Depending on venue, play generally starts
at 8 or 9 a.m. and continues throughout
the day. Schedule is subject to change
without notice.
• Pacifica High School: Community
College Men’s Singles & Doubles
• Residence Inn Marriot:
Community College Men’s Singles
• Oxnard High School: Junior Events
Tuesday, April 22
• Ojai Valley Athletic Club: Men’s and
Women’s Open Singles Qualifying
Rounds
Wednesday, April 23
• Libbey Park: Two Pac-12 Men’s
Team Dual Matches and first round
CIF matches
• Pierpont Racquet Club and Ventura
College: Men’s and Women's
California Community College Team
Championships
Thursday, April 24
OJAI SITES:
Team Dual Matches, Junior Events
• Ojai Valley Inn: Open Men’s Singles
• Ojai Valley Athletic Club: Pac-12
Women’s Singles, Pac-12 Women’s
Invitational Singles
• The Thacher School: Boys’ CIF,
Junior Events
• Villanova Preparatory School: Junior
Events
• Ojai Valley School Upper Campus:
Boys’ CIF
• Ojai Valley School Lower Campus:
Junior Events
• Nordhoff High School: Junior Events
• Matilija Junior High School: Junior
Events
• Private Courts: Junior Events
VENTURA SITES:
• Pierpont Racquet Club:
Independent College Women’s
Singles & Doubles
• Ventura College:
Community
College Women’s Singles & Doubles,
Singles & Doubles
• Camino Real Park:
Community
College Women’s Singles & Doubles
• Buena High School: Community
OXNARD SITES:
• Oxnard Tennis Center:Community
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Friday, April 25
OJAI SITES:
Team Dual Matches, Junior Events
• Ojai Valley Inn:
Open Men’s
Singles & Doubles, Open Women’s
Singles
• Ojai Valley Athletic Club:
Pac12 Women’s Singles & Doubles,
Pac-12 Women’s Invitational Singles
& Doubles
• The Thacher School: Boys’ CIF,
Junior Events
• Villanova Preparatory School: Junior
Events
• Nordhoff High School: Junior Events
VENTURA SITES:
• Pierpont Racquet Club:
Independent College Men’s Singles
& Doubles
• Ventura College:
Community
College Women’s Singles & Doubles,
Singles & Doubles
• Camino Real Park:
Community
• Buena High School: Division III
College Men's Singles and Doubles
OXNARD SITES:
• Oxnard Tennis Center:Community
College Men’s Singles & Doubles,
Division III College Men’s Singles &
Doubles
• Pacifica High School: Community
• Residence Inn Marriot:
Community College Men’s Singles &
Doubles
Saturday, April 26
ALL EVENTS IN OJAI:
• Libbey Park: Pac-12 Men’s Team
Final Dual Match, Pac-12 Women’s
Championship & Invitational Singles
& Doubles Semifinals, All Junior
Event and Boys’ CIF Finals
• Lower Libbey Park: Selected Junior
Event Semifinals
• Ojai Valley Inn: Open Men’s Singles
Semifinals, Open Men’s Doubles
Quarterfinals and Semifinals, Open
Women’s Singles Semifinals, Open
Women’s Doubles Quarterfinals and
Semifinals
and Doubles, Independent College
Women’s Singles and Doubles,
and Doubles, Community College
Women’s Singles and Doubles
• The Thacher School: Division III
• Villanova Preparatory School:
Selected Junior Event Semifinals
Sunday, April 27
• Libbey Park: (all matches are
Finals, unless otherwise indicated; all
starting times are approximate)
8 a.m.
Pac-12 Women’s Invitational Singles
Division III College Men’s Singles
Semifinals (2)
Community College Men’s Doubles
Semifinals (2) – Lower Libbey
Community College Women’s
Doubles Semifinals (2) – Lower
Libbey
9:30 a.m.
Open Women’s Singles
Pac-12 Women’s Championship
Singles
Singles
11 a.m.
Open Men’s Singles
Pac-12 Women’s Invitational
Doubles
Division III College Men’s Singles
12:30 p.m.
Open Women’s Doubles
Pac-12 Women’s Championship
Doubles
Doubles
Singles
2 p.m.
Open Men’s Doubles
Division III College Men’s Doubles
Independent College Men’s Doubles
Community College Men’s Doubles
3:30 p.m.
Doubles
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Tournament Sponsors
Individual and Corporate
• Mike Taggart
• Ventura Rentals: (805) 644-4496;
venturarental.com
• Wilson: The official ball for The Ojai;
wilson.com/en-us/tennis
• City of Ojai: ci.ojai.ca.us
• Rock-It Cargo USA, LLC:
rockitcargo.com
• Chobani Greek Yogurt:
chobani.com
• Plexipave Sport Surfacing: Official
Surfacing for The Ojai:
plexipave.com
• Deer Lodge:
deerlodgeojai.com
• Capri Hotel:
hotelojai.com
• Hummingbird Inn:
hummingbirdinnojai.com
• Valerie & Alan Greenberg
• Barry Golden
• Solinco: Official stringer for The Ojai
at Libbey Park: solincosports.com
• Tom Rohrbacher Stringer at Ojai
Valley Inn: (805) 640-2109
• Ojai Valley Inn & Spa:
ojairesort.com
ovac.caclubs.com
• Life Line Medical Transport:
lifelineems.net
Venues
• Coast Mayflower: (805) 646-1234
• E.J. Harrison & Sons:
ejharrison.com
• Ojai Valley Directory:
ojaivalleydirectory.com
• Mission Linen Supply:
missionlinen.com
• Harris Water Conditioning:
harriswaterco.com
• Tennis Warehouse
tenniswarehouse.com
• Dunn-Edwards Paints:
dunnedwards.com
• Adamson’s Automotive Repair &
Towing: (805) 646-4494
• Friend’s Ranches, Inc.:
friendsranches.com
• Forbess Consulting Group:
fcgenviro.com
• George and Colleen Conrad
• Ojai Donut Shoppe: (805) 646-1429
• Ojai Hospitality Group Inc.:
ojainow.com
• Ojai Pixie Tangerine Growers Assoc.
ojaipixies.com
• Ojai Valley Lions Club:
ojaivalleylions club.com
• The Ranch House Restaurant:
theranchhouse.com
• Suzanne’s Cuisine:
suzannescuisine.com
• City of Ojai – Libbey Park
• Ojai Valley Inn & Spa
• Ojai Valley Athletic Club
• Villanova Preparatory School
• The Thacher School
• Nordhoff High School
• Matilija Junior High School
• City of Ventura – Camino Real
Park
• The Ojai Valley School
• Ventura College
• Pierpont Racquet Club
• Pacifica High School
• Residence Inn Marriott
• Buena High School
• Oxnard Tennis Center (Tennis
McAdemy)
• Oxnard High School
Tournament Sanctioning
Organizations
• Pac-12 Conference: pac-12.com
• CIF – Southern Section: cifss.org
• USTA / Southern California
Section: SCTA.usta.com
Resurfacing Sponsors
The following
organizations and
individuals donated to the
improvement of tennis
courts at Buena High
School and Camino Real
Park in Ventura to
accommodate the increase
in competitors during the
CCCAA state
championships for the
community colleges:
ACE $2,500+
Ventura Lodging
Association, United States
Tennis Association, Ojai
Valley Tennis Club, Bryan
Brothers Foundation,
Hammer-Hewson
Associates, Limoneira,
Ventura Downtown Lions
Club
Overhead Smash $1,000+
E.J. Harrison & Sons,
Pierpont Racquet Club,
Kaiser Permanente
Volley $500+
Play It Again Sports, John
Brandt, Paul Schuster
Forehand $250+
Ed & Val Wehan, Tony and
Anne Thacher, Ed and Terry
Lynch, Harry and Anne
Oppenheimer, Richard,
Ann and Layne
Gallimore, David Loe,
Wayne and Bo Bruce
Backhand $100+
Jenise Wagar, Greg
and Lori Frank,
Kent Bodin, Gary
Reeder, Stephan
Beluris, Debra Jordan,
Joann Cunningham, Allen
Levesque, Caroline and
Steve Doll
About the cover
Can you image a singles matchup
between 1913 Thacher High student
Amos Wilder (at left) and three-time Ojai
Boys’ CIF champion Gage Brymer (at
right)?
The Ojai has always celebrated its
past, but just as important is its present,
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and its future. This year, Brymer leads a
powerhouse UCLA squad that looks to
defend the Pac-12 title they won last year
over crosstown rival USC.
The Pac-12 coverage begins on Page 8
with a feature on former Stanford Coach
Dick Gould and continues with men’s
(Pages 12-15) and women’s previews
(Pages 17-19).
Once again this year, Heather Farley
and her Nordhoff High School advance
media and graphics arts class designed
the program cover, as well as the logos
used on all the merchandise.
Understated Sophistication & Privacy
Nestled in the Foothills of Ojai
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Stanford University tennis coach Dick Gould (right), talks with Nick
Saviano, one of his players during his early years as a coach.
hen Ojai Tennis Tournament
organizers were kicking around
names and ideas of whom they
wanted to honor at this year’s
Thursday night Welcome Reception
Barbecue, names of past Ojai greats
like Jimmy Connors, Michael Chang
and Lindsay Davenport were brought
up.
But just like last year’s honoree,
Tracy Austin, the committee wanted
someone who had a true affinity for
the tournament – someone who for
years and years had a connection to
W
8
Gould
the event. Mark Weil was the first to
contact Stanford University coaching
legend Dick Gould who happily agreed
to be Ojai’s honored guest for the
114th annual event.
A Ventura native, Gould has been
associated with The Ojai for more than
50 years, as a player, coach and later
a broadcaster for Fox Sports Network.
He first entered the tournament as a
student at Ventura Junior High in
1950, played the next two years and
then represented Ventura High from
1953-55.
Photo courtesy of Stanford University
As good as
As a player for Stanford, Gould said
two of his biggest losses came at The
Ojai, “and on the same freaking court.”
As a junior, Gould led USC AllAmerican Ed Atkinson 5-3, 40-love in
the third and deciding set, only to
“choke it away.” A year later, Gould
was a service point away from victory
against UCLA No. 1 Norman Perry,
leading 5-2, 40-15 in the third. But
once again, Gould couldn’t close the
door.
“I played No. 6 my first year and
No. 3 my senior year and I was behind
“It’s the one tournament where you
have juniors, college and even out of
college. It’s just a wonderful mix and
you don’t see that at any other
tournament.”
Photo courtesy of Dick Gould
like the Bryan twins, Ryan Thacher
and Bradley Klahn who would
reminisce with their coach about their
glory days playing the juniors at Ojai.
“That’s the beauty of Ojai,” Gould said.
In 1985, Anson Thacher (from left) presented the Stanford team trophy to Erik
Rosenfeld, coach Dick Gould and Dan Goldie, a soon‐to‐be NCAA singles champ and
Wimbledon quarterfinalist.
Photo courtesy of Stanford University
those guys. I never played year-round
because I was working during the
summer teaching tennis and
swimming for the Rec Department.
Those guys played year-round. I was
just about the point where I had
caught up to them.”
The losses taught Gould a valuable
lesson to never look too far ahead. “I
started thinking one more point then
this happens and that happens. It
doesn’t work that way,” he said.
Gould says he doesn’t regret
holding his star player John McEnroe
out of Ojai the one year he spent
playing for Stanford in 1978. The
summer before, McEnroe made the
semifinals at Wimbledon. “He was
here one year and he had a chance to
play the Alan King Classic in Las
Vegas,” Gould said. “I would have
been crazy to not let him do it.
Personally I was sorry he wasn’t
there.”
Gould said he would rather see the
Pac-12 men’s conference play an
individual format, instead of the
current team format. “It was always a
great time of year to back off and it’s
really the last competition until the
NCAAs so it would give someone
depending on their position a chance
to knock off a player they might not
normally get to play,” Gould explained.
“It might help them get into the NCAA
tournament with that win. I felt it was a
great change of pace at a great time
of year.
“I love the individual tournament
and I think it’s great for the players,
but the team format is also very
exciting, especially for the fans.”
While he wasn’t able to bring
McEnroe along, Gould treasured the
days when players like Scott
Humphries, Paul Goldstein and Ryan
Wolters would arrive in Ojai for the
first time. “We get in the car and we
have a five-and-a-half-hour drive and
then it gets dark and we’re in the
middle of nowhere,” Gould said. “Then
we get to the courts in the morning
and there’s a lot of people around and
everyone’s busy and getting their
orange juice and they really start
getting into it.”
And then there are the SoCal kids
Gould (left) on the sidelines with a young John McEnroe.
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Ventura Rental is a proud sponsor
of The Ojai Tennis Tournament
Ventura Rental
P A R T Y
C E N T E R
CANOPIES CHAIRS TABLES FLOORING ARCHES HEATING LIGHTING FLATWARE CHINA & MORE
1601 CALLENS ROAD, VENTURA, CA
10
805.644.4496
WWW.VENTURARENTAL.COM
11
Photo courtesy of Pac-12
Pac-12 Men
UCLA’s Clay Thompson led the opening match cheer last year.
Former foes now on the same team
ne of the great things about The
Ojai is following the young
Southern California junior boys
players through the ranks, and then
through the CIF Interscholastic
Division before they land on a Pac-12
roster. Often there are another few
years to watch these rising stars
continue on in the pro ranks, much
like Mike and Bob Bryan and
Bradley Klahn.
Five years ago, Marcos Giron, of
Thousand Oaks High School,
beat Clay Thompson, from
Crossroads School, to win the CIF
Division. This year, the two are looking
to lead UCLA to a repeat
performance as Pac-12 champions as
Coach Billy Martin’s squad is
once again loaded.
Thompson was the surprise of the
O
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fall season. Starting the year ranked
No. 72 in the ITA rankings, Thompson
won the USTA/ITA National Indoor
Intercollegiate Championships in
Flushing, N.Y. in early November
winning five-straight matches to
become just the second UCLA player
to win that title (joining back-to-back
champion Benjamin Kohlloeffel in
2005 and 2006).
With the victory, Thompson, from
Venice, became the first UCLA men’s
tennis player to attain the nation’s No.
1 singles ranking since Kohlloeffel in
2006. Kohlloeffel achieved the No. 1
ranking after winning the NCAA
Singles Championship that year.
Thompson is coming off a fall
season in which he posted an
impressive 18-1 overall record. His
only loss came in the first round of
September’s ITA Men’s All-American
Championships in Tulsa, Okla., an
event where he went on to win the
consolation singles title. Thompson
followed that with a victory at his
home tournament, claiming the crown
at the Southern California
Intercollegiate Championships at
UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The junior Giron has been right
behind Thompson, playing No. 2 and
holding down a top-five national
ranking. The two are followed in the
lineup by three upstart freshmen from
California, who have all played at The
Ojai, two with huge success just last
year.
Bruin freshman Mackenzie
McDonald captured the 2013 Men’s
Continued on page 14
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The
The Ojai
Ojai official
official 2014
2014 event
event program
program
Nora Davis
805-207-6177
13
Pac-12 Men
From page 12
Arizona
Head Coach Tad Berkowitz
may have his No. 1 player in Fredrik
Ask but there’s no question who the
true leader of the Wildcats is. That
would be fourth-year senior captain
Kieren Thompson, who has played
a strong No. 2 and 3 for Arizona this
season.
Born and raised in Brisbane,
Australia, Thompson started his
athletic career on the soccer field, only
until the day his father decided to build
a tennis court in the backyard.
Sumeet Shinde, Naoki Takeda,
Mario Urquidi, Matt Dunn and
Carlos Bermudez are the others
Berkowitz will rely on if the team is to
pull off an upset or two.
California
The Golden Bears got off to a quick
6-0 start to begin the year, but then fell
to No. 1 Virginia and to No. 10
Texas in Houston at the ITA Indoor
National Championship. Ben
McLachlan returns as Cal’s top
player for Coach Peter Wright’s
squad. Campbell Johnson, Filip
Bergevi, Andre Goransson,
Gregory Bayane and Mads
Engsted are the other top Cal
players.
Oregon
Ojai fans, watch out for the Ducks.
Led by senior Robin Cambier
(Brussels, Belgium) Oregon got off to
a solid 11-1 start on the season
collecting shutouts in seven of its eight
wins this season. Cambier was named
Pac-12 Player of the Week twice in
Open singles title and teammate
Gage Brymer won his third straight
CIF Boys’ Division title. Another
freshman, Joseph Di Giulio, is
about as good a No. 6 as you’ll find in
anywhere in the country.
USC, however, drew first blood in
the first meeting between the two
cross-town rivals this year as the No.
3 Trojans beat the No. 2 Bruins, 4-3,
in the semifinals of the National Team
Indoors in Houston in February.
The match was ultimately decided
at the No. 2 spot, where 16th-ranked
Yannick Hanfmann upset fifthranked Giron in three sets. Just one
week later, the Bruins returned the
favor downing the Trojans, 5-2, in a
non-conference match.
This year, USC is led by
Fontana’s Ray Sarmiento at No.
1 singles. He’s followed in the lineup
by Hanfmann, Roberto Quiroz,
Connor Farren, Max De
Vroome, Michael Grant and Eric
Johnson.
Here is a quick look at the other six
teams who will battle it out for the
conference team title.
The UCLA men’s team, which won the Pac‐12 team trophy last year, is expectd to have another strong showing in 2014.
14
Pac-12 Men
four weeks to start the season and he
passed Sven Swinnen for all-time
singles wins for the program.
Following Cambier in the lineup are
Daan Maasland, Kevin Farin,
Daniel Sardu, Jayson Amos and
Brent Chin.
Stanford
John Morrissey missed two
early-season matches for the
Cardinals, but he had a good excuse
representing Ireland in Davis Cup
competition. In his absence, Anthony
Tsodikov and Maciek
Romanowicz have played well.
Morrissey and Romanowicz already
have a significant doubles title in
Ventura County to their credit this year
as the pair teamed up to win the
Sherwood Cup in Thousand Oaks to
open the spring season. The pair beat
teammates Jamin Ball and Trey
Strobel in an all-Cardinal semifinal.
Utah
The Utes started the season with a
national ranking of No. 75, the same
ranking Utah ended with last season,
marking the first time since 2010 that
Utah started the season nationally
ranked. New to the roster this year are
freshmen Patrick Mayer of
Viernheim, Germany, and David
Papis-Elon (Israel) as well as
sophomore Matt Cowley, who
returns to the squad after serving an
LDS mission. Top players include Ben
Tasevac, Alejandro Medinilla,
Cedric Willems, Devin Lane and
Patrick Mayer.
USC’s top player is Ray Sarmiento, seen here in last year’s action at The Ojai.
Washington
Max Manthou anchors a solid
Huskies lineup coached by former
USC player Matt Anger. Gal
Hakak, Emmett Egger, Jeff
Hawke (Palos Verdes), Viktor
Farkas, Daffra Sanon and
Michael Chamerski have all
contributed to getting Washington
inside the Top 50 nationally as a team
in 2014.
15
16
Pac-12 Women
Rivalries
are
likely to
continue
ac-12 women’s college tennis
continues this year at the 114th
Ojai as 11 of the conference’s 12
programs will rally over four separate
competitions – the Pac-12 Women’s
Singles & Doubles Championships
and the Pac-12 Singles & Doubles
Invitationals. The singles divisions are
laid out over two 32-player brackets
while the doubles divisions feature 16
teams each.
The Ojai’s championship figures to
be mostly contested among the four
California schools, further fueling the
fun, yet intense UCLA-USC and CalStanford rivalries. Below is a brief
overview of each Pac-12 women’s
entry in The Ojai.
P
Arizona
Seniors Akilah James and
Lacey Smith, from Oceanside, are
ranked Nos. 110 and 114, respectively,
in the Intercollegiate Tennis
Association’s (ITA’s) preseason NCAA
Division I women’s singles rankings.
Arizona State
Sophomores Stephanie Vlad
and Desirae Krawczyk, from Palm
Desert, lead the Sun Devils’
Desirae Krawczyk will lead the ASU women’s contingent this year.
17
Pac-12 Women
at the 2013 Ojai.
From page 17
Colorado
contingent as they are ranked Nos. 50
and 91, respectively, in the ITA
preseason singles rankings. Ojai fans
may recall that as a junior player in
2011, Krawczyk entered the Women’s
Open Doubles at The Ojai and won
the title.
California
The Golden Bears, ranked No. 8 in
the country at the start of the
collegiate season, sport four of the top
31 singles players in the ITA
preseason national rankings, led by
freshman Denise Starr (No. 15),
Hungarian Zsofi Susanyi (No. 16),
Estonian Anett Schutting (No. 26),
a semifinalist in last year’s Pac-12
Women’s Championship singles
division at The Ojai, and freshman
Maegan Manasse, of Redondo
Beach. Cal placed a doubles team in
the Women’s Doubles Invitational final
The Buffaloes’ international flavor
includes five foreign players – Winde
Janssens (Belgium) and Carla
Manzi Tenorio (Colombia),
Julyette Steur (The Netherlands),
Dhany Quevedo (Venezuela) and
Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (Spain).
Oregon
The Ducks are undergoing a
rebuilding effort with a young squad
led by juniors Nicole Long,
Jasmine Minor, a transfer from
Georgia Tech, and Sofia Hager,
(Sweden). Lana Buttner, (France),
may also figure into the Ducks’ plans
at The Ojai.
Stanford
The Cardinals entered the collegiate
season as the No. 1 women’s team in
the nation, boasting four players in the
ITA preseason rankings’ top 41 –
Kristie Ahn (No. 6), Caroline
Doyle (No. 34), Carol Zhao (No.
40) and Taylor Davidson (No. 41).
Ahn lost in the semifinals to eventual
champion Kyle McPhillips, of
UCLA, in last year’s women’s
championship while sophomore Krista
Hardebeck lost in the final. Ellen
Tsay (preseason ranking of No. 94)
reached last year’s Pac-12 Women’s
Invitational singles final at The Ojai,
losing in three sets.
UCLA
The Bruins, ranked No. 5 in the
nation entering the NCAA season,
may be considered the slight favorite
to lift the most Ojai titles through this
year’s Pac-12 women’s events. Kyle
McPhillips coasted to a 6-1, 6-0
final’s victory to win last year’s Pac-12
Women’s Singles Championship as a
freshman. Yet, junior Robin
Anderson entered the season as
NCAA Division I’s top-ranked women’s
singles player by the ITA rankings,
closely followed by junior Chanelle
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Pac-12 Women
Van Nguyen (No. 9) and freshman
Jennifer Brady (No. 24). Senior
Courtney Dolehide will be back
with a new partner in aiming to return
to the Pac-12 Women’s Doubles
Championship final for the second
consecutive year, though Anderson
and Brady were the ITA’s top-ranked
doubles team at the beginning of the
season.
Photo by Michael McFadden
USC
USC’s Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina
Santamaria The Ojai’s 2013 Pac-12
Women’s Doubles Championship
The Trojans, the nation’s preseason
No. 6 team, will be up to challenge
their crosstown and Northern
California rivals in each Pac-12 event
at The Ojai. USC returns The Ojai’s
defending Pac-12 Women’s Singles
Invitational champion, Kaitlyn
Christian, who also won The Ojai’s
2013 Pac-12 Women’s Doubles
Championship with Sabrina
Santamaria, who was ranked No.
13 in the ITA’s individual preseason
rankings. USC is backed by quality
depth in junior Giuliana Olmos (No.
60 in the ITA rankings), freshman
Gabriella DeSimone (No. 80) and
senior Brynn Boren (No. 96). The
ITA rated Boren and Zoe Katz as
NCAA Division I’s No. 3 doubles duo,
and Olmos and Zoe Scandalis No.
7, entering the year.
Utah
Another team coming into The Ojai
with nothing to lose and plenty of
quality experience to gain, this Utes
team is spearheaded by seniors
Lucia Kovarcikova, (Slovakia) and
Paige Miles.
Washington
The Huskies captured last year’s
Pac-12 Women’s Doubles Invitational
and return the championship team of
Natali Coronel, (Argentina), and
Grace Sari Ysidora, (Indonesia).
The program carries three Southern
Californians, including Ojai native
Riko Shimizu, San Clemente’s
Sophia Bott and Palos Verdes’
Brianna Kemp.
Washington State
The Cougars feature the
conference’s most international roster
– only one American. Their top
returners are juniors Elizaveta
Luzina, (Russia) and Charlotte
Koning, (The Netherlands).
19
Open Division
Gage Brymer
Taylor Fritz
University High’s Gage Brymer (left) topped Taylor Fritz in the
Boys’ CIF Division in 2013, but Fritz is expected to have a strong
showing this year in the Men’s Open Division
Men’s Open honors could be on the Fritz
R
emember the name Taylor
Fritz. There is no telling how
deep in the draw the 16-year-old
sophomore will get this week in the
Men’s Open singles division at The
Ojai. If family pedigree has anything
do with it though, the name will be one
Ojai fans could be seeing for years to
come.
The Fritz family, from Rancho Santa
Fe, already has a rich history and
connection to The Ojai. Father, Guy,
made the Independent College
Doubles final way back in 1972, and
20
he later coached one of the best junior
college men’s team in state history in
College of the Desert. In 1996,
the Coachella Valley community
college had both finalists in the men’s
singles, as well as four others in the
doubles final at Ojai.
That same year, Taylor’s mother,
Kathy May Fritz, won the Women’s
Open division at Ojai. The former
Wimbledon quarterfinalist got to as
high as No. 8 in the world during her
pro career. A year later in 1997, Taylor
was born and has been deemed a
prodigy ever since he began
competing in national tournaments at
10.
“Yeah, 1996 was a pretty great year
for our family at Ojai,” said Guy. “I just
love Ojai. It’s always been one of my
favorite tournaments.”
Last year, the family trekked to Ojai
to watch Taylor get all the way to the
final in the Boys’ Interscholastic
Division where he lost to three-time
champion Gage Brymer.
Taylor began playing professional
ITF events in Oklahoma, Texas,
Florida and Costa Rica to start the
year and has already earned his first
ATP points.
Because of all the travel, he was
forced to drop out of traditional high
school, and now attends Laurel
Springs Online School, which just
happens to be based in Ojai.
Guy said Taylor was expected to
play several junior ITF events this
spring.
“The goal is to do well in those
events and qualify for the juniors at
the French Open and Wimbledon,”
said Guy, adding that Taylor currently
stands at No. 70 with his ITF junior
ranking.
But because he is no longer playing
for his high school, he is only eligible
for the Men’s Open event this year.
“The Ojai offers us good players and
that’s what we’re looking for.”
Guy relayed a funny story from his
big year at Ojai in 1972 where he was
teamed with Aussie Andrew Cae
playing for the University of San
Diego. “We made the finals in
doubles and he sat around and drank
all that free orange juice and got sick,”
Fritz said. “True story. We ended up
losing to Cripe and Jablonski from
UC Irvine.”
If a teenager like Fritz happens to
win the Open division, it would be the
second straight year as 18-year-old
Mackenzie McDonald beat
Lester Cook in last year’s final.
Both Brymer and McDonald are now
freshman at UCLA.
Ojai fans who saw McDonald play
for the first time in April, saw him
again on a much bigger stage during
the summer as he became the first
unranked teenager to qualify for an
ATP Masters event, beating former
Ojai Pac-12 champion Steve
Johnson, no less, to earn a berth
into the main draw at the Western &
Southern Open in Cincinnati.
The win followed an equally
impressive straight-sets victory over
77th-ranked Nicolas Mahut the day
before.
Open Division
Mackenzie McDonald, (left) now a freshman at UCLA, defeated Lester Cook last year.
“We made the finals in doubles and he
sat around and drank all that free orange
juice and got sick,” Fritz said. “True story.
We ended up losing to Cripe and
Jablonski from UC Irvine.”
21
N
TE
THE
N
TE
N
TE
THE
JAI
OO
JAI
NCE 1896
SI
NI
OURNA
ST
M
THE
THE
JAI
OO
JAI
T
SI
M
EN
THE
JAI
OO
JAI
TO U RNA
SI
NCE 1896
NCE 1896
Thank You Mike Taggart!
OURNA
ST
M
THE
T
TE
“Way back when, before the Pac-12
became a big thing at the
tournament, people came to Ojai
to watch the Open, people came to
watch the famous players
that you’ll see along the
Wall of Fame along Court 1.
They play a brand of tennis that is
very exciting. I wanted to rescue the
Open because it was drying up.”
EN
N
Once again this year,
The Ojai Men’s and Women’s Open division
is being generously supported by the
$20,000 prize-money donation from Mike Taggart.
Each year, the divisions
get stronger and stronger
and the 2014 edition
will be no different.
The Ojai salutes Mike
Taggart for his years of work
and generous support of
The Ojai Tennis Tournament
NI
THE
JAI
OO
JAI
SI
22
---Mike Taggart
Mike Taggart
NCE 1896
T
T
THE
S
NI
EN
OURNA
ST
M
EN
NI
We Support the
Ojai Tennis Tournament
You hear the laughter. You feel the sunshine. Days filled
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23
Community College State Championships
ack by popular demand, and
because of its rousing success at
its new host site in 2013, the
men’s and women’s California
Community College Athletic
Association Championships (CCCAA)
return to The Ojai for the second
consecutive year.
This week’s 114th Ojai tournament
will host the men’s and women’s
CCCAA Dual Team championships
Wednesday, April 23, followed by the
CCCAA men’s and women’s individual
singles and doubles championships
Thursday, April 24 through Sunday,
April 27.
The CCCAA Championships
represent a true State championship
as all CCCAA tournaments at The Ojai
are open to qualification from all 84
community/junior colleges in California
that field men’s and women’s tennis
programs.
CCCAA individual tournament
formats will be the same as last year’s
Ojai, as the men’s and women’s
singles and doubles events will be
played out over a bracket with 128
entries. Tournament seeds are chosen
by the coaches leading into the Ojai.
Fresno City’s men’s team
completed a perfect 19-0 season,
extended its win streak to 40, and won
its second consecutive CCCAA team
title last year by downing Southern
California regional champion
Ventura College, 5-1.
Fresno City returns three players
featured in that championship match –
Scott Gray, Adrian Varenne and Alec
Bessinger. This trio figures to be in the
mix to contend in the CCCAA
Individual singles or doubles
tournaments as well.
Battle-hardened upstart Fullerton
College defeated the top-seeded
and third-seeded teams to advance
out of the Southern California bracket
as a No. 4 seed, then took down
Northern California Regional
Champion Sierra College, 5-4, last
year to win its first women’s CCCAA
team championship. Sierra College
won the Northern California region
and finished as state runner-up from
2011-13.
Fullerton returns three of its top
four singles players from that title
24
Photo courtesy of CCCAA
Strong field expected in college matches
B
Fullerton Community College earned its first women’s CCCAA team championship last
year at The Ojai.
match, including Jasmine Catolico,
Cailin Mitchell and No. 1 player Sarah
Anderson.
Anderson won the CCCAA
Individual doubles crown last year but
fell in the CCCAA Individual singles
final. She has her sights set on
bringing home both individual
tournament honors this year.
Santa Monica College’s Kaori
Tsuda reached the CCCAA Individual
doubles final at last year’s Ojai and is
back in town. She was a 2013 ITA AllAmerican and was ranked by the ITA
as the No. 2 player among Southern
California community colleges entering
the season, and she could team with
Mary Ashmore in an attempt at a
return trip to the CCCAA doubles final
at The Ojai.
Other women ranked in the ITA’s
preseason top 10 in Southern
California who could be a force in the
CCCAA Individual singles
championship are Cerritos
College’s Samantha Judan,
Estefania Flores and Rianne Llagan;
Orange Coast College’s Hali
Dickson and Nikki Thornburg;
Ventura College’s Zionne Lee and
Yannick Garcia; and Riverside City
College’s Sheila James and Brianna
Bowers.
Orange Coast College’s
women are among the best teams the
state has to offer in 2014, and its top
tandems of Sydney Farzadkish and
Nadine Baquiran and Dickson and
Thornburg come to mind when
scanning the contenders for the
CCCAA Individual doubles title at The
Ojai. Also in that mix are Riverside’s
Bowers and Acacia Dettman,
Cypress College’s Melissa
Gahugu and Devan Johnson, El
Camino College’s Shenae
Shampine and Donya Assef,
Cerritos’ Judan and Flores,
Ventura’s Garcia and Lee, and
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A community in every sense of the imagination, Ojai is
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Address
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27
It was with great sadness that one of The Ojai’s great champions passed
away just over a year ago. “Gorgeous” Gussy Moran always loved The
Ojai Tennis Tournament and recalled on many occasions when she first
played at Libbey Park as a young 13-year-old for Lincoln Junior High in
Santa Monica. She wrote in her last years about the pride she felt bringing
home an Ojai banner, that was displayed at her school and of being
recognized at a special assembly.
In 1949, just two years after winning Ojai, Moran, then 25, hit the
world stage and made international headlines. British dress designer and
Wimbledon host Ted Tinling designed a skirt that would go above the
knees with lace panties. There was controversy, but a star was born and
Gussy would later turn pro and travel the world playing exhibitions with
Pancho Segura, Pauline Betz and Jack Kramer.
As one poignant writer noted in her obituary: “Her Wimbledon
appearance turned her, overnight, into a celebrity. She was dated by
millionaires, played tennis with Charlie Chaplin, had a ship, a racehorse
and a sauce named after her, and even appeared as herself alongside
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in their 1952 tennis comedy Pat
And Mike.”
The staff at www.10sBalls.com honors Gussy Moran and remembers
what a great Ojai and all-around champion she was.
Gussy Moran’s Ojai Finals Record
Girls’ 14s Singles
1938-Louise Brough (Beverly Hills HS) def. Gussy Moran (Santa
Monica HS)
Girls’ 14s Doubles
1937-Gussy Moran-Peggy Miller (Lincoln Jr. HS) def. Robin
Briscoe-Pearl Harland (Santa Monica HS)
Women’s Open Singles
1947-Louise Brough def. Gussy Moran
Mixed Doubles
1947-Gussy Moran-Tom Chambers def.
Eleanor Cushingham-Henry Culley
www.10sBalls.com • www.10sBalls.com
“Gorgeous” Gussy Moran
1923 – 2013
28
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Boys’ CIF
Drew Dawson (left), one half of the winning University High School team in 2013, will transition to singles play.
Road to victory likely goes through University High
age Brymer has relinquished
his dominant, three-year hold on
the CIF Boys’ singles crown at
The Ojai. Having graduated from the
tennis courts at Irvine University High
School onto UCLA, Brymer last year
became the third player to win The
Ojai’s CIF Boys’ singles division three
consecutive years; the first since the
iconic Bobby Riggs accomplished
the feat in 1934-36.
While there’s now room at the top of
the Ojai’s premier high school division
for someone else, the prep
G
30
tournament could see the title remain
within the University High program,
which still looks to provide the
strongest overall representation in this
week’s CIF Boys divisions.
University senior Drew Dawson
comprised one-half of The Ojai’s 2013
CIF Boys’ doubles championship
team, but could make the transition
over to the singles bracket this year as
he is ranked among the USTA’s top-10
Boys’ 18s players in Southern
California and in the top 150
nationally.
Dawson, already committed to
Notre Dame, also won the 2011 CIF
Individual doubles crown as a
freshman and has appeared in the CIF
Individual final each of the previous
three years.
The CIF Boys’ singles and doubles
competitions, each sporting a bracket
of 64 entries, will take place at the
114th Ojai.
Austin Rapp, of Rancho Mirage,
reached the Boys’ 16s final last year
at The Ojai and hopes to go one step
further as he makes the jump to the
Boys’ CIF
CIF Boys’ division this year. Rapp, a
senior at Palm Desert High School
who will join UCLA in 2014-15, is a
2012 CIF Individual doubles champion
and 2013 CIF Individual singles
semifinalist who is ranked in the top
10 of Boys’ 18s players in Southern
California and in the top 80 nationally.
Other singles contenders which
could etch their name in Ojai CIF
history include Palos Verdes High
senior Jake Douglas, who reached
The Ojai’s quarterfinals a year ago
and is nationally-ranked in the USTA’s
top 90 of Boys’ 18s players, and Santa
Ana resident and Foothill High senior
Stefan Doehler, who is ranked
alongside Douglas among Southern
California’s top-10 Boys’ 18s players.
A couple of favorites who play their
high school tennis just down the road
from The Ojai are a pair of Viewpoint
teammates – senior Darius
MacKenzie, who fell to 2013 finalist
Taylor Fritz in the final 16 at The
Ojai, and junior Julian Gordy, who
reached The Ojai’s Boys’ 16s division
singles semifinals last year.
On the doubles side of The Ojai’s
CIF Boys’ equation, University High
looks a strong bet to keep that title in
house through the doubles team of
senior Eric Tseng and junior Arash
Hafezi, who beat Dawson and his
partner in last year’s CIF Individual
doubles final.
San Marino’s dynamic duo of senior
Robert Carter and junior Danny
Gealer lost a tight, three-set match in
last year’s Ojai CIF Boys’ doubles final
and will be in the mix to go one better
and knock ominous Irvine University
off the championship pedestal.
Corona del Mar, Orange County’s
No. 2 tennis powerhouse behind
University High, is expected to have
its Ojai representation led by seniors
Carson Williams and Josh
Kliger, who extended Carter and
Gealer to three sets before dropping
the match in last year’s quarterfinals.
After last year’s defeat, Williams and
Kliger set an immediate goal of
winning the doubles title at The Ojai in
2014.
Time will tell very soon which elite
high school players will be the cream
of The Ojai’s CIF crop and enjoy the
sweetest taste of that famous Ojai
orange juice.
Austin Rapp, of
Rancho Mirage,
reached the
Boys’ 16 final last
year at The Ojai
and hopes to go
one step further
as he makes the
jump to the CIF
Boys’ division this
year.
Austin Rapp (right) will move into the Boys’ CIF division this year.
31
32
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33
In its 17-year history, Weil Tennis
Academy students have won dozens of
titles at the Ojai Tennis Tournament.
"We've had at least one finalist every
single year," said founder Mark Weil.
Weil students like Patrik Fabian,
Ciro Riccardi and Aidan Jiang
have dominated the Boys’ 14s singles,
especially, over the last few years;
Jiang and Riccardi have also won the
Boys’ 16s singles. Riccardi — who just
committed to Dartmouth University —
will return this year to compete in the
Men’s Open Singles.
Weil's girls are no different. Frequent
Ojai Tournament goers may remember
Gail Brodsky, who won four titles in
as many years — the Girls’ 14s, 16s,
18s and the Women's Open.
Dominique Schaefer, 15, will return
this year to play in the Girls’ 18s
singles; an injury kept her from the
2013 tournament, but the last time we
saw her at The Ojai, in 2012, it was
with the Girls' 14 singles trophy in her
hands. Fellow Weil student Viktoria
Bardarova is also expected to place
well in the Girls’ 18s singles. "This year
QUICK
we have an exceptionally strong group
(of competitors)," said Weil. "They may
surprise some people."
Weil estimates that "over 80 percent
of our students go on to play for D1
(Division I) college tennis teams." Of
course, many of them end up coming
back to compete in The Ojai with their
Pac-12 college teams. This year, look
for Weil alumni Dennis Mkrtchian,
playing for the heavily-favored UCLA
men's team, as well as Alberto
Reyes for the Oregon Ducks men's
team and Riko Shimizu for the
Washington Huskies women's team,
among others. "That's been such a big
satisfaction," said Weil, "to watch our
kids play for Berkeley, UCLA, USC,
Stanford, Arizona, Oregon — I think
we've put kids in almost every Pac-12
program."
And it's not uncommon for Weil
alumni to turn pro; Grigor Dimitrov
sits at No. 16 in the ATP rankings and
Anna Tatishvili has ranked as high
as No. 50 in the WTA.
"It's great to see them doing so well,"
Weil said.
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Photo courtesy of Weil Tennis Academy
Weil of fortune:
Tennis academy students
gaining an upper hand
Ojai resident and Weil student Jack
La Plante played in the Ojai’s Mens’ Open.
35
Tournament
isn’t kidding
Ojai Valley News archive photo
when it comes
to helping
youths
Children are the focus of charitable efforts of The Ojai.
ach year, a major objective of The
Ojai tennis tournament, organized
by the Ojai Valley Tennis Club
(OVTC), is to raise funds to conduct
and support various programs that
introduce tennis to elementary school
students and support the development
of young tennis players in the Ojai
Valley. This goal is accomplished
through the OVTC’s Youth Tennis
Committee, which solicits additional
funding and manages the programs.
The all-volunteer OVTC Youth
Tennis Committee works with the Ojai
Unified School District, the city of Ojai
Recreation Department and several
local teaching pros to introduce,
develop, and popularize tennis for
children of all ages.
The most well-known of the Ojai
Valley Youth Tennis programs is the
10 and Under instruction program,
formerly known as QuickStart. The
program has been developed by the
USTA, specifically to speed up the
learning curve for younger children
with the use of smaller, lighter
racquets, foam balls and smaller
courts. The program results in quicker
progress and more fun because the
kids can start rallying much sooner.
Now in its fifth year the program has
worked with more than 1,000 students
E
36
from all Ojai Valley's elementary
schools and is greatly appreciated by
the teachers, principals, parents and,
most importantly, the students.
Here’s what Cheryl Leslie, a Sunset
Elementary School teacher, had to say
about the program. “I love the fact that
there are enough “instructors”
volunteering so the kids can be in
small enough groups that the students
are engaged with very little down
time.”
The USTA has also recognized the
success of the program with a grant
that will support the program for
another year. The OVTC and the Ojai
Recreation Department are the main
funding organizations, and the
program is run by volunteers under
the leadership of Philippe Gache.
This year, as with the last three
years, there will be a QuickStart
tournament during The Ojai on
Thursday afternoon before the
barbecue.
Other Youth Tennis activities are the
High Performance Clinic where select
young players are invited to participate
in a day of intense tennis instruction
and match strategy. All Ojai tennis
professionals donate their time and
expertise for this special event.
The Parent/Child Holiday Challenge
gets a large contingent of older and
younger players on the courts over the
Christmas holidays. This event is now
in its fourth year and has proven to be
a very well-liked and popular activity
that brings families together for a
healthy, fun activity.
"I'm so very grateful to live in a town
that has such a wonderful organization
as the OVTC,” said Rick Thompson,
the ORD Tennis Pro, who participated
twice with his daughter, Julienne. He
expressed his appreciation for the
Challenge sponsors and how the
tournament raises money to help the
youth tennis programs throughout the
year, while at the same time giving our
community's kids great match
experience. “This is a great
tournament they put on."
In addition, the OVTC provides
funding to the Ojai Recreation
Department to support the Youth
Tennis programs organized by
Thompson. Through these programs
Thompson teaches tennis at the
37
Local youth tennis programs get a big boost from
tournament proceeds.
college level.
These programs for our youth are
made possible by the generous
contributions of sponsors such as
Mike Taggart, a local tennis fan, The
Ojai tournament, the USTA, the Ojai
Recreation Department, tennis
coaches and other organizations and
many dedicated volunteers. We are
very grateful for the generous
donations and support, without which
these programs would not be possible.
beginner and advanced levels and
conducts a summer program and an
after-school tennis league for
youngsters, who taste competition for
the first time and learn the values of
teamwork and good sportsmanship.
During The Ojai, awards are
presented to worthy youngsters to
participate in a number of tennis
clinics, summer camps, and individual
professional tennis instruction for
further specialized training,
development and competition. The
awards are donated by Ojai tennis
coaches and are presented at the
annual barbecue that will take place
Thursday during tournament.
The winners are selected by the
Youth Tennis Committee based on a
variety of factors such as
sportsmanship, motivation, talent,
potential to advance in competition
and financial need. Several of the
recipients of these awards in the past
will be playing in The Ojai this year
and have gone on to compete at the
From page 36
Ojai’s Julianna Adelman takes part in a youth tennis event.
38
If you would like to help develop
character, combat juvenile
delinquency and enrich the lives of our
youth, please make a tax-deductible
contribution to support the Youth
Tennis Program. Please send your
check payable to OVTC Youth Tennis
and send it to: Ojai Valley Tennis Club,
P.O. Box 482, Ojai, CA, 93023.
For more information contact Jakob
Vos, Chair, Youth Tennis Programs, at
jhmvos@aol.com.
39
Former player turns presenter 65 years later
ooking back with fondness – and
some amazement – Marianne
Hertel Mize smiles as she recalls
the players and the atmosphere that
she experienced at The Ojai 65 years
ago.
She remembers entering the
tournament from Ventura High School
in 1949 when she was 16. She said,
“All of us knew about The Ojai, of
course. I heard about it while I was
still in junior high. It was one of the
tournaments we all wanted to play in.”
And play she did. Mize fought her way
to the Girls’ 18-and-Under finals,
where she played Lee Van Keuren of
Westlake. She beat Van Keuren 6-2,
7-5, recalling, “It was a real upset for
me to beat her because I was the
underdog. It turned out to be a real
good win.”
The next year, 1950, Mize returned
to The Ojai to play again in the Girls’
18-and-Under division. And, once
again, she played her way to the finals
where she beat Diana West, of
Alhambra, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, claiming her
second Ojai title.
But Mize was not finished with The
Ojai. She attended Cal her freshman
year and then transferred to the
University of Arizona. In 1954, Mize
returned to Ojai representing Arizona
in the Women’s Intercollegiate
Doubles Championship with partner
Ann Armfield. Mize and Armfield
routed Marjorie and Cynthia Gibbens,
of Stanford, 6-0, 6-0 to win the cup.
The next year, Mize and Armfield
captured their second college doubles
trophy by beating the Comstock twins,
Bette and Pegge, of Ventura College,
9-11, 6-1, 6-0.
Mize started playing tennis at 12
and was coached by Harold Chaffee,
a longtime Ventura tennis instructor.
After her first lesson, she played in a
tournament in Santa Paula, winning a
racquet for her play. She laughs, “I
didn’t have much in the way of strokes
or strategy, but I was fast. I was
almost always faster than the girls I
played.” She played in tournaments in
Monterey, Burlingame, San Diego, and
40
Photo courtesy of Marianne Hertel Mize
L
Marianne Hertel Mize following her appearance in The Ojai in 1950.
history of this year’s winner in The
Ojai? Will she attend The Ojai on the
65th anniversary of her first trophy, as
Mize is doing? We sincerely hope so,
for it is a thrill to see Mize at Ojai once
again.
Photo by Doug Thompson
one started by her father in Ventura.
She loved playing and made many
lifetime friends throughout the state.
As for her experience at The Ojai,
she was four times a player and four
times a champion – beginning 65
years ago! Mize thinks back on The
Ojai with fond memories of playing
great matches at Libbey Park, drinking
the freshly squeezed orange juice,
and having tea and cookies in the
afternoon. In her college years, she
stayed at a private home, recalling the
kindness and the hospitality. She felt
like she was a local, coming from
Ventura, but Ojai was something
special, something gracious,
something grand.
She is looking forward to returning
to The Ojai this year to present the
winner’s trophy for the Girls’ 18-andUnder division. What will be the
Mize will present the trophy to the Girls’
18s singles winner.
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In Memoriam
uby Keith Morrison, friend of
The Ojai and volunteer
since 1939, died Dec. 26,
2013, one month shy of 92.
Ruby and her husband Jack,
who predeceased her in 2010,
led the Ojai Valley Tennis Club
board of directors for 15 years,
serving as secretary and
president alternately – an
unprecedented role of
leadership. They loved and
respected the tournament,
always willing to help with the
smallest detail or greatest of
tasks.
“It’s what you do in April,”
Ruby would say. “It’s something
we look forward to every year,
the whole town does. It’s so
unique, when you come
R
42
downtown to Libbey Park.
There’s oak trees and lots of
grass and hospitality. It’s such a
personal thing and people
around here take great pride. I
don’t think I’ve ever heard
anyone tell me they won’t be
back.”
Ruby singlehandedly
maintained the beauty and the
decorum of the Tea Tent for
decades. And because of the
Tea Tent, Ruby said that The Ojai
was “the Wimbledon of the
West,” something quoted in
numerous publications
throughout the country.
Please join us in a celebration
of Ruby and her dedication to
The Ojai Saturday, April 26, at 2
p.m. – in the Tea Tent, of course!
Photo courtesy of the Morrison family
Ruby Keith Morrison
volunteer, OVTC director
Ruby and Jack Morrison
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43
Rose Boggs has been involved with The Ojai since she was 5.
Tennis is her racquet
The following article was written by Rose
Boggs, a longtime resident of the Ojai
Valley who has been involved with the
tournament for 80 years. She has taught
tennis for the Ojai Recreation Department
and also served a stint as the Nordhoff
tennis coach. This article appeared in the
April 18, 1990, issue of the Ojai Valley
News.
By Rose Boggs
et me take you back to the 33rd
Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
Imagine a five-year-old girl
sitting on wooden planks that had
been carefully placed over the dirt and
around the tennis courts. Through big,
brown eyes she sat for hours at a time
watching the champions and future
champions.
That little girl was me. I was having
my first tennis lesson. I learned to play
while watching the tennis players
every year.
Ojai was a quiet little town in those
days. The Ojai Valley Tennis
L
44
Tournament was about the most
exciting event happening each year.
Ojai has grown, and in the process, a
lot of things that were a part of The
Ojai have disappeared.
The clubhouse was a charming,
dark green, wooden building located
near court three and the bowl. It had a
viewing porch, bathrooms, and
showers, and a storage room. At times
there was a pro shop. Only the
players in the tournament were
allowed to use the showers and the
bathrooms. The rest of the year, they
were locked up.
The building was there when I was
growing up, but about the time the
bowl was built the clubhouse
disappeared. From the porch of the
clubhouse you could look across
courts three and four and see the
hexagon-shaped orange juice stand,
another dark green and very small
wooden building.
Players and spectators were served
orange juice in small paper cups from
10 a.m. until noon each day. Now the
orange juice is served from the Tea
Tent.
The entrance gate to the
tournament was at the front of the
park, just west of the bank parking lot.
There was a small, dark green,
wooden building that stood there yearround. I never had to pay to enter.
Since my father was the park
caretaker, I just smiled at the ticket
taker and said I had to go in to see my
dad. It worked until the years when I
was a player in the tournament.
As I mentioned before, the
clubhouse bathrooms were for the
players. The spectators used the small
public bathrooms behind the post
office. These bathrooms disappeared
when the post office was enlarged.
The Thursday night street dance
has also disappeared from the scene.
What a thrill it was to dance with
players such as Ted Schroeder on the
main street in front of the Lion’s Head
Fountain!
Energetic teenagers sat all over the
wall and arches that were opposite the
Photo courtesy of Rose Boggs
Arcade. Along with
the street dance,
the walls and
arches and
beautiful wisteria
have disappeared.
In recent years
the Friday night
dance at Nordhoff
has gone the way
of the Thursday
night street dance.
Nordhoff students
and teachers
decorated the gym.
Live bands were
brought in. Parents
and faculty were
chaperones. Mr.
Pierpont’s special
punch was served.
What a thrill it
was when Shirley
Temple attended
the dance in 1942!
She danced with
The orange juice booth that stood for many years in Libbey Park.
45
Rose Boggs (left) poses
with tennis star Tracy
Photo by Holly Roberts
Austin at last year’s Ojai
Tennis Tournament.
From page 45
several Nordhoff students. Since she
was not a player in the tournament
she had to have a ticket to get in. She
came to The Ojai that year to cheer
for her classmates at Westlake School
who were in the finals. Boys had to
wear a coat and tie to attend the
dance. Today’s teenagers would rather
wear Big Dog shorts and Nikes.
The Tea Tent Tradition is in no
danger of disappearing and has
undergone very little change. Missing
is the permanent rectangular iron
frame that stood in the park to the
west of court one. We used to climb
and swing from the bars. Over this
frame the tan canvas tea tent was
placed each April. The frame has
disappeared, but a lovely green tent
appears each year.
Ojai Valley Garden Club members
arrange the floral centerpieces for the
Tea Table. The floral scheme is based
on the colors of the high schools in
Ojai. Thursday’s flowers are blue and
gold in honor of Nordhoff High; Friday,
it’s red and white for Ojai Valley
School; Saturday, blue and white for
Villanova and Sunday honors Thacher
School with green and gold.
The silver urns, silver sugar tongs
and china cups and saucers are still
used. Complimentary tea and cookies
are served from 3 to 5 p.m. daily for
players and spectators. The only
ingredients missing from the Tea Tent
are the Girl Scouts washing the cups
and the Girl Scout cookies.
At one time there were lights strung
down the middle of courts one and
three. They were inadequate as they
were far too dim and subject to being
shattered by mishit balls and
vandalism. I can’t say that they are
missed.
The oak trees that shaded those
dark green wood buildings are fewer
in number. The trees in the park and
the perfume of the orange blossoms
permeating the air are what makes
The Ojai so special.
Ojai is not the quiet little town it
once was. You can no longer stand on
Main Street and hear the “whack” of
the tennis balls. Nor can you hear the
public address system … “Tracy
Austin, please report to the
tournament desk.”
The Ojai is still the most exciting
event happening in Ojai each year. I
hope it never disappears. I played in
The Ojai. Our children played in The
Ojai. Our grandchildren will play in
The Ojai.
It’s tradition.
Community College State Championships
From page 24
Santa Monica’s Carmel Peterson and Jessica
Goldbeck.
Ventura College’s men’s team annually turns out
championship-caliber players and this year is no different.
Leading the Pirates’ charge this year is 2013 ITA AllAmerican Victor Mendes, who reached the CCCAA
Individual singles final as a No. 7 seed at The Ojai last
year and hopes to go one step better this week. Mendes
and Zach Pittman were rated Nos. 2 and 7, respectively in
the ITA’s preseason Southern California community college
rankings and figure to be factors at The Ojai.
Other top-ranked singles players in the ITA’s Southern
California preseason poll who could be gunning for the
CCCAA Individual singles championship include 2013 ITA
All-American Nathan Eshmade and Amadi Kagoma from
Cerritos College, James Tenbroech and Jordan Lomas
from San Diego Mesa College, 2013 ITA All-American
Richard Catabona from LA Pierce College, Riverside
College’s Danny Garcia (a 2013 ITA All-American) and
46
David Stanko and Mt. San Jacinto College’s Vitinho
Galvao.
Contending doubles teams who are worth watching during
the CCCAA Individual doubles tournament at The Ojai this
week are Cerritos’ Eshmade and Kagoma, Ventura’s
Mendes and Pittman, Mt. San Jacinto’s Galvao and
Bruno Campos, and Riverside’s Garcia and Stanko.
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49
Photo by Rick Limpert
Danielle Lao recently authored a book in which she wrote about her college tennis experiences.
The Lao down on playing in The Ojai
Danielle Lao is a former USC Trojan
and a two-time NCAA All American
who is currently playing on the
women’s professional circuit. This past
winter, Lao documented the ups,
downs, and learning experiences of
playing college tennis in her book,
“The Invaluable Experience” which
she co-authored with writer Rick
Limpert. “The Invaluable Experience”
is available on Amazon.com as a
Kindle Book. Lao wrote this piece
about her experiences playing The
Ojai.
By Danielle Lao
eing a Southern California native,
I always felt the pride in growing
up and competing in one of the
best tennis sections in the United
States. Although I knew I was a part of
something special, I did not grasp the
full appreciation for Southern
California’s tennis culture until my final
year of college.
It was at The Ojai tournament,
where I suddenly realized and
B
50
absorbed its full effect. Unfortunately
for me, I had not played any of the
Ojai events before my collegiate
career, so it took me a few years to
gather a greater appreciation to what it
all really meant to me.
Entering my last year of college, I
was not sure whether I would be
hanging up my rackets or not after the
season. Because of this uncertainty, I
knew there was a possibility that I
would be experiencing many lasts as
a tennis player, so I did my best to
soak in everything I could as a senior.
I have always heard from past
players I idolized how magic happens
at The Ojai. Many of them have their
greatest, and most memorable
moments at Libbey Park.
I wish I could tell a miraculous story
about how I had won The Ojai in the
most dramatic fashion, but my
moment of elation happened a little
differently. Having lost in the earlier
rounds, I had plenty of time to wander
around, watch matches, and take in
the atmosphere as a spectator.
In hindsight though, this was a
blessing in disguise. Without having to
worry about the typical routine that
goes into preparing for a match, I
could sit back and actually observe all
that goes into The Ojai. There are
countless people that open their
houses to the players competing in the
tournament and a great number
involved in the planning and
preparation that makes the
tournament run smoothly.
Above all, what still amazes me
today is all of the people who continue
to return to the tournament, as players
and as spectators. To say the least,
there is something special at The Ojai
that keeps bringing people back to
help, compete or watch.
I was really feeling the good vibes
and energy from the town of Ojai, and
instead of rushing back home to Los
Angeles, I opted to stay until
championship Sunday. On Saturday
night, I asked my coach West Nott if it
was possible to get a hit in the
following day. Because it was
championship Sunday, all the big
matches had been moved to Libbey
Park, so if I wanted to squeeze a hit
in, it would have to be very early.
I was determined to practice, so I
dragged West out at 6:30 a.m. to hit
on Court 1. (He was a great sport, by
the way). Arriving at the courts at 6:15,
Libbey looked so different empty. As
the sun got higher on this quiet and
beautiful morning, West and I ran
around the whole court, exchanging
heavy ground strokes.
At around 7, I started to hear
whispers as the tournament directors
and officials filed in to organize
themselves. By 7:30, the whisper
turned into a chatter as the volunteers
began to come in and situate
themselves and to squeeze fresh Ojai
orange juice.
As 7:45 rolled around, the chatter
evolved into what sounded like the
entire town being awake. As West and
I sat on the benches watching the
busyness of the tournament, we talked
about how awesome it was that we
gradually heard the town of Ojai wake
up, on championship Sunday, while
playing on Court 1.
It was all of a sudden overwhelming
when I combined the warm energy I
was feeling to the realization of how
much history this tournament has.
Legends like Pete Sampras, Billie
Jean King, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy
Connors, and Michael Chang have
been in that draw at some point in
their life.
There was something special about
playing at a place you know many
champions before you have
experienced great moments. Then and
there I finally understood what keeps
bringing people back to The Ojai.
People return to honor how such
community enthusiasm and Southern
California tradition can bring together
so many individuals from different
generations under one sport, tennis.
“To say the least, there
is something special
at The Ojai that keeps
bringing people back
to help, compete or
Photo by Rick Limpert
watch.”
The cover of
Danielle Lao’s book
Danielle Lao recently wrote a book in which she talked about
playing in The Ojai.
51
52

Ojai Tennis Tournament

Transcription

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