Hello LATA members! It’s been a couple weeks, but we’ve gotten all our many photos together from the LA Open (thanks to everyone who contributed photos, including as always our Social Director Indiana Jerry). It was a great weekend of tennis, thanks to our many volunteers, including on-site directors Donald Wong and Jim Kloes, raffle prize securer and organizer Ralph Gorgoglione, banquet organizer Brian Truong, player’s program assembler Chris Norlin, and, as always, board members and organizers Travis Siems and Steve Sax. And many others too numerous to mention! The results can be found here: http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=B4C050C9-E360-4879-9DA8-2F42CF48D61E
Those of you who came to the tournament, or even the banquet, will surely know this already, but the Easter bunny took time out of his busy schedule to be a fixture at our tournament. You can see a lot more of him in a coming video montage Steve Sax is assembling, but he’s also prominently featured below.
And now, the tournament report, with a couple featured write-ups:
SINGLES
Open Singles (Featured Write-Up)
James Dao (1, rt.) d. Jose Sambas (2, l.) 6-0 6-2
If you chat with James Dao, you’ll quickly learn how much of a tennis enthusiast he is. What might not be as readily apparent, though, is how successful he is at the game. Our 2012 LA Open winner was also undefeated in four GLTA Open tournaments last year, followed by a win in the GLTA World Championships in Palm Springs in February (also beating Jose Sambas in the final), and that string of successes was enough to give him the #1 GLTA ranking worldwide and get him elected Player Of The Year. If you check out his scores, you’ll know that James is a fearsome competitor indeed.
But it’s not just winning that drives him — he loves the game wholeheartedly. Donald Wong joked that if you call James, no matter what time or how busy he is, he’ll find a way to get out and hit. Easy enough to do in Santa Ana, where James resides and is a self-employed real estate agent, but it wasn’t always so simple. James was a Vietnam boat refugee who came over to the US in 1979 and landed in Akron, OH. Upon seeing a tennis court for the first time, he was captivated by the fact that it “looked like a bigger ping-pong table.” His family then moved to Santa Ana in 1983, where James played extensively with his fraternal twin brother Mike. Alas, Mike quit the sport after college to raise a family, but James soldiered on, coming to love the game even more with every year he played.
As an adult, James first competed in USTA tournaments, also with great success — currently he’s ranked No. 3 in the over-40s in California, and is in the Top 25 in the nation. His tournament activity even allowed him to play a doubles match against multi-Grand Slam doubles champion Rick Leach, which he termed “an honor,” if not a rousing success. James might have kept on solely playing USTA and ITF tournaments if not for his friend Eric Stevens, who owns the Lakewood Tennis Center in Lakewood, a sometime site for LATA Team Tennis and GLTA tournaments; when Stevens mentioned those leagues to James, he joined up, playing GLTA tournaments and also Cal Cup, on which team he was #3 in 2011. James still plays USTA tournaments, but finds he can be more relaxed in the GLTA, and wants to continue to compete and to keep the Open player standard high. If he keeps playing this well, no doubt he’ll succeed!
A Singles
Chris Tomlin (unseeded, l.) d. Eric Geiger (1, rt.) 6-3 7-6 (2)
B Singles
Michael Sanchez (unseeded, rt.) d. Tony Hughes (1, l.) 6-3 6-2
B Consolation Singles (Featured Write-Up)
Will Pitharn (5, l.) d. Jeff Alabaso (11, rt.) 7-5 7-5
It’s tough when you lose in the first round, even if it’s to the eventual champion, but Will Pitharn made the most of it, toughing out Jeff Alabaso in two tight sets to win the B consolation. Down 3-1 in the first set, Will went on a tear and was up 5-2 in the second, only to see Jeff rally from the brink of defeat. “It was enjoyable — there were lots of fun rallies, and points were won rather than lost,” recalls Will. “I hung in there and kept the ball in play in some crucial positions.”
Born in Thailand, Will grew up in Sydney, and started playing tennis in a club there 10 years ago — in fact, his friends and clubmates Cuong Hoang and Tyrone Andres came from Australia to compete in the tournament. Will might still be there too, if a dashing American hadn’t come to visit Sydney who, Will admits, “swept me off my feet.” Moving to LA four and a half years ago, Will didn’t know anyone besides his partner, so joining LATA was a great way to meet people and keep up his game. Last year Will played PAC Cup, and plans to try out again in 2012. He’s also encouraged his man to take up tennis, which he has. And Will says he’s getting better — “he’s almost ready to start playing competitively.” Let’s hope they at least end up on opposite sides of the draw!
C Singles (no photo available)
Russell Jenkins (1) d. Larry Lawrence (unseeded) 6-0 4-6 6-2
D Singles (no photo available)
Matt Slaymaker (unseeded) d. James Thompson (3) 6-0 6-0
D Consolation Singles
Daniel Todd Walkup (4, rt.) d. Manny Cuprill (unseeded, l.) 6-2 6-1
Open Doubles
Eric Davenport/Jose Sambas (2, l.) d. Gordon Paltimusa/Bradley Spencer 6-4 4-6 6-2 (unseeded, rt.)
A Doubles
Frank January/George Byrd (1, l.) d. Steve Dejong/Chris Tomlin (2, rt.) 6-4 6-3
B Doubles
Michael Vasquez/Joezen Punongbayan (4, rt.) d. Michael Sanchez/Todd Amoroso (unseeded, l.) 6-2 5-7 6-1
C Doubles
Larry Lawrence/Matt Whitfield (unseeded, rt.) d. William White/Kyle Winslow (1, l.) 7-5 6-4
D Doubles (Round Robin)
1st Place: Daniel Todd Walkup/Jongo Yul (1, rt.)
2nd Place: Paolo de Angelis/Massimo Dobrovic (unseeded, l.)
Once again, thanks to everyone who participated! Applications for the Centre Court Tournament, which will be September 1-3 at the Home Depot Center, will be available online very soon. We hope to see all of you there!
John Ramos
Editor, The Score
