APTOS — Kevin Kim enjoyed a Sunday morning in July riding around Santa Cruz County in a Thunderbird convertible. Top down, of course.
The afternoon also proved to be to Kim’s liking as he captured the men’s singles title at the July 14-20 $75,000 Comerica Bank USTA Challenger at the Seascape Sports Club. After a tight first set, the third-seeded Kim cruised to victory over unseeded Italian Andrea Stoppini in the final 7-5, 6-1. It was the third appearance in a Comerica Challenger singles final for Kim, who lives in Newport Coast, Calif. He won in ‘04, beating Canada’s Frank Dancevic, and reached the final in ‘00, losing to fellow Pac-10 alum Bob Bryan.
Kim, who turned 30 in July, said he doesn’t get too nervous before playing in a final, whether there’s a T-Bird provided by his host family to ride in beforehand or not.
“I was nonchalant,” said Kim of the morning of the final. “Pretty relaxed. I wasn’t too tense. I’ve gotten better over the years at putting tennis aside and realizing what’s going on around me.”
Ranked No. 182 at the start of the week, Kim was making his sixth appearance in Aptos, his first since his championship turn in ‘04. He dropped just one set this year, to first-round opponent and fellow American Michael McClune.
Stoppini (No. 307) had a much tougher road on his way to the final, winning three straight three-setters. The 28-year-old upset Brad Gilbert’s pupil, Brit Alex Bogdanovic, in the second round, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3. Then he cooled off a red-hot Prakash Amritraj in the quarters 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-4, before beating No. 4 Scoville Jenkins 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, in the semis.
Amritraj, who plays Davis Cup for India, had little practice time on the hard courts coming into the week. The week prior, Amritraj had what he called a “breakout week” after reaching his first-ever ATP Tour Final in Newport, R.I., losing 6-3, 7-5 to France’s Fabrice Santoro.
Amritraj (fresh off Newport with a No. 204 ranking) arrived at the tournament on Monday and went to work on Tuesday, riding a combination of unmitigated desire, rising confidence and an impressive serve-and-volley game to upset top-seeded Amer Delic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
With the victory over Delic, Amritraj helped keep a streak alive for the Comerica Challenger, which, in its 22nd year, has never had a No. 1 seed win the tournament.
However, Stoppini’s single break against the determined Amritraj in the quarters was enough to put the Italian through to the semis. After winning his semi, Stoppini admitted that he was indeed feeling the effects of his string of long matches.
Stoppini, whose career-best win came over Andre Agassi in ‘06 in Washington D.C., had appeared in two previous Challenger finals, losing both. He found himself down two break points in the opening game of the final against Kim, but used his solid groundstrokes on both sides to work his way out of the jam. Both players rarely strayed from the baseline. Each held serve until Kim ripped an off-balance forehand winner to break for 4-3. Stoppini broke right back as the businesslike Kim uncharacteristically committed a few unforced errors to let the lead slip away.
The players matched each other shot for shot until Stoppini served at 5-6. The Italian had one ace in the game, which proved to be the longest of the match. But he also served up three double faults, including one on Kim’s second break point opportunity of the game. After that, Kim shifted into high gear, producing spectacular winners on the run to end Stoppini’s successful week.
“Kevin was better,” said Stoppini. “After I lost the first set — it was a tough set, no? — I didn’t have much energy. I didn’t find the key to win the points. He ran too much for me.”
As for Kim, who turned pro in ‘97, he was happy to extend his winning streak in Aptos to 10 straight with the victory.
“It’s uplifting,” Kim said. “It’s good to know I’m still capable of winning, still capable of competing. It’s great to win here. It’s a stepping-stone to getting better.”
Kim, who’s won more than $1 million in prize money in his 11 years of playing professionally, pocketed $10,800 and picked up 60 points with the victory.
Israeli Davis Cup teammates Noam Okun, 30, and Amir Weintraub, 21, shared $4,650 for winning the doubles title. The unseeded pair handled the fourth-seeded American tandem of Todd Widom and Michael Yani, 6-2, 6-1.
