BJK Likes Breakers’ Chances
Billie Jean King was in Orange County recently finalizing plans for the 34th season of WorldTeamTennis (July 2-26) and had a lot on her mind.
As co-owner (with Hoag Hospital Foundation) of the Newport Breakers, she was positive about the Breakers chances going far this season, but says the entire league will benefit by legends like Andre Agassi and Michael Chang joining the league this season. Agassi is playing for Philadelphia and Chang is playing for Sacramento. Both will visit the Breakers.
“I’m thrilled Michael’s going to play because he and I have talked for years,” she said.” I love Michael Chang. He’s a great guy.”
Agassi played for Sacramento a few years ago, and is marking his return to tennis following retirement.
“Agassi loves us. He’s nice to us, because he loves community,” said King. It’s not just the marquee players that make the league great, she said. She pointed to players like the Breakers’ Ramon Delgado as a prime example.
“First of all, a lot of people think it’s just fun, but it’s highly competitive. I think Delgado is so much fun to watch. He’s competitive. He hates losing. He’s a real star for this team, which I like. He’s got the Desperate Housewives (bleacher seats fan club) up there”.
BJK said the community spirit behind WTT and the Breakers can be seen in the league’s relationship with Orange County and Hoag Hospital.
“I wanted to have a team in Southern California, but I didn’t want it to be in Los Angeles, where there’s a lot of competition. I wanted it to be spread out. Because I grew up in Long Beach, right next door to Orange County, I wanted Orange County to have something that they could say is ours. I’m thrilled because of the Hoag connection and giving back to the community, I think Dr. (Richard) Afable has been unbelievable.”
Sacks, Joshi Take Adoption Guild Titles
For once, USC and UCLA received some parity. Former Trojan player Gary Sacks won the 48th Roy Emerson Adoption Guild Classic men’s singles title while ex-Bruin Shilpa Joshi won the women’s in the Open events, so SC and Bruin fans received an equal share of the victory pie.
Sacks outlasted former junior standout Rylan online casino Rizza 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 while Joshi overcame Sabrina
Santamaria 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and then teamed with Alexandra McGoodwin of Portland to take the doubles title.
Other winners included David Roditi/Ray online casinos Sarmiento (MOD), Desi and Dina McBride (MXDOpen) and Devin Bowen/Gene Carswell (MD35). Winners of the NTRP divisions were Lewis/Sarria (MD3.5); Dionson/Oblanca (MD4.0), Bowers/Mullis (MD4.5); Beinlich/Hernandez (MD5.0); Kizer/Valparaiso (MD5.5); Cham-A-Koon/Tate (MD6.0); Finch/Steiner (WD3.5); Hallum/Stotelmyre (WD4.0); Covarrubias/Searle (WD4.5); Parsons/Traylor (WD5.0); Monk/Worley Hagen (WD5.5); Lyons/Shapiro (WD6.0); Carroll/Tettman (MXD3.5); Lee/Sangveraphunsir (MXD4.0); Stewart/Spillane (MXD4.5); David/Olmstead (MXD5.0); Stone/Wilson (MXD5.5) and Atcha/Bartelt (MXD6.0).
All proceeds from the tournament benefited Holy Family Services, which celebrated its 60th year this year.
OC Grand Prix Takes SeaCliff CC
The OC Grand Prix recently swept into Sea Cliff CC for its annual weekend tournament. Rob Reneberg was especially hospitable and made non-club members feel right at home.
Winners were: Jethva/Hartshorn (MD5.0), Rinke/Wood (MXD5.0), Diamond/Wenzel (MD4.5), DeVries/Howard (WD4.5), Ramirez/Paul-Kanode (MXD4.5), Watter/Macedo (MD4.0), Nordberg/Shabaz (WD4.0), Risquez/Rizquesz-Tomasyan (MXD4.0), Wyrick/Groff (MD3.5), OíLeary/Sample (WD3.5) and Afshar/Park (MXD3.5).
The next stop on the 27th Annual Grand Prix Championship Tennis Tour is at Mesa Verde June 26-28. Enter at grandprixtennis.com.
Advantage’s Boren Takes Roxy
Brynn Boren of Laguna Niguel was among the OC players taking away hardware at the Quiksilver/ Roxy National Junior Open, held recently in Palm Desert. Boren, a student of the Tennis Academy in Irvine, casino online won the girls’ 18 by beating Lynda Xepoleas 6-7, 6-3, 10-7 in the final.
“Brynn is one of the strongest juniors on the circuit right now,” said Jimmy Johnson, her coach at ATA. “She has the skill and talent to take her game to the next level.”
Boren said her training at casino online ATA has been instrumental to her recent success on court.
“The thing I like best about Advantage is that it’s always a tough day on the tennis court, but the coaches and the kids make it a fun experience with tons of laughs.”
Julian Ruffin Moving Up
Irvine’s Julian Ruffin is a player to watch. The 14-year-old has overcome a lot of odds to become one of Orange County’s top junior prospects.
Being an African American in Orange County, Ruffin has not been privy to the private club pedigree that most top juniors have here. And, he’s not complaining.
He comes from a non-tennis playing family. His parents brought him to Heritage Park in Irvine when he was 10, enrolled him in a program and he grew on his own accord.
In a short time, he became one of the area’s top prospects. He trains at the USTA Player Development facility in Carson. He has just come off his freshman year playing No. 2 singles for Northwood High, which won league and placed third in finals.
Ruffin uses his speed and all court game backed by a two-fisted backhand to whip opponents. It’s no wonder his favorite pro is Rafa Nadal. “I love his forehand. He’s quick and has lots of fire,” he said.
Ruffin is ranked 18th in the SCTA 14s. Though he has yet to win a tournament this season, he has placed high in national and super national events. He has excelled in the classroom and has even demonstrated some entrepreneurial abilities. He bought a racquet stringer and learned how to string and has turned it into a cottage business. Ruffin’s long-term goal is to get into a good Div. 1 college. If he’s good enough, he’d like to be a pro or even do sports commentary.
Of Note
The Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club has some changes in store. The owner/landlord, International Bay Clubs Inc., plans not to renew the lease for the current operator and take over management of the club itself on July 1. What that will entail involves a name change for now.
“We do not know what the new name will be yet,” said Bob Ogle, manager. “Everything else is going on as planned, the War by the Shore junior tournament and everything else.”
The owner plans to add some bungalows, spa facilities and more. One of the layouts being toyed with calls for elimination of at least half of the 24 courts at BBC to make way for other amenities.
Winners of the Anaheim Juniors were Daniel Keolasy (B18), Gregory Garcia (B16), Eric Tseng (B14), Eric Nguyen (B12), Markus Doehler (B10), Alexey Lunin (B08), Yuki Asami (G18), Kyra Scott (G16), Siena Peri (G14), Claire Liu (G12), Mary Profit (G10) and Mahli Silpachai (G08).
