It’s been a week of good tennis and good fortune for the two unseeded semifinalists. But in the end, how Carsten Ball and Leonardo Mayer arrived in the final four of the L.A. Open would matter less than how they performed once they took the court
With both players hoping to reach the first ATP World Tour final of their careers, qualifier and Newport Beach resident Ball outclassed Mayer 7-5, 7-6 (3) in an erratic, if not entertaining, afternoon match. Ball will take on sixth seed Sam Querrey (a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Tommy Haas) in the final.
“It’s a bonus to be in the final, win or lose,” Ball said. “To be able to play in an ATP tournament on a Sunday, singles or doubles, is what we all work for.”
For the twenty-two year old Ball, it has been a week like no other. He moped into the L.A. Open qualifying on a three-match losing streak, the last of which was a first round challenger loss to a player ranked 1,742 in the world. But the UCLA courts played to his liking, and after winning his first round, Ball’s confidence grew.
“I think I have a game that, if I can put it together and can get some confidence, I can go ahead and win a few matches, especially in these conditions here. It suits my game, with the faster courts and the high bounces. I’ve kept it together mentally all week. A little confidence and self belief goes a long way.”
Surprisingly, Ball, who is Australian even though he was born in nearby Newport Beach, almost pulled out of the tournament after his first round qualifying win.
“When I was playing my first round here, in the middle of the match I hurt my back,” Ball said. “I wasn’t able to hit a backhand. Later that day, I was debating whether or not to pull out, because it was giving me pain to walk. Then I came back the next day and had the trainer go to work on it, and it felt better against (qualifying second-round opponent) Go Soeda, and it’s just been feeling better and better each day.”
Ball has been commuting from his Newport residence to the UCLA based tournament. (For you non-Southern California residents, 1-2 hours each way).
“I’ve been playing up here every day since Friday, except for one. It’s been a long week mentally, but obviously well worth the effort. When you’re traveling 30-something weeks a year, to be able to spend any night you can at home, it’s worth an hour drive.”
As the tournament progressed, both semi-finalists were the recipients of some good fortune. After grabbing his first ever ATP World Tour win by beating Marc Gicquel in the first round, Ball caught a break when 2006 finalist and third seed Dmitry Tursunov retired after spraining his left ankle. Ball then caught another break when his quarterfinal opponent, American John Isner, was hampered by a left ankle sprain sustained the match before.
Argentine Leonardo Mayer, who hadn’t played a match since losing in the second round of Wimbledon, was given the gift of a walkover when his quarterfinal opponent, Mardy Fish, withdrew because of an abdominal strain.
The match was a bit erratic, to be expected when you consider the stakes involved for both gentlemen. The 6-foot-3 Ball, whose lefty serve is by far his biggest weapon, never faced a break point in the first set.
“I was just trying to make him hit as many balls as I could. At 6-5, closing in on the end, he’s got to hold serve to stay in the set. I was just trying to put all the pressure on him and got a couple of chances [to break], didn’t [capitalize], but then got the one I needed.”
The play improved, and the second set went the distance. Serving at 5-3 in the tiebreaker, Ball hit a monster second serve out wide that Mayer couldn’t get a racket on.
“You know, I actually didn’t [put anything extra on the serve]. It just came out right. I’ve had a lot of confidence in that serve and have served it a lot this week, and I just decided to go for it and see what happens.”
What happened was the shot gave him three match points. Ball converted on the first.
The 205th ranked Ball, who has been treading water in the rankings for the last twelve months, now finds himself in his first ATP final. Depending on which trophy he holds on Sunday afternoon, Ball will either settle in around 150 in the world, or as high as 120.
Mayer, who has slowly been moving up the charts since breaking into the top 100 last March, will jump six to eight spots when the numbers are crunched Sunday evening. He is currently ranked 60 in the world.
Despite the career-changing week, the next couple of months will be business as usual for Ball.
“My summer plans are pretty much set. After this I’ll go to Vancouver for a Challenger, then play [another] in Binghamton, and then hopefully try to get in the Cincinnati qualifying, and then the U.S. Open qualifying. I’m not sure after that, maybe Europe for a couple of weeks.”
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Marat Safin, in his last appearance in Los Angeles, showed signs of life this week before losing to top seed Tommy Haas in the quarterfinals. Safin will not be playing next week in Washington.
L.A. Open tournament officials have to be shaking their heads with envy as the Legg Mason Tennis Classic begins next week in Washington, DC. Three of the top 10, and eight of the top twenty men will be in attendance there.
After the second seeded Fish withdrew from his quarterfinal match Friday afternoon, he cited the importance of the upcoming summer tournaments in Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati. “Those are the big ones for somebody like me and I need to be healthy for those. Sometimes you’ve got to be selfish and that’s unfortunate.”
Tom A. McFerson is a freelance tennis writer from Southern California.
