And you thought the tennis season had come to an end. But the sport is in full swing at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, host to the USTA 40s National Hard Court Championships. And on a cool, breezy day on the LJB&TC courts, former touring pro Gretchen Magers of San Diego cruised past Stephanie Stone of Carpinteria, Calif., 6-2, 6-1, in one hour and seven minutes to advance to the women’s singles semifinals.
When the 47-year-old Magers warmed up for her quarterfinal match against Stone on Court No. 2, she saw an opponent who was younger and quicker. Magers knew she would not be able to stay on the baseline and trade groundstrokes if she wanted to win.
“I could tell that she was in better shape than me and her ground strokes were better. I knew I had to mix it up,” said Magers, who used slice on her ground strokes and hit timely drop shots to vary her game.
Fortunately for Magers, the tournament’s defending women’s singles champion, the strategy worked.
Despite suffering an early service break, Magers built a 5-2 first set lead and went on to win the set as she broke Stone’s serve in the eighth game. In the second set, Magers served at 4-0 and fought off a break point to hold serve and take a 5-0 lead. Serving to stay in the match, Stone bravely fought off two match points and managed to hold her serve when Magers netted a forehand volley.
In the next game, Magers gained her third match point at 40-30 as she served for the match at 5-1. The match ended when Stone’s backhand fell into the net. “I’m thrilled that I’m in the semifinals. I served really well. I served about as well as I can. I got a lot of points on the serve when I needed it,” Magers said following her victory. “She’s a really great player. She tried so hard and she ran down every ball.”
The top-seeded Magers is looking to win the tournament for the sixth time after capturing the women’s singles title in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010. Before retiring from the women’s professional tour in 1993, Magers won three career WTA singles titles and reached the singles quarterfinals at the U.S. Open in 1982, the French Open in 1983 and Wimbledon in 1989.
Magers will face Dina McBride of Woodland Hills, Calif., in a semifinal match on Thursday. When Magers, the five-time tournament champion, was asked what it takes to win a tournament like the 40s Hard Courts, she responded, “For me it’s just having a great attitude and loving playing tennis. That’s truly it. If you’re having fun and enjoying your tennis, that’s what it’s going to take.”
In other tournament action, defending men’s champion and top-seed Jeff Tarango reached the men’s singles quarterfinals as he defeated John Morris of Chicago 6-0, 6-3 in a fourth round match.
