- Alex Waske's Excellent Wimbledon Adventure
- Psst! Here's the Scoop on the Stars of Tennis
- New Aztecs Arriving for 2003 Season
- 2 Aztecs Win Tennis Week/ITA Honors at U.S. Open

Alex Waske's Excellent Wimbledon Adventure

Barely two years after winning All-American honors at San Diego State, Alex Waske (1997-2000) fought his way into the main draws at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, upset Carlos Moya of Spain in the Japan Open and took Yvegeny Kafelnikov of Russia to three tiebreak sets in Tashkent.

Waske toppled the third-seeded Moya, 6-4, 7-5, in the second round at Tokyo. Earlier, he held three match points against Kafelnikov before losing, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 in the President’s Cup in Uzbekistan.

Waske’s Wimbledon results included victories over two players who defeated Pete Sampras prior to his surprise triumph at the U.S. Open.

In his final Wimbledon qualifying match, Waske defeated George Bastl of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3). When another player was injured, Bastl gained a last-minute lucky loser entry into the main Wimbledon draw, where he defeated Sampras in five sets, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4.

In his first-round main draw match, Waske defeated Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 6-1. Less than a month earlier, Gaudenzi had beaten Sampras, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the French Open.

Although Waske lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Flavio Saretta of Brazil, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, he was performing at a high level. Saretta had upset Thomas Johansson of Sweden, the eighth seed, in the opening round.

Waske said Saretta played a “great match.” He lamented his inability to hold his serve.

Saretta told ATR Waske has “a very good serve” and that he won only by returning well and hitting passing shots from the backcourt. “I just did my (baseline) game,” he said.

Waske blamed himself for “a couple of mental letdowns...(I) couldn't keep the concentration level up high all the time. He caught me in those situations.”

Waske was also caught in a tide of South Americans who were showing unexpected strength at Wimbledon.

Saretta lost in the third round in five sets to Andre Sa of Brazil, who defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain before losing in the quarterfinals to Tim Henman of Great Britain.

Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian of Argentina was the first South American to reach a Wimbledon final since Alex Olmedo of Peru won the title in 1959. (Olmedo’s son, Alex Jr., played on the San Diego State teams in 1987-89).

Waske’s Wimbledon showing capped a remarkable six months in which he gained 167 places in the ATP singles rankings. In April, he won his first challenger, defeating Ivo Heuberger of Switzerland, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, in Mexico.

In doubles at Wimbledon, Waske and Lovro Zovko of Croatia won a first-round encounter with Jonathan Murray and David Sherwood of Great Britain, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. They lost in the second round to Neville Godwin of South Africa and Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3).

With money collected for his Wimbledon appearances, Waske stood 181st on the ATP money list, with $49,073 for the year (prior to the U.S. Open). His career earnings stood at a reported $110,979.

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Psst! Here's the Scoop on the Stars of Tennis

Fifty years ago, Confidential Magazine terrified Hollywood’s top stars and titillated its readers with tales of extramarital affairs, ruinous relationships, and ill-begotten misfortune in the celluloid industry. The movie LA Confidential peeked under the same sheets.

This book is about a love affair, alright, but it’s the one we’ve all been having — with tennis. Author Paul Fein shares a compendium of columns, interviews, and insights he’s produced in 25 years of writing about tennis. He covers everything from inflated egos, tanked matches, and domineering parents to overpowered racquets, ignorance of racism, and celebration of sexism (that is, Ted Tinling’s grooming of the fairer sex, a phenomenon that predated Anna Kournikova).

Some of what’s best here is not controversial — nor even confidential — just good solid reporting and sensitive story telling and interviewing.

Fein reproduces portraits he’s drawn of ten major figures of the modern game: Venus and Serena Williams, Andre Agassi, Kournikova (yes), Gustavo Kuerten, Jennifer Capriati, Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, Lindsay Davenport, and Martina Navratilova. His most memorable interviews turn out to be with Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bobby Riggs, Arthur Ashe (twice), and Tinling, tennis’s institutional memory (before Bud Collins).

The closest Fein comes to dishing dirt is in Chapter 24, called True Confessions, where stars admit to indiscretions: Billie Jean King divulges the fact that she tanked the final of a Grand Slam event (but won’t name it); Hanna Mandlikova says lots of coaches secretly — and improperly — coach by signals during matches; Pancho Gonzalez admits that he was a social misfit, and Jennifer Capriati confesses that she wanted to kill herself in 1994 because she felt ugly and overweight. That these revelations were all reported elsewhere takes away their edge, but Fein’s handling of them is mostly sympathetic and gives them a useful context.

If one section provokes endless debate, it will be Fein’s attempt to choose “The Ten Greatest Matches of All Time”. Some matches are — by consensus — beyond question (Don Budge defeats Gottfried von Cramm in the 1937 Davis Cup), but some are doubtful: Boris Becker’s defeat of Kevin Curren in the 1985 Wimbledon Final is too great a stretch, even for Fein, who lowers the bar, calling it “intriguing”. To be sure, it catapulted Becker into stardom and awakened the sleeping giant of German tennis; still, it fails to stir our emotions beyond its groundbreaking nature.

But the number-one match on Fein’s Top-10 list is a sure winner: Borg Defeats McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon final. Fein quotes Frank Deford, who called it “One of the most extraordinary contests in the annals of sport.”

Fein hits the lines on almost every shot like this and has written an engrossing and engaging book for all of tennis’s paramours. — J.M.

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Preview: New Aztecs Arriving 2003 Season

The two 2003 San Diego State tennis teams will be composed of a mix of mature veterans, new recruits, and surprise arrivals.

Here’s a preview:

The women’s team returns five top players, including Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Silvia Tornier of Germany. Her returning teammates are Lindsay Hedberg of Texas, Katja Karrento of Finland, Katalina Romero of Mexico, and Indra Erichsen of Germany.

They will be joined by Patricia Graf of Germany, a transfer student who played number two singles at Baylor University, and two freshmen: Colby Comstock of Rolling Hills, CA, and Jenessa Jackson of Salt Lake City, UT. Both Americans were nationally ranked as juniors.

“We’ve got eight really good players,” said Coach Peter Mattera. “I think we’ll have an excellent team.”

The men welcome back All Americans Oliver Maiberger of Germany and Ryan Redondo of San Diego, the defending Omni Hotels National Indoor doubles champions.

Returning with them are Valentino Pest and Felix Hardt of Germany and Californians Gabe Coren of Santa Cruz, Mike Coelho of San Diego, and Pejman Vahdat of San Jose.

The newest Aztec recruit is Daniel Jung of Germany, who was recommended by Alex Waske (1997-2000). Two new arrivals who walked on are Sylvian Anibie of France, a transfer student from College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA and William Lefevre, a nationally ranked junior from Louisiana.

“I think it’ll be the best team we’ve ever had,” said Coach John Nelson.

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2 Aztecs Win Tennis Week/ITA Honors at U.S. Open

San Diego State’s All-American doubles team of Oliver Maiberger and Ryan Redondo stepped to the podium at New York’s West Side Tennis Club and received citations honoring them as members of the Tennis Week Magazine/Intercollegiate Tennis Association 2002 All-Star team.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Gene Scott and Carole Graebner, former top 10 player, presented framed certificates for 26 male and female student athletes at a luncheon on the club patio during the final qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open.

Among those honored: NCAA Division One Singles Champions Matias Boeker of Georgia and Bea Bielik of Wake Forest.

Redondo and Maiberger won the Omni Hotels National Intercollegiate Indoor Doubles title and All American honors at the NCAA Championships, ranking third in America and first in the Mountain West Conference.

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