It is Southern California’s tennis tournament, and Southern California will be well-represented.
The finals of the 83rd LA Tennis Open will pit two local products against each other as Thousand Oaks’ Sam Querrey will face Newport Beach’s Carsten Ball on Sunday. It is the first time since 1984 that two players from the area will compete in the finals.
“Carsten and I grew up playing junior tennis together,” Querrey said. “It’s fun to play him again. I’ve had an unbelievable tournament this year, and it’s going to be a tough one tomorrow.”
Querrey did not have much trouble upsetting the No. 22 player in the world and No. 1 seed in the tournament, Tommy Haas, 6-3, 7-5 Saturday night.
Querrey, the No. 32 player in the world, took advantage of several unforced errors by Haas to reach his third straight ATP final.
The match started off back and forth until Querrey found his opportunity in the eighth game. He broke Haas to take a 5-3 lead and then rocketed two aces and picked up a drop shot in game six to take the set.
The second set also went back and forth with Querrey taking the last three sets to win. Haas had a chance to break but could not put Querrey away. Up 4-3, Haas could not find a winner; instead he found the net and slammed down his racket in frustration. Querrey fired two more aces to win.
Querrey had some extra motivation because “Sam’s Samurai” were strong in force. The group made up of the 21-year-old’s friends painted their chests and led cheers throughout the match.
Ball defeated Argentinean Leonardo Mayer in a tight match 7-5, 7-6 (3).
Ball was a long shot to make it to the finals, coming in at No. 205 and making the singles draw as a qualifier. He became the first qualifier to make the finals in the LA Tennis Open’s history.
Despite almost pulling out of the tournament last week because of a back injury, Ball has not failed to impress. He has not dropped a set in his three qualifying matches and four bracket matches.
In the doubles final, twins Mike and Bob Bryan, the No. 1 team in the world, will play Germans Benjamin Becker and Frank Moser.
LEGENDS ENTERTAIN: After the semifinal match, two tennis legends took the court, and for those fans who stuck around until almost midnight for the last point, it was well worth the wait.
Michael Chang beat Jim Courier 6-4, 3-6 (12-10) in an exhibition.
“It’s a lot of fun to come out and play, especially someone who I have so much history with like Michael,” Courier said. “We’ve been lucky to make a life through tennis.”
Chang and Courier have played each other 32 times, ending in an even 16-16 split. Courier outnumbers Chang in Grand Slams four to one.
For Chang, the return to Straus Stadium was a memorable one because his last title win was the 2000 LA Tennis Open Championship.
“2000 was my last career title,” Chang said. “I feel like it was a blessing to come out here and have so much history playing here in Southern California.”
Between the flashes of brilliance from the retired players, Courier and Chang exchanged friendly jabs with each other, referees and fans, much to the delight of the attendees.
In the fifth game of the first set, Courier bet Chang $100 he could not touch his serve. Courier then launched his first serve into the upper section of the stands, where the ball bounced down to Chang. Courier then held up his end of the bet and stopped play to give Chang his $100 bill.
In game seven of the second set, Courier took a break and gave his racket to a ball boy to finish up the game. Courier played the role of ball boy and watched his substitute win two straight points. The ball boy earned a standing ovation from the crowd.