Monday, 7/21/97 Former Bruin, big guns ready to fire at Los
Angeles Tennis Center
By Mark Shapiro Daily Bruin Staff As the hardcourt tennis season
heats up on the road to the U.S. Open, the professional tennis tour
brings its version of the 7th Artillery to the Los Angeles Tennis
Center. The Infiniti Open, which kicks off Monday on the slick LATC
asphalt, has been a playground for fast servers, as past champions
Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Richard Krajicek can attest. This
year, it looks more like a testing ground for rocket launching as
four of the fastest servers in the world stand primed to fire.
Australian Mark Philippoussis, who holds the world’s record for
fastest serve at 142.3 mph, is first on the list, but with his No.
13 ranking, he is not the No. 1 seed. That honor will go to Goran
Ivanisevic and his 136 mph serve. Ivanisevic, who is ranked third
in the world, leads the ATP Tour in match wins and service aces
this year. These two will be joined by Thomas Enqvist of Sweden,
who is ranked seventh in the world and boasts a 134 mph serve, and
Richard Krajicek, who won the Infiniti Open last year behind his
136 mph serve. Andre Agassi, missing in action on the tour until
last week, will also play. Coming off a loss last week, Agassi will
be tuning up for the U.S. Open. Also representing the crew from
across the big pond will be British phenom Tim Henman, who raced to
the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the No. 18 ranking. Joining the
foreign legions will be a lengthy list of American entries seeking
not only to silence the booming serves, but to quiet talk of U.S.
tennis becoming a second-rate power. Heading up the star-spangled
crew will be a pair of veterans whose recent play has done little
to quiet the critics. Jim Courier, who earned the No. 1 ranking in
1992, has fallen steadily since then and is clutching to the bottom
rung of the top 30 coming into the tournament. Fellow American Todd
Martin has suffered a similar slide. He spent 1996 ranked in the
top 20, but injuries that kept him out of this year’s French Open
and Wimbledon have sent his ranking tumbling to No. 33. They will
be joined by a contingent of American players looking to make a
name for themselves a few weeks before the U.S. Open. Alex O’Brien
is the brightest of these rising stars, climbing to the 32nd
ranking behind four quarterfinal appearances this year. He also
played in the Davis Cup against Brazil. Vince Spadea, Doug Flach
and Justin Gimelstob are three others who are primed to make their
move. Spadea reached eight quarterfinals last year and won the
Rolex Orange Bowl as a junior. Flach, ranked 174th, has two
victories against Andre Agassi to his credit, including one last
week at the Legg Mason Classic. Gimelstob has reached a pair of
quarterfinals as a pro and amateur and upset French Open champion
Gustavo Kuerten at Wimbledon this year. The Infiniti Open will also
be a homecoming of sorts for Gimelstob who played at UCLA for two
years before joining the professional tour last year. After
spending his freshman year at No. 2 singles, Gimelstob stepped into
the spotlight in 1996, leading the Bruins to an undefeated regular
season and the NCAA finals. During that illustrious campaign, he
garnered All-American honors with his 28-3 overall record and No. 2
ranking in the country. He also won a national championship in
doubles with partner Srdjan Muskatirovic. Gimelstob went undefeated
at the LATC, posting a 14-0 record on Court 1, the court that will
serve as center court during the tournament. Gimelstob’s first
round opponent is Andre Agassi, so he will have his hands full in
hopes of trying to reach a 15-0 record on Court 1. The finals for
both the 32-player singles draw and the 16-team doubles draw will
be played on July 27. The Open is the second major tournament to be
played at UCLA this year. In May, the LATC hosted the 1997 NCAA
championships. Previous Daily Bruin Story: Chang brings focus to
Infiniti, 8/5/96