Richard Dunn
It isn't Pete Sampras against Andre Agassi, but the level of
tennis next week at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center will be the highest
anywhere in the Newport-Mesa community. The $10,000 United States
Tennis Association men's Futures Tour stop, the Diadora Pro
Championships, features some of the world's best players not ranked
in the top 150 and is the only exclusively pro tennis tournament in
the area.
Hank Lloyd, the star of Orange County public tennis, is hosting
the first of two minor league men's pro circuit events -- the Costa
Mesa Pro Classic is held in November -- at the Costa Mesa Tennis
Center.
The Futures Tour has a full range of interesting players, from the
up-and-coming teenager to the cagey veteran trying to earn enough
points to get back on the Association of Tennis Players Tour.
"Although more than 50% of the draw will be international
players," Lloyd said, "this tournament will allow our guys to get a
shot where they have the home-court advantage."
While about 350 Futures events are played worldwide throughout the
year, only 33 this year will be played in the U.S., where the game of
tennis skyrocketed in the 1970s but has yet to experience another
popularity boom.
And, with most of Newport Beach housing private tennis clubs, the
Diadora Pro Championships and Costa Mesa Pro Classic are examples of
Lloyd's diligent effort to provide the "community" with a chance to
see quality tennis for free. Lloyd is encouraging community members
to support American players.
The event, Sept. 16-22, will award the winner eligibility into the
USTA Challenger circuit, the next level up with $50,000 purses and
one step down from the ATP Tour. Agassi played Challenger events in
1997, when his ranking soared over 100 -- later returning to his real
world to win another Grand Slam.
The Costa Mesa Tennis Center stepped in to host the Diadora Pro
Championships in an effort to bail out the USTA Futures Tour, which
had lost its original site earlier this year.
* Lloyd is hosting several events tied to the tournament,
including the Volkl Demo Day on Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. The event
is free to the public and offers games and prizes.
A pro-am doubles event is also set for Monday from 4 p.m. to 6
p.m., in which local players get an opportunity to play with touring
pros. Details: (714) 557-0211.
* One of the oldest and most competitive senior tennis
tournaments in the Western United States, the 76th annual Pacific
Southwest Senior Tennis Championship, begins Saturday at the
