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• • The Red and Black
Thursday, November 1, 1990
VOLVO /collegiate
TENNIS / CHAMPIONSHIPS
November 1 - 4 • Henry Feiid Stadium • Athens, Georgia
Parker ready to attack in Volvo match
‘90 Volvo
Players
By RANDY WALKER
Sports Editor
When Georgia’s A1 Parker de
feated Stanford freshman Jona
than Stark for the 1989 Volvo
Tennis Collegiate Championship,
the signifancance wasn’t only
what he had accomplished, but
how he accomplished it.
Parker’s victory symbolized
not only his first-ever collegiate
Grand Slam victory, but his suc
cessful transition from his pas
sive baseline game to a more
aggressive attacking game.
"It was especially satisfying for
A1 because ne made a lot of im
provements,” Georgia coach
Manuel Diaz said. “He demon
strated that he could come into
the net, serve and volley and that
he was more of an all-court
player as oppossed to strictly a
Daseliner.”
Parker, who opens up the de
fense of his Volvo crown today at
Henry Feiid Stadium, came to
Georgia in the fall of 1987 as a
player who had won a record 25
national junior tennis titles al
most strictly from the baseline.
Parker’s 6-3, 170 pound frame
would consistently pound back
heavily-spun groundstrokes to
wear down his opponents physi
cally and mentally.
Under the guidance of Diaz,
Parker perfected and refined his
volleys, began to hit balls off the
file
Al Parker
bounce quicker, and learned to
attack more often by following
his shots to net. At last year’s
Volvo, it all came into place for
the Claxton, Ga. native.
“I felt I had gained some new
aspects and dimensions to my
game,” Parker said. “I played
more aggressive and came to the
net more and that’s the reason I
won the tournament.”
But while Parker is now ca
pable of forcing the action more
effectively, he sometimes re
gresses back to his old style of
play.
‘He’s got to be willing to make some errors to
maximize his game. For him, the key is being
assertive and aggressive.’
-Manuel Diaz
Georgia tennis coach
When lacking confidence or
feeling uncomfortable on the
court, Parker sometimes reverts
back to his cautious, tentative
baseline play.
“When I don’t feel totally confi
dent in my game, I'll sometimes
tend to play tentativley and stay
back,” Parker said. “I become too
cautious and that can hurt me.”
Diaz agrees.
“Sometimes Al becomes too
conservative,” Diaz said. “He’s
got to get to the point where he’s
not playing conservatively and
steps up and hits the ball. He’s
got to be willing to make some er
rors to maximize his game. For
him, the key is being assertive
and aggressive.”
An unassured Parker, who had
not played a competitive match
in over two months, entered the
Southern Collegiate
Championships last month as the
defending champion and top-
seeded player. His lack of confi
dence and aggressiveness re
sulted in a surprising second-
round exit by the racquet of N.C.
State’s Glen Philp.
However, a victory the fol
lowing weekend at the North-
river National Invitational in
Tuscaloosa, Ala. re-assurred
Parker and gave him a positive
outlook going into this year’s
Volvo.
“He was not feeling very confi
dent or comfortable during the
Southern Collegiates,” Diaz said.
“He wasn’t able to lay the founda
tion for the tournament. At the
same time, he was back on his
horse and played great at the
Northriver Invitational.”
"During the Southern Colle
giates, I was terrible,” Parker
said. “I just wasn’t match tough.
In Alabama, I had played a few
matches and I got into it.
“Going into Volvo, I’m very
confident and I’m really pleased
with the way I’m playing.”
Arnold heads for Henry Feiid
By RANDY WALKER
Sports Editor
Georgia’s Patricio Arnold and
three other players qualified for
the championship flight of the
Volvo Tennis Collegiate
Championships at Henry Feiid
Stadium Wednesday with two vic
tories.
After defeating Fabio Silberberg
of Tennessee 6-4, 6-4, Arnold
bested Ellis Ferreira of Alabama 7-
6 (7-5), 6-4 to qualify. Arnold will
play Alex O’Brien of Stanford at 11
a.m. in Thursday’s first round.
Other players advancing into
the main qualifying draw are Fritz
Bissell of UCLA, Chris Gambino of
Arizona, and Hubert Karrasch of
Texas.
Against Ferriera, the points
were very short as winners and un
forced errors were frequent.
“I knew the points would be real
short,” Arnold said. “Ellis gave me
no rythym. I knew it would be a
tough match to play.”
Win or lose, the Georgia junior
would be content keeping the ball
in the court with moderate speed
and depth, while Ferriera would
dictate the points with winners or
errors.
Yesterday, luckily for Arnold,
Ferriera’s errors greatly outnum
bered his winners. In a match that
lasted just under two hours, Fer
riera committed 39 unforced errors
against 16 winners.
Georgia coach Manuel Diaz
stressed the importance of Arnold’s
deep shots against Ferriera.
“Ellis was very difficult to play
because he would hit a winner on
any short ball,” Diaz said. “Pntricio
hit a good amount of high and deep
balls because if he hit a ball inside
the baseline, Ellis would hurt
him.”
After holding an early break in
the first set, Arnold entered a tie-
break with Ferriera. At 5-5 in the
tie-break, Ferriera virtually gave
the set away, double-faulting and
committing an unforced forehand
error on the next two points.
“After the tie-break, I knew I
couldn’t lose,” Arnold said. “I got a
lot of confidence because he
couldn’t make the shots in the
pressure situations.”
The momentum quickly shifted
to Arnold’s side early in the second
set, ns he took a quick 4-0 lead.
Ferriera crawled back into the
match getting one of Arnold’s two
sevice breaks back. However Ar
nold stayed level-headed and con
sistent, serving out the match in
the 10th game of the second set.
“I would have won the second set
a lot easier if I had been a little
more patient,” Arnold said.
After winning four tough
Stadium
Arnold will play Alex
O’Brien of Stanford at
11 a.m. in Thursday’s
first round.
matches to aualify for the main
draw, it would be easy for Arnold to
be satisfied, and not be emotionally
up for his first round of the
championship flight.
“That’s the tough part. I made it
through qualifiying, but I have to
think of it as just another match in
the same tournament," Arnold
said. “I can’t separate them into
two tournaments. I have to just
think of it as my fifth qualifying
match.”
Jason Netter ranks No. 6 in Volvo
Ready to get in groove for championship play
By RANDY WALKER
Sports Editor
There’s something about tour
nament play that brings the best
out of UCLA’s Jason Netter.
While posting a lack-luster 10-
15 dual match singles record
playing No. 1 for the Bruins in
1990, Netter posted a 23-3 tour
nament record that included the
Southern California Collegiate
title, the Pac-10 singles
championship, and a trip to the
NCAA singles final.
“Once I get by the first or
second round, I just seem to get
on a roll," Netter said. “With dual
matches, you play once, maybe
twice a week. For me, I need to
play a lot of matches in a row to
start getting in a groove.”
The 1990 NCAA finalist will
attempt to regain that tourna
ment momentum Thursday as he
begins play in the Volvo Tennis
Collegiate Championships at
Henry Feiid Stadium.
After getting by Mathias
Mueller of Nebraska in the first
round of last year’s NCAA Tour
nament in Indian Wells, Calif.,
Netter, ranked No. 30 by Volvo
Tennis at the time, got into his
tournament groove and procee
ding^ knocked ofT three of the
top five players in the country en
route to the finals. After upset
ting Al Parker of Georgia in the
second round 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, the
Beverly Hills native defeated
second-seeded Jonathan Stark of
Stanford 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfi
nals, before edging out Miami’s
Conny Falk 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (12-10)
in the semi-finals.
However, in the finals, Net-
ter’s run came to a halt as he was
defeated by Steve Bryan of Texas
6-3, 6-4.
•Towards the NCAAs last
year, I was in really good shape,
and that definitly helped me sus
tain my level of play for as many
matches,” said Netter, currently
ranked No. 6 by Volvo Tennis. "I
played well at the PAC-lOs so I
was pretty confident going into
the NCAAs.”
Netter’s result in Indian Wells
raised more realistic thoughts of
a professional career, but the
Bruin senior knows he needs
plenty of work.
“1 want to work on a couple of
my weaknesses so when I go out
on the tour in the summer, thevTl
be better,” Netter said. “I need to
get stronger and get in the gym
and start working on my strength
because I’m definitly not strong
enough to play at a high level like
the pros.”
As for goals for the 1991
season, Netter is completely fo
cused on a NCAA team title.
“My whole team is going to be
geared for the team,” Netter said.
“I want to win a team
championship before I graduate.
If a shot at the individual title
comes again, then it does.”
But in order to aide his team to
a coveted NCAA team title, he
must improve his dual match re
cord.
Glenn Bassett, Netter’s coach
at UCLA says that perhaps a
more intense workout the day be
fore a team match could be the
solution to Netter’s dual dumps.
“Practicing a little harder
should help, Bassett said. “We’ll
probably work with him a little
harder the day before a match so
he’s relaxed and ready for the
next day."
Since the NCAAs last Spring,
Netter has only competed in the
Segment Four satellite circuit,
where he finished second in the
four tournament series, and the
qualifying at the U.S. Open,
where he lost in the first round to
eventual aualifier Carl Lim-
berger of Austria. The lack of
play, however, sends Netter into
the Volvo Championships with a
great sense of anticipation.
“I’m not in as good shape as I
was in the spring, but I’m looking
forward to playing some matches
since I haven’t played that many
recently,” Netter said.
However, Bassett is cautiously
optimistic.
“He hasn’t been playing too
well lately, but he’s a tournament
player,” Bassett said. “If he can
get through the first few rounds,
he may be a factor."
Hl«
Jason Netter: UCLA tennis player
JONATHAN STARK - Stanford,
Soph. (Medford, Ore) VOLVO
Ranking - No. 1 — In his first-ever
college tournament last year at the
Volvo, Stark battled his wav to
final before losing to Georgia's Al
Parker 6-4, 7-6. Stark, a U.S. Open
junior singles champ in 1989, came
back after a broken toe, to lead the
Stanford Cardinal to the NCAA
team title last year playing at No. 1
singles and doubles. Stark, as the
No. 2 seed, reached the quarterfi
nals of NCAA singles, losing to
UCLA’s Jason Netter. In doubles,
Stark also reached the semi-finals
of the NCAAs and last year’s Volvo
final with Jared Palmer
CONNY FALK - Univ. of
Miami, Fla., Jr. (Sweden), VOLVO
Ranking - No. 3 — Falk had his
best collegiate showing last spring
in the NCAAs where he reached
the semi-finals, losing to UCLA’s
Jason Netter in a third-set tie
breaker (12-10). Falk squandered
three match points in nis semi
final loss, including missing an
easy forehand winner just in front
to the net. So far this year, Falk
reached the finals of the North-
river Collegiate Clay Court
Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
falling 6-1, 7-5 to Georgia’s Al
Parker in the finals.
JOSE-LUIS NORIEGA -
Univ. of San Diego, Jr. (Peru),
VOLVO Ranking - No. 4 — Pos-
sesing perhaps the most graceful
and fluid groundstrokes in college
tennis, Noriega will be a legitimate
threat to take the 1990 Volvo title
on the slow hardcourts of Henry
Feiid Stadium. Noriega’s grounds
trokes earned him the title at the
1989 DuPont National Clay Court
Championships with a victory over
eventual NCAA Champion Steve
Bryan of Texas. Bryan and Noriega
met again in the quarterfinals of
the NCAAs last soring with Bryan
pulling out a tight three-set vic
tory. Noriega has practiced with
the Peruvian Davis Cup team, and
could play for his country in 1991
against Brazil.
JARED PALMER — Stanford,
Soph. (Wesley Chapel, Fla.)
VOLVO RANKJNG - No. 12 -
Palmer was one of only three
people to defeat Northwestern’s
Todd Martin during the 1990 cam
paign when he bested the No. 1
seed in the quarterfinals of the
NCAAs last spring. In the semi-fi
nals, Palmer embarrasingly lost 6-
0, 6-1 to eventual champion Steve
Bryan of Texas. Palmer, the Cardi
nal’s No. 2 player last year, already
has played in two U.S. Opens,
reaching the second round both
times. Palmer also holds a victory
over former Wimbledon finalist
Kevin Curren at the 1989 Volvo In
ternational.
IVAN BARON - Georgia, Fr.
(Plantation, Fla.), VOLVO
Ranking - No. 25 — With his five-
set, five-and-a-half-hour victory
over Will Bull in the finals of the
National Junior Championships at
Kalamazoo, Mich., Baron became
the No. 1-ranked junior player in
the world. With the win, Baron
also received a wildcard into the
main draw of the U.S Open, where
he lost to Fabrice Santoro of
France 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. In his first
ever college tournament, Baron
captured the Southern Collegiate
CHRIS COCOTOS - Stanford,
Fr. (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
VOLVO Ranking - No. 46 - Co
cotos was the No. 1 junior player in
the country in 1989, but lost his
rung to Georgia’s Ivan Baron this
year. With an aggressive serve-
and-volley game, he won the 1990
Astrid Bowl (Belgium) this
summer and reached the quarterfi
nals of the 1990 Junior U.S. Open.
Cocotos also won the 1989 Junior
Clay Court Championship. Cocotos
received the Volvo Tennis wildcard
into the tournament.
ALEX O'BRIEN - Stanford,
Jr. (Amarillo, TX) VOLVO
Ranking - No. 7 — Playing for
Stanford’s last two NCAA
Championship teams, O'Brien is
undefeated in singles and doubles
in NCAA team matches (10-0).
O’Brien played No. 3 singles and
No. 3 doubles last year for coach
Dick Gould’s 1990 Stanford squad,
while he played No. 4 singles and
No. 1 doubles in 1989. O’Brien and
Jason Yee clinched the 1990 title
with a straight set victory over
Brice Karsh and Fabio Silberberg
of Tennessee. Last year O’Brien,
who posted a 23-4 dual match
mark, was a finalist at the Pac-10
championship, losing to UCLA’s
Jason Netter. However, he and Yee
captured the doubles title.
DAVID DILUCIA - Notre
Dame, Jr. (Norristown, Pa.)
VOLVO Ranking - No. 10 - A
former Omega Easter Bowl cham
pion as a junior player, DiLucia is
almost single-handedly putting the
Irish on the national collegiate
tennis scene. Last year DiLucia
posted a dual match record of 22-3
while earning All-American
honors. Seeded in the No. 9-16 po
sition at the NCAA Championships
last Spring, DiLucia was defeated
by Steve Herdoiza of Northwestern
in the Round of 16. This year he
will use his precision serve-and
volley game to try and become the
first two-time All-American in
Irish tennis history.
MARK JEFFREY - Missis
sippi State, Sr. (Australia) VOLVO
Ranking - No. 21 — In Jeffrey's
first ever collegiate match at the
1988 SEC Indoors, he made a
statement that he would be a force
to be reckoned with in the SEC by
nearly knocking off Georgia’s AJ
Parker. Since then, Jeffrey has ex
panded himself to become a formi
dable force on the national scene.
Jeffrey won the West Coast Fall
Championship three weeks ago,
and was a semi-finqlist at the 1989
DuPont Clay Court
Championships.
MICHAEL SHYJAN - Har
vard, Jr. (Chelmsford, Mass.)
VOLVO Ranking - No. 11 — Split
ting time at No. 1 and No. 2 singles
with Mike Zimmerman, Shyjan led
the Crimson to a 21-5 record, an
NCAA Team Tournament berth
and final No. 14 national ranking.
Shyjan’s ranking sky-rocketed into
the top 10 with a victory at the
Rolex Northeast Regional and with
wins over 1989 NCAA singles
champ Donni Leaycraft of LSU,
and highly-ranked Stephane
Simian of South Carolina in the
USTA/ITCA National Team Indoor
Championship.
— Randy Walker
Two students head
for pro tennis circuit
GEORGIA TIMES
Georgia's Al Parker will take on
Ricardo Herrera of San Diego State
at noon, while Ivan Baron will take
on Cal-Santa Barbara’s David De-
cret at 10:30 a.m. Patricio Arnold
plays Alex O'Brien of Stanford at
11 a.m.
WHAT IS THE VOLVO? The
Volvo Tennis Collegiate Tennis
Championships is the first leg of
collegiate tennis’s version of the
Grand Slam. The other Grand
Slam championships include; The
Dupont National Clay Court
Championships in Panama City,
Fla., the Rolex National Indoor
Championships in Minneapolis,
Minn., and the NCAA
Championships also in Athens, Ga.
The singles and doubles champions
this week will likely receive the No.
1 ranking when the first Volvo
Tennis poll is released in January.
NOT HERE -1990 NCAA singles
champion Steve Bryan of Texas
and Todd Martin of North
western both decided to bypass
their final two years of school to
pursue pro careers.
Bryan decided to not return to
school midway through the
summer, while Martin’s decison
followed shortly after defeating
former world’s No. 1 Mate Wi-
lander at the WCT Tournament of
Champions, a U.S. Open tune-up
event.
“I don’t think by beating my at
this point is gonna make him into
one of the best," Wilander said of
Martin. ‘He’s got the right tech
nique and I think mentally he
seems pretty strong.”
INDUCTED INTO HALL -
Brian Gottfried and Dick
Stockton, who played in the first
NCAA singles final played at the
University of Georgia in 1972,
were among five new members en
shrined in the Collegiate Tennis
Hall of Fame Wednesday evening.
Stockton, who defeated his Trinity
teammate for the 1972 NCAA title,
was a top professional throughout
the 1970s. Gottfried was a French
Open finalist in 1977 did and well
as a Wimbledon doubles champion
with Raul Ramirez in 1976. Also
inducted were Harvard’s Robert
Wrenn, three-time U.S. National
champion in 1893-5-7 and NCAA
doubles champion in 1891-92,
former Michigan State coach Stan
Drobac and Rolia Anderson
former chairman of the NCAA
Tennis Committee.
GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS
TENNIS WEEK — Georgia gov
ernor Joe Frank Harrie has pro
claimed the week of Oct. 29-Nov. 4
as “Georgia High School and Col
lege Tennis Week” in honor of the
University of Georgia hoeting its
17th national collegiate tennis
chanpionship since 1972. On Sat
urday Nov. 3, the Intercollegiate
Tennis Association will put on
clinic for all high school players in
Georgia at 1 p.m. The clinic will be
conducted by Brian Gottfried.
Georgia coach Manuel Diaz
and some his players will conduct a
clinic Sunday afternoon for partici
pants in the Special Olympics.
— Randy Walker