Aztec Tennis Reporter

FOR THE SAN DIEGO STATE TENNIS COMMUNITY Vol 3, No 4, 2001 Maiberger Upsets Kim, Named All American Aztec Defeats Champ, Gains NCAA Final 16, Chosen Player of Year

Oliver Maiberger, San TEAM MATES: Billie Jean Diego State’s top men’s sin- King and Larry Willens. gles player, dethroned Alex Kim, the defending NCAA Aztecs, Toreros singles champion, 7-5, 6-2, in the first round of the national To Host 16 Teams intercollegiate championships at Athens, Georgia. Seeking U.S. Title Maiberger’s victory was The National Collegiate Team his second this year over Kim, Tennis Championships moves to but it surprised NCAA tourna- San Diego this fall, where it will ment officials, who had be co-hosted by San Diego State seeded the Stanford ace at and the University of San Diego. number two, expecting him to The tournament, now in its reach the 2001 finals. Aztec Tennis Reporter Photos Courtesy Georgiadogs.com third year, was developed in as- It was the first loss by a ALL AMERICAN: Aztec Oliver Maiberger awaits serve, sociation with previous year’s title holder in left, and swats forehand at 2001 NCAA Championships in and directed by Larry Willens, the first round of the NCAA Athens, GA, where he upset Stanford’s Alex Kim, 7-5, 6-2. volunteer Aztec women’s coach. championships, according to The players utilize King’s World records dating back to 1950. Maiberger was named tered in the second set, he Team Tennis scoring format. "I would have to say it was Mountain West Player of the “ended up breaking (Carey) The 2001 event, to be held at a real battle out there,” said Year and earned the victory and serving it out. That was the Barnes Tennis Center in Sep- Maiberger. “We both didn't over Kim after three weeks of great.” tember, is a major prize for San play our best tennis. Obvi- high-intensity practices under The victory propelled Diego tennis fans. It draws the ously it is a good win for me Coach John Nelson. Maiberger into the Round of 16 top 16 collegiate co-ed teams in and I really feel happy.” “I’ve been playing really and qualified him as an All- the country, based on rankings Despite his disappoint- hard,” he told reporters after American, the second Aztec in supplied by the Intercollegiate ment, Kim praised Maiber- the match. “My coach did a two years to receive the honor. Tennis Association in Princeton, ger : really good job preparing me." Alex Waske won All-American NJ. “Oliver played really good. In the second round, status last year by virtue of The University of South Ala- Coming into the tournament, I Maiberger defeated Adam being seeded in the top 16. bama upset host Stanford to win felt that I had a good chance Carey of Tennessee, 6-3, 7-5. Sophomore Maiberger’s the 2000 championship. to repeat as singles cham- “It was a solid match,” said The combined San Diego pion.” Nelson. When Maiberger fal- (Continued on Page 4) State team (Oliver Maiberger, Valentino Pest, Whitney Wells, Katey Becker, Julie Chidley) fin- Waske’s Tour Diary: “I Was Ready to Kill the Guy…” ished 15th, edging out Tulsa. Editor’s Note: Aztec Alex (on the court!). So that means I smell or were they just not Waske of Germany (1998- I have one of these watches creative? INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 2000) plays on the tour and which measure my pulse and I Well, other than that I feel I emails his diary to ATR. have to jog for like 45 minutes am getting fitter, but I am not All ESPN All The Time? 2 Thursday, April 5, 2001 in between a certain heart hitting the ball that well. I will I am practicing quite a lot. I rate. start playing again in two 1984: The Great Search 3 have some time off now, and I My birthday was ok; I weeks, we'll see how it goes. ATR’s Unforced Errors 4 am trying to use it for my con- cooked, invited my best Sunday, May 6, 2001 ditioning. They tested my friends, and we went out after. Things are getting better. I NEXT ISSUE: speed, strength, and endur- I got a lot of presents, mostly just came back from a future ance, and I am good in the first perfume and shower gels! Golf: 10 Good Reasons two, but I suck in endurance Something wrong with the way (Continued on Page 3) Page 2 Aztec Tennis Reporter

In the 1940s and 1950s, So, Is It All-ESPN All The Time? per athletes academically. bored college students swal- “Everyone — that’s every- lowed goldfish and stuffed one — lowers standards for themselves into phone booths. athletes,” says Author John Now, says Indiana University Feinstein (“Hard Courts”) professor Murray Sperber, it’s + = writing in the Washington all-ESPN all the time. Post. In “Beer and Circus: How doesn’t excuse ESPN for its education, with stimulating Who is to blame? “Every Big-Time College Sports is hip style and inexhaustible and committed teachers.” era has its athletic villains,” Crippling Undergraduate Edu- weeknight appetite for college Sperber, meanwhile, has says Columnist Robert Lipsyte cation,” (323 pp, Henry Holt & football and basketball. (Too more fish to fry: He describes in The New York Times. Co, New York) Sperber bad Bristol U. has so little hun- an aristocracy of athletes. First, it was “tramp” ath- charges that universities try to ger for college tennis.) “From the first contact be- letes (1920s), then “tramp” compensate for their lack of Has Sperber got the goods tween an athlete and a coaches (1950s), then shoe commitment to undergraduate on the suspects? Not entirely, school,” Sperber writes, “the companies (1960-1990s) and education by fostering major says Andrew Hacker of the jock knows that he or she is now, writes Lipsyte: athletic programs which act as City University of New York. special and is treated much “Current perceived villains a kind of opiate. Writing in The New York better than ordinary student are those faculty members, Sperber’s analysis seems Review of Books, Hacker has applicants — among other the tramp star professors and on target. On some cam- his own gripes (low grades perks, the university usually the tenured clock-watchers puses, students get feloni- among athletes, overcrowded pays for the visit. “ alike, who determinedly ignore ously excited about The Big classes, professorial indiffer- Still, once on the payroll the plagiarized papers, doc- Game, The Playoffs, and The ence). But he questions Sper- (scholarship), he reports, “the tored grades, and fraudulent Sweet 16. After they lost Final ber’s conclusions that the big jock, working in a sport for 30, eligibilities that keep blue Four games, Maryland fans universities are corrupt and 40, or more hours per week, chips on the table.” set fires, Arizona fans rioted. that all most students are definitely earns his or her ath- The gauntlet is down. Sperber blames universi- looking for is an easy degree. letic scholarship.” Question: What is the truth ties for “their escalation of big- Hacker insists most stu- One bad result, Sperber about this at San Diego State? time college sports.“ And he dents “would like a demanding suggests: The schools pam- — John Martin (1957) When Billie Beat Bobby: Waiting for High-Octane Tennis to Ignite

By Tom Penner played son has ing verisimilitude is achieved. The inescapable fact of with smirk- done, The rest of the match is making a "tennis" movie is ing delight filming linked together with close ups that the actors don’t usually by actor the action and quick cuts in an effort to know how to play tennis. and tennis using cover up the holes in Holly’s Prior to filming ABC TV’s pro Vin- every and Ronnie’s games. "When Billie Beat Bobby," cent Van cinematic The question persists: Now went through a Patten, the trick in that we know a tennis story rigorous crash course, and two kindle the book. can be told well, will Holly- while she didn’t quite master a giddy The wood ever get the action her forehand, she did pick up irrever- potential right? the essence of Billie Jean ence FAME GAME: Tennis Night at Movies for high- Just as tennis itself takes King. (think El- octane much more commitment to Therein lies this movie’s liot Gould and Donald Suther- tennis cinema is hinted at excel, so must the makers of strength: Its awareness that land in the original M*A*S*H). early in the movie during Billie the next "tennis" movie strive great sports movies are not But for stuffy tennis purists Jean’s junior days on the hard for even more tennis reality. about the sport itself, but demanding realism in their courts of Long Beach. With about people. tennis cinema, this newest King’s short, dark hair and Written and directed by the entry falls a little short. familiar cat-glasses, the young Tom Penner (1981-83) of savvy , the Yes, there is hope. And actress portraying her is obvi- Long Beach writes screen- story of the feminist King and yes, Anderson succeeds not ously a real-life junior ace. plays and teaches tennis. her private hell on the road to only to liven up the action, but This is a delight to the cam- the "match of the century" also to place the viewer inside era’s eye, the strokes dynamic Aztec Tennis Reporter makes this possibly one the Billie and Bobby’s heads dur- and punishing, if only for a few This is the 14th edition of Aztec best "tennis" movies ever pro- ing their fabled slugfest. frames. Tennis Reporter, a newsletter for players, coaches, alumni, and friends duced. Granted, the list is But let’s face it, high level Later, during the climactic of San Diego State tennis. short. tennis is hard to fake. Maybe match at the Houston Astro- Now in its third year, ATR is being Ron Silver is fabulous, a digital imaging is the answer, mailed to 1,029 readers in 37 states dome, another tennis ace and 18 foreign countries. dead ringer for the wily Riggs. literally applying an actor’s stands in for Riggs on a few To receive a copy, contribute an With his friend and hitting part- head to a skilled tennis long shots (is it Van Patten?) article, or comment by letter, write to John Martin, Editor, ATR, 1528 Cor- ner, Lornie Kuhle at his side, player’s body, then, as Ander- and again that certain, burst- coran St., NW, Washington, DC 20009. Volume 3 Number 4 Page 3

Where Are We Now? The Great Search (1942-2001) Continues 1984 Shelley Susman Carol Plunkett Peter Mattera Tenley Treat Gritt (1981-85): I’m (1983-87): I’m a (Coach, 1976- (Assistant Coach, a small business accountant (I San Diego working mother, 1993): I’m retired, 1984-1993): I’m the don’t do taxes!) and mother of teaching tennis traveling a lot, head women’s ten- Kaitlyn (5 in July) and Sierra (3 in State on the same pri- working a little as nis coach in my August). I play tennis for fun. We Women’s vate court in La a tax consultant in eighth season, liv- live in Chula Vista; my husband, Jolla where my Portland, Oregon, ing in Carlsbad Kurt, teaches math and coaches Tennis mom once taught, trying to golf, and with my wife, Beth, the baseball team at Hilltop High. Team and caring for my finding it very frus- and Kayley, 14, kids, Victoria, 4, trating (tennis is so and Torre, 12 — Jenny Rens (1982-84): I graduated from North- Dana Bleicher and James, 20 much easier). and yes, I’m still months (in June). surfing. western University Dental Pohlman (1983-87): I School, went into prac- worked in the garment tice with my Dad in La industry in LA and cor- Jolla and now own it on porate recruiting and my own. I’ve just started now live in Pacific Beach hitting (tennis) again — with my husband, Jeff and surfing. I’m loving it. Pohlman, and our kids, Trevor, 3, and Emily, 1. This was the best year of Catherine Berry Davies my life — we were a (1982-86): I’m enjoying great team! I miss them! county (league) tennis in Southampton, England, Taiche Kantner Rudee and staying in shape. My (1983-84): I taught husband (he’s in the junior tennis for 12 pharmaceutical business) years; now I’m cus- and I have just had twins! tomer service manager for the Sovietski Col- Carol Neeld Lang (1980- lection catalogue. I live 84): I’ve run a graphics in Tierrasanta with my design business, husband, David Rudee, coached a high school and our son, Kyle, 9 Linda Howell (1981 team, and play 5.0 tennis. Cynthia MacGregor months old (in June). -85) : I played on My husband, Bill, a test the tour, was head (1982-86) played on the engineer, and I (and our tennis professional women’s tour with her kids, Sandy, 10, and Billy, Heather Petty (1981-84): I’m a detec- at the Riviera sister. She is deceased. 7) live in Las Cruces, NM. tive in the robbery division of the San Country Club in (The kids now play, too). Diego Police Department. I live in Es- Los Angeles, and condido with my husband, Kevin Bar- now I’m a financial Jean Dillingham (1981-84): I was a USTA schools director nard, a narcotics detective; he played advisor for UBS and a manager for Penn Racquet Sports; now I teach mid- college tennis at UNLV — and yes, we Paine Webber in dle school PE and 15-20 hours of tennis a week, and am met on a tennis court. Century City. starting a credit card processing business with my (junior) tennis coach. I live in Studio City, CA. Waske’s Diary: “The Only Thing That Kept Me from Killing Him…” (Continued from Page 1) Viloca (ATP 105) 6-4 7-6, so I the harder I served, the better kept me from killing him was in Esslingen, Germany. I guess I am getting better. I am he returned. Then it worked my brain telling me that the made semis in singles. I playing aggressive again. To- fine, I was playing a lot better penalty will be very high played my partner first round morrow morning I will take off than him. Then the coach of (money wise and the time of in singles, beat him 7-5 in the to Jerusalem to play a chal- his friend comes up, sits next being ineligible for playing), so third, then the (seventh) lenger. to the fence, and starts pro- I only put in a complaint...at seeded Frenchy (Jean- Wednesday, May 9, 2001 voking me. It worked, I was the supervisor's office. Baptiste) Perlant (6-1 6-1) and Back in Germany! I lost ready to kill the guy. The um- Overall, I wasn't unhappy the third seed (Thierry) Guar- first round to the number three pire told him to step away because I…(used) the circum- diola (2-6 7-5 7-6). We won seed (Stephane) Huet, 4-6 6-4 from the fence, which he did stances as an advantage and the doubles, which puts us to 2-6. There was a storm during (one step), and he kept doing not as an excuse. I'll probably 8-0 in career wins. my match, windiest conditions it. I lost my serve and my con- train for a week and then go Today I played league in I have ever played through. centration, and things (went) back out there. Hope all is France and beat (Juan Albert) But my biggest problem was downhill. The only thing that well! Alex. Maiberger Upsets NCAA Champ, Wins All American Honors (Continued from Page 1) Nelson said the SDSU men son reached the NCAA dou- should be awesome.” achieved three historic firsts: bles quarterfinals. The Aztecs will lose seniors 2001 NCAA run ended against “First time we had a player The Aztecs won the 2001 Webster, Matt Bere, and Duke freshman Phil King, 6-4, make it to the quarterfinals in Mountain West Conference Shawn Hiatt, but Nelson said 6-4. King was seeded 5-8. the National Indoors. Tino title in regular season play, he expects Felix Hardt, a young Nelson called the defeat “not (Valentino Pest) did that,” Nel- SDSU’s first conference German who enrolled in Janu- a great match” for Maiberger. son said. “First time the team tennis championship in eight ary, to join Maiberger and Pest “He competed extremely well ever made it to the National years. at the top of the team’s lineup (earlier) and didn’t play as well Indoors, (only 16 teams are San Diego State won the next year. as he had played.” invited); (and) first time a Western Athletic Conference Hardt’s absence, due to In the 32-team NCAA Dou- player has made it to the season title in 1990-93, re- ineligibility, hampered the 2001 bles Championships, Maiberger NCAA round of 16 in singles.” called Coach Bream, but Aztecs. But Nelson said the and Adam Webster fell in the Aztec Coaches Skip each year the Aztecs fin- addition of Hardt and two or opening round to Peter Luczak Redondo (1977-1989) and ished off the mark in the more transfer students could and David Mullis of Fresno Hugh Bream (1989-1993) con- year-end WAC tournament. make the 2002 Aztecs a power- State, 7-5, 6-2. The Bulldogs firmed that Maiberger is the The 2001 season “wasn’t ful team with national promise. were seeded 5-8. first SDSU player to reach the as strong as we would have In 2000, the Aztecs reached Reflecting on his upset of Round of 16 in the NCAA Ten- liked,” conceded Nelson, the NCAA Sweet Sixteen finals Kim, Maiberger said he built on nis Championships, which “but I think next year we in Athens, GA. their two previous encounters: adopted the current format in "I played Alex last year at 1977. NCAAs and lost, and then In 1992, Aztecs Jeff Belloli played him in February and and Chris Numbers reached beat him in three sets. So I the NCAA doubles semifinals; knew that I could beat him.” in 1991, Belloli and Dax Peter- For the 2001 Aztec season, ATR’s Season: A Few Unforced Errors Editor’s Note: In our May BYU, 4-1, and then by New issue (Vol 3, No 3), ATR’s re- Mexico, 4-2, finishing fourth ports on the season were in- (SDSU won the MWC title with complete. a 6-1 season record). In the Mountain West Con- For the record, despite ference tournament, SDSU’s strong second-half showings, women defeated both Air Force neither Aztec team received an Academy and Colorado State invitation to the 2001 NCAA to reach the finals (where they playoffs. ABC Television Photos lost to BYU). ATR did not report Stanford won the women’s the victory over Colorado State. title, defeating Vanderbilt in the When Holly Beat Ronnie ATR did not report a men’s final. SDSU women ranked team loss to New Mexico in the 43rd. Georgia won the men’s Ron Silver as (as Little Bo Peep) and conference tournament. The title, defeating Tennessee in the Holly Hunter as Billie Jean King in “When Billie Aztecs were first upset by final. SDSU men ranked 63rd. Beat Bobby.” Aztec Tom Penner’s review, Page 2.

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