Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament : Pearce Stays on Course by Beating a McEnroe

OJAI â€”  When sophomore Brad Pearce, UCLA’s No. 1 tennis player, announced a month ago that he would turn professional after this season, he certainly was thinking about days like the one he had Saturday.

Here he was, playing on center court in the semifinals of a traditional and prestigious tournament, being cheered on by a couple of thousand fans and winning his match over an opponent named McEnroe.

Instant stardom, Boris Becker style? Well, not quite.

Pearce’s win did, indeed, come on center court in the semifinals of a traditional and prestigious event, the 87th Ojai Valley tournament. Indeed, a couple of thousand spectators rooted him on.

And the opponent was named McEnroe--Patrick McEnroe, a Stanford sophomore and brother of John. Patrick plays right-handed, his famous pro brother left-handed, though the difference in their games is much greater than the arm with which they swing the tennis racket. John is a maestro, and Patrick, while a very good college player, is still back at third- or fourth-chair violin.

But even if the scenario was not quite Becker at Wimbledon, it was enough, for the moment, to make the stocky little UCLA player quite satisfied to be Pearce at Ojai.

“I’m very excited about today and about playing in the final tomorrow,� Pearce said. “This is a very prestigious tournament, and doing well here--hopefully winning it--and then making a good showing in a couple of weeks at the NCAA tournament would have me right on the schedule I want going into the pros.�

Pearce is clearly a young man who knows where he is going. And he knows that a successful stop along the way in a tournament that not only is older than even Ronald Reagan but also has been won by the likes of Jack Kramer, Arthur Ashe, Dennis Ralston, Charlie Pasarell and Ellsworth Vines cannot help but have a bit of a catapult effect on a pro career.

“The decision (to go pro) was kind of a gradual process,� Pearce said. “I beat Peter Fleming in the L.A. Open last year and then I had a good tournament at the Pilot Pen in La Quinta, when I beat Greg Holmes. When those things happen, you start thinking that you can play with these guys.�

Pearce is ranked No. 2 in the country in college tennis, behind Rick Leach of USC, who did not compete here because of an elbow injury. And he has lost only three matches all season, two of them close ones to Leach.

Saturday, he had things well in control, with a one-set and 4-0 lead, when McEnroe charged back to win the next five games.

“He maybe just let down for a bit,� McEnroe said, “and I just kept my head up, kept trying and just decided to do what I could.�

That determination got the younger McEnroe into a 5-5 and 3-3 situation (in college tennis, they play no-ad rules, so at 3-3 the next point wins the game). McEnroe served, Pearce returned, McEnroe hit an approach shot and Pearce sent his return low and over the center of the net, where a charging McEnroe couldn’t quite lift it back over. Then Pearce, despite trailing at 1-3, served out the 12th game for his 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Pearce will play teammate Michael Kures in today’s final. Kures, who won this tournament in 1984 but was out with injuries last year, is UCLA’s No. 2 player. He beat John Carras of USC in the other semifinal, 6-3, 6-3.

Pearce said that after the NCAA tournament next month at Athens, Ga., he will play with the junior Davis Cup team and start his pro career right after the U.S. Open.

“My first (pro) tournament will probably be L.A. (the Volvo),� he said, once again showing that he is a young man who knows where he is going. The L.A. tournament is played at the UCLA tennis center, meaning that Pearce’s coming-out party as a pro will also be a homecoming.