La Quinta Tennis : Seguso Wins This One on His Own

Robert Seguso has credentials.

As a senior in college, he owned a No. 1 tennis ranking and won an NCAA Division II championship. In 1984, his first year on the professional tour, he won a rookie-record seven tournaments, earned $100,190 in prize money and qualified for the Masters.

Next up: A trip to Japan as a member of the United States Davis Cup team.

So why haven’t you heard of Robert Seguso?

Call it the Curse of the Young Doubles Player.

Seguso happens to have made his mark in doubles, which is virtually made in invisible ink. Doubles are what they hold after the singles are done, in order to give the fans a little more tennis for their money. Doubles are what they hold in order to keep the paychecks coming for over-the-hill hangers-on--sort of a pro tennis version of Social Security.

Doubles are not the place to be if you’re 21 and looking to attract some attention, even if you’re ranked No. 3 in the world--as Seguso and his partner, Ken Flach, presently are.

Seguso knows this, which is why he had reason to celebrate Monday. Ranked 208th in the world in singles, Seguso upset No. 34, Terry Moor, 6-4, 7-6, in the first round of the $375,000 Pilot Pen tournament at the La Quinta Hotel Tennis Club.

“The success I’ve had in doubles is great,” Seguso said, “but if you want to make a bigger name for yourself and get the bigger money, you have to do it in singles, too. I don’t want to be known as just a doubles player.”

Easier said than done. Seguso and Flach, who have been winning in tandem since their collegiate days at Southern Illinois University, established their doubles identity quickly. Maybe too quickly.

When you’re just starting out on the pro circuit, you want to build up your singles ranking, so you want to play a lot of tournaments. And that means you have to make your way through the pre-tournament qualifying rounds, week after week.

For Seguso, that presents a Catch-22 scenario. The qualifying at one tournament can often be held the same time as the doubles semifinals and final in another. By doing too well in doubles, Seguso can forget about singles the next week.

“We’re entered in the doubles here,” Seguso said. “If we reach the doubles semifinals, we can’t play Houston (the circuit’s next stop). The qualifying is being held at the same time.

“You want to get your singles ranking high enough so you don’t have to go through qualifying, but to do that, you have to get points and play tournaments. . . . Last week at Delray Beach (Fla.), Flach had to withdraw from mixed doubles just to make the qualifying here. Mixed doubles--that’s the last thing you think about. You think about teaching before that.”

Flach lost during the La Quinta qualifying, but Seguso beat three opponents--including Australian Davis Cupper Paul McNamee--to reach the 56-man main draw. Then, Monday, he surprised Moor, the tournament’s 15th-seeded player, using a powerful serve to rally from a 1-4 deficit in the second set.

“I come into the locker room and everybody starts kidding me--’Good to see you playing singles again,’ ” Seguso said. “Usually, the later a tournament goes, so goes my concentration. I’m pretty happy today, fighting back from 4-1. I’ve won four matches here--that’s usually when I start falling.”

Seguso’s concentration problems have been compounded lately by the knowledge that he and Flach have been selected to play doubles for the United States in next month’s first-round Davis Cup tie in Japan. Seguso and Flach were beneficiaries of the recent controversy over the on-court conduct of 1984 U.S. team members John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.

McEnroe and his doubles partner, Peter Fleming, will be spending the first round of Davis Cup ’85 at home, paving the way for Seguso’s Cup debut.

“Ever since I qualified for Davis Cup, it’s all I think about,” Seguso said. “Ken and I haven’t played well since we got the word.

“It will be a lot better as soon as I get that first match behind me. It’ll be very different. Instead of ‘Flach and Seguso,’ it’s going to be ‘U-S-A.’ ”

So, now you know a little about who will be representing you in March in Japan. Seguso hopes this is the start of a long, meaningful relationship.

He wants to be well-known--and that means making a reputation in singles.

Given a choice, Seguso says he’d opt for a Top 40-ranking in singles over the No. 1 position in doubles.

“I’d like to do well in both, but singles, definitely,” he said. “It’s a pain in the neck to get up at 8 a.m. on Saturday mornings and sign up for qualifying.”

Other first-round winners at La Quinta Monday included:

Thierry Tulasne, who defeated fellow Frenchman and 16th-seeded Guy Forget, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.

Thirty-seven-year-old Bob Lutz, who downed Marty Davis, 7-6, 6-3.

Ninth-seeded Libor Pimek of Czechoslovakia, who beat Paraguay’s Victor Pecci, 6-4, 6-4.

And, Ben Testerman, who decisioned Tim Wilkison, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.