La Quinta Tennis : Stefanki and Pate Finish Off the Favorites

Larry Stefanki and David Pate today bid you welcome to the championship final of the $375,000 Pilot Pen tournament, where they serve as fitting representatives of a tennis field gone upset-crazy.

Surprises can be fun and unpredictability is exciting, but the underdogs at the La Quinta Hotel Tennis Club this week have taken a good idea and gone haywire with it.

They upset Jimmy Connors, they upset Henrik Sundstrom, they upset Aaron Krickstein, they upset Jose Higueras . . . they upset so many people that there’s no one left to upset.

Libor Pimek and Greg Holmes, the tournament’s two remaining seeded players, made their last stands Saturday afternoon. Neither had expected to get this far, but somebody had to be the favorite in each of the two semifinal matches.

And they were it.

Pimek, a quietly efficient baseliner from Czechoslovakia, was seeded ninth. Holmes was seeded 14th. It was his racket that had Connors’ number on it in the quarterfinals.

Thus, Pimek and Holmes were marked men as they walked onto the stadium court Saturday to face a pair of first-time opponents.

And now, the tournament is seedless.

Stefanki served and volleyed his way to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Holmes. And Pate, overcoming a bad case of nerves and Pimek’s forehand, scored his first straight-set victory of the tournament, 7-6, 6-4.

This presents an intriguing scenario for today’s noon final: Who is favored? Or, more to the point, which lucky guy gets to be the underdog?

Pate owns the higher ranking--exactly 100 points higher, 43 to 143. But Stefanki is 2-0 in head-to-head matchups with Pate. And, Stefanki owns a home court advantage, playing before friends and students who know him as the La Quinta Tennis Club resident touring pro.

Today’s final will be played under an expanded format--best-of-five sets, instead of best-of-three. So, this could take a while.

Stefanki and Pate are already guaranteed the biggest paydays of their pro tennis careers.

Stefanki is already assured the runner-up fee of $25,500--with a shot at the $51,000 first prize.

Those numbers excite Pate. That was one reason for the sweaty palms during his match against Pimek.

“I was tense, very tight,” Pate said. “I was playing for $25,000--and a lot of ATP points. I was playing to lift my ranking into the 20s. That’s a very big step for me.”

Pate and Stefanki stepped into the final in similar fashion--behind the blur of a big serve.

Stefanki knew it was his only chance against Holmes. He had never played Holmes before, but he had him well-scouted.

“I saw what he did against (Danie) Visser and Jimmy (Connors) and I thought, ‘Boy, oh boy,’ ” Stefanki said. “I knew I had to serve a lot harder than I did in previous matches.

“I thought I served smart. I got a lot of first serves in and I hit my second serve a lot heavier than usual.”

Stefanki would then usually follow his serve with a quick burst to the net and a deep volley. Holmes, who likes to play it free and easy from the baseline, was suddenly pinned back.

“He put pressure on me the whole match,” Holmes said. “That type of style is the best way to beat my game.”

Holmes was beaten badly in the first set, 6-2. In second, he made a decision: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Holmes vacated the sanctuary of the backcourt, trying to change the tempo and match Stefanki volley-for-volley.

Stefanki saw this and immediately, his eyes lit up.

“I was happy about that,” he said, “because he doesn’t serve and volley well. When you see your opponent deviate from what he does best, you know you’re in good shape.”

The tactics worked for Holmes for one set, but in the third, his serve betrayed him and his volleys kept finding the net.

“There was no real pressure on me,” Stefanki said. “People kept saying to me, ‘Are you thinking about all the money, the points, the ranking?’ I don’t know. The people in the stands are my friends. I was trying to win every point for them.”

Pate, however, was thinking about the money, the points, the ranking. And that proved to be his biggest problem against Pimek.

“I was concerned about winning and raising my ranking. That’s important for me,” Pate said. “I was tight. . . . I don’t feel I played a very good match.”

Against Pimek, it was good enough. The Czech was off balance the entire match, blasting enough forehands to make it close but that was about all.

Pimek had chances--serving for the first set at 5-4 and leading in the second, 4-3. But, in both instances, a service break was not far away.

Pate forced a first-set tiebreaker, where he outlasted Pimek, 8-6. Then, in the second set, he broke Pimek at 4-4 and closed out the match.

On match point, Pimek hit a forehand--his forte--out of bounds.

Pate had completed the final upset of La Quinta ‘85, also known as Upsets R Us. One match remains, and it’s a toss-up.

Anything is likely to happen.