USTA Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championships : Marmureanu’s Name, Record Draws Attention

Peter Marmureanu’s name keeps cropping up at the U.S. Tennis Assn. Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championships at the Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach. Rumors bounce from court to court with all sorts of tales about from whence this unseeded player came.

“He’s a hot one,” said one entrant. “I heard he was from Transylvania or somewhere like that.”

“He played on a Davis Cup team I think,” said another player. “And he used to coach Martina, too.”

“He’s definitely the guy to watch,” said umpire Bob Hansen. “His serve could slaughter you.”

The truth is, direct from the dark horse’s mouth, that Mr. Marmureanu simply is another nice guy who plays a very aggressive game of tennis.

“I just enjoy the game,” he said. “This will be my first tournament in Southern California, and I’m going to try hard like everybody else.”

A native of Romania, Marmureanu played on the national team for 12 years until defecting to the United States in 1975. During those years he played in every major tournament, including the French Open and Wimbledon, often as a doubles partner to Ilie Nastase.

And yes, he did coach Martina Navratrilova--for six months.

Now a U.S. citizen, the 45-year-old Marmureanu lives on Long Island, New York, where he coaches some of the top junior players in the U.S.

He’s in Orange County on a vacation of sorts, and because he tries to play at most of the national 45 tournaments, he’s spending part of this week in Huntington Beach.

And what does he think about being such an item of court conversation?

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “The tournament is very tough. You have to fight hard in every match. Wait until the quarterfinals, then we’ll see.”

Tuesday, Marmureanu defeated Bill Davis, 6-2, 6-2.

The third round of the series begins today at 9 a.m. Marmureanu will play Whitney Reed, a former No. 1-ranked player in the U.S. who is from West Los Angeles.

In the second round Tuesday, the top two seeds remained unsown. Defending champion Len Saputo defeated Ted Wright of Malibu 6-0, 6-3. Second seed Larry Dodge defeated Ian Paulson of Encinitas 6-7, 6-2, 6-1.

The tournament continues with quarterfinals Friday and semifinals Saturday.

The finals will be Sunday at noon.

Men’s 45 Hardcourt Second-Round Results:

No. 2 Larry Dodge (Piedmont, Calif.) def. Ian Paulson (Encinitas), 6-7, 6-2, 6-1; Dick Landenberger (Dallas) def. Ricardo Remolif (Los Angeles), 6-3, 7-5; No. 13 Marty Devlin (Trenton, N.J.) def. Raymond Sipos (Costa Mesa), 6-0, 6-1); Bob Castle (Virginia) def. Jack Donnelly, 6-0, 6-0.

No. 8 Gordon Davis (Santa Monica) def. Byron Burden, 6-0, 6-2; Larry Cooley (Kansas) def. George Rissotto (Huntington Beach), 6-1, 6-4; Harry Wilson (Pacific Palisades) def. No. 16 Bob Dalton (Danville, Calif.), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Mike Rabbitt (La Jolla) def. Frank Webster (Huntington Beach), 6-4, 6-0; Fred Scott (Los Angeles) def. Joel Fleiss (Los Angeles), 6-0, 6-2; Hank Leichtfried (Corona del Mar) def. Brad Hamilton (Cincinnati), 6-2, 6-1; Bill Richling (Encino) def. Tom Dinwiddie (Arizona), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Jason Morton (Phoenix) def. Bob Jones (Irvine), 7-6, 6-3; No. 5 Whitney Reed (Los Angeles) def. Dick Keddy (Huntington Beach), 6-3, 6-2; Peter Marmureanu (New York) def. Bill Davis, 6-2, 6-2; No. 15 Jim Nelson def. Bob Deaton (Texas), 7-6, 6-2; Norm Fitz (Maryland) def. Ron Groves (Kansas), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; Bill Cover (Solana Beach) def. Ken Stanley (Roseville, Ca.), 5-7, 6-2, 6-0; No. 10 Dick Leach (Laguna Beach) def. Ray Savorn (Rancho Cordova), 6-1, 6-3; Lenny Lindborg (Huntington Beach) def. Jack Allen (La Jolla), 6-0, 6-1; Les Dodson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) def. Bill Herader (Costa Mesa), 6-0, 6-0; Ben Serkin (Beverly Hills) def. Jerry Anderson (Sacramento), 6-0, 6-0; No. 12 Rick Fried (Honolulu) def. Jack Darrah (Wetlake), 6-3, 6-4.

Ernie Schoop (Pacific Palisades) def. Dick Lister (Costa Mesa), 6-1, 6-2; No. 4 Bob Duesler (Newport Beach) def. Art Jenkins (Dana Point), 6-0, 7-5; John Sahration (La Jolla) def. Hollis Smith (Los Angeles), 6-3, 6-1; No. 14 Forrest Stewart (Malibu) def. King Lambert (Santa Ana), 6-2, 6-1; John Gorsky (New York) def. Al Robertson (Huntington Beach), 6-3, 6-3; Jim Perley (Coronado) def. Chuck Nelson, by default; No. 11 Ron Livingston (Laguna Beach) def. Keith Hamilton (Torrance), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Mel Lewis (Inglewood) def. Charles Shapiro, 6-4, 6-4; No. 1 Len Saputo (Walnut Creek) def. Ted Wright (Malibu), 6-0, 6-3.