USTA Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championship : Injuries Don’t Stop Leichtfried : Math Teacher Upsets Marmureanu, 6-2, 6-2, in Quarterfinal Match

Hank Leichtfried has reached that point in life when any day his aspirin intake doesn’t reach double digits is a good day for tennis.

The 47-year-old high school math teacher seemed to have a better chance of being chosen for !n Excedrin commercial than reaching today’s semifinals of the Men’s 45 National Hardcourt Championships at the Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach.

With his tennis elbow, weak hamstring, bad back, blistered feet and a pulled muscle in his serving shoulder, Leichtfried deserved a round of applause for simply emerging from his car.

After he fortified himself with 16 aspirin Thursday and won matches in both singles and doubles, he considered defaulting Friday’s singles quarterfinal match because of an upset stomach.

He said he didn’t belong on the same court with his opponent, former Romanian national team player Peter Marmureanu, who was once Ilie Nastase’s doubles partner and Martina Navratilova’s coach.

A Corona del Mar resident on a year’s leave of absence from his teaching job at Huntington Beach High School, Leichtfried tried to veil his impending humiliation in as much obscurity as possible.

He insisted that club owner Lenny Lindborg move their match off the center court and bury it on something called court 16.

But when he finished with Marmureanu--winning 6-2, 6-2--it was Marmureanu who needed the aspirin.

That was hardly the result anybody expected, but such outcomes have become almost routine in an unpredictable tournament that has seen every seeded singles player--except Nos. 6 and 8--eliminated.

Top-seeded Len Saputo of Walnut Creek, the defending champion, fell victim to another left-handed former hardcourt champion Friday, Jim Perley of Coronado, 7-5, 6-1. For the third time, unseeded Bill Cover upset a seeded player in the tournament. He beat No. 4 Bob Duesler of Newport Beach, 7-5, 7-5, Friday to set up an all-San Diego semifinal at noon today against Perley.

But Leichtfried’s advance was even more of a surprise since he had not competed in a national singles championship since 1976. A few months ago, he ventured into a local singles tournament and had to limp off the court in the middle of the match with a hamstring pull.

The only reason he entered the singles play at all was to placate Lindborg, his doubles partner. When Lindborg began urging him to enter the singles, Leichtfried laughed and accused him of trying to weasel another entry fee out of him.

But a series of circumstances in his bracket operated in his advantage. First, No. 9 seed Herm Ahlers withdrew because of a bad back. Then, No. 3 seed Gil Howard was upset by Joel Fleiss in the first round.

Still, it was hardly a waltz for Leichtfried to the semifinals, particularly considering that he and Lindborg, the No. 8-seeded doubles team, were toiling away to advance. They upset the No. 4-seeded team of Les Dodson and Rauno Suominen, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, and will face No. 1 seed Dick Leach and Ron Livingston in a semifinal match at 1 p.m.

With his heart in the doubles, Leichtfried went through the early rounds of the singles feeling pleased to escape without having his reputation tarnished. But the pressure only got more intense.

“I went into this match hoping I wouldn’t lose 6-0 and 6-1,” Leichtfried said. “That’s why I made them change courts. I didn’t want to be embarrassed.”

Jim Nelson, the 15th-seeded singles player, was aced 12 times by Marmureanu Thursday. But that high-velocity serve, wasn’t as effective Friday against the quick and cagey Leichtfried.

Leichtfried’s serve, never his forte and further diminished by injuries, was considerably less imposing. But whatever his service lacked, he made up for with top-spin and strategy.

“Nobody knows what I go through with my lousy serve,” he said. “I have to work so hard. I’m so tired sometimes after playing a point. My legs are all torn up.”

And it’s not over yet. He plays the No. 8 seed, Gordon Davis of Santa Monica, today at 10 a.m.

“This is a big joke,” Leichtfried protested. “I have no business playing against these guys. I really don’t.”

Singles Quarterfinals

No. 8 Gordon Davis (Santa Monica) def. No. 2 Larry Dodge (Piedmont) 6-2, 6-4. Hank Leichtfried (Corona del Mar) def. Peter Marmureanu (Long Island, N.Y.) 6-2, 6-2. Bill Cover (San Diego) def. No. 4 Bob Duesler (Newport Beach) 7-5, 7-5. No. 6 Jim Perley (Coronado) def. No. 1 Len Saputo (Walnut Creek) 7-5, 6-1.

Doubles Quarterfinals

No. 1 Dick Leach (Laguna Beach)/Ron Livingston (Laguna Beach) def. No. 5 Dodge/Dick Landenberger (Dallas) 6-4, 7-5. No. 8 Lenny Lindborg (Laguna Beach)/Leichtfried def. No. 4 Les Dodson (Kalamazoo, Mich.)/Rauno Suominen (Utah) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. No. 3 Duesler/Jim Nelson (Newport Beach) def. No. 6 Bob Howe/Bill Davis 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. No. 2 Bob Dalton (Danville)/Saputo def. No. 7 Whitney Reed (Los Angeles)/Pancho Gonzalez (Las Vegas) 6-3, 6-2.