Volvo Tennis Tournament at UCLA Gives Americans Chance to Regroup

The American men will have a chance to regroup starting this week; hoping to recover from the Czechoslovakian invasion that ran through the U.S. Open.

The Swedes remain as strong as ever, and the French players are seemingly multiplying. Meanwhile, Jimmy Connors is fading, and John McEnroe’s comeback is back but not coming along. It’s been a painful year for American men in tennis.

The regrouping may start today at the $315,000 Volvo Tennis/Los Angeles tennis tournament at the L.A. Tennis Center at UCLA. The 32-man field is packed with young American players eager to disengage themselves from the current loser image this country has on the international tennis scene. Six of the top eight seeded players in this tournament are Americans.

Brad Gilbert, seeded No. 2, can only patiently recite the same speech he gave at the Open: “I think everything goes in cycles. I think people in the States have a hard time accepting anyone who is not No. 1 or No. 2. That’s rough. There are a lot of young guys out there trying as hard as they can. It’s not like we aren’t trying.”

Gilbert is clearly doing what he can for the cause. Gilbert played excellent tennis in the first three rounds at the Open, before wilting to Ivan Lendl in the Round of 16.

“I felt like I was serving well in the first three matches,” Gilbert said in a telephone interview Sunday. “Then I served poorly against Lendl. He just seemed to get better as the match went on. I was happy to get to the Round of 16, I just happened to run into Lendl.”

In fact, the only thing Gilbert seemed upset about was that his beloved Raiders lost, 10-6, to the Washington Redskins Sunday. Gilbert describes himself as “a die-hard Raiders fan. That game really ruined my week.”

Gilbert won’t want to expend too much psychic energy fretting about the Raiders, he’s got a tough week himself. Gilbert is in John McEnroe’s side of the draw. McEnroe is ranked No. 20 in the world and seeded No. 6 here. He and Gilbert are likely to meet early in the tournament.

If that happens, it would be an interesting rematch. Last year Gilbert lost to McEnroe, but not before exchanging some sharp words. McEnroe said something to the effect that Gilbert didn’t belong on the same court with him.

Gilbert got the last word, however. He beat McEnroe soundly in the first round of the Master’s tournament three months later. It was the last match McEnroe played before his 6 1/2-month layoff from tennis.

Another possible rematch is between top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden and fifth-seeded Paul Annacone of Bridgehampton, N.Y. Both are in the same half of the draw.

The Annacone-Edberg final last year was the most exciting tennis match in the tournament, and some think it was one of the best anywhere. Annacone managed to win an unbelievably close match, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6.

Aside from Edberg and Gilbert, other seeded players are: No. 3 Tim Mayotte, No. 4 Anders Jarryd, No. 5 Annacone, No. 6 McEnroe, No. 7 Jimmy Arias and No. 8 Aaron Krickstein.

Another player to watch is Tim Wilkison, a 26-year-old slugger from North Carolina. Wilkison, who is known as Rambo and Dr. Dirt, thrilled fans at the Open as he made it to the quarterfinals.

The man Wilkison beat in the third round, Soviet star Andrei Chesnokov, is also here.

Three local players made it through the qualifying, Kelly Jones of San Diego, Jim Pugh of Palos Verdes and Derrick Rostagno of Brentwood.

Play begins today at the Tennis Center at UCLA at noon. Starting Tuesday and running through Saturday, there will be two sessions, at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s final will be at 4 p.m.

THE FACTS

What: Volvo Tennis/Los Angeles.

Where: Los Angeles Tennis Center, UCLA.

When: Today through Sunday. Semifinals at 1 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Final Sunday at 4 p.m.

Top seeds: No. 1 Stefan Edberg, No. 2 Brad Gilbert, No. 3 Tim Mayotte, No. 4 Anders Jarryd, No. 5 Paul Annacone, No. 6 John McEnroe.

Purse: $315,000.