Mixed Doubles Tennis Championships : Hard-Hitting Anne Smith Leads Team to Finals

Don’t tell Anne Smith that a weekend game of mixed doubles is supposed to be fun. She’ll just hit the ball harder.

Ask Stan Smith, one of her opponents in the semifinals of the Ford Sports Tennis Championships Saturday. After he lobbed a shot into the stands and jokingly told her to “hit it!” she fired back with a forehand so powerful that it almost took his ear off.

“C’mon,” he said. “We’re supposed to be having fun out here.”

The funny thing is, Anne Smith is probably having more fun than anyone else.

Smith and Raul Ramirez beat Stan Smith and JoAnne Russell, 7-6, 7-4. In the second match, Dick Stockton and Bonnie Gadusek beat Ilie Nastase and Robin White, 7-5, 6-2.

Afterward, tournament master of ceremonies Tony Trabert asked Anne Smith about her ability to overpower men with her forehand. “I try to,” she said. “I like to play aggressively. I get charged up playing mixed (doubles) because I know the men are going to hit hard. What they don’t expect is that the girls may hit back even harder. I think we surprise them sometimes.”

Smith, 27, has provided plenty of surprises throughout her athletic career. A native of San Antonio, she played high school basketball for only a year, despite averaging more than 30 points a game. She moved on to tennis when she found that it better fit her “intense and perfectionist” attitude--one she feels both helps and hinders her performance.

“I have a strong mind-set,” she said. “But my psyche I need to work on.”

That would probably surprise anyone who watched her play Saturday afternoon. Smith bent over backward to get shots thought lost to the depths of a down point. Ramirez, who provided a stable backup for his busy partner, seemed jubilant over the victory and unconcerned that she hit about three-quarters of their shots.

“With Anne, it’s very fun,” he said. “I enjoy playing with partners who love to win and like to struggle for long points like she did. It was great today because the crowd really got into it (the women’s performance). The girls play well because they are expecting the hits to be tough.”

Following the theme of the earlier match, Gadusek played spectacular tennis, leaving Stockton to act as consistent second--a position that, like Ramirez, Stockton didn’t seem to mind.

“Bonnie played terrific . . . unbelievably well,” he said. “She’s solid in her serve and doesn’t let the men intimidate her. She can really hold her own against them when they try to overpower her.”

Gadusek, a one-time gymnast before a fall from the uneven parallel bars turned her athletic sights toward tennis, seemed only mildly enthused about her performance.

“I played well,” she said. “My serve was consistent. I was happy about it.” And about today’s 1 p.m. finals against Smith and Ramirez?

“They’re a tough team, and we’ll have to play real well to win. But both Dick and I are playing well, so we’ll see.”

Said Stockton: “Anne’s a great doubles player, and Raul is very dangerous . . . real quick. I think there’ll be a lot of good shots. It’ll probably be a great match to watch.”