Court Jesters No More : 49ers Volley Their Way Past UCLA’s Tennis Supremacy

Most of them are ragtag. There is a talented Swede, but nobody wanted him either. Their coach took a chance on all of them, and now they own the greatest victory in Cal State Long Beach tennis history.

For the 49ers, the memory of that day last week at UCLA is still fresh and delicious. Although UCLA fans screamed “choke,” they hit their overheads anyway and handed the Bruins a 5-4 loss, their first defeat at Olympic Stadium in three years and 50 matches.

“Beating UCLA was something I’ve dreamed about,” said 49er senior captain Brian Gillette, who had teamed with Pat Crow to win the deciding doubles match. “Like winning the World Series in the seventh game.”

The 49ers went into that match ranked 15th in the nation. UCLA was third. It was a case, said 49er Coach Larry Easley, of a hungry team “knocking off the rich guys.”

“We don’t get the top-ranked players here,” Easley said. “Our two Swedes are not top-ranked in Sweden. Our No. 2 man, Greg Failla, was 99th in juniors. None of the Pac-6 teams would touch him; they tend to go after Top 20 players. That leaves the opportunity for me to grab junior-college transfers and lower-ranked players I think will mature.”

The 49ers followed their first-ever UCLA victory with easy wins against San Diego State and U.S. International University to improve their record to 9-1. Their only loss was to top-ranked USC.

“It’s kind of a novelty for us to have a good team,” Easley said.

But it might not be a novelty much longer. Five telephone calls also followed the UCLA match, Easley said, from players who previously had not been interested in coming to CSULB.

Fifteen minutes before Saturday’s noon match with USIU, the players pack into Easley’s office, a shed already crowded with two couches and awkward machines that string racquets and shoot balls. Squeegee handles lean against a small window. The walls hold plaques, clippings and Boris Becker posters.

The opponents are discussed: “I remember him from juniors, he has a pretty big serve but is kinda slow.” . . . “His backhand is all slice.” . . . “He’s terrible, a guy from University of Redlands beat him with a hangover.”

In the small world of tennis, few are strangers.

As his players spill into the sun, Easley calls after them: “If they’re bad, let’s take them off the court fast. No hacking around.”

Richard Bergh, the 49ers’ No. 1 singles player but whom Easley does not need on this day, watches his teammates warm up and says he wishes that he was playing--not USIU but John McEnroe. Now.

A 19-year-old sophomore ranked fourth nationally among college players, Bergh says he will turn pro after this season.

“He is one of the very few kids you can bet will make it in the pros,” Easley said.

When Bergh was 7 in Karlskoga, Sweden, home of the Nobel Prize, he had a T-shirt with Bjorn Borg’s picture on it. “Borg was an idol for all of us,” he said.

But Bergh, who lacked consistency and confidence, was not even ranked in Sweden until he was 18. And then, only ninth. CSULB was the only school that contacted him.

Now, having matured under Easley, the left-handed Bergh this season has become consistent, confident and undefeated--one of his victories was over No. 2-ranked Tim Leach of USC.

“He’s probably the cockiest player in the nation,” Gillette said of Bergh.

When Bergh came to Long Beach last year, the combination of being Swedish, blond and a tennis player was too much for some of the campus women to resist, Gillette said, and they would descend on his dorm late at night. Now he has a girlfriend, although he wishes she could cook and knit like the women back home.

The 49ers have no fancy stadium. Weathered bleachers face a tree-bordered corridor of six courts. The top players are on court No. 1. At the end, watched only by the birds, are the No. 6 guys.

On the courts of pale green and flowerpot red, the one-on-one duels begin, so brilliant in clarity under the sun as to be almost hypnotic. And the 60 or so heads in the stands indeed move back and forth, following the yellow balls spinning across the nets.

It is an atmosphere pierced only by the players’ grunts, profane outbursts in various languages and frustrated wails.

Easley, wearing a beard and a blue warm-up suit, walks from court to court, surveying his collection of late bloomers through dark glasses. He is 38 and in his third season at CSULB. A former player at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, he has taught tennis for 22 years, mostly as a club pro. He is thankful to be away from the demanding parents of junior players, away from having to watch kids get spanked on the court.

On court No. 2 is Patrick Hultgren, the 49ers’ other Swede whom Easley says is in college to get, unlike Bergh, an education. Hultgren is struggling against Robert Soneru, who curses in Romanian.

Gillette, though, is having an easy time on the third court and does not need to be his usual tempestuous self. He looks over and encourages Hultgren: “C’mon, Patrick, right now, pump it up.”

When Soneru claims a ball has landed out of bounds (there are no judges), a fan yells, “Open your eyes, buddy, the ball was good.” Soneru yells back, “Shut your mouth.”

Failla, a 49ers sophomore from San Diego, is playing on the first court against Ricard Wilhbog, who, after a game point, flings his racquet against the wind screen. But during the changeover, when they sit together and drink water from ball cans, he says quietly to Failla, “Nice shot.”

Hultgren wins, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, the fourth 49er victory of the day. The only match still going on is Failla’s, more than two hours old. The rallies have been so long that the balls have lost their fuzz, making Failla’s serves a blur. Finally, Failla wins, 7-6, 7-5, and Wilhbog slams a ball high over the trees.

“It’s a grind,” Failla said, inspecting a blister on the bottom of his foot. The skin below his tan line, where his socks were, is white. His frame, startling at 5 feet, 11 inches and 135 pounds, belies the power and toughness he is known for on the court. He has pro ambitions but says he will complete four years at CSULB first.

There will be no doubles matches (usually there are three) because USIU doesn’t want to play them, so the 49ers win, 6-0. That pleases Easley, who says, “One of our goals is to send ‘em packing.”

After the match, Easley treats his players at a pizza place near the campus. On a big TV, Boris Becker is winning some tournament.

Bergh looks up at Becker and sees himself, but it is hard for Vince Horcasitas, a senior from Las Vegas. Horcasitas played No. 2 singles as a sophomore and had a bright future until he hurt his elbow. Now he plays on court No. 6.

“There’s a lot of pressure on you when you’re that low on the ladder,” he said. “If you lose, you can be yanked (and not play singles at all). When you play No. 6, guys don’t hit the ball so hard so you have time to get tight. You’re not sure of yourself, and this game is all confidence.”

Down the table, Gillette is full of confidence. “We tend to intimidate a lot of teams with a lot of yelling,” he says. “If a ball’s out, we’ll yell, ‘Are you sure?’ and the next thing you know he gives us a couple of calls. In doubles, we hit it right at a guy.”

Easley is saying he has his players’ respect because he has been a player all his life, good enough to have reached the semifinals of the nationals in doubles. He says he can beat his lower guys, but if he played Bergh it would be a joke.

The pizzas disappear but not the hunger of most of the 49ers. They thank their coach and go right back to play more tennis.