Ojai Tennis Tournament : USC’s Jensen Breezes Into the Pac-10 Final

USC sophomore Luke Jensen has submitted his bid for recognition, and possibly, an NCAA singles title with a strong showing in the 88th Ojai tennis tournament. Jensen, ranked No. 2 in the nation, is now playing some of his best tennis.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Jensen defeated Cal’s Steve DeVries, 6-4, 6-1.

Jensen’s teammate, Rick Leach, hurt his back playing DeVries at No. 1 singles in a match last week. So, for the second straight year, Leach was forced to withdraw from Ojai with an injury.

With Leach’s injury, some thought that a bit of the luster might have come off the men’s Pac-10 singles event. But forgotten, somehow, was Jensen, who defeated top-ranked Richey Reneberg of SMU in the final of the National Indoors at Richmond, Va., and was undefeated in dual-match play until the end of February.

“I’m kind of tired of being considered a dark horse,” said Jensen, who will play Stanford’s Patrick McEnroe in today’s final.

Yet, based on his past record against McEnroe, Jensen would have to be considered a decided underdog. He has defeated his longtime opponent and sometime doubles partner only once, and that was in junior competition. Jensen has lost to McEnroe twice this year, including dual-match play last week.

UC Irvine Coach Greg Patton, who never met a quote he didn’t like, on the tournament:

“When I die and go to heaven, I’m going to get a leave and come to Ojai,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going to stop doing this.”

In the last 20 years, Patton has missed just one Ojai tournament. Knowing Patton, it’s surprising he didn’t wangle a four-day leave on that occasion to come home from coaching tennis in the Peace Corps in Ghana.

Of course, 20 years is really nothing when you start talking about Ojai veterans. For some, it’s hard to remember a time when they didn’t come to Ojai and pass out cookies and pour tea.

They don’t pass the torch here; it’s more like passing the teapot.

Part of the tradition is that a person isn’t allowed to leave a particular job unless she has trained someone else.

“But usually, when most people get a job, they want to keep on it,” said President Ruby Morrison. “If you want to leave, you’d better have an understudy.”

Morrison laughed when asked what year she started coming to Ojai.

“How about 1939?” she said. “I was with the GAA to call lines. Back then, we used to have a formal dance during the tournament. People were in tuxes.”

There were some problems with the formal attire, though, in the ‘60s. Morrison remembered that men couldn’t get into the dance without wearing a tie. And, with the popularity of turtleneck sweaters among men, it looked mighty strange with a tie.

“Someone used to have a boxful of ties and they would just hand them the tie as they went in,” she said. “Finally, the committee realized that was silly.”

Even at Ojai, tradition isn’t always inflexible.

The general cheerful feeling in Ojai seems to carry over to the players and spectators.

For example, how many times does this happen at a tournament:

After senior Mike Briggs of Corona del Mar High School defeated junior Joe Vidauretta of Garces High School, 3-6, 6-0, 7-5, in the boys’ interscholastic singles, Vidauretta’s mother approached an acquaintance of Briggs.

“He was beating my son,” she said of Briggs, “and yet I enjoyed watching him.”

Notes

There was no evidence of a return of the reptiles on Saturday. During Thursday’s matches, a snake ventured on the court during a men’s singles match for a few minutes. Then, later, a lizard poked its head over the court while Noelle Porter of San Clemente was playing a girls’ 18-and-under match.