Teaching Pro Tennis Tournament : Fedderly Goes by Book, Wins Title

Instead of stepping on the court at Big Canyon Tennis Club Monday morning, Mike Fedderly should merely pop a tape in the VCR, sit back and let his Saturday match against Mike Chwalek serve as instruction.

At Big Canyon in Newport Beach, Fedderly spends 11 to 12 hours each day giving lessons, urging his pupils to play solid, consistent tennis. Get your first serve in. Don’t take any risks. Go for the high-percentage shots.

Often, though, good textbook tennis can be forgotten as quickly as Martina Navratilova hits her first serve. In Fedderly’s case, however, textbook tennis jumped off the page and came to life as Fedderly defeated Chwalek, 6-4, 6-0, in Saturday’s final of the Reebok Teaching Pro tennis tournament at Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach.

Fedderly, 27, offered this play-by-play narrative for his students:

“I would say I hit a lot of first serves in,” said Fedderly, a Newport Beach resident who was the tournament’s top-seeded player. “I was real consistent from the baseline, and I didn’t try to force something. I really played a smart match and didn’t make any stupid mistakes.”

It sounds simple, but Fedderly knows from years of experience how hard it is to play by the book. He played for Corona del Mar High School from 1975-77 and held the No. 1 singles spot at Northeast Louisiana before he spent two years on the professional satellite circuit.

“It’s always a good learning experience,” Fedderly said of playing in tournaments. “You have to keep the ball in play. . . . A lot of it is patience. The more tournaments you play, the more patient you get.”

Against the unseeded Chwalek, from Costa Mesa, Fedderly used a mix of patience and aggressiveness. He broke Chwalek’s serve in the third game, using a backhand, cross-court passing shot to win it at love. Later, Chwalek, who teaches at Mesa Verde Villas Tennis Club in Costa Mesa, had an opportunity to get back in the set.

With Fedderly serving for the set at 5-4, Chwalek reached break point with a backhand passing shot. Just as quickly, Fedderly erased the break point, coming in on his serve and winning the rally with a forehand volley.

Two points later, Fedderly took the first set and didn’t lose another game.

“Mike kept the pressure on,” Chwalek said. “I felt I had to rush the points because I wasn’t serving that well. Mike was getting a lot of first serves in. He served well on the big points. Then there was the serve that hit both corners on my break point.”

Chwalek, 30, seemed to suffer a bit of a letdown after the first set, and Fedderly took advantage by breaking his serve in the first game of the second.

That, is another lesson straight from the instruction books.

“I knew that was the most important game,” Fedderly said. “If I was to lose that game, it could have been tighter. When the person is down, seriously, I’d like to bury him. I broke him, and as you can see by the score, it did deflate him.”

Chwalek had mixed emotions about the loss to his friendly rival. The two players have known each other for a long time and used to practice together. And Chwalek has won some of those practice matches. When it counts, though, Fedderly has the edge, winning all three of their tournament meetings.

A few months ago, Chwalek couldn’t play tennis without having severe headaches. Last November, his car was rear-ended on the freeway, and he suffered back injuries. Now Chwalek has headaches, but they aren’t as detrimental to his game.

“For a while, I couldn’t play any Southern California tournaments,” he said. “Then my ranking dropped from No. 4 to No. 8. Just now, I’m starting to get back. But still, this is frustrating because I know his game so well.”

With the victory, Fedderly earned $1,000 and a trip to the grass courts of Newport, R.I., for the Teaching Pro Nationals Sept. 16-19. Although it means more money ($1,000 for showing up) and added prestige for Fedderly, the victory also means another round of conditioning under the guidance of his wife, Patty.

How does a couple more months of wind sprints at 9 p.m. sound, especially after 11 hours of teaching tennis?

“It paid off,” Fedderly said. “She ran with me and she made me do it.”

Said Patty: “We’ll get started Monday.”