USTA Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championships : Higgins Continues Upsetting Ways : Ninth-Seeded Player Reaches Final Against Diepraam

Keith Diepraam has met--and defeated--some of the nation’s best senior players this week at the U.S. Tennis Assn. Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championships at the Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach. But at 11 a.m. today, Diepraam’s smooth, powerful, well-rounded game may face an opposing force he cannot control.

Destiny. Not his own, but that of his final opponent, Billy Higgins of Arcadia.

This is not to say that Higgins, the ninth-seeded player, has come this far by mere fate alone.

His fourth-round victory over top-seeded Gordon Davis was hard-earned, not a blessing from a fortune cookie. His straight-set quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Rob Cadwallader didn’t spring from a Ouija board.

And his 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Len Saputo Saturday had nothing to do with full moons, rabbits’ feet or his lucky number 7.

Higgins simply took matters into his own hands.

Although he was kept on the defensive throughout the first set, Higgins adapted to Saputo’s powerful serve-and-volley in the second.

While the left-handed Saputo wowed the crowd with cross-court scrambles and flashy slams, Higgins snuck his points in quietly.

Passing shots to Saputo’s backhand. Hitting lobs over Saputo’s reach. Returning powerful serves back to Saputo’s feet.

“I didn’t know what to do,” said Higgins of his second-set game plan. “But I knew I’d better do something.”

And so he did in the third set, keeping Saputo running after passing shots, slices and lobs. After gaining a 4-2 advantage, Higgins’ generally tepid serve got hot, taking four straight points and a 5-2 lead.

Saputo held his serve to make it 5-3, but couldn’t handle the battle to come.

With both players attacking at mid-court, the game became a volley war from 0-30 to deuce.

But after gaining the advantage with a lob, Higgins dropped the final bomb at match point--a passing shot to his opponent’s backhand. Stretching, Saputo got to it, only to send the ball into the net.

“I got too tired,” said Saputo, 46, who many considered to be the fittest competitor of the tournament. “He just played a great match. I might’ve been (better off being) a little bit more aggressive. But I can’t complain.”

Neither could Higgins, who immediately credited other forces for his win.

“My wife really deserves all the credit,” he said, as Linda Higgins cut a loose thread from his shorts. “She’s the one that hits with me every day. Other than that, it’s just luck again, I guess.”

Linda disagreed.

“Oh get off it,” she said. “You’re returning better. You’re serving better. And you didn’t give up, ever.”

Diepraam, of Sugarland, Tex. is a native of South Africa who will turn 45 in September. He has yet to lose a set in three tournaments he has played this year.

He played Wimbledon eight times from 1960-66 and ‘70, losing to Roy Emerson in the 1965 quarterfinals.

He played on the South African Davis Cup team from 1963-66, and, at 17, played the professional circuit throughout Europe.

Experience has left its mark. Diepraam is a careful player--but capable of coming back when he needs to (which is rarely)--and he’s generally unflappable in any on-court situation.

Saturday, after his 6-3, 6-0, 55-minute semifinal victory over No. 3 Jim Perley of Coronado, Diepraam had little to say of today’s final.

“I don’t mind who I play tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll probably change my strategy against him, though.”

Asked what strategy that might be, Diepraam said: “I’ll tell you after the match. That is, if I’m feeling good.”