Los Angeles Tennis : Annacone Opens Door, Pushes Krishnan Out

In a sense, the U.S. Open has been a misnomer for the last couple of years. Actually, the final has been closed to Americans.

Now, however, one week after the Open’s conclusion comes a tournament that can be looked at as a showcase for American talent. While top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden is the heavy favorite, there’s a good chance an American will face him in the final.

With the exception of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Tim Mayotte, almost every top American player has entered the $315,000 Volvo/Los Angeles tournament that started Monday at UCLA’s L.A. Tennis Center.

There 24 Americans in the 32-player draw. Which means there are just eight competitors from other countries.

With the absence of many of the top players in the world, the Los Angeles tournament is viewed as an opportunity for an American to seize the spotlight, come away with a good paycheck and some valuable computer points.

Certainly, that’s what the 1985 tournament meant to Paul Annacone. He defeated Edberg in a memorable three-set final, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. Annacone used that victory as a springboard to break into the top 15 when he reached No. 13 by the end of the year.

But, by the conclusion of 1986, Annacone slipped to No. 43. His high point of the year came at the U.S. Open when he knocked McEnroe out in the first round. This time, Annacone didn’t capitalize on that success and lost to Aaron Krickstein in the next round. For Annacone, even Los Angeles proved to be another disappointment when he failed to defend his title, losing to Jaime Yzaga in the first round.

Now, a year later, Annacone’s fate at Los Angeles has taken a turn for the better once again. He defeated No. 7-seeded Ramesh Krishnan of India, 6-4, 6-3, in a first-round match Monday.

Glance back almost two weeks and there was another one-sided result when Krishnan last played Annacone, now ranked No. 40. Only, this time, Krishnan defeated Annacone, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1, in the Open en route to a quarterfinal finish there.

OK, same players, same surface . . . and a different result.

“Today, I started off better and just put a lot of pressure on him,” said Annacone, who will meet Derrick Rostagno of Brentwood in the next round. “Unlike the Open, I dictated the pace. At the Open, he was dictating it. I was more deliberate and more ready to play the match.”

Although Krishnan isn’t physically imposing (5 feet 7 inches, 160 pounds) and his strokes aren’t either, he is regarded as one of the most difficult players to read on the court.

“The thing is, he’s a very difficult player to play because he takes the ball early,” Annacone said.

The strategy is to try to overpower Krishnan, and Annacone used that tactic effectively, keeping Krishnan off balance with penetrating serves and deep volleys.

Still, Krishnan isn’t one to go down quickly. Trailing 2-5 in the second set, he threatened to push the match to three sets when he held service and then held three break points at 3-5. But Annacone rallied from a 0-40 deficit and won the match with a backhand cross-court volley off one of Krishnan’s volleys.

Tennis Notes

Nothing ever comes easy for Tim Wilkison--alias Dr. Dirt--and his first-round match here was no exception. After 2 hours 43 minutes, Wilkison came through with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Sammy Giammalva. Either way, Wilkison was relieved to win a match. He lost in the first round at Cincinnati, the U.S. Open and in an exhibition last week. “I even lost to Elke Sommer and Kathy Lee Crosby,” he said, laughing. “My confidence was at an all-time low.”

The only other seeded player to lose besides Ramesh Krishnan was No. 8 Johan Kriek. Eliot Teltscher defeated Kriek, 6-3, 6-4. Others advancing were No. 6 Kevin Curren, No. 5 Guy Forget and Peter Lundgren. . . . Among the top matches today include Andre Agassi vs. Jaime Yzaga, top-seeded Stefan Edberg vs. Marc Flur and No. 4 Scott Davis vs. Gary Muller. . . . Two local players also are featured today in their first-round matches. Laguna Beach’s Rick Leach meets Ricardo Acuna at noon, and 15-year-old Michael Chang of Placentia faces No. 3 David Pate at 7:30 p.m.