Southern California Regional Tennis Tournament : Now 18, USC’s Black Has Arrived

Freshman Byron Black arrived at USC this fall without the fanfare that greeted some of the top juniors at other colleges.

Everyone talked about Georgia’s impressive freshman group, led by the No. 1-ranked junior, Al Parker. Stanford also drew attention by recruiting U.S. Open junior champion David Wheaton. But there is a good reason why Black wasn’t lauded. He’s from Zimbabwe, and tennis players from there aren’t exactly known, even among people who make it their business to know.

Which is fine as far as Black is concerned. At home, he’s considered a bona fide athletic hero, having led Zimbabwe to two Davis Cup victories this year. Black, now 18, was selected to represent his country in Davis Cup at age 17 and was named Zimbabwe Sportsman of the Year by virtue of his Cup victories. He didn’t lose a singles match in three tries and pulled off a major surprise, beating Nigeria’s Nduka Odizor, who was then ranked No. 78.

“It’s not a big deal,” Black said. “Zimbabwe is a pretty small country.”

Now, if Black continues on schedule, it’s going to be difficult to keep his abilities a secret in the United States. He took his first step on Sunday, defeating unseeded Dan Mattera of the University of San Diego, 7-5, 6-1, in the final of the Rolex/ITCA Southern California regional tennis tournament at UC Irvine.

Black, seeded No. 2 and ranked No. 27 among collegiate players, won the title without dropping a set and qualified for the National Indoor event in Minneapolis, Feb. 4-7. He earned the spot by taking 12 of the final 13 games in the final, rallying from a 1-5 first-set deficit.

Essentially, Mattera’s downfall started once he took the 5-1 lead. Then, his mind started to wander away from the courts at Irvine--all the way to the Upper Midwest.

“I was thinking of so many things,” said Mattera, who alternated between No. 5 and No. 6 singles for USD last season. “I saw myself on the airplane to the Indoors in Minneapolis. I just tightened up. I was thinking, ‘I’m not supposed to be winning this match.’ ”

Naturally, it didn’t take long for the psychological doubts to reach Mattera’s arm, and shots which had been going in for winners began to spray long or into the net.

Black broke Mattera in the next game, and he held service at 15 to pull to 3-5.

“I was thinking about that,” said Black, who has also attracted attention by hitting a two-handed forehand and backhand.