Tennis / Chris J. Parker : A Die-Hard Finds Consolation

After it was all over, after Kirstin Smith had finished competing in the United States Tennis Assn. National Championships last weekend in Charleston, W.Va., she saw Bruce Willis’ new movie “Die Hard.”

It was a fitting conclusion to a week that began with the worst match of Smith’s career and included four consecutive singles victories and a 10-hour final day.

Smith’s run through the consolation bracket proved that, although she got knocked off once, she wasn’t finished.

“It turned out to be a great tournament for me,” she said.

Stacy Sheppard of Loganville, Ga., upset Smith, of Thousand Oaks, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, in a first-round match Smith described as “the worst match I have ever had.”

But Smith rebounded to record four victories, including two straight-set triumphs, to start the bracket. Smith then beat Allison Grace, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, in a four-hour match.

“That was the biggest win of my life,” Smith said. “I played consistent, probably the most consistent match I’ve ever played.”

Trailing, 5-4, and serving at double match point, Smith’s first serve was in the net. “I must have lost my serve in baggage claim somewhere, and I was really worried,” she said. “I didn’t want to double-fault the match away so I took some time and toweled off my racket.”

The stall worked. Smith won the next two points to tie the set, 5-5, broke Grace’s serve, and then recovered her own serve long enough to win the match.

It didn’t get much easier in the next round when she played Kara Brady of Lawrence, Kan., whom Smith had beaten in December to win the Fiesta Bowl consolation championship.

Smith lost the first set but came back to win the next two in a match that lasted three hours, 30 minutes.

After an hour break, Smith lost to Michelle Fry in a three-set, three-hour match that knocked her out of the singles competition. Smith had another 70-minute break, and then lost in a third-round doubles match that went three sets.

Smith was on the court for nine sets that lasted more than 10 hours.

Bad luck of the draw: When Natasha Pospich scouted the seeded players in the Nationals, she thought one was overrated--Julie Exum of Jacksonville, Fla., the seventh-seeded player. Although Exum was a tough player, Pospich believed she could be beaten in the 16-and-under division.

“If I was able to pick one seed to play, it would have been her, and I got her,” said Pospich, a sophomore at Calabasas High. “I was looking forward to it.”

It turned out Exum shouldn’t have been ranked seventh; she deserved to be seeded No. 1. Exum beat Pospich and then went on to win the tournament.

Pospich wasn’t the only local 16-and-under player to receive a difficult draw. Granada Hills’ Alisha Portnoy lost to the second-seeded player, Christine Neuman of Downers Grove, Ill., in the tournament’s second round. Newman lost to Exum in the final.

Portnoy also lost in her first round of the consolation bracket to a player seeded higher than her.

“I was happy with the way I played against Newman because I proved I could stay with someone seeded that high,” Portnoy said. “But I wasn’t happy with the draw because I know I could have beaten a lot of people. But I guess that’s just the luck of the draw.”

The draw will be easier for both players in their next tournament, this weekend’s 2nd Subaru Junior Tennis Classic at UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center. Pospich and Portnoy are the Nos. 1- and 2-seeded players.

Card count: The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department offers reservation cards for seven public tennis courts, including Balboa and Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks parks. The cards, which cost $3 and are good for two years, enable holders to reserve courts as long as a week in advance.

Information: 213-485-5566.

Tournament time: Entries are being taken for the 102nd Southern California Sectional Championships, Oct. 7-16 at the Racquet Centre of Universal City.

Information: 213-208-3838.

Seniors still can sign up for the 1st Braemar Country Club Senior tournament in Tarzana. There are numerous age brackets in men’s and women’s singles and doubles in the tournament, which runs Sept. 19-25.

Information: 818-345-3230.

The following weekend, the 9th Racquet Centre fall senior tournament begins for men’s and women’s doubles and singles in numerous age brackets. Entry deadline is Sept. 14.

Information: 818-760-2303.