International Tennis Federation Veteran Championships : Gulyas Defeats Livingston in Final

The momentum that carried Ron Livingston to unexpected victory five times this week at the International Tennis Federation Veterans Championships finally ebbed Sunday, as Livingston lost in the men’s 55-and-over final at the Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach.

Was he disappointed?

Hardly.

Livingston, of Laguna Beach, was the tournament’s 16th-seeded player. His opponent, Istvan Gulyas of Hungary, who defeated Livingston, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, was the top-seeded player.

Not only that, but Gulyas, a 56-year-old retired architect now teaching tennis in Hamburg, West Germany, is the top-ranked 55-and-over player in the world, according to ITF rankings.

So how was it that Livingston, a 56-year-old builder whose competition this year was limited to two local tournaments, gained a 5-0 lead in the match’s first 25 minutes?

It seemed he couldn’t miss, frustrating Gulyas with drop shots and slices.

“Yeah, I was playing well in the beginning,” Livingston said. “But then I started making mistakes.”

Gulyas, who said like most Europeans, he prefers the slower clay court surface than the quicker hardcourts, seemed to adapt in the second set. He began coming to the net, outwitting Livingston several times with dinks and passing shots.

Livingston held up, though, until the second set was tied at 5-5. Gulyas won his next serve at love, then broke Livingston in the next game with a myriad of dinks, lobs and overheads to take the set.

“He was hitting little cross-court angle shots, passing shots, everything,” Livingston said. “He’s very quick too. He (returned) some shots no 55s should ever be able to get back.”

In the third set, Livingston took more chances with his serve-and-volley game, but many of his shots came up short. Gulyas, relying mainly on passing shots and cross-courts, broke Livingston at 5-4 for the victory.

“I think I was very lucky,” Gulyas said. “I usually have better passing shots, but with this court it (the ball) flies. I practiced 1 1/2 hours last week on asphalt before coming here, and now I am very, very tired. But I have good conditioning, you know. That’s the difference.”

In the men’s 70-and-over, Tony Prodan of Irvine was defeated by Friedrich Klein, a West German-born resident of Gladwynne, Pa., 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Prodan, 71, who was a last-minute addition to the tournament when sixth-seeded Verne Hughes withdrew last week, is still recovering from rotator cuff surgery last December.

This was his second tournament this year. Earlier this month he won the singles and doubles titles at a local tournament at San Juan Capistrano Racquet Club.

“He played very well, though I can’t hit overheads like I usually do,” said Prodan, who managed the Lindborg club from 1976-78. The street along the Lindborg club--Prodan Road--was dedicated to him after his leaving.

“Serve and volley has always been my game, but with this (injury), it’s been hard,” said Prodan, who started playing tennis in 1932 and played for UCLA from 1941-43.

“I know if I play anywhere near my capabilities, I know in my own mind I would’ve done much better today.”

Tournament notes

Orange County’s only other finalist--the 35-and-over doubles team David Bohannon of Garden Grove and Dennis Trout of Corona del Mar--also lost in the finals Sunday. Bohannon and Trout were defeated by Robert Machon of Hungary and Lajos Levai of West Germany, 6-3, 6-3.