La Jolla Woman Hoping for Home-Court Edge

With the home-court advantage and a history of success against higher seeded players, Liz Harper of La Jolla might well be in position to win the women’s 60s singles in the U.S. National Hardcourt Championships at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.

Harper, who plays No. 1-seeded Margorie Kohler of Carmel in today’s quarterfinals, is trying to win her third tournament in as many tries this season. She defeated Fay Schwayder, of Lakewood, Colo., 6-0, 6-1, in the third round Thursday.

After receiving a first-round bye, Harper, the sixth seed, defeated Muriel Bard of Laguna Hills, 6-0, 6-2, in Wednesday’s second round.

“I’ve played all the top seeds before and on occasion beaten them,” Harper said. “To win a national tournament, it takes a combination of playing well and some luck, too.”

Just last week, Harper defeated Kohler of Carmel at the Northern California Sectionals in Carmel.

“I think she was a little nervous since it was her home court,” Harper said. “I’m sure she wants to meet me again.”

In February, Harper won the Southern California Tournament at Palm Springs, her first appearance this year.

Harper shies away from playing both singles and doubles in national tournaments because the competition is tougher and the matches are usually longer.

“The competition is so tough when I get to the later rounds,” Harper said. “I just have too much tennis to play. I like singles better so I usually just play singles.”

Harper grew up in Santa Maria, which at that time had a population of 10,000 and no tennis programs.

While attending UC Berkeley she met her future husband Oscar Harper, who was a member of the men’s tennis team. Once they began dating, she figured she better learn how to play. She took lessons but didn’t compete in her first tournament until she was 40 and living in Altadena.

She taught at Mayfield Senior School, a private girls’ school, and served as the tennis coach, health education teacher and athletic director.

“Since tennis was a part of my work, I was giving more hours to work on my game,” Harper said. “In trying to help and analyze other people, my stamina improved. I hit that many more tennis balls.”

Now, because both Liz and Oscar have retired, they are able to practice together and they occasionally play in tournaments with senior mixed doubles. This one doesn’t.

“It’s much better on the mixed doubles court if we don’t talk,” Harper said. “Some couples argue while they’re playing, but we get along on the court. Oscar calls it mixed troubles, but always with a smile.”

The Harpers will have an unusual experience this summer when they travel to Europe for the first time to play in two tournaments, one in Vichy, France, and the other in Monaco. They will play singles and mixed doubles.

Not only must they adapt to playing on clay instead of hardcourt, the language barrier could present a problem when it comes to scoring. Consequently, Harper carries a French pocket dictionary in order to practice scoring and key phrases. Harper has played on both clay and grass but prefers hardcourt or indoor surfaces.

“I’ll probably lose my concentration on my game,” she said, laughing, “because I’ll be trying to figure out how to say the score.”