TENNIS / SAM FARMER : Tanner Relishing Role as Head Pro at Sherwood Country Club

In his salad days, Roscoe Tanner could wilt any green foe with his blistering serve. The string-scorching projectiles left the knees of opponents on the professional tennis tour knocking. One Roscoe rocket reportedly was clocked at 164 m.p.h.

A decade later, Tanner still is recognized for his service ace.

Make that ace service.

A Westlake Village resident, Tanner is the head pro at the exclusive Sherwood Country Club in Lake Sherwood. The club, which is ringed by million-dollar homes, still is in its developmental stage.

Five courts and a tennis stadium are scheduled to open by the end of June. Ultimately, the club will offer members clay and grass courts as well as hard courts.

“The stadium is probably the prettiest I’ve ever seen,” Tanner said. “I think it’s the best facility for tennis members that’s ever been designed. Tennis players are going to be treated like golfers.”

Predictably, they are going to pay like sultans.

“We are breaking ground that has never been broken for tennis,” Tanner said, adding that the club is finalizing its rates. “As a result, we are charging a price that has never been charged for tennis.”

In addition to the luxurious facilities, members will have access to tutorials on the finer points of the game and to the latest cross-training techniques.

Roscoe might even snap a few strings.

Friendlier folk: After Tanner accepted the position at Sherwood last August, he and his family moved from Santa Barbara. He found the neighborhoods of Westlake Village surprisingly friendly.

“In Santa Barbara, I didn’t know the neighbors that well,” he said, “I just knew their guard dogs.”

Civil war: Natasha Pospich of Woodland Hills was one of five girls who competed for the Maze Cup last week at the Courtside Racquet Club in Los Gatos. A 10-member team composed of boy and girl all-stars from Southern California played a similar team from Northern California. Players from the 16- and 18-year-old age divisions competed.

Pospich, 17, ranked No. 2 in the 18s in Southern California, won both of her sets and helped pace her team to a 14-6 victory.

Sectional fever: Pospich has her sights set on the U.S Tennis Assn. national championships in August but first will play in the Southern California Junior sectional championships later this month.

Along with 1,887 others.

This year’s sectional field easily is the largest in the tournament’s 88-year history. Last year, 1,596 competed. The event, which includes players from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, will be played in the Orange County area.

A newcomer to watch is Jessica Kessler of Studio City, ranked No. 1 in the girls’ 12s.

Add tournament: The Racquet Centre of Universal City will hold its annual spring junior singles tournament Saturday and Sunday and June 23-24. Boys and girls aged 10 to 18 will compete.

Information: 818-760-2303.

Be my guest: Jack Darrah, owner of the Westlake Tennis and Swim Club, is cordial but his hospitality has its limits.

Darrah and partner Chuck Nelson of Santa Monica defeated Tom Springer of Canoga Park and Gary Russell of Rancho Palos Verdes, 3-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, in the 55-and-over division doubles finals of the Westlake Tennis and Swim Senior tennis championships.

“I lost in the singles, that was enough,” Darrah quipped. “You’ve got to carry that graciousness only so far.”

Springer and Russell, the top-ranked 55s team in Southern California last year, won the first set and led, 5-4, in the second before collapsing.

Other winners included: men’s 35--Gabriel Harmat (Woodland Hills) d. Tom Wire (Encino), 6-2, 6-4; men’s 35 doubles--Andrew Stanley (Malibu Lake)-Jim Pardee (Camarillo) d. Fritz Sproul (Ventura)-Eric Mann (North Hollywood), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); men’s 45--Tom Muench (Idyllwild) d. Andrew Watson (Calabasas), 6-3, 6-3; men’s 45 doubles--Ed Rosa (Calabasas)-Allan Drazen (Woodland Hills) d. Muench and Whitney Reed (West L.A.), 6-1, ret.; men’s 55--Reed d. Springer, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Women’s 30--Patricia Kreutz (Tehachapi) d. Nasrin Alizadeh, 6-2, 6-1; women’s 40--Alice Middleton (Santa Monica) d. Linda Stude (North Hollywood), 6-2, 6-2; women’s 40 doubles--Stude and Susie Patterson (Rancho Santa Fe) d. Barbara Oldfield (Bakersfield)-Bonnie Oliver, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; women’s 50--Sinclair Wooten-Bill (Santa Barbara) d. Audrey Folden (Claremont), 6-3, 6-2; women’s 50 doubles--Barbara Dunn (Calabasas)-Barbara Cassebarth (Calabasas) d. Patricia Coles (Santa Barbara)-Gennelle Linuille (Santa Barbara) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.