TENNIS : Slow Starts, Fast Finishes at La Jolla

Dorrey Brandt and Anthony Trear began their semifinal matches Saturday at the 74th La Jolla Tennis Tournament in similar fashion--losing in a big way.

Brandt, a senior at San Diego State, said her mind was “way out there” when she fell behind 5-1 in the first set, while Trear, who hadn’t played a tournament in 2 1/2 years, said he was just hoping he could win a game after dropping the first set at love.

But both players advanced to today’s finals at the La Jolla Tennis Club after Brandt’s mind eventually wandered back to the tennis court and Trear’s confidence level rose after he finally won a game.

Brandt went on to win 10 consecutive games in defeating No. 1 seeded Lisa Seeman of Solvang, 7-5, 6-2. She will play University of San Diego’s Tonya Fuller at 9 a.m. in the women’s open final. Fuller beat Julie Coakley of UC Santa Barbara, 6-1, 6-2.

Trear, 31, of Ramona will play 20-year-old Tony Bujon of Texas Christian University in the men’s open final at 10:30 a.m. after beating Todd Ryska of Glendale, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1). Bujon, who advanced to the round of 16 in this year’s NCAA singles tournament, defeated John Steel of La Jolla, 7-5, 6-3.

Brandt, seeded fourth, had fallen behind 4-0 in her two previous matches, so she wasn’t overly concerned.

“I felt I could come back,” she said. “I wasn’t too worried about the score. I just wanted to start playing better. I wasn’t concentrating on the ball and I was missing a lot of easy volleys.”

But Brandt’s volleys began to fall inside the baseline and her passing shots, which had been finding the net or Seeman’s racket, started whizzing by the flat-footed Seeman. At one point, Brandt won 10 consecutive points.

After being broken five times in row, Seeman broke Brandt and held her serve to close within 4-2. But Seeman continued her pattern, which began in the first set, of missing easy overheads and volleys in the last two games.

“She was frustrated because I came back so quickly,” Brandt said. “I pretty much turned it on and she wasn’t moving too well.”

Brandt will be going for her second consecutive singles crown today. Three weeks ago she won a United States Tennis Assn. circuit event at UCLA.

“I’m playing well and I’m having a lot of fun,” Brandt said.

Fuller, seeded fifth, also seems to be having fun. She knocked off two seeds, ex-SDSU player Sondra Mitchell and USC’s Linda Allred, before beating Coakley, who was unseeded.

Trear, who played college tennis at UCLA, said he was beginning to think Ryska was invincible.

“I was hoping he would crack before too long--luckily he did,” Trear said.

“It was a real mental battle for me. I’ve had a lot of trouble with that part of my tennis in the past. But today I seemed to stay focused.”

In the men’s 60 doubles division, two-time U.S. Open champion Pancho Gonzalez made his first La Jolla tournament appearance in 47 years a success. Gonzalez and his partner Bill Davis defeated Earl McAdams and Chuck Slitgerber, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals.

The last time Gonzalez played La Jolla he entered five divisions at the age of 14.