Jeffrey Foiled in Bid to Qualify for Volvo Berth

Mark Jeffrey’s quest to become the first player to earn a spot in the main draw of the $225,000 Volvo Tennis/Los Angeles from the pre-qualifying rounds since 1985 ended Saturday with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to T.J. Middleton of Atlanta in a second-round qualifying match at UCLA.

The transplanted 24-year old Australian, who came to Woodland Hills this year after four years at Mississippi State, held his serve in the opening game. Middleton, seeded sixth among the qualifiers, then took the next five games, twice breaking Jeffrey.

Jeffrey managed to hold serve in the seventh game, but Middleton closed out the set in the following game.

In the second set, both players remained on serve through the first four games before Middleton won the final four.

Middleton, whose career highlights included reaching the finals of a $75,000 tournament in Lagos, Nigeria, and the second round of men’s doubles at Wimbledon earlier this year, defeated Jeffrey in a 1988 match while at the University of Georgia.

“He’s hitting the ball really well and hard,” Middleton said. “He’s not getting that much match play yet. It just takes a lot of match play, being out on the circuit, grinding it out. I was a little sharper than he was, and that (sharpness) will come with more experience in match play for him.”

Jeffrey, an instructor at Warner Center Club in Woodland Hills, had won four matches in a pre-qualifying tournament at The Racquet Centre in Studio City to advance to the qualifying. He is unsure of his future tournament plans, but is considering playing in Australia in January.

Jeffrey began Saturday with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Doug Eisenman of Santa Ana.