Lum Forgets Most of It, But Still Has Day to Remember : Tennis: Helen Lum outlasts Bev Winans to win singles title.

Helen Lum didn’t have much of a plan to her 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), victory Sunday over Bev Winans. And she barely remembered anything about the 2-hour, 45-minute marathon in the finals of the Women’s 60 Singles National Hardcourt Championships at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.

But the top-seeded Lum made up for her lack of foresight and shaky memory by a methodical approach to every point. She sapped the strength of Winans’ power game by constantly moving her around with drop shots and lobs.

“I usually just take one point at a time,” said Lum, who won her second consecutive La Jolla Hardcourt title. “I just try to do my best.”

Lum’s best wasn’t good enough early as Winans came out hitting winner after winner and Lum struggled to keep the ball in play.

“I was hitting a lot of balls out,” said Lum, who lives in San Francisco. “She was playing awfully well.”

But Winans’ winners started going out in the second set and Lum’s delicate lobs and drop shots began taking the life out of Winans.

“I started losing my concentration,” said Winans, who is from Newport Beach and was the tournament’s the second seed. “I guess I was doing what they call ‘a walk-about.’ ”

Winans’ concentration picked up in the third set as she broke Lum twice and took a 4-2 lead. But Lum fought back to take three of the next four games and tied the set at three games.

Winans held her serve and then had two match points in the 12th game. On the second match point, Lum fearlessly hit a drop shot that Winans could not run down.

It was a gutsy shot even if she couldn’t recall it.

“Did I hit a drop shot there?” Lum asked. “That’s kind of risky or stupid. I was just trying my best.”

From there, Lum won the next three points to force a tiebreaker.

Winans finally began to anticipate Lum’s drop shots in the tiebreaker, but never totally figured them out and lost a crucial 5-5 point to Lum on a dink that barely crept over the net.

Winans then lost the match when she hit an overhead into the net. Afterward, Winans realized why she lost.

“Helen’s ability to concentrate and to not beat herself is the key,” Winans said. “She makes you win the point and she moves very well.

“To beat Helen you have to overpower her. I could do that occasionally, but I didn’t feel confident enough to do it all the time.”