Fleming Wins Title in a Laugher

The word doesn’t exactly roll off his tongue. Peter Fleming has to spit it out, like a glass of milk gone sour.

“With maturity , or whatever,” he winces, “you learn that winning and being incredibly serious aren’t always one and the same.”

Fleming proved that Sunday afternoon in the championship of the Tennis Classics at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. Second-seeded Fleming of New York dispensed with top-seeded Tom Gullikson of Florida, 6-2, 6-4, in a hourlong match high on humor and void of conflict--no one argued with the linesmen or abused the umpire.

Yet this tennis, reserved for the over-35 set, still managed to entertain fans with a level of competitiveness that hardly paled in comparison to those other guys.

“It’s so true what they say about youth being wasted on the young,” said Fleming, 37. “I’m playing much better than I was three years ago, and I still think I have another good three or four years left in me at this level.”

Fleming’s serving game and his return of serve were all it took to level Gullikson Sunday. He had 11 aces and and equal number of service winners that gave Gullikson trouble from the start.

“When you’re serving and returning serve that well, it’s a tough combination to beat,” said Gullikson, who was playing in only his third singles tournament of the year and claimed he wasn’t quite tournament tough.

This is the first singles title Fleming has won this year, after he reached the finals in the over-35s at the U.S. Open and at a tournament in Los Angeles.

“I got better each match, and today, I was serving very good,” he said. “I haven’t served this well in years. When I’m serving well my confidence goes up I couldn’t have done any better.”

Fleming held serve four times, broke Gullikson twice and finished out the first set with a screaming cross-court backhand volley.

Down 3-1 in the second set, Gullikson made a meek comeback to tie it at 3-3, but Fleming captured three of the next four games. Serving out the final game, he had two aces, a service winner and won the last point on another cross-court volley winner.

They also had some lighthearted fun in the match, starting in the beginning, when Gullikson teased Fleming in the match’s first game. Gullikson hit a soft overhead winner and yelled, “Yours,” a remark Fleming repeated as the shot passed him, as if both expected Fleming’s former doubles partner to materialize and take the shot.

“Where’s (John) McEnroe when you need him?” Gullikson said.

What kind of banter, between players and with the audience, was common throughout the match, but not to the point of distraction.

“Regardless of whether you get paid or not, you’re still competitive,” said Fleming, who won $7,500. “It’s just that you realize that it’s not life or death anymore, and it never should have been.”

Gullikson, who won $5,500 for his effort, sees the chatter as an opportunity to involve the fans, let them see another side of the athletes.

“We’re older guys who still like to play, but we’re not on the regular tour, where every tournament is worth $500,000 or more,” he said. “We can have a little fun with it, let the fans see a little more of the human element.”