TENNIS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS : USC’s Ekerot Keeps His Focus, Wins Final

David Ekerot of USC was the more confident player in the singles final of the Rolex-Southern California Intercollegiate men’s tennis championships Sunday at UC Irvine.

Ekerot, a senior from Lund, Sweden, defeated top-seeded Sebastien LeBlanc of UCLA in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, in the final at UCI’s tennis stadium. Both finalists, along with the doubles finalists, earned berths in the Rolex national indoor tournament Feb. 4-7 in Minneapolis.

LeBlanc, a highly regarded freshman from Montreal, experienced trouble with his serve, which led to his downfall against the 6-foot-2, 188-pound Ekerot.

“I think the main thing today was that I was very focused,” said Ekerot, who was seeded fourth in the 64-player draw. “I just focused on every shot. I didn’t play extremely well, but I was in focus all the way.”

LeBlanc, a 6-foot-5 finesse player, appeared flustered, especially when his serve was erratic. LeBlanc, who isn’t ranked nationally, said his game is built around his serve.

“He (Ekerot) played much better and he was more ready,” LeBlanc said. “When I serve well, I feel confident on all my shots. Today, my serve was not there.”

After dropping the first set, LeBlanc survived four match points in the second set of the 1 hour 30 minute match. After the last game went to deuce for the fifth time, with Ekerot serving, LeBlanc hit the ball into the net on a short rally. At match point, his service return went long, giving Ekerot the victory.

In the first game of the second set, down 15-30 with Ekerot serving, LeBlanc held advantage three times. But he double-faulted the first time, hit into the net the second time and then couldn’t return a strong backhand volley on the third, which gave Ekerot a 1-0 game advantage.

LeBlanc rallied at 1-2, 2-4 and 3-5, but Ekerot always appeared to have the match well in hand with a serve-and-volley game that included some spectacular groundstrokes into the far corners of the court.

“I started serving in the second set and he (LeBlanc) had a few break points, and then I was able to come up with the big points,” said Ekerot, an All-America player in singles and doubles last season who lost to LeBlanc in the semifinals of the West Coast singles tournament Oct. 10. “Playing someone like LeBlanc, you have to be able to get a lot of big points. I was just able to come through on the big points.”

In doubles, Pepperdine’s Ari Nathan and Cary Lothringer defeated USC’s Adam Peterson and Lukas Hovorka, 6-2, 6-1. Peterson, a freshman who was a nationally ranked junior player at Mater Dei High School, and his partner, Hovorka, who is from Prague, Czechoslovakia, had a difficult time against the top-seeded team.

“They played pretty well and we left our best tennis on the courts yesterday,” Peterson said. “We were both a little off and they took it right to us.”

Third-seeded Jonathan Leach of USC, a Laguna Beach High graduate, didn’t advance past the second round of the tournament. Dick Leach, his father, said it was only his son’s second singles match since a right rotator cuff injury in May.