Kronemann Glad to Be Home : Team tennis: Dukes player, a former All-American at UCI, is back in Orange County after stints in Charlotte and San Antonio.

When Trevor Kronemann left Bradenton, Fla., to join the UC Irvine tennis team seven years ago, he soon became homesick. After three years on the men’s pro circuit and with World TeamTennis, those feelings again surfaced.

So he’s back home . . . in Orange County.

Kronemann would have gladly played for the Newport Beach Dukes three years ago. Finally, the Dukes--under the direction of his old college coach, Greg Patton--are ready for him.

“The timing is right,” said Fred Lieberman, the Dukes’ owner who first tried to sign John McEnroe and made a fruitless inquiry into getting Ivan Lendl. “I’m more established, and he’s more established.”

And Kronemann, a four-time singles and two-time doubles All-American for Irvine, is exactly where he wants to be.

“You stay four, five or 10 miles from where you went to college,” he said. “I think it’s that comfortable thing . . . memories from school, people I met here. I can be myself around people, and I don’t have to hide in a box somewhere.”

Kronemann has spent three WTT seasons proving he’s the kind of player Lieberman would want. He was named MVP and rookie of the year in 1990 for the Charlotte Heat, then helped that team advance to the division finals in 1991. In 1992, Kronemann and the San Antonio Racquets reached the division semifinals.

“I’ve been in the playoffs on every team that I’ve been on,” he said. “They (Newport Beach) made it to the finals last year (losing to the Atlanta Thunder), so maybe I’m the person they brought to push them over the top.”

Kronemann was chosen by Lieberman in February and will be in the lineup Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Dukes open the season against the Raleigh Edge at the John Wayne Tennis Club.

Returning to Orange County is helping Kronemann continue to gain a sense of permanence. Within the last seven months, he has purchased a new car, is looking to buy a house and has set a date in March 1994 to marry his college sweetheart, Melanie Young.

But things weren’t always so comfortable.

When he entered the tennis program at UC Irvine, Kronemann, who is 6 feet 4 and 225 pounds, was immediately given the nickname “Tank” by Patton. It stuck.

“I’m a big person, and that’s the way I was put on the planet,” he said. “When I was in college, I had people say, ‘You’re never going to make it as a pro player, you’re never going to make a dime.’ You find a reason to motivate yourself to get to a certain level.”

During his freshman year at Irvine, Kronemann pulled an all-nighter working on a paper and asked Patton to postpone an intrasquad challenge match for him. Patton said no.

Kronemann won the first set, 6-4, then lost the next two, 6-0, 6-0.

“I’ve never seen Coach Patton so (mad). He grabbed me by the shirt, and he threw me up against the fence and he goes, ‘If you’re going to be an Anteater, you’re never going to tank a match ever again,’ and he’s got tears in his eyes.

“That was the turning point, where I knew there’d be no more messing around.”

Three years later, he finished runner-up in the 1989 NCAA doubles championships with Mike Briggs. After earning his degree in economics the following year, he turned pro.

Although his singles career has been less than fruitful (he achieved his highest ranking of No. 514 in the world in October 1991), he has focused on doubles and is ranked 63rd by the Assn. of Touring Professionals. After almost two years on the tour, he won his first career doubles title with Briggs in Tampa in April of last year.

Last April, he teamed with Rikard Bergh, a former Swedish Davis Cup player who also will play with the Dukes this season, to win at Charlotte, where he played his first WTT tennis.

“The night before the finals, I just told myself, ‘I’m going to play the best match I’ve ever played in my entire life because I was in Charlotte, and the fans were going to be there . . .’ I hit a high-swinging forehand volley up the middle as hard as I could, and from that point on, I didn’t miss a shot.”

He and Bergh won the championship match, 6-1, 6-2.

Since college, Kronemann has trained with Kevin McNair of McNair Sports Development, which has done conditioning work for the Raiders, Rams and Chicago White Sox. McNair has helped Kronemann drop weight, increase his court speed and gain a psychological edge. And for the past two years, Kronemann has worked with Ross Case, the head pro at Big Canyon in Newport Beach, on technique, particularly on volleys.

“I’m so excited about Trevor playing for the Dukes, because we’ve been through so much together,” said Patton, who just finished his first season coaching men’s and women’s tennis at Boise State and is entering his fourth season with the Dukes. “Now the relationship with Trevor and with my players is not one of a disciplinarian. I’m more of a confidante.”

With the WTT’s fast-paced, one-set, no-ad scoring format, Lieberman and Patton are counting on Kronemann to add intensity and charisma to the Dukes.

“Team tennis is a sprint,” Patton said. “I realize now the whole idea is to get a big lead and then hold it.

“It’s not like an Alfred Hitchcock suspense that slowly builds to a crescendo. It’s more like a Friday the 13th movie where in every scene, (something’s happening).”

Meanwhile, Kronemann will continue to give his life some normalcy and establish some roots.

“I’ll keep playing for the next five or six years,” he said. “But there will come a time when it’s over, and I won’t look back with any regrets.”