USTA NATIONAL HARDCOURT CHAMPIONSHIPS : Marina Math Teacher Advances to Round of 16

After they coached basketball together nearly 30 years ago at Marina High, Bob Duesler and Lute Olson have taken different routes.

Olson has gained prominence by developing successful programs at Cal State Long Beach, Iowa and Arizona, his current address. Duesler has never been a head basketball coach. He stayed at Marina teaching math and coaching tennis.

Yet Duesler has made a name for himself--albeit on a different court.

With 36 national senior titles to his credit--28 in doubles and eight in singles--Duesler has established himself as one of the premier senior tennis players in the nation.

Wednesday at the USTA National men’s 55 hardcourt championships at the Lindborg Racquet Club, Duesler easily advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Gene Hughes of Riverside. Duesler will meet Gerry Chaney in the next round.

Duesler, seeded second in his age division, wore down Hughes by running him all over the court with a variety of dinks, drops and lobs.

“He mixes up his shots well,” Hughes said. “When the ball comes to you, it’s never the same way. So you never quite know how to hit it.”

Hughes, who lost to Duesler in the second round of last year’s hardcourts, said he’s tired of losing to Duesler.

“When I saw that name on the draw and I said, ‘Maybe I should have stayed (on vacation) in Alaska,’ ” Hughes said.

The friendly rivalry between Duesler and Hughes goes back to the mid-1960s, when Duesler was Olson’s assistant basketball coach at Marina and Hughes was the head coach at Riverside North.

“We’re not rivals at all,” Hughes said. “You can never be a rival of Bob’s. He’s too nice a guy. That’s why it’s so hard to play him. You try and get mad at your opponents, but against Bob, it’s hard to be too competitive.”

But Duesler, who played college tennis at Purdue, appears to have mastered the art of being competitive, even in the gentlemen’s sport of senior tennis.

“It’s a lot different out here than (professional tour tennis) where it’s dog-eat-dog,” he said. “But I love the competition, I love the sport and I like getting together with all the people.”

He also likes to stay fit. Duesler said he has been able to win consistently because he usually outlasts his opponents.

“I can remember winning 20 three-set matches during college,” Duesler said. “And the key to senior tennis is staying in shape and preventing injuries.”

But Duesler usually meets his match when he plays No. 1-seeded Alex Olmedo, the defending champion in the 55 division. Olmedo, a two-time NCAA champion at USC and the Wimbledon and Australian Open champion in 1959, is an avid runner who is trying break 40 minutes in the 10K.

“We’re all pretty close out here,” Duesler said. “But Alex, he’s in another class. I’ve played him three times and lost all three.”

Olmedo, who lives in Encino and teaches tennis to juniors, defeated Robert Schmitz of Scotia, N.Y., 6-3, 6-3, to reach the round of 16. Although Olmedo acknowledges that he’s the favorite, he said he is far from unbeatable.

“They’re all good out here,” he said. “I’ve just had the experience of playing on the tour (for five years). That’s where I have the edge over these guys. But they’re very tough. If I don’t concentrate very hard, I’m in big trouble.”

Maybe enough trouble so Duesler could steal a title from him.

“The way Bob’s playing right now, I’d like to see those two play,” Hughes said. “That would be a very interesting match.”

But Duesler acknowledged that even upsetting Olmedo and winning another national seniors title would not put him in Olson’s league.

“We haven’t talked in years,” Duesler said. “He’s big time now.”

Notes

In other 55 singles matches, fifth-seeded Herm Ahlers of Dana Point advanced to the third round with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Jon Sahratian of La Jolla. Art Wahl of Laguna Beach defeated Bob Muesler of Seal Beach, 6-0, 6-3. In the third round, Wahl will face fourth-seeded Les Dodson of Kalamazoo, Mich., who eliminated Dick Lister of Costa Mesa, 6-0, 6-0 . . . In the third-round of 50 singles, Jim Parker of Houston defeated Edward Sukla of Irvine, 6-3, 6-1 and Dick Johnsrud of Riverside eliminated Bob Jones of Irvine, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.