These Mates Keep Opponents in Check : Nelson, Duesler Beat Doubles Competition With Well-Placed Shots

They like to call it chess tennis.

Forget the 100 m.p.h. serves and the blazing forehand shots that lift players off their feet. Those are for the kids, the would-be pros. For the top senior players, it’s a lob here, a drop shot there, and a tough-to-reach angle shot when it’s least expected. And there’s always plenty of good-natured banter in between.

And if you want to see two of the best practitioners, look no further than the doubles team of Jim Nelson of Irvine and Bob Duesler of Newport Beach.

“I guess you can call us finesse players because we don’t play with a lot of power,” Duesler said with a laugh.

“We just have a lot of fun with it,” Nelson said. “The camaraderie and the competition is what’s important since none of us at our level are making a living at the game.”

Regardless, they’ve certainly taken success in the senior game to a high level.

They are ranked No. 1 in the nation by the United States Tennis Assn. in men’s 55 doubles. Nelson is No. 2 in 55 singles and Duesler is seventh. Together they’ve won so many championships that they no longer keep track of the exact number, and they’ll be going for another one when the National 50-55 Hard Courts are held July 18-24 at the Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach.

Both also have played frequently on the U.S. Dubler Cup and Austria Cup teams, which compete internationally in senior tennis.

“Bob and I started playing doubles together in 1982, and we had real good success right away,” Nelson said.

That’s putting it mildly. That first year they had a grand slam in the USTA national championships in the 45-and-over division. They won on grass at Philadelphia, on clay at Sarasota, on the hard courts at La Jolla and indoors at Salt Lake City. They’ve continued to play together since, although both have teamed with other partners during that span as well, primarily when their ages don’t match up for the division at any given time. Nelson is 58, Duesler 57.

Both have done well with other partners. Nelson played the USTA national tournament circuit with Lenny Lindborg of Laguna Niguel in 1990, and they won all four of the major tournaments in the 55s. Nelson then rejoined Duesler when Duesler became eligible for the 55s. Duesler also has been successful with, among others, Hank Leichtfried of Irvine. Leichtfried and Lindborg, owner of the tennis facility where the nationals will be held, also have played together with considerable success nationally.

“Nelson and Duesler are like interchangeable player parts,” said Newport Beach senior player Earl Philpot, who has competed against both and watched them through the years. “They both have the kind of ability to turn whoever they play with into a really good team.”

An important asset for both is that they’ve maintained their speed and quickness.

“They both still have the wheels,” Philpot said. “They have excellent foot speed, which can be a big factor in senior tennis. And they move well together on the court and always seem to know what the other player is going to do before he does it.” Nelson and Duesler also feel they’ve been fortunate to have avoided injuries through the years.

“That’s really helped,” Nelson said. “A lot of guys our age are coming up with bad knees and bad hips, so I have to be grateful for being healthy.”

Lindborg said the success of the Nelson-Duesler team is as much mental as physical.

“They don’t just play one type of game,” Lindborg said. “They’re able to do a lot of different things. Jim can really pick out an opponent’s flaws and then work on them. Playing Nelson is like trying to get a gnat off your back, and Bob is really consistent. And I think Jim is tougher than anybody on the big points.” Both of them can change a game on a moment’s notice with their lobs.

“I think they’re two of the best lobbers to come down the pike,” Philpot said. “I remember a match they played against (Ron) Livingston and (Dick) Leech in the finals of a national tournament at Lindborg in the late 1980s when they must have thrown up a hundred lobs. When that match was over Leech could hardly lift up his arm.”

Duesler was a star player in high school and was the No. 1 singles player later at Purdue. Nelson also played in college, but didn’t come into his own as a top player until later when he was in the Army. “They pick six guys for the all-Army team and I made it my second year,” Nelson said. “That got me a lot more interested in tennis. Later I started playing some national tournaments in the 35s, but I didn’t win any. At that point, I still was on a learning curve.”

Nelson, a stock broker, took advantage of the early start of his workday because of the market’s opening to get on the tennis court frequently in the late afternoon, and his game kept improving as he moved into his 40s.

As a teacher at Marina High in Huntington Beach, Duesler also was able to spend the summers later in his teaching career working on his game. He recently took early retirement, which now will enable him to travel to more tournaments throughout the year.

“I’m looking forward to that,” said Duesler, who is planning a trip to Europe next month to play in three clay court tournaments, two in Germany and one in Switzerland.

Nelson and Duesler don’t appear to have lost any of their enthusiasm for the game. Nelson, in particular, also is active in various tennis organizations. “Tennis has been very good to me over the years, and I want to contribute that way, as well.”

There’s no danger of burnout for either one.

“It’s still really fun,” Duesler said. “And we try to keep it that way.”