Malin’s Fire Extinguished in Quarterfinal : Tennis: Tired and unable to motivate himself, defending champion is eliminated in national men’s 45 event.

Gene Malin of Woodland Hills says his competitive flame has been blown out. He can’t relight it--even when somebody’s threatening to end his reign as a national tennis champion.

A lack of desire finally caught up with him Friday. Second-seeded Malin was upset by fifth-seeded Charlie Hoeveler of Ross, Calif., 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Tennis Assn. national men’s 45 hard court championships at Westlake Tennis & Swim Club.

Malin, who will turn 46 in October, was the defending champion. He felt good physically, and his arsenal included a strong serve-and-volley combination and a deadly backhand. He was playing in his own backyard. But could any of that motivate him?

Malin shook his head and smiled weakly.

“I tried everything to psych myself,” he said. “I’m burnt out.”

Malin’s opponent was no slouch, however. Hoeveler, 49, captured the tournament championship in 1991 and ’92 before Malin defeated him in the ’93 semifinals.

“I guess turnabout is fair play,” said Hoeveler, who didn’t give Malin many breaks in this match.

But Malin, at 6-feet and 188 pounds, looked as though he could overtake Hoeveler (5-10, 145), even at match point. Malin agreed, but added: “I didn’t have any fight. I had no eagerness.”

Malin had his serve broken four times, twice in each set. Down, 5-0, in the second set, Malin started to rally. He served a love game to make it 5-1, then hit a scorching backhand off a Hoeveler serve for a break point.

“That’s normally how I play,” he said.

But Malin didn’t capitalize on the break point, providing only a flash of domination instead. Hoeveler regained the advantage, and on match point lunged at a Malin passing shot and got just enough racket on the ball to make it nick the top of the net for a winner.

Hoeveler’s well-placed returns had Malin running at a drop-dead pace. Malin, however, wasn’t in the frame of mind to run.

“The first set was a real battle,” said Hoeveler, who was down a game and facing break point. “We had a lot of long points. But when he could have gone ahead, 4-2, he just missed a backhand. He had a lot of momentum at that point.”

But Hoeveler held serve. He slapped and tapped and hit spinners until he wore Malin down.

“He’s tough to play against because he doesn’t give you much pace,” Malin said. “But (Hoeveler’s style) doesn’t give me trouble if I’m eager. I can overhead against that. I just missed a lot of overheads.”

Malin, a private coach, said he’s tired because he’s had less than seven days off the past six months.

“I just need a vacation,” said Malin, who was planning to take a trip to Yosemite National Park after Sunday’s final. “Now we’ll probably leave Saturday.”