TENNIS / DANA HADDAD : For Seniors, Their Toil Is Old News

The on-court temperature at Westlake Tennis & Swim Club hovered around 90 degrees last week. The still air was heavy with humidity.

Conditions could have been more forgiving for the competitors in U.S. Tennis Assn. National Hard Court Championships for men 45 and older.

But they weren’t. Indeed, heat and humidity were the smallest of concerns for those in the 64-player draw--as would be the case in any tournament that matches the best players in the nation. Westlake Village played host to a showdown of some of the most talented, superbly conditioned, keenly competitive men you’ve never heard of.

These guys are good enough to have careers, support families and still beat college players. But they never get headlines.

When Brian Cheney, 46, and Charlie Hoeveler, 49, played Sunday’s final (the sixth singles match in as many days for each) they ran each other all over the court. Neither player could wear down the other.

Cheney, a three-time NCAA quarterfinalist at Arizona, and Hoeveler, a standout at Dartmouth, played as if they were still in college.

Cheney kept his opponent scurrying to the corners with a relentless serve-and-volley attack. Hoeveler made Cheney chase down lobs and drops. Cheney beat Hoeveler, 6-4, 6-2. The score indicates an easy match, but each point was contested fiercely.

But Hoeveler, who won this tournament in 1991 and ‘92, likely will go on next year and dominate the 50-and-over division.

“Everybody out here is in good shape,” said Hoeveler, who runs up a mountain three times a week near his Marin County home to get an edge on the amateur circuit. “My whole game is based on speed and movement--and being able to last three sets.”

But stamina and conditioning aren’t enough to cut it these days.

“The caliber of tennis in the senior division is constantly getting better, because so many people are playing tennis today,” former Pierce College Coach Paul Xanthos said. “In fact, today, if you’re ranked 300th or more in the world, you’re fantastic.”

Xanthos, 73, the only junior college coach to be inducted into the ITCA Coaches Hall of Fame, said the sport was beginning to boom when Cheney, Hoeveler and Gene Malin of Woodland Hills (the 1993 champion) played the junior circuit three decades ago. Xanthos, director of tennis at Burbank Tennis Center, was on hand for Sunday’s final.

“They’re still outstanding,” he said. “They can beat young players--college players. These guys are wiser. They learn to budget their energy. As you get older, you learn (to say) two magic words: ‘nice shot.’

“It’s conditioning, but also knowing when to go for a shot and when not to.”

A few of these players, such as Malin, once played on the pro tour. Most of them, such as Malin and Cheney, now coach tennis full time at clubs or independently.

Cheney, a Santa Monica native who lives in Chandler, Ariz., is ranked No. 3 in the world in 45s by the International Tennis Federation. But he might never get as much recognition as his mother, Dorothy Bundy, who won the 1938 Australian Open.

Nor is he likely to overshadow his grandmother, May Sutton, who in 1905 became the first non-Englishwoman to win the Wimbledon singles championship.

But Cheney is a top-notch player in his own right.

Leading, 5-4, in the first set against Hoeveler, Cheney served out the set with an aggressive love game: a backhand down the line, an overhead smash that rocketed over the fence on the bounce and a backhand crossing shot to make it 40-love.

Then on set point, Cheney moved under a 20-foot-high lob and smashed it down the line. Hoeveler was helpless.

“He’s so solid,” Hoeveler said, “there’s no weaknesses. There’s nothing to attack.”

Hoeveler certainly couldn’t attack Cheney’s backhand, which is as strong as many men’s forehand shots.

“I don’t think I played badly,” Hoeveler said. “He’s just a level above anybody I played in this tournament.”

But the national media rarely uncover such facts. The focus is on the world’s top pros, first and foremost. The nation’s top juniors--the stars of the future--fall second in the pecking order. Seniors often are overlooked, which is unfortunate. The guys who played in Westlake last week are good.

“They’re not getting the recognition they deserve,” Xanthos said. “The juniors seem to get all of it. (Seniors) deserve just as much.”

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Free Junior clinic: The Southern California Tennis Assn. and Wilson Sporting Goods are inviting Southern California youngsters to participate in a free tennis clinic at UCLA on July 31, from 9-11:30 a.m.