Rodriguez Mulls Pros and Cons of Coaching

When Bobby Rodriguez quietly crossed the border at Tijuana two years ago after defecting from Cuba, he thought he would never face a more daunting obstacle toward becoming a professional tennis player.

The long journey continues and the destination, in fact, looks more distant from a vantage point he thought would be worlds closer.

Rodriguez, who lives in Thousand Oaks, can’t afford to travel to pro tournaments. If he could, he wouldn’t get in with his current world ranking: 1,188.

“I’m serious about playing,” he said. “But something is telling me I can’t go any farther.

“I have to play bills like everybody else. I still think I can do it, but it’s tough.”

Two years ago, Rodriguez was a member of Cuba’s Davis Cup team and considered one of the country’s top five players.

But the Cuban Tennis Federation, perhaps concerned that Rodriguez was planning to flee, curtailed his travel. He finally ran on April 31, 1994, after he was sent to a satellite tournament in Tijuana.

He had two goals when he got to the United States, one of which was to start a coaching career on the side.

That career has been launched. Rodriguez has seven students and the list is growing.

Along with this modest but growing income comes a dilemma, a conflict with his playing.

Rodriguez will miss the Infiniti Open pre-qualifying tournament next week at the Studio City Racquet Centre because his newest student, Zack Fleishman of Playa del Rey, is taking him to a national 16-and-under clay-court tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

“I actually didn’t know [about the conflict], and I told him yes,” Rodriguez said. “I definitely wanted to play. [But] coaching is my job.”

Rodriguez, runner-up in the 1995 pre-qualifier, is better than last year. He is ranked No. 1 in Southern California in the men’s open division.

Rodriguez realizes that with a little luck in pre-qualifying, he would be facing Michael Chang or Michael Stich in the main draw of the Los Angeles Infiniti Open July 29.

“I still think I’m young enough to play on the tour,” said Rodriguez, 26.

But rather than complain, Rodriguez has a new strategy: Build a larger base of students and use some of his earnings for travel.

“I got more students when I became No. 1,” he said. “Everybody knows me, which is kind of neat.

“I love [coaching]. I know a lot and by just telling my students all I know about this business, I’m developing them for success.”

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Time seems to take its toll on everyone but Gene Malin. At least on paper.

The 47-year-old former touring pro from Woodland Hills is seeded among the top 16 players for the Infiniti pre-qualifier.

His opponents, many half his age, have been training every day.

Not Malin. He works nearly full time as a private coach. Yet he has come out of mothballs to win the United States Tennis Assn. National Hardcourt Championships in the men’s 45-and-over division two of the past three years.

Malin, seeded No. 1, is using that event this year as a tuneup for the Infiniti pre-qualifier. He advanced to today’s semifinals in singles and doubles.

“I feel like I can compete, especially if I’ve been practicing and I’m serving well,” Malin said. “I hit pretty hard.”

Malin recently split sets in a sparring match with Jonathan Canter, 31, who was ranked 30th in the world two years ago.

Although he beat the likes of John Newcombe and Dick Stockton, Malin barely cracked the top 100 during his nine years on the tour, from 1974 to 1982.

“I play much better now than when I played on the tour, style-wise,” he said. “I make a lot more shots. I’m older and smarter.”

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Kristin Giffin chose a busy time to have her first baby.

Hannah Jean Giffin, her seven-pound daughter, was born at 5:30 a.m. Friday, only hours before the start of the quarterfinal round of the men’s 45 National Hardcourt tournament in Westlake Village.

Giffin, the tournament director, did not take maternity leave.