Boisclair’s Career Like Chutes and Ladders

Erin Boisclair is only 16, but she has nearly a lifetime’s worth of experience in competitive tennis.

She has been at the top.

The Agoura Hills resident captured a lofty championship at 13, winning the Southern California junior championship in the 14-and-under division.

She has dealt with crushing defeats.

In the two years since, Boisclair lost in the quarterfinals as the top-seeded player in the 16-and-under national championships and lost in the first round as the sixth-seeded player in the 18-and-under national championships.

She has paid her dues.

For the past 18 months, Boisclair has lived on a steady diet of tennis while attending a tennis academy in Florida. At the same time, she has been auditioning for a spot on the U.S. junior national team as one of two players who has been sponsored into international tournaments by the United States Tennis Assn.

Now Boisclair knows what it is like to have her body break down.

Recently diagnosed with tendinitis in her serving shoulder, Boisclair has stopped playing and started rehabilitating. Therapy includes three cortisone treatments a week to her rotator cuff.

But while the shoulder pain led to a another disappointing loss--this time in the third-round of the junior national tournament--Boisclair finally received some good news.

The injury is minor.

“Thank God, no tear,” Boisclair said after an MRI exam earlier this week. “I’m still growing, so my arm isn’t stable yet.”

Boisclair said she felt pain whenever she served or hit an overhead shot. She finally had to default while playing the Junior French Open in late June.

“It was a gradual pain, but every day in Europe I was taking 12 [pain alleviators] a day,” she said. “After that, I did not serve one ball for 3 1/2 weeks.”

But the pain came back after her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Christa Gray on Aug. 4 at the national tournament.

Boisclair, best female tennis player from the region since Meilen Tu (1994 national champion) and Ania Bleszynski (Stanford), will likely scrap plans to compete in the U.S. Junior Open and three Women’s Tennis Assn. tournaments.

“I’m bummed,” she said. “But it’s not worth it right now. I need my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

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Travis Rettenmaier of Camarillo, who like Boisclair has spent the past year at a Florida academy, will decide this week whether to stay or come home.

It is not a choice he will relish.

“Either one makes him unhappy,” said Tom Rettenmaier, Travis’ father. “He has lots of friends there, but he’s left his poor old dad behind.”

Travis and his mother, Karen, set out for the Harry Hopman Tennis Academy at the Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa Bay last September to develop his game.

An up-and-down year has resulted, with Travis losing in the second round of the USTA national 14-and-under championships last week as the fourth-seeded player.

“I’d love to have him come home,” Tom said. “I miss him. If anything, I miss playing tennis with him and playing father-son [tournaments].”

Tom, a former touring pro, instead will play in the national father-daughter doubles championships in Boston with daughter Bettina.

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Brandis Braverman of Newport Beach, a former Encino resident who trains and attends a private school in the Valley, is cashing in on her third-place finish at last week’s USTA national 18-and-under championships.

Braverman, 16, has accepted a USTA invitation to play in the Canadian junior open championships Aug. 25 and might also receive a wild-card berth in the U.S. junior open Sept. 1.

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Gene Malin of Tarzana has been critical of the USTA’s refusal to create at least one tournament in each senior age group with a substantial cash prize.

Who could blame Malin for being frustrated, considering he has won three of the past four national titles in men’s 45-and-over singles?

So when Malin was told about the Claude Nolan Classic, a national men’s 35 and 45 event that offers over $10,000 in prize money, he packed his equipment and headed to Jacksonville, Fla.

The tournament is this weekend.

Said Malin, who recently beat a sectionally ranked, 17-year-old junior, “I thought I’d take a shot.”

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Jane Johnson of Westlake Village, a former All-American at UCLA, is helping new Bruin Coach Stella Sampras in two major charity events to raise money for the women’s tennis program.

Pete Sampras, Stella’s brother, and MaliVai Washington will play an exhibition at the Forum Sept. 13, preceded by a cocktail reception.

Sampras, Washington and 11 benefactors will play a round-robin from noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 14 at the UCLA Tennis Center. A reunion of former UCLA women players and dinner party is included.

“Pete is donating money to the program and he told Stella, ‘You have my whole weekend,’ ” Johnson said. ‘I’m going to do whatever I can to help Stella.”

Information: 310-206-7916 or 310-206-6787.