On Top of Their Games : Kim, Dent Heading to U.S. Open as Hot Young Tennis Players

Kevin Kim and Taylor Dent grew up less than 20 miles apart, in Fullerton and Newport Beach. They learned the game of tennis from their fathers, they spend all day on the court honing their skills and they’ve dreamed of playing the pro tour since they began swinging a racket.

Now, they’re on their way to New York and the U.S. Open as the hottest young male tennis players in the United States. Kim and Dent earned their ticket to Flushing Meadows, N.Y., by cleaning up on their competition two weeks ago at the United States Tennis Assn. National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Kim, 18, ended his junior career by winning the grand prize of junior tennis--the boys’ 18 title--in grand fashion, beating top-seeded Bob Bryan of Camarillo, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, in the final. The victory gave Kim a wild-card berth into the main draw of U.S. Open, which begins Monday.

Dent, 15, won the boys’ 16 title at Kalamazoo without losing a set in seven matches. His victory gave him a wild-card berth into the U.S. Open Junior championships, which begin Aug. 30.

“People kept asking me all week [at Kalamazoo], what did you do in Orange County to produce this kind of talent?” said Andrew Kim, Kevin’s father.

Kevin Kim said the answer lies in the coaching he and Dent have received; Dent said the area’s high level of competition simply breeds talented players. Whatever the reason for their success, neither Dent nor Kim is letting it go to his head. Both have had enough recent failure to know success can be fleeting.

Kim was the nation’s top-ranked 16-year-old two years ago but he slumped last summer and his ranking dropped along with his confidence. Dent was the nation’s top-ranked 14-year-old last year but as he shot up to over 6 feet tall he went through growing pains last fall and spring. Eventually, he had to curtail his practice time because of an assortment of leg injuries.

But Kim and Dent began getting their games back together in early summer. Kim played well in Europe and at the junior Wimbledon and Dent won the Southern Section high school title, becoming the first freshman to do so since Pete Sampras.

Both players peaked in Kalamazoo.

Kim won a tough three-set match in the quarterfinals against Nick Cromwell and then breezed in the semifinals and finals.

“Before, I wasn’t really setting up points or executing, I was just hitting,” he said. “But everything came together at Kalamazoo. Everything was clicking. I just played tremendously well. It just felt really good to play that well.”

Andrew Kim said it felt good to see his son playing at that level.

“In the third set of the finals, someone came over to me and told me he was in the zone,” he said. “It was satisfying to me as a parent to know he’s regained his confidence.”

Kevin said he remembered little about his 6-0 third set against Bryan.

“I played well, but in the third set it was a little overboard,” he said. “It went by so fast. All of a sudden it was 5-0 and I didn’t know how I got there.”

Dent was just as impressive.

Andrew Kim said he watched most of Dent’s matches with his mouth wide open.

“This guy is so cool,” Kim said. “Everyone is so uptight at this tournament and Taylor is so cool. I couldn’t believe it.”

Tim Mang, Dent’s high school coach at Corona del Mar, didn’t go to Kalamazoo, but he heard about Dent’s performance from Bob Wood, a long-time director of the Kalamazoo tournament.

“He told me, ‘That’s the most amazing kid I’ve seen. That will be the next great American tennis player,’ ” Mang said.

Phil Dent, Taylor’s father who was a top-10 professional in the 1960s and ‘70s, said he had never seen his son play better.

“He sort of played up to a new level,” Phil Dent said. “I hope that’s the new level he’s going to keep at. He’s growing up and maturing as a tennis player.”

Said Taylor: “I don’t think I’ve improved that much physically but my knowledge of the game is a lot better. I didn’t serve that well in Kalamazoo but I volleyed well and played smart.”

Since Kim and Dent returned home to Orange County, their phones have been ringing a lot more than usual. Kim has received phone calls from old coaches, friends and people he hasn’t heard from in three years. He has not heard from any agents trying to change his mind about going to UCLA on a tennis scholarship.

“No money,” Kim said with a chuckle. “I won a national tournament, not a Grand Slam. If any offers come up, I’ll take it year by year and see how I play. If I don’t do well at UCLA, I’ll get my degree and get a job. But I don’t plan on that happening. If I do well, I might just play one year of college tennis.”

Andrew Kim said he has told agents to back off his son for now.

“We know what we want to do,” he said. “We’re not going to be enticed by anything or anybody. We want him to have a year or two of school and see how it goes.”

Phil Dent said he and Taylor have already decided that Taylor will go directly from the juniors to the pro tour without playing college tennis. But Phil Dent said his son is not ready for professional tennis yet.

“I know a lot of the agents and they know he’s only 15,” said Dent, who has worked with Michael Chang and other top professional players. “He’s got a long way to go. I want him to play some satellite [professional tournaments] and I want him to play high school tennis. He’s still got a kid’s body no matter how good he is.”

But the kid said he is about ready to be set free.

“I’ve been ultimately heading for one goal,” he said. “I’m pushing for a young age in the pros. I’m ready whenever my dad thinks I’m ready. I tell him all the time, straight out, ‘I can play now.’ ”

Phil Dent admits his son is ready to face older players. So in addition to playing some Southern California satellites this fall, Dent will skip his second year of 16s and play the 18s next year.

Before Dent and Kim think too much about the future, they have rather important tournaments to play in Flushing Meadows next week. Kim, who will start play Monday or Tuesday, had hoped to play a big name in the first round.

For a day, his wish was granted. Originally, Kim drew French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, the men’s division’s seventh-seeded player. But after a players’ protest and a threatened boycott that the draw be redone, Kim drew American David Wheaton, once a top-10 player but no longer among the top 50.

“I’ve got nothing to lose,” said Kim, who will fly to Lima, Peru, Sept. 20-21 for an exhibition with Guillermo Vilas and Bjorn Borg. “I’ve never played a top-10 player. It’ll be a fun and exciting moment, a moment you’ll savor forever.”

But can he do more than savor the moment?

“I give myself a chance to give my first-round opponent a tough match,” he said. “Justin Gimelstob [last year’s Kalamazoo champion who also attends UCLA] won a match and others have too, so I know it can be done.”

Dent is expecting to win more than one match against the top juniors in the world when his event starts Aug. 31.

“I expect to win the tournament,” said Dent, who will play an exhibition against another junior Sept. 13 at the Forum before the Pete Sampras-MaliVai Washington match. “I think I can win it. It’s going to take a lot. But I don’t enter tournaments I don’t think I can win.”