Goldstein Prevails When Wolters Tires

Maybe it’s the bright blue sky. Or the gentle mountain breeze. Something about the town of Ojai inspires Ryan Wolters to play great tennis.

But, sadly for the Stanford junior, he tends to play great a little prematurely.

For the second year in a row, Wolters came here for the Pacific 10 Conference singles championship, looked brilliant all week, then showed up flat for the final match.

Sunday, he lost the title to teammate Paul Goldstein, 6-1, 6-2.

“Ryan let me off the hook,” Goldstein said. “He just wasn’t at his sharpest.”

Wolters is an intense player who must find a way to win without a major weapon. That usually involves a lot of scrambling.

Last year, he emerged exhausted and cramping from the semifinals and subsequently lost to teammate Bob Bryan. This time, he faced Bryan on Saturday and beat him in three rousing sets.

Even Goldstein was moved to say: “Those guys were warriors. As far as I’m concerned, both of them are Pac-10 champs.”

But the title wasn’t decided until Sunday. Wolters looked spent. Goldstein looked sharp, winning with astute shots and a reckless way of dashing around the court.

There he was, hitting a serve so hard that it ricocheted over the grandstands. There he went, pounding an approach shot and racing to the net, lunging to put away a volley.

“He’s all over the court, sliding to balls, getting everything,” Wolters said. “I got off to a slow start and he never let me come back.”

Wolters played to form only once, late in the second set when he put together a string of winners. After hitting an ace, he raised his arms in mock victory and shouted: “Paul, you’re going to let me come back now, right?”

Not even close.

The match was over in an hour, ending with a Wolters volley sailing long.

Stanford arrived at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament--which plays host to the conference championship--with the No. 1-ranked men’s and women’s teams. No one was surprised to see at least one Cardinal in each of the four title matches.

It was enough to make UCLA’s Annica Cooper feel adrift in a sea of red. In the first final of the day, she fell behind before beating Stanford’s Teryn Ashley, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), for the women’s championship.

Cooper forged her comeback with an accurate serve and a conservative baseline game.

“It’s a frustrating style,” Ashley said. “Obviously, it works.”

Cooper said: “It’s nice to beat Stanford. It’s nice to give them a loss.”

She was the only one to manage that feat.

In the women’s doubles final, Stanford’s Julie Scott and Ania Bleszynski beat Stephanie Lansdorp and Katy Propstra of Arizona State, 7-5, 6-4. In the men’s doubles, Bob Bryan and his twin brother, Mike, beat USC’s George Bastl and Kyle Spencer, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.