Michibata’s Latest Return Is as Coach

The voice at the other end of the telephone line sounds tentative. Glenn Michibata is surprised that a reporter wants to speak with him.

“I thought it was a practical joke,” Michibata said.

It has been more than a few years since Michibata was the nation’s top-ranked college player at Pepperdine. It has been almost as long since he inhabited the upper reaches of the pro tour.

In 1986, Michibata was the 48th-ranked singles player in the world. In 1991, he and partner Grant Connell spent some time as the top-ranked doubles team.

Since elbow surgery effectively ended Michibata’s playing career five years ago, his life has been less conspicuous, the days spent with wife Angie and 4-year-old daughter, Cori, in their Woodland Hills home.

But Michibata, 36, has found a way to stay in the game.

After spending last season as an assistant coach for the USC women’s tennis team, Michibata is settling into a similar role with the men’s team this summer.

“It’s a way to stay with tennis at the high-performance level,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to coach a Division I team somewhere, men or women.”

All those years of competition have left him with wisdom to pass along.

“There are little technical things, little tricks,” he said. “But the main thing is the nerves and the psychology, what you should be thinking. I know what’s going through the players’ minds.”

His successes notwithstanding, Michibata believes he was hampered by self-doubt as a player. Too often he would lose concentration or approach crucial points with a less-than-positive attitude.

“Because I didn’t deal with it properly, that’s one of my main emphases [in coaching],” he said. “I’m trying to get that across to the younger kids.”

Every once in a while, the coach gets a chance to practice what he preaches by competing in local events. Starting Monday, he will play in the Mercedes-Benz Cup pre-qualifier at the Racquet Centre at Universal City.

Michibata is pitted against 100 other hopefuls competing for a single spot in the tournament’s main qualifier, where the winner then tries for one of four spots in a main draw that includes Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

The odds of his making it all the way through to the July 27 tournament are long, but Michibata doesn’t care. He isn’t looking to make news.

“It’s a weekend warrior thing,” he said. “It’s just fun to get out there.”

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The pre-qualifier, which runs through next Sunday, will feature a number of former ATP Tour players, including Brian Garrow and Otis Smith.

Vincent Van Patten, a Van Nuys High alumnus who was on the tour in the 1980s, will play. So will Sean O’Connor.

O’Connor, who trains in Studio City, recently won the boys’ 18 title at the Southern California Junior Sectional championships.

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With the pre-qualifier beginning Monday, a different kind of tournament winds to a close today at the Westlake Tennis & Swim Club.

The USTA National Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championship features only a few former professional players. The majority of competitors in this 45-and-over event are decidedly amateur.

They are guys who played in college but took time off to start other careers. Or guys who are late bloomers.

“Guys like us, we started later . . . We still have the passion,” said Harvey Mardyks of Camarillo. “Most of the pros, they played as kids and by now they’ve had enough.”

As Tom Wire, a Westlake Village attorney, explained: “It’s a good way of getting exercise and competition. I think they have [age divisions] that go all the way to the 80s and 85s.

“I’d love to be able to play at that age.”