Newport Beach Teen Qualifies for Main Draw at L.A. Event

Seventeen-year-old Taylor Dent of Newport Beach got through three qualifying matches to advance to the main draw of the Mercedes-Benz Cup.

The event--featuring U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter of Australia, Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman of England, three-time Wimbledon finalist Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia and Andre Agassi--starts today at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA.

Dent will play fourth-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden at 9:15 tonight in the first round, according to the official schedule. Tournament officials earlier had designated the featured night match as Jan-Michael Gambill vs. Steve Campbell, but the schedule changed when Dent qualified.

In qualifying, Dent went three sets in his first-round match, beating John Paul Fruttero, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. He defeated Cecil Mamiit, 6-3, 6-2, and gained a spot in the main draw on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Wesley Whitehouse of South Africa.

It is the first time Dent has qualified for a World Series tournament on the ATP tour. He has played in smaller satellite and challenger events.

Taylor Dent’s father is Phil Dent, a finalist at the 1974 Australian Open. Phil Dent won the doubles event at Los Angeles twice with John Alexander, in 1971 and 1978.

Among the featured matches in the day session are seventh-seeded Byron Black of Zimbabwe vs. Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands; Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic vs. Justin Gimelstob, and Andrew Ilie of Australia vs. Mal Washington.

Rafter became the top-seeded player when Pete Sampras withdrew from the event on Friday. Sampras is still recovering from a July 15 operation on his right foot.

The other seeded players, in order, are Henman, Ivanisevic, Enqvist, Agassi, Wayne Ferreira, Black and Vincent Spadea. Brett Steven of New Zealand withdrew because his wife gave birth three weeks early and he returned to his home in Auckland.

The three wild-card spots went to Ivanisevic, Gimelstob and Bob Bryan of Camarillo. On Tuesday, Bryan is scheduled to play Agassi, who is coming off a title victory at Washington, D.C.

Bob Bryan and his twin Mike reached the doubles semifinal at Washington--their top result in a major ATP tournament since turning pro this summer after successful collegiate careers at Stanford. On Sunday, they took time off the court to have lunch at the White House with Stanford classmate Chelsea Clinton.

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Mercedes-Benz Cup

When: Through Sunday.

Where: UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center (hard court).

Top players: Patrick Rafter, Tim Henman, Goran Ivanisevic and Andre Agassi (32-player draw).

1997 final: Jim Courier d. Thomas Enqvist.

Tonight: Andre Agassi and U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter will join Robin Williams and Billy Crystal in a charity exhibition doubles match at 7:30.