Rainmaker Hits the Second Day With Haymaker

Rain came pouring down on the 99th annual Ojai tournament with a vengeance just before noon Friday.

Play was suspended for 2 1/2 hours while a large crew of volunteers used blowers, brooms and squeegees to dry the courts.

Play resumed for less than an hour before rain again pelted players, who fled for cover from the more than 100 courts used in the Ojai area.

“We’ve had delays in the past, but not as severe as this,” said Alan Rains, president of the Ojai Tennis Club, a group whose sole purpose is to organize the Ojai tournament each year.

“I don’t remember if it’s ever hailed before,” said Rains, a tournament volunteer since 1948, when he served as a driver, ferrying players to various tournament sites.

The storm apparently was most severe in the Ojai Valley. Play at some sites in Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo continued while matches in Ojai were suspended.

It drizzled during last year’s tournament, but the last time play was suspended because of rain was 1988, according to officials.

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A much-anticipated quarterfinal match in the boys’ 16 division went as top-seeded Travis Rettenmaier and fifth-seeded Stephen Amritraj might have expected.

Only better.

Rettenmaier, a Camarillo resident and the defending champion in the division, defeated Amritraj, 6-3, 6-1.

But Amritraj, a Calabasas resident and Crespi High freshman, put up a fight in the 2 1/2-hour match and he was happy with that.

“The guy played great sometimes and ultimately great at other times,” Amritraj said.

“I was very happy with the way I played. It was just that he played all the big points better. At crucial times, he has a little bit more experience than me.”

Rettenmaier advanced to the match against Amritraj with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Cameron Ball of Newport Beach earlier in the day. Amritraj advanced with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory over Andrew James of San Diego.

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If Rani Setiawati and Karoline Tomicich of Glendale College win the Ojai community college women’s doubles title, they will follow in the footsteps of their coach, Terry Coblentz.

Coblentz won the division doubles championship at Ojai in 1970 with Louise Seltzer while they were students at Pierce.

“That was a very long time ago,” Coblentz said, smiling at the memory. “It’s such a privilege to be an Ojai champion. I’m still very proud of that.”