Park Can Examine Life on Pro Circuit

Andrew Park, a premed student at USC, seems too smart for the ruthless world of the men’s satellite tennis circuit, where phenoms, ex-college stars and former top-50 players bounce from town to town scrounging for ATP computer points and a decent meal.

This week, the town is Laguna Hills and the tournament is the $50,000 ATP Challenger at Nellie Gail Ranch Tennis & Swim Club. Park, who carried 18 units and a 3.67 GPA his freshman semester, is only here because he received one of four wild cards into the 32-player field after winning the Easter Bowl junior tournament last spring.

While he’s here, Park will also catch a glimpse of what his life could be like in a few years. Although Park, 19, plans to be a doctor, he also hasn’t discounted giving the ATP Tour a try.

“Right now, it’s 50-50,” said Park, who plays 114th-ranked Alex Calatrava of Spain today in the first round of the tournament, which runs through Sunday and is free to the public. “I’d definitely love to try the tour if I thought I was ready.”

It’s evident Park is a pretty deep thinker. He is the only men’s tennis player ever admitted into USC’s honors dorm or its Baccalaureate M.D. program, which accepts 35 students out of a pool of more than 300 and admits its graduates directly into USC Medical School. He had a 4.6 GPA at San Marino High, one of the Southland’s top academic schools, and he scored 1470 on his SAT.

“It would be safe to say he’s the smartest kid ever to play for me,” said Dick Leach, USC’s coach of 20 years. “He picks up everything I say. You never have to repeat something to Andrew. He is as smart on the court as he is off the court and that doesn’t always go hand in hand.”

Park’s intelligence, quickness and competitiveness made him the top junior player in the United States last year. He won the boys’ 18 singles and doubles titles at the Easter Bowl, the Southern Section individual singles title and the boys’ 18 singles title at the USTA national hardcourts in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Somehow, he completed his last junior season without losing a single match.

“That’s impossible,” Leach said.

Said Park: “Last year, I had a little different mind-set. Knowing my deal was set with USC, I wanted to enjoy my last year of juniors. That took a little pressure off.”

Park’s hardcourt title earned him a wild card into the main draw of the 1998 U.S. Open. He lost to Sweden’s Michael Tillstrom, then ranked 69th in the world, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.

“I really enjoyed it,” he said.

Park is also enjoying college life, though he admits study time is cutting into practice time.

“Maybe I didn’t develop as much as I should have in the fall,” Park said. “But whatever I do, I want to give it my best, whether it’s academics or tennis.”

So far his best on the tennis court has been good enough. In eight dual matches for the 15th-ranked Trojans, Park is 8-1 alternating between No. 2 and No. 3 singles and 9-0 at No. 3 doubles with his partner, Greg Hill.

Leach has been working with Park on his net game and on the pace and placement of his serve.

“He used to wait for the other guy to make an error, and in the juniors they usually did,” Leach said. “Now, he’s got to dictate the point more if he’s going to win.”

Park’s developing game will be severely tested in Laguna Hills. With the Philadelphia indoor tournament being discontinued after last year, the field for the Laguna Hills challenger is comparable to a lower-level event on the main ATP tour. The cutoff for players receiving direct acceptances into the draw is a ranking of 136th.

Leach said it would be incredible if Park got by his first-round opponent, Calatrava.

“Without having a big shot, it’s going to be pretty tough for him to knock somebody off,” Leach said. “He’s going to be competitive with everybody he plays. But he’s got to get bigger and stronger. The pros do everything he does, they just do it a little better.”

Not quite everything. Not many pros have a medical career to fall back on if their forehand should fail them.

Tennis notes

Ronald Agenor of Haiti, Michael Sell of the U.S., Nenad Zimonjic of Yugoslavia and Eric Taino, a former UCLA, earned the last four spots into the main draw by winning the final round of qualifying Sunday. Taino defeated David Wheaton, in the final round, 6-0, 6-2, and he will open on Tuesday against top-seeded Andrew Ilie of Australia. . . . Play begins each day at 10 a.m. and continues until 5 p.m. Seating is limited to about 600 and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Park’s match is the second on Court One. Newport Beach’s Taylor Dent, a wild-card entry will play the third match against Dinu Pescariu of Romania, ranked 107th. The singles finals are scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday. The doubles finals will follow.