Cook Works Hard for First Paycheck

As debuts go, Jason Cook’s was first-rate, and so are his memories of it.

Cook, a Calabasas resident who played No. 2 singles for UCLA’s national runner-up men’s tennis team, defeated Doug Root, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (4-7), 7-6 (14-12), in his professional debut June 15 in the Chandler Cup at California.

He survived seven match points against Root, an amateur who plays No. 1 singles for Duke and has a year of eligibility remaining.

“That was something, and pretty memorable,” Cook said. “I came out on the right end of that thing. But I flirted with disaster seven times.

“It was a tough one. I knew who he was and I knew he was a good player, but I wasn’t expecting anything like that, especially for my first pro match.”

Cook, 22, advanced to the singles quarterfinals and to the doubles semifinals in the International Tennis Federation event.

Cook, who is in Danville competing in his second pro event, flirted with the idea of turning pro the last few years, competing in summer satellite events as an amateur.

After UCLA’s loss to Georgia in the NCAA Division I final last month, Cook dropped out of school without a degree and joined the pro ranks.

His experience in satellite tournaments helped him make a smooth transition.

“This is actually my fourth summer of doing this,” Cook said. “The main difference now is, instead of signing into tournaments as an amateur, I sign in as a professional. And now, I’ll be playing these tournaments 12 months a year instead of three months.

“At this level, you don’t do it for the money because it’s not that much. Right now, it’s just a lot of hard work.”

Not that Cook is complaining.

Happy with his strong pro start, he hopes to move up in the Assn. of Tennis Professionals rankings. He is currently hovering around No. 800 in the world.

“I’m giving myself a two- to three-year span to really give myself a chance, and then I’ll evaluate where I’m at and what I want to do,” he said.

“But right now, it’s exciting to be getting paid for something that’s actually pretty fun to do. I could have lost that first match, so I can’t complain. I can’t be greedy.”

There’s little chance of that at this point.

Cook’s combined earnings from the Chandler Cup: $430.

While Jason Cook played in his first pro event, younger brother Lester Cook IV traveled to Paris and La Baule, France, to compete with members of a U.S. Tennis Assn.-sponsored team of 16-and-under players.

Cook, 15, who finished the 1998 season ranked No. 9 in Southern California in the boys’ 14 division by the USTA, has moved up a division.

He believes the 26-day trip to Europe and the experience of playing on the red-clay courts of France improved his game.

“It’s a whole different game on the clay,” Cook said. “You have so much time to get to the ball that you have to make another two shots to finish points. It’s a lot longer and slower.”

The better to work on strategy and build stamina.

“I really do feel like I came back a better player,” Cook said. “I feel like I have more endurance, and I just feel better about my playing.”

Cook is competing this week in the USTA Southern California junior sectional tournament in Fountain Valley.

Seeded No. 8 in the boys’ 16 division, he lost Tuesday to Brian Morton of Costa Mesa, 6-1, 6-7 (7-0), 7-6 (7-0), and fell into the back-draw of the event.

In the quarterfinals of back-draw play Friday, Cook defeated Scott Stewart of Malibu, 6-4, 4-1, when Stewart retired because of injury.