Kim’s Game Improving, but the Clock Is Ticking

Back home in Fullerton after a brutal seven-week stretch of tournaments in Europe and North America, Kevin Kim seemingly had a lot to celebrate on his 22nd birthday.

He had just reached the singles and doubles final at the Aptos Challenger. His singles ranking was at an all-time high of 140, and he was finally beginning to regain some of the confidence he had during his junior career.

But Kim, who starred at Sunny Hills High and UCLA, said there would be no celebration.

“I’m not really that excited to be 22,” he said. “In tennis years, that’s getting old. You don’t really have that much time. I’d rather be [ranked] 140 and still be 21. It sounds better.”

When he turned pro in 1997 after one season at UCLA, Kim never imagined it would take him three seasons to crack the top 150. He completed a spectacular junior career by winning the USTA boys’ 18 national title at Kalamazoo, Mich. After a strong freshman year for the Bruins, Kim appeared to be on his way to stardom on the ATP Tour.

But after a year, Kim’s ranking was still in the 600s. He began to realize that professional tennis wasn’t even remotely similar to junior or collegiate tennis.

“You’re overwhelmed a little,” Kim said. “You think, ‘I’ve got to do something to make it big.’ So you keep fiddling with your game.”

After two years, Kim was still in the 300s and looking for any sign of improvement.

“I was struggling with everything, my technique, my style of play,” he said. “I wasn’t sure in my mind how I wanted to play. Knowing that you’re not improving is a tough thing to take.”

Things began to change late in 1999, when Kim’s ranking rose to 211. After a slow start this season, Kim’s all-court game has come together the last two months. In his last six Challenger events, he has reached four quarterfinals and two finals.

“I know what my strengths are and I’m able to make adjustments better during matches,” he said. “I’ve even been able to grind out matches when I haven’t been playing my best.”

Andrew Kim hadn’t seen his son play much this season, so he was glad he took a trip north to Aptos, where Kim was defeated in the singles final by Bob Bryan in three sets.

“I liked his game,” Andrew Kim said. “Even though he lost in the finals by being aggressive, I think he did the right thing. I think he’s going to play pretty well the next six months.”

Although he was passed over for a wild card into the main draw of Mercedes-Benz Cup for a second consecutive year, Kim didn’t seem to mind.

“I knew I was sort of low on the list,” he said. “Taylor [Dent] and Bob [Bryan] have been playing good and if I was running the tournament, I would have picked [Mark] Philippoussis over me too.”

Because of his recent surge in the rankings, Kim has a good chance to be awarded a wild card into the main draw of the U.S. Open. He received one last year when his ranking was 100 spots lower.

“I don’t expect anything,” he said. “There’s a lot of politics that go into those wild cards.”

Kim would rather play tennis than politics anyway. So after a week’s rest, he is back in Europe playing a $100,000 Challenger in Segovia, Spain. From there, he travels back across the Atlantic to Washington to play qualifying at the Legg Mason Classic.

GIRLS’ 16s IN SAN DIEGO

Anne Yelsey of Corona del Mar High and Lindsey Nelson of Villa Park are seeded in the USTA Girls’ 16 Super Nationals, which begin Sunday at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Yelsey and Nelson met six weeks ago in the girls’ 16 semifinals at the Southern California Junior Sectionals at Los Caballeros Racquet Club, where Yelsey won in three sets.

Yelsey and Nelson are seeded 17-32 in the 256-player draw. Other county players entered are Megan Biorkman and Aimee Kim of University, Elizabeth Exon and Evangelina Soriano of Woodbridge, Serena Fermin of Troy, Erin Ivey of Laguna Niguel, Joanna Kao of Sunny Hills, Ashley Maddocks of Laguna Beach, Kim Singer of Corona del Mar and Chelsy Thompson of Dana Hills. The tournament concludes Aug. 13.

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