County Players Get a Shot at Big Time

It’s a longshot and a big dream, but several Orange County tennis players will take to the courts at the Rancho San Clemente Tennis and Fitness Club today in hopes of earning a chance to play Wimbledon champion Venus Williams at the 2000 Acura Classic this month.

Organizers of the women’s tournament, which will host eight of the current top-10 ranked players on the WTA Tour, are giving players three opportunity tournaments to earn a wild-card entry into the qualifying draw of the Classic, which begins July 29 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad.

Win the opportunity tournament, and get a bid. And with a lot of skill and a large dose of luck, winners could find themselves on the opposite side of the net from the likes of Lindsay Davenport, defending champion Martina Hingis or Anna Kournikova.

Saddleback High senior Kim Nguyen is one of those players hoping to get in the tournament.

Nguyen competed in the first opportunity tournament last week at the Industry Hills Tennis Center and advanced to the quarterfinals with an upset of fifth-seeded Jonni Seymour of UC Irvine. However, Nguyen lost in the quarterfinals to Iris Ichim of Beverly Hills. San Diego’s Ann Mall defeated Ichim in the final to earn the first of the three wild-card entries.

Nguyen and Ichim will begin their quest for the coveted berth again today in San Clemente.

Laguna Niguel’s Amy Tranckino, who recently announced she will transfer to UC Irvine from UC San Diego in search of better competition on the court, will also be there to compete along with Mission Viejo’s Tatiana Steinberg, San Clemente’s Meghan Ehlers and Elizabeth Buckley, Dana Point’s Sondra Michelson and Laguna Niguel’s Erin Ivey.

The final opportunity tournament will begin next Wednesday at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club.

SIGNING

Woodbridge graduate Adriana Hockicko has signed to play tennis at Cal State Fullerton, she said.

An all-county first-team selection by The Times, Hockicko came within a set of becoming only the third girls’ player in Southern Section history to win back-to-back doubles championships.

As a junior, she won the title with Danielle Hustedt and this season she advanced to the final with Evangalina Soriano. Hockicko and Soriano won the Sea View League doubles tournament, beating Newport Harbor’s Jenny Meyer and Kristen Case in the final.

During team play, Hockicko was 47-7 in singles and 12-3 in doubles.

FIRST-TIME TOURNAMENT

The Anaheim Tennis Center will host the boys’ and girls’ 14-and-under National Junior Open Championships starting Sunday.

Many of the top-ranked players in the nation, selected by the U.S. Tennis Assn., will compete in the single-elimination tournament.

Tournament director and tennis center owner Ron Metcalf says it is the first time tennis fans will be able to see young players from other parts of the country compete, without having to leave California.

The tournament runs through July 20. Play begins at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Anaheim Tennis Center and Cal State Fullerton. The remainder of the tournament will be at the tennis center, with the finals beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday.

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