Dent’s Startling Power Brings the Good and Bad

We all know there is a certain element of danger watching baseball or hockey. Tennis used to be a safe sport. You could take your eye off the ball and look for that final slice of pate or pull a strawberry out of the cream.

Not now.

Taylor Dent has arrived. In 63 minutes Wednesday at the Mercedes-Benz Cup, he dispatched sixth-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain, 6-3, 6-4, and also sent off a spectator, who is likely to have a nasty headache after getting smacked by one of Dent’s overheads. At least the ball lost some of its power, bouncing on the court before hitting the woman several rows behind the baseline.

“I hope she is OK, I think I got her in the eyebrow area,” said Dent, who made sure the injured woman received some ice and one of his rackets. “An inch away and that was not looking good. I’m just hoping she’s fine.”

A few months ago, the delay and disruption might have unsettled Dent. But the 20-year-old from Newport Beach was leading, 4-3, in the second set, and after the brief stoppage, he promptly put in a 92-mph off-speed service winner, taking a 5-3 lead.

Dent’s coach, Eliot Teltscher, sitting in the stands at UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center, had been concerned.

“I was worried he was going to fall apart after that. I can tell he felt so bad. That’s the way he is,” Teltscher said. “I’m thinking, ‘Taylor, it’s not your fault. Just concentrate.’ I know he’s thinking about it.

“He’s an emotional guy. That’s why he’s fun to watch. He’s going to show his emotions. That’s the way he is. If he tries not to do that, he’ll be in more trouble.”

Dent went on to defeat Moya in the first round. Other winners were top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, who beat Michael Llodra of France, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in another first-rounder. No. 7 Magnus Norman of Sweden defeated Cyril Saulnier of France, 6-4, 7-6 (4), in a second-round match.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Norman will play No. 4 Pete Sampras. Sampras defeated defending champion Michael Chang, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2), in 1 hour 53 minutes.

“It’s always special to play a peer like Michael,” said Sampras, who had 12 aces. “We’ve battled for the Slams. We’ve battled for No. 1. It’s nice to go out there and beat him. Even though he’s not at the level he once was, he’s still very crafty and knows what he is doing. When I’ve faced him, he doesn’t have the pressure he might have against other guys.

“It’s always nice to beat someone who is around 30.”

Dent’s victory was the first true upset after almost three days of the event. He said this was one of his career highlights, ranking it with a January victory over Norman.

“It’s up there with one of my biggest wins. I beat Sampras earlier this week in practice,” he said, joking.

The jet-lagged Moya was quite impressed. Dent had 16 aces, and his fastest serve was 142 mph (“I lost the point,” Dent said). Moya, the 1998 French Open champion, had a long journey to L.A., coming from winning an event at Umag, Croatia, on Sunday. He arrived Tuesday after stopovers in Madrid and London.

“If he is serving like this, and not the top 20, something is missing,” Moya said. “I’ve played [Mark] Philippoussis. I’ve played Sampras. I’ve played [Greg] Rusedski. I’ve played many players and I don’t remember any of them serving like this. So, he’s still young. With his serve, he could be as good as he wants to be.

“I don’t know how he competes or how he works, if he trains hard or not. Just with his serve, he should be top 20 very easily. His lowest serve is like 125 miles. You need to play well. When you serve, you have a lot of pressure and if you get broken, the set is over.”

The crowd reacted with astonishment at Dent’s serving ability. He smiled when asked about his tendency to check out his service speed.

“I have a very bad habit of watching the speed gun,” he said. “They should put a blindfold on me for that. Every serve I’m always checking it out, to see what’s going on. A very bad habit. I don’t know whether it’s good or bad.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Featured Matches

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* Paul Goldstein vs. Jan-Michael Gambill

* Taylor Dent vs. Max Mirnyi, Belarus

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Xavier Malisse, Belgium vs. Marat Safin, Russia

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* Andre Agassi vs. Greg Rusedski, Britain