LOCALS ESTABLISH COURT ORDER; EX-BRUIN GIMELSTOB, EX-TROJAN BLACK ADVANCE AT UCLA.Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer You didn't have to be a former L.A. collegiate tennis star to succeed Monday at the Mercedes-Benz Cup. But it didn't hurt. USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. alum Byron Black Byron Black (born October 6, 1969 in Salisbury, Rhodesia) is a former touring professional tennis and Davis Cup player for Zimbabwe. He is the brother of Cara and Wayne Black, both professional tennis players. and recent UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX standout Justin Gimelstob Justin Gimelstob (b. 26 January 1977, in Livingston, New Jersey) is an American tennis player. He won the 1998 Australian Open and French Open mixed doubles titles with Venus Williams as his partner. , playing with a virtual home-court advantage, won their respective first-round matches at the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Tennis Center at UCLA. Black, the tournament's seventh seed, defeated Sjeng Schalken Sjeng Schalken (born September 8, 1976 in Weert) is a former professional tennis player from the Netherlands. A right-handed baseliner with a single-handed backhand, Schalken's game is characterised by his consistency of both wings and his continental technique on both the of the Netherlands 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) in a mid-day match under the blistering sun. Gimelstob, the up-and-coming 21-year-old, followed with a 6-4, 6-0 defeat of the Czech Republic's Daniel Vacek Daniel Vacek (born April 1, 1971 in Prague) is a former tennis player from the Czech Republic who turned professional in 1990. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was defeated in the second round. . The tournament lost another seeded player Monday when fourth seed Thomas Enqvist pulled out with tendinitis in his right foot. He was replaced in the night feature match by Sandon Stolle of Australia, who played qualifier Taylor Dent of Newport Beach. Top seed Pete Sampras previously withdrew before the tournament started due to lingering soreness in his right foot. Black, of Zimbabwe, battled mightily to take the second set from Schalken but benefited from the immense heat - both the sun's and Schalken's. The emotional Dutchman had taken a 2-0 lead in the set, but Black broke his serve in the third game, clinching it on a double-fault. Schalken overheated o·ver·heat v. o·ver·heat·ed, o·ver·heat·ing, o·ver·heats v.tr. 1. To heat too much. 2. To cause to become excited, agitated, or overstimulated. v.intr. , swatting his hat with his racket as he headed to his chair. ``Sjeng is a very talented player, but mentally he gets a little upset, he's unstable. I wanted to try and capitalize on that,'' Black said. ``I didn't want to give him any free points at that stage.'' Both men held serve from there on out, but Black had clearly won the mental advantage and took that edge into the tiebreaker tie·break·er n. An additional contest or period of play designed to establish a winner among tied contestants. Also called tiebreak. tie . He faces Gianluca Pozzi of Italy in the next round. ``I played a loose game in the second game of the second set (when Schalken broke his serve). I think the key was to break back immediately, which I did. That really got him down again. That was key.'' All of which made for a nice opening to Black's latest homecoming. Though he resides in Zimbabwe, the former Trojan, who turned pro in 1991, considers Los Angeles a second home. ``I really feel comfortable here,'' he said, referring to the site but not necessarily the court, where temperatures hovered near 100 at ground level. The searing sear 1 v. seared, sear·ing, sears v.tr. 1. To char, scorch, or burn the surface of with or as if with a hot instrument. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. heat only seemed to affect Schalken, though. ``I'm used to the hot weather,'' Black said, ``but I could feel the heat draining the energy out of me out there, especially in the second set. It was coming up from the floor as well. My feet were getting really hot.'' Gimelstob's greatest concerns had been his temper and his back, in that order, but he seemed to have control over both in his quick defeat of Vacek. It took the former Bruin just 1 hour and 1 minute to win the match. Afterward Gimelstob said he's more in control of his emotions now than he was as a tour rookie last year. He's also close to fully recovered from a herniated disc in his back that knocked him out of competition for three months earlier this year. And he was more than happy to find his groove on the court where he was an All-American before joining the pro tour in 1996. ``I'm not going to find a place I've had more repetitions on or a better win-loss percentage,'' Gimelstob said. In other matches, Pozzi defeated Guillermo Canas of Argentina 6-2, 6-4; Andrew Ilie of Romania defeated Malivai Washington of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of 6-4, 6-1; Martin Damm of the Czech Republic defeated USC alum Wayne Black (brother of Byron) 2-6, 7-5, 6-0; Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark defeated Oscar Burrieza of Spain 7-5, 6-4, and Jan-Michael Gambill of Spokane, Wash., defeated Steve Campbell of Buffalo, N.Y., 6-4, 6-4. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) Ex-UCLA star Justin Gimelstob has learned to harness his emotions better. (2) MaliVai Washington of the U.S. fell in the first round to Andrew Ilie of Romania, but countrymen Justin Gimelstob and Jan-Michael Gambill won. Tom Mendoza/Daily News |
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