As the weather warms up, the rust — if there was any — is disintegrating from Jeff Greenwald’s tennis game at the Ted Smythe USTA National Men’s 50 Hard Court Championships.
The top-seeded Greenwald, who hadn’t played in a USTA tournament since last November, showed during a singles semifinal match against No. 5 John Saviano that his game is nearly all the way back.
Greenwood’s first serve carried him in the opening set and he held off a strong Saviano comeback in the second for a 6-2, 6-4 victory on Thursday at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club.
Greenwood, a former UCSB star and the 2017 national champion from San Anselmo, will face Malibu’s Bill Moss in one semifinal match on Friday at 11 a.m.
Moss advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Richard Beijer.
The other semifinal will pit second-seeded Dana Gill of San Jose against No. 4 Pat Crow of Lake Forest at 9:30 a.m. Gill fought off Curtis Dunn of Angwin, Calif., 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. Crow beat Steve Heroux of Hidden Hills, 6-2, 6-3.
In doubles, No. 1 Arthur Hernandez and Carsten Hoffmann play third-seeded Rick Leach and Vivek Varma for the championship. Leach/Varma knocked off two-time defending champion Crow and his partner Robert Wesley Hinkel, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Hernandez/Hoffmann advanced as Laurent Dropsy/Robert Finlay had to retire in the first set because of an injury.
The doubles final is at 2 p.m.
Greenwald, who last month was inducted into the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame, has been regaining his match fitness while he’s progressed through the tournament.
“I haven’t played in a tournament since November-December, so I’m not really in match shape,” he said. “I’m kind of working my way into the tournament. It’s starting to feel better, the parts are coming together.”
It sure looked that way in the opening set as Greenwald gave Los Altos’ Serviano problems with a big first serve.
“My first serve percentage was good. I was kind of spinning the ball in a little more. I usually go a little bigger,” he said. “The first-serve percentage helped me out and kind of got me into the point. I didn’t have to throw in a lot of second serves. You have to work the point here because the courts are slow. You go for too much too soon you could get into trouble. I felt like my forehand was working well, I was moving pretty well.”
Greenwald experienced some hiccups in the second set, and Serviano picked up his game to make things interesting.
“That guy is a fighter,” Greenwald said of the muscular Serviano. “He’s strong, he’s smart, he wanted to play aggressive. He came right out of the gates. He didn’t want to be in long rallies, I think. That suits me, too, because these courts are slower. The advantage, I would say, goes to me the longer the point.”
Greenwald enjoys coming back to play in Santa Barbara.
“They do such a great job; Larry (tournament director Larry Mousouris) does a wonderful job here,” he said. “It’s like home — I went to school here at UCSB. This is a second home for sure.”
Leach/Varma rallied in both sets to take down the hard-hitting Crow/Hinkel.
Varma, an executive vice president with Starbucks Coffee in Seattle, was steady with his groundstrokes while Leach took care of things at the net, slicing and dicing volleys to open spots.
“Ricky is just so solid,” Varma said. “He made some unbelievable plays. It could have gone either way, a couple of shots here and there, but we got it done.”
Leach, who played several years on the ATP Tour, was ranked No. 1 in doubles, won nine Grand Slam doubles titles (three men’s doubles, two mixed at the Australian Open, one men’s, one mixed at the U.S. Open, one men’s at Wimbledon and one mixed at French Open) and a Davis Cup for the U.S., said his net play is all instinctual.
“I like when you don’t have to think, the instincts just take over. You kind of get a flashback to when you used to know how to play,” he cracked
After more than a decade of playing with Leach, Varma now just rolls with the amazing shots his partner pulls off in matches.
“I hate to say I’ve become used to it, but in some ways he knows where the ball is going — he just has a sixth sense — and he then knows where to place it, so that there’s a low percentage that the other guy is going to hit his best shot from that position. You can’t teach that,” Varma said.
In the first set, Leach forced a tiebreaker on a shot he made while protecting himself. The ball landed in the corner to knot the set 6-6. He hit a winner at the net to decide the tiebreaker.
Down 3-2 in the second set, Varma stunned Hinkel with a spinning second-serve ace and followed with a big first serve that set up a crushing overhead by Leach to tie the score.
Leach/Varma took a 4-3 lead on a winning Leach volley that looked like he pulled the racket out of his left pocket. He made the incredible shot after complimenting Hinkel for an amazing cut shot at the net on the previous play.
“He’s the ultimate sportsman on all levels,” Varma said of Leach. “He’s a great competitor, generous with his line calls, very gracious to his opponents and he’s just a lot of fun to play with.”
Leach put his team ahead 5-3 by rushing the net after his serve and hitting a low volley between Crow and Hinkel.
Hinkel held serve before Varma used his steady groundstrokes to finish off the match.
“He played great, he’s confident,” said Leach of his partner. “Three weeks ago he was in the finals of the (USTA 50s) indoor, so he’s match ready.
“For me, it’s different. I haven’t played a tournament in about two years, so this is exciting.”
— Noozhawk Sports Editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.