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Sunday, April 15, 2001

The field for the National Men's 40 Indoor Tennis Championships keeps getting stronger.

So do the players.

"I've done a lot of weight training over the past year, and I'm in far better shape than last year," said Val Wilder, the defending singles champion. "I'm playing much better. I'm really looking forward to returning to Pittsburgh. It's a great tournament."

The tournament will be May 18-23 at the Oxford Athletic Club in Monroeville for the seventh consecutive year. The singles field will be 64 and the doubles draw 32.

Wilder, from Euless, Texas, a small town between Dallas and Fort Worth, defeated Mike Rose in the final, 6-2, 6-3.

John Chatlak, who grew up in Monessen and is the tennis director at Wheeling Oglebay Park, teamed with Lynn Bybee to win the doubles title with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory against Ed Perpetua and Kenny West.

Chatlak isn't expected to compete this year because of recurring injuries.

Craig Perry, the former director of tennis for the Oxford Athletic Club and current director of tennis for Parkway Tennis Club and Fox Chapel Golf Club, will participate for the first time.

"I'm looking forward to competing for the first time," said Perry, who played tennis at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. "I've watched many top players from all over the nation competing over the past few years, and I look forward to joining the field.

"I hope that I'll be a strong contender."

Tennisfest 2001, which will conduct a silent auction for the benefit of the Mario Lemieux Foundation, will start with the Dollar Bank pro am and "Welcome Players Reception" May 18. Other activities throughout the week will include "Tiny Tots Tennifest" May 20, a Wilson Demo night following doubles matches May 21 and a pot-luck dinner for players and spectators May 22. The annual banquet is May 19.

Campus courts

Penn State's women's team is having a banner season under second-year coach Buffy Baker. The Lady Lions (12-5, 4-2 in the Big Ten) have the most wins in a season since 1993-94 and the four league victories are the most ever.

Penn State is led by fifth-year senior Pilar Montgomerywho is 26-8 at No. 1 singles and 19-10 at No. 1 doubles with Rebecca Ho. Kristin Nowacki, a freshman from Greensburg Salem, is 12-5 at No. 5 singles.

Carnegie Mellon All-American Kayvon Fatahalian, a sophomore who is the top men's singles player in NCAA Division III, is 27-4 in singles and 22-5 in doubles this spring for the Tartans (8-10). Fatahalian won the Division III singles championship last spring and the ITA Rolex Division III singles title in the fall.

Fatahalian will be favored to win the singles and doubles titles at the University Athletic Association tournament this weekend in Rochester, N.Y. The Division III championships are May 18-23 at DePauw University in Indiana.

CMU's men and women's coach Peter Moss was named the United States Tennis Association's Allegheny Mountain District Coach of the Year.

Sophomore Gene Cutter won five matches at No. 1 singles and five at No. 1 doubles as Frostburg went 5-0 to raise its record to 10-0. The Bobcats are in first place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference with a 6-0 record, 21/2 games ahead of runner-up Penn State Behrend.

UCLA's men (17-1) remained No. 1 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings despite a 4-3 loss against No. 4 Stanford (15-1). Arkansas, led by Oskar Johansson, the nation's top-ranked men's singles player, is No. 25 and the only newcomer in the Top 25.

Stanford's women (19-0) have held the No. 1 spot for all 11 weeks of the season.

Net results

Top-seed Mark Silva of Philadelphia picked up $2,500 by winning the Pittsburgh Pro Tennis Challenge with a 6-4, 7-5 victory against No. 3 Adam Baranowski of Toronto in the final at Western Area YMCA located behind Robinson Town Centre. Baranowski earned $1,500.

In the semifinals, Baranowski beat No. 5 Ray Puentes of Cincinnati and Silva defeated No. 6 Igor Levine of Baltimore.

"We had a real strong field," said Ron Mercer, the tournament chairman. "It was the biggest first-place prize money for a men's tournament around here in a long while. Maybe ever."