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Sunday, May 27, 2001

Don Mercer is hoping to bring the National Collegiate Clay Court championships back to its past glory by bringing in the Futures.

The $10,000 Futures of Pittsburgh, with a 64-man field composed of young players on the way up in the world of professional tennis, will be July 3-8 at the Mt. Lebanon Tennis Center with championships in singles and doubles.

The qualifiers are June 30-July 2.

The Futures, part of a developmental circuit sponsored by the USTA, can be used as a springboard to the $50,000 and $75,000 Challengers and then to the lucrative USTA circuit.

The Futures of Pittsburgh is sandwiched between tournaments on Long Island and Peoria, Ill., on the clay court summer circuit in the east.

"The Futures are for players ready to break through," Mercer said. "Mostly they are former college players who have just turned pro."

The National Collegiate Clay Court championships will run simultaneously with the Futures of Pittsburgh, July 3-7 with championships in men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles. Mercer expects to lure many of the top college amateurs in the country to the tournament because they'll first have an opportunity to qualify for the Futures of Pittsburgh.

"If they fail to make the Futures, they can stay and play in the amateurs," said Mercer, director of the National Collegiate Clay Court championships. "The amateurs can't take money in the Futures, but they can earn points that get you into other pro events. They do it for the experience and the chance to play against better players.

"One of my goals was to bring the player level back to where it was in the 70s. To accomplish that, I had to bring in a Futures event."

In its heyday, the National Collegiate Clay Court championships attracted high-caliber players such as Roscoe Tanner, Peter Fleming, Vitas Gerulaitis, Harold Solomon, Sandy Mayer and Victor Amaya. The tournament was an annual stop for members of the Junior Davis Cup team.

"I want the level of play to be similar to what we had back then," Mercer said. "The ITA sponsors an All-American team of college amateurs that they send around the country. I'm lobbying to get at least a couple of these players to come here. There's nothing going on at that time other than Wimbledon. I'm trying to get a commitment from them. Right now, it's a maybe.

"The All-American team is comparable to the Junior Davis Cup team."

Sarah Riske, a sophomore at Vanderbilt and graduate of Peters Township High School, is expected to defend her National Collegiate Clay Court singles title. She was the No. 38-ranked singles player in NCAA Division I this season.

"The entries don't usually come in this early," Mercer said. "Combining the tournaments, I think, will attract more interest and better players for the clay courts. From attracting sponsors, it's getting more interest. We need more money to pull this doubleheader off.'

"The main sponsors are the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PNC and Dick's Sporting Goods. We're always looking for banner sponsors.

"This will be the strongest event we've had."

Campus courts

Carnegie Mellon sophomore Kayvon Fatahalian, the defending singles national champion, lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament to Rost Orach, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) of Trinity College, Conn., at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.

Orach was the No. 2 seed and Fatahalian was unseeded.

Fatahalian and CMU teammate Jonathan Hui lost in the opening round of the doubles to Sloan Rush and Ed Rahn, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, of Trinity College, Texas.

Fatahalian, a native of Round Rock, Texas, near Austin, was named to the Verizon Academic All-District II College Division Spring Men At-Large first team selected by the sports information directors. He has a 4.0 grade average in computer science. Hui, an electrical engineering major, has a 3.94 average.

What's happening

Clinics for boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 17 for three skill levels will start June 11 and run all summer, three days a week. For more information, call Tom Fleming at 412-787-2824.