Home >  Sports >  Notebooks

Sunday, May 11, 2003

Val Wilder made the trip here from Euless, Texas, in each of the past three years.

He returned home each time the singles champion of the USTA National Men's 40 Indoor Tennis Championship.

"I'm playing well and working out hard," said Wilder, 43, who has lost only once in age-group competition in the past 10 years and is ranked No. 2 in the 40s and No. 3 in the 35s. "The Pittsburgh Indoors always has a tough field."

Wilder's bid for an unprecedented fourth consecutive singles title will be challenged by a star-studded field that will take to the courts at the Oxford Athletic Club in Monroeville from Friday through May 21.

Wilder, seeded No. 1, defeated fourth-seeded John Chatlak of Monessen and Wheeling, W.Va., in the singles final last year, 6-4, 6-1. Wilder and John Arciero won the doubles with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Lynn Bybee and Tom Lucci.

"It's a great tournament for both singles and doubles," said Wilder, who will again team with Arciero.

Wilder and Arciero can expect to be tested by 2001 champions Roco Cona and Ernie Fernandez, who didn't play in the tournament last year. Another formidable duo should be Chatlak and Bill Pilardi (Pittsburgh).

The singles competition promises to produce some high-level matches with five of the top six finishers last year returning and the addition of Pablo Arraya, the recent winner of the ITF 40s World Championships. He won the 35s nationals in 1997 and 2000 and was ranked as high as No. 30 in the world by the ATP.

Also making his first appearance will be Gil Schuerholtz, who was ranked No. 10 in the 35s in 2001, but played sparingly last year because of injuries.

"Arraya has won some big matches against great players," Wilder said. "Schuerholtz is harder to judge, but he's had strong wins against national 40s players."

The list of players who will provide stiff competition in singles includes Mike Rose, who finished third in the tournament last year and was a recent finalist at the National 45s Hard Courts; Lynn Bybee, who was fourth in 2001 and a quarterfinalist last year; Jeff Clark, a quarterfinalist last year and the No. 1-ranked player in USTA/Middle States 40s in 2002.

Among the players making their debut in the 40s competition after being ranked in the 35s will be Peter Lashmet, Anthony Richey and Jim Rakela.

Tournament tidbits

There will be a pro-am beginning at 4:45 p.m. Friday and a banquet at 7:30. The entry fee is $15 for the pro-am. For more information, call 412-856-3938. Dollar Bank, the Oxford Athletic Club and UPMC Sports Medicine will again be the major sponsors.

Campus courts

Slippery Rock lost to Northwest Missouri State, 5-2, in the school's first appearance in the NCAA Division II women's tennis Sweet 16 at Sanlando Park, Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The Rock finished 21-3 for a school season record in victories.

Slippery Rock's two victories in Floridacame in doubles, with No. 2 Jessica Bungo and Ella Reilly defeating Gena Lindsey and Sara Lipira, 9-7, and No. 3 Kelly Anderson and Justine Miller defeating Nicole Berger and Raven Herner, 8-5. No. 1 Ashley Michaux and her sister Kristy lost to Rosa Tapia and Adriana Hernandez, 8-6.

In singles, Bungo lost at No. 1, Reilly lost at No. 2 and Kristy Michaux lost at No. 3.

Slippery Rock advanced to the Sweet 16 with 5-0 victories against IUP and Bentley in the East regional.

Bungo, a junior from Indiana High School and a two-time first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference selection, was ranked 44th in the country in singles and finished with a 16-6 record. She was 22-4 in doubles.

Ashley Michaux, a freshman from Penn-Trafford, was named the East region's Rookie of the Year. She was 22-2 in singles and 23-3 and ranked 17th nationally in doubles with her sister.