Mareschal falls to a familiar foe in Westlake

BACKHAND BEAUTY-Pierre Mareschal rips a shot down the line during Monday's semifinal match against Vallis Wilder. Pierre Mareschal was the last remaining local tennis player to bow out of the 2006 United States Tennis Association's (USTA) National Men's 45 Hardcourt Championships at the Westlake Tennis & Swim Club.

The 46-year-old Camarillo resident, who spent 11 years as the tennis director at the Westlake club, lost to Vallis Wilder (6-2, 6-2) in the semifinals Monday.

"I'm very pleased with my performance," Mareschal said. "Today was not great, but (Wilder) played really well. He didn't give me a chance to get in on my first serve and he took me out of my game. After that, it was kind of an uphill battle for me."

Despite the loss, Mareschal said he played good tennis throughout the tournament. After receiving a first-round bye, he won four consecutive matches without losing a set before being upended by the top seed Wilder.

Monday's matchup was a rematch of last year's final, also won by Wilder.

"There wasn't much I could do to beat (Wilder)," Mareschal said. "But for the rest of the tournament, and with the practice I put in, I was pleased with the result and making it to the semifinals."

SKILLED-Vallis Wilder, from Texas, slices a backhand shot Monday afternoon in Westlake. In the other semifinal, David Mathews of Lithonia, Ga., dominated Texas' Max King (6-0, 60).

"Max and I have had a couple of wars this year already," Mathews said. "He's the kind of player that if you let him breathe a little bit, you might be sorry. Even when I was up 5-0, I was still pressing. I wanted to get it through. That's the way good players are, you don't let them come up and breathe otherwise they'll get you."

In the singles final Tuesday, Wilder defeated Mathews (6-1, 6-4) to win the championship.

Wilder and Mike Fedderly beat Jon Tyrell and Ross Hessler (3-6, 6-4, 6-4) to capture the doubles title.

The '06 tournament marked the 20th consecutive year the USTA has held the event at the Westlake Tennis & Swim Club. In addition to the national hardcourt championship, the USTA also holds age division championships on grass, indoor and clay surfaces at different locations throughout the United States.

"Of the four national tournaments, this is the strongest field of all of them," tournament director Brad Rowe said. "This is a very high-quality field."

Approximately 90 men between the ages of 45 and 50 participated in this year's event, with some players traveling from as far away as New York, Pennsylvania and Texas to compete.

Players didn't need to prequalify to take part in the tournament, Rowe said, they just had to pay the entry fee-$70 for singles and $60 per doubles participant.

"A lot of the guys in the tournament know each other," Rowe said. "Some of these guys have been playing together for 30 years . . . There's a five-year age group, so pretty much everyone has played together at some point."

In addition to Mareschal, other area players included Westlake's Andrew Stanley, Mel Sarowitz, Louis Lam, Duane Hollinger and Keith Glucksman.

Thousand Oaks was represented by Mike Daily, Dennis Mestas and Hugh Burrows.

Calabasas sent a trio of athletes-Mitchell Turk, Joe Prado and Jody Heifend. Oak Park's Perry Saliano was also in the mix.

Cyrus Nowrasteh of Camarillo and Mark Weil of Ojai rounded out the field of tournament participants from Ventura County.