Daily Pilot Athletes of the Week: Peter Kulmaticki and Robert

Kennedy--Double trouble

Tony Altobelli

CORONA DEL MAR - Both Peter Kulmaticki and Robert Kennedy can add

this to their positive personality traits, they work and play well with

others.

That is obvious for those that have seen these two play doubles with

other partners for Corona del Mar High’s boys tennis team throughout the

season. But it’s what they did together last week in the Ojai Valley

Tennis Tournament that was truly special.

Kulmaticki and Kennedy went up to one of the bigger tournaments this side

of the Rocky Mountains and won the boys under 16 doubles title.

Sometimes luck and good fortune plays into certain situations and for the

Sea Kings’ duo, this was no exception.

“The draw wasn’t as strong as it usually is,” Coach Tim Mang said. “I

expected them to win. They played real well together.”

In the six-team field, Kulmaticki and Kennedy received a first-round bye

before breezing by Eric Ho and Johnny Nguyen of Alhambra, 6-0, 6-1.

In the finals, the “Killer Ks” took care of John Ray Beck and Ashwin

Bhargava of Santa Barbara, 7-5, 6-2, for the title.

“They might have had some nerves in the finals,” Mang said. “Otherwise,

they could have played even better.”

Considering the twosome usually play with other partners during the

season, their play was strong enough.

For Kulmaticki, he started playing tennis when he was barely old enough

to see over the net.

“My dad got me into tennis when I was five in the pee-wee leagues,”

Kulmaticki said. “My dad and mom have been great at pushing me and

helping me continue to strive to get better. The funny thing is that

neither one ever played tennis before.”

Kulmaticki first saw Mang at Los Caballeros Tennis Club as a

seventh-grader, not really knowing too much about the CdM tradition.

“I really had no clue about Corona’s history,” Kulmaticki admitted. “But

when you step out on the courts and you see the players’ names on the

fence showing all the CIF champions, it really gives you the motivation

to play your best.”

The pushing had paid off for Kulmaticki. He’s CdM’s No. 1 doubles player,

according to Mang as well as the Pacific Coast League title board.

Kulmaticki teamed up with normal partner Michael Bean to knock off,

ironically, Kennedy and Randy Myers, 6-1, 7-6, Wednesday in the PCL

Finals.

“Peter puts the ball away very well for us,” Mang said. “He’s got great

hands and a lot of shots in his arsenal.”

In addition to his tennis play, Kulmaticki is a fan of traveling. “I

would love to see Spain someday,” he said. “That’s where I wanna go

next.”

For Kennedy, traveling has been a main part of his life. He came to CdM

from Perth, Western Australia.

“I got here at the start of the last school year,” Kennedy said in his

rapidly-diminishing Aussie accent. “It’s been great going to school here

and playing tennis in such a great program.”

Kennedy saw the quality of tennis rise in the States faster than his

accumulation of frequent-flyer miles.

“I went from being a top-five player in West Australia and a top-20

player in all of Australia to just being one of the guys,” Kennedy said.

“It’s a much higher level of tennis over here and I like that. It makes

me play at a much higher level.”

That higher level was shown in the semifinals of the PCL semifinals when

Kennedy and his doubles partner Randy Myers, unseeded in the tournament,

knocked off No. 2-seeded Anson Hsu and Jeff Lawrence of University, 6-3,

6-4, setting up the all-CdM showdown with Kulmaticki and Bean.

“It’s funny. Since I’ve been here, I’ve had probably five different

doubles partners,” Kennedy said. “But that’s great because it allows me

to work on every part of my game.”

Following this season, Kennedy will head back to Ojai to learn at the

Weil Academy after the summer.

Despite being from the land “Down Under,” Kennedy has the same

teenager-esque pastimes that most Southern California youngsters do.

“I like playing basketball, surfing the waves, hanging out with friends,”

Kennedy said. “It’s been an amazing experience. Everyone’s been so nice

over here.”