Tennis: A winning Oscar and Felix tandem

Richard Dunn

Lenny Lindborg and Jim Nelson, longtime friends and doubles

partners, are an odd couple who make a great pair on the tennis court.

“Jimmy’s like a surgeon -- I’m like a hustler. It works pretty well,”

said Lindborg, a first-year player in the men’s 65s division, along with

Nelson, who plays at Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach.

Both players are part of an amazing collection of coastal Orange

County seniors who continue to roll up United States Tennis Association

championships as if the gold balls awarded to winners are made of the

real stuff.This year, for the second time as a doubles team, Nelson and

Lindborg captured the prestigious Grand Slam, winning USTA titles on all

four surfaces (hard court, grass, clay and indoors).

In 1990, they won a Grand Slam in the 55s, then did it again a decade

later, winning the USTA hard courts at Huntington Beach in July, the

indoors at Seattle in August, on grass in early September at Seabright,

N.J., and on clay in late September at Knoxville, Tenn.

“We really do have a lot of fun playing these tournaments, and when

you go to those national championships, it’s kind of like a reunion,”

Nelson said. “There’s a renewal of a lot of old friendships, while all

the players are very competitive. It’s not like on the pro tour, where

everybody’s on their own, they have their own entourage and don’t go out

to dinner with anybody. It’s a lot more friendly atmosphere.”

As players get older, of course, it becomes increasingly more

difficult to stay healthy. The aches and pains are sometimes bone on

bone.

But Nelson, Lindborg and other top senior men in the area, like

Newport Beach’s Bob Duesler, who plays with Nelson the most, have been

able to maintain their top rankings.

Last year, Lindborg underwent right knee surgery, but still played the

2000 campaign in pain. On Tuesday, he’ll have a second operation on the

knee, and if that doesn’t work it’s time for a total knee replacement.

“Lenny hobbled all year, but he played great considering his

condition,” Nelson said. “He’s a real horse. He’s 200-something pounds

and can fight through pain a lot more than I can. I’d be whimpering on

the sidelines.”

Lindborg is a power hitter, Nelson a finesse player.

“I try to hit through guys and try to use power,” Lindborg said.

“(Nelson) tries to use touch. He and Bob Duesler really have a got a nice

touch. I play a different game, but it works for Jimmy. I hit it hard and

he takes care of the net. I’ll hit it two or three times, then Jimmy will

slice a nice little angle and get the point.”

Nelson has won three Grand Slams in his men’s doubles career, his

first coming in 1982 with Duesler in the 45s.

Lindborg, who lives in Laguna Beach, owns the Lindborg Racquet Club in

Huntington Beach, but is hardly there. His visits are so infrequent, the

clerks at the front desk don’t even know who he is.

“One time, they asked me for guest fees, but it’s not their fault,”

said Lindborg, who usually plays at Laguna Niguel Racquet Club, Palisades

and the homeowners association courts in the Turtle Rock community where

Nelson lives.

Add Lindborg: “As you get older, center court gets farther away and

fewer people want to talk to you.”

Former Newport Harbor High standout Natalie Braverman played in a

qualifying round Sunday at the $25,000 USTA Women’s Challenger in

Haywood, Calif. Her older sister, Brandis, will play Tuesday in the main

draw.