Tennis: Abrams captures doubles title on Futures circuit

Richard Dunn

Former Newport Harbor High and Stanford star Geoff Abrams won the

United States Tennis Association Futures of Chico men’s doubles

championship last weekend with Diego Ayala of Coral Springs, Fla.

Abrams and Ayala, seeded third, defeated Peter Luczak of Australia and

Chris Magyary of El Cerrito, Calif., 7-6 (3), 6-4, in the Chico final.

Abrams, who turned 23 on May 10, has won over $10,000 on the pro

challenger and satellite circuits since last year. He was once ranked No.

1 in the nation in the USTA boys 14s.

The Palisades Tennis Club of Newport Beach defeated Sunny Hills of

Fullerton, 10-8, in the recent Orange County Club Challenge championship

match.

The 14-team event, played over four months, is sponsored by the

Private Tennis Club Association of Orange County.

Dave Dandeneau and Natalie Rietveld, playing 3.5 mixed doubles,

clinched the victory for top-seeded Palisades in the final.

The event, which uses a Davis Cup format, features club players from

5.5 to 3.0 in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles.

To reach the final, Palisades beat Racquet Club of Irvine in the

semifinals, after sweeping through Old Ranch Tennis Club of Seal Beach

and Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club.

Newport Beach’s Taylor Dent, after his five-set Wimbledon loss to

Lleyton Hewitt, on 18-year-old Andy Roddick’s success: “We all have our

own timelines when we do well, and I’m glad Andy’s doing well now.

Hopefully, I can get my butt in gear and start doing well. This was a

good learning match for me, so hopefully I can keep it up, and maybe we

can play some Davis Cup in the future.”