Tennis: Arizona-bound Ball advances to Mercedes Wild Card

Richard Dunn

An ear infection kept Corona del Mar High senior Cameron Ball

bedridden for nearly a week and forced him to withdraw his top seed in

singles last week in the Pacific Coast League boys tennis championships.

But Ball, the son of a tennis pro, has bounced back with one of the

biggest weeks of his career, which includes making a verbal commitment to

the University of Arizona.

Ball, who missed an opportunity to advance to the CIF Southern Section

individual championships because of his PCL withdraw, was spotted by

Arizona men’s tennis coach Bill Wright during last month’s Ojai Valley

Tennis Tournament, in which he won the boys interscholastic doubles title

with CdM junior Garrett Snyder.

“Cameron liked the (Tucson) area and it’s a great campus,” Syd Ball,

his father, said Tuesday afternoon. “We like the whole situation. It’s a

good deal for him. He’s happy and he likes the coach very much, which is

very important.”

The other part of Cameron Ball’s big week includes winning the

Mercedes-Benz Cup community pre-qualifying tournament at the Costa Mesa

Tennis Center, where he enjoyed huge victories Saturday and Sunday in the

semifinals and finals, respectively.

By capturing the event at Costa Mesa, Ball qualified for the

Mercedes-Benz Cup Wild Card Tournament July 11-14 at UCLA, site of the

Mercedes-Benz Cup featuring Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt July 22-28.

The winner of the Wild Card singles event earns an automatic entry into

the main draw in the Mercedes-Benz Cup on the Association of Tennis

Professionals Tour.

Ball, who won five matches in the 32-man bracket at Costa Mesa,

defeated longtime University High nemesis Aaron Yovan in the finals, 7-5,

6-4, but his best win was a 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory over Luke Shields of

Grand Junction, Colo., the highest ranked player in the field (top 25 in

the boys 18s in the United States Tennis Association).

“(Shields) has beaten Cam two weeks before at the National Open

Championships in Las Vegas, but he turned the tables on him,” Syd Ball

said.

In last year’s PCL singles final, Yovan defeated Ball, 7-6 (5), 4-6,

6-4, at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club. As sophomores in 2000, Ball

beat Yovan for the league title.

The club exchange season, which is always popular, is picking up steam

at the Newport Beach Tennis Club. Club exchanges are long, but fun-filled

days on the tennis courts.

On Saturday, Newport Beach will travel to Coto de Caza Racquet Club

for a four-club exchange that includes Nellie Gail and Dana Hills, NBTC

Director of Tennis Scott Davis said.

The Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach will host its first Sexiest

Guys of the Palisades tonight at 6:30 p.m.

Two of the men voted by Orange Coast magazine as the Sexiest Single

Men in Orange County will be playing -- USC’s Parker Collins, a CdM

product, and Robin Walker.

Sandy McDougal, current Mater Dei High heartthrob Kaes Van’t Hof, Seth

Bowen, Chris Ayres, Brad Smith, Mick Mickler, Steve Vaughn, Glen Cassey,

Larry Sherwin and Mark Angiono are among the participants.

The event will be rocking the hearts of the female members of the

Palisades.

USC men’s tennis coach Dick Leach, a Palisades member, has announced

his retirement at the end of this season following a long and storied

career.

Leach started as the Trojans’ coach in 1980 and in 22 postseason

appearances won NCAA team titles in 1991, ’93 and ’94. Also, he coached

two NCAA singles champions -- Robert Van’t Hof in 1980 and Cecil Mamiit

in 1996 -- and three NCAA doubles champions.

Leach, 62, coached his two sons, Rick and Jon, at USC for four years

each.