Tennis: Dent commits to Mercedes Cup

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Beach’s Taylor Dent, who reached the third

round at Wimbledon last week for the first time in his career, will be

part of a strong American contingent in the Mercedes-Benz Cup July 19-28

at the UCLA Tennis Center.

Dent, who captured his first Challenger circuit title last year at

Surbiton, England, and has posted ATP Tour victories over Jonas Bjorkman,

Wayne Ferreira, Magnus Norman and Sjeng Schalken, is a former Corona del

Mar High standout who won a CIF Southern Section singles title as a

freshman in 1996. He turned pro two years later.

Last year, Dent cranked up the fastest serve in Wimbledon history at

144 mph.