Seventh seed captures men’s open singles title

Melanie Neff

Jason Cook used strong net play and took advantage of numerous

unforced errors by Oren Motevassel to upset the No. 3 seed, 6-3, 6-2

in the championship of the men’s open singles division at the Roy

Emerson Adoption Guild Tennis Classic on Sunday at the Newport Beach

Tennis Club.

It was the second upset of the tournament for seventh-seeded Cook,

who also upset second-seeded Brett Hansen-Dent of Newport Beach in

the quarterfinals.

“I think the seedings were a little screwed up,” Cook, 26, said.

Cook, a resident of Brentwood, said his toughest match of the

tournament came in the second round against Las Vegas’ Brian

Battistone. Cook prevailed 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-5.

“He had a jump serve like a volleyball player. I couldn’t get a

take on it,” Cook said. “He should have beaten me.”

Cook, a resident of Brentwood, played three years at UCLA before

joining the pro tour. He quit the tour last year to return to UCLA

where he got his degree in sociology. Now tennis is just for fun and

for the extra $3,000 spending cash he picked up for winning Sunday.

Cook, who played in the doubles final last year, played a solid

all-around game. He picked up 16 of his points off his play at the

net, making only three errors when he moved in. He converted 35 of 55

first serves, including nine aces, six in the second set.

Huntington Beach’s Motevassel, 35, committed 24 unforced errors,

17 in the second set.

Both players held serve in the first set until Cook broke

Motevassel to go up, 4-2, with a passing shot down the line when

Motevassel came into the net. After that Cook held serve and won the

first set on a backhand into the net by Motevassel.

“I have played him quite a few times, so I know his game,” Cook

said. “I didn’t want to get into a long match with him and go 7-6,

7-6, that’s what he wants.”

There was no fear of that as Cook quickly took control in the

second set, breaking Motevassel at 2-1 on two straight errors by

Motevassel.

Cook had an opportunity to go up 4-1, when he took a 40-30 lead on

another Motevassel error, but the Israel native held fast and battled

through three deuces to take the game on an uncharacteristic error by

Cook.

“As long as I’m playing a solid game I can make up for my errors,”

Cook said.

Cook broke again to go up 5-2, when Motevassel committed three

errors, and Cook won the game with a back-handed dink volley, one of

several dinks he used in the match to unravel Motevassel.

Motevassel refused to give up, though, as the final game lasted 12

serves and included several long rallies. Cook took the advantage on

a volley and won the match on a forehand down the line that

Motevassel was unable to return with his two-handed backhand.

“This was fun,” Cook said. “It’s nice to get out and hit real

balls every once in awhile. And it’s not bad pay for a couple of

weekends of competition.”