Newport’s subtle spark

Chris Yemma

As the superstars grab the attention, charming fans with their

physical beauty and natural talent, Ramon Delgado stands in the

shadows, but not a bit less effective.

The 28-year-old tennis whiz from Paraguay led the Newport Beach

Breakers to the World Team Tennis title last year, and has returned

in the early stages this season with dominating performances.

A pawn when placed on the same board as female beauties Maria

Sharapova, Anna Kournikova and male charmer Patrick Rafter, Delgado

is the Breakers’ backbone, grunting out wins serve after serve, match

after match.

Yet with the best men’s singles record in the league at 30-8, the

right-hander remains reserved.

“It all could change easily,” Delgado said. “If I keep playing

like this I might be the best [in WTT], but it’s going to be

difficult. There are very good players in the league that I will

play.”

For starters, Wimbledon finalist and world No. 3-ranked Andy

Roddick comes to mind. Delgado will face the phenom when the Breakers

visit the St. Louis Aces Saturday.

But the Paraguayan, who spends much of his time in Miami, already

has one notch under his belt.

Monday’s victory over Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open champion in

1997 and ‘98, provided a confidence injection for Delgado.

“We played once before and he beat me, so this was good,” Delgado

said about his matchup with the Aussie. “I thought it would be tough,

especially after [the doubles matches]. He was still serving huge,

but I played unbelievably.”

Rafter, who returned to pro tennis with WTT in 2004 after retiring

in 2001, said in a conference call last month his match with Delgado

would be challenging.

Delgado defeated Rafter, 5-2, in the men’s singles match, but the

Freedoms handed Newport its second loss of the season -- 21-16 in

overtime.

If it weren’t for Delgado, however, it wouldn’t have been close.

In a league where the superstars play a couple of matches at most,

the Breakers’ star slugs it out the entire season. Newport Coach Dick

Leach refers to him as the best player in the league.

But the former USC tennis coach’s comments aren’t surprising, as

Delgado was the league finals MVP last year after leading the

Breakers to a 23-17 victory over the Delaware Smash for the King

Trophy and the WTT championship.

The Breakers had reached the final with a stunning 20-12 defeat of

the Sacramento Capitals in the Western Conference semifinal.

This year, with Delgado fueling the drive, Newport Beach is 4-2

after a 25-15 win over the New York Buzz Wednesday.

A former Davis Cup performer for Paraguay, Delgado ranks defeating

Pete Sampras at the 1997 French Open the highlight of his career. But

WTT has its benefits, he said.

“It’s very different; a good experience,” he said. “I had a great

time last year and that’s why I’m doing it again this year. The crowd

is so much involved and the players love that. It gets kind of lonely

on the [ATP] Tour.”

Delgado, who considers his serve his best shot, reached the round

of 16 at the 1997 French Open and the third round of the 2001 U.S.

Open. He was ranked No. 52 in the world in 1999, his career-high

singles ranking.

He most recently reached the men’s singles second round at

Wimbledon.

But it’s the pressure of the ATP Tour Delgado could do without.

“The best part about [WTT] is you get to play looser,” he said.

“There’s not as much pressure, so it’s different.”

As far as leading his team to a second consecutive championship,

the 6-foot-1, 168-pounder didn’t want to get ahead of himself.

“I think it’s too early to talk about that,” he said. “However,

our main goal is to get to the playoffs and then we’ll see. It’s

going to be really close. We have some tough matches coming up.”

Delgado has been instrumental in the season thus far.

In the opening match against the Springfield Lasers July 5, he

pulled out a 5-0 singles victory over Rik de Voest to lift the

Breakers to a 20-19 victory.

The team needed a 5-0 victory to avoid overtime and Delgado

produced, only losing seven points in the set.

His performance prompted a response from Leach.

“Ramon is the man,” Leach said after the match. “It was very

important to [win the season opener] because I think the fans were a

little down.”

Delgado again produced in the second game, a 19-15,

come-from-behind victory over the visiting Sacramento Capitals,

headlined by Kournikova.

With his team trailing, 15-14, Delgado cruised to another 5-0

singles victory, this time over the Capitals’ Sam Warburg.

Delgado began the season 10-0 in singles through two matches and

15-3 in three matches, leading the Breakers to a 3-0 record. In the

last three matches, Delgado is 15-5.

The Breakers visit Delaware at 4 p.m. today.