Leach tandem falls in father-son final

NEWPORT BEACH ? For Rick Leach, the former No. 1-ranked doubles player in the world, the 12th annual United States Tennis Assn. national father and son hardcourt doubles championships represented both a golden opportunity and a silver lining.

The Palisades Tennis Club member, who will compete in the upcoming World Team Tennis season for the Newport Beach Breakers, said he relished the chance to team with his dad, who had not played competitively since 2000.

And after the top-seeded Leaches were defeated by Charlie and Charles Hoeveler, 7-5, 6-3, in the senior division (fathers ages 60-69) final at the Newport Beach Tennis Club, Rick Leach revealed why he also considered the event a silver lining.

“We almost lost him two years ago,” Rich Leach said of his father, also a member at Palisades who will enter his fourth season as the Breakers Coach next month. “He had a blood clot settle on his lung. If not for the fact that my mother was at home with him at the time, and the paramedics were able to get their within minutes, he probably would have died.

“So, it is great for him to even be playing. To be back on the court with him and playing for a national title was really fun. I’ve won Wimbledon [doubles] and this meant just as much to me.”

Dick Leach, who retired in 2002 after 23 seasons as men’s tennis coach at USC ? he guided the Trojans to 535 wins and four NCAA championships ? was also diagnosed with diabetes in 1997, Rick said.

The younger Leach said the condensed tournament schedule ? the tandem had a little more than an hour to rest between their quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Saturday ? left the elder Leach at less than his best for Sunday.

“He woke up this morning and his arm was killing him,” Rick Leach said. “He had trouble raising it above his shoulder.”

While his son spoke of silver linings, Dick Leach, who has won 10 USTA age-group doubles titles with Rick, was preoccupied with the silver ball trophies awarded a USTA tournament runner-up.

“These are our first silver balls ever,” said Dick Leach, who had won all 10 of his previous USTA event finals, including two wins over the Hoevelers. “This is the first final we’ve lost. [The No. 2-seeded Hoevelers] just played too well for us.”

Charlie Hoeveler, 30, who competed against Dick Leach’s USC teams when he played at Stanford, said winning Sunday was a thrill.

“I think we played about as well as we can play,” said Charlie, a San Diego resident whose dad played at Dartmouth.

The Hoevelers broke Dick Leach’s serve all five times. The elder Hoeveler, who lives in Ross, a Bay Area suburb, held his serve once in each set to aid the win.

Other locals who fared well in the tournament included Costa Mesa residents Bart and Devin Bowen, who finished third in the seniors division.

Defending seniors champions Michael Carter, a Newport Beach resident, and his father, Allan Carter, lost in the quarterfinals.