SHARKSPAGE

Davis Cup atmosphere at SAP Open tennis tournament in San Jose, UCSC slug tennis night, Stanford fans, Viva Espana

SANTA CRUZ MASCOT, MENS/WOMENS COACH, F VERDASCO, R RAM, BILL RAPP

DOZENS OF STUDENTS CHEER 2010 NCAA SINGLES CHAMP BRAD KLAHN

LOCAL RADIO DJ TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY TO RETURN FERNANDO VERDASCO SERVE

The usual staid and polite atmosphere inside HP Pavilion for the SAP Open tennis tournament went out the window for Wednesday’s night session. Hundreds of Stanford students descended on the tank to loudly support 2010 NCAA Singles Champion Bradley Klahn, a spin heavy wildcard entrant who also became the fourth Stanford player to capture dual Pac-10 Singles and Doubles titles in 2008-09. As Stanford fans cheered every Klahn point, the match took on the feel of a wildly partisan Davis Cup contest. A pair of French Gael Monfils supporters, complete with French flag, bleakly offered the occasional “Allez Monfils!”.

Wednesday night began with a ceremony at center court to celebrate UCSC ‘Slug Tennis’ alumni night. The University of Santa Cruz mascot was joined by 30-year Men’s tennis coach Bob Hansen, women’s coach Erin Ness, tournament director Bill Rapp, and opening match players Rajeev Ram and defending champion Fernando Verdasco. While most of the college tennis eyeballs in the Bay Area fall on Stanford and Cal, Santa Cruz has been enormously successful at the D-3 level. Hansen has been named D-3 coach of the year 4 times, coach of the decade once (90’s), and his team has won 7 national titles and placed in the final four 19 of the last 23 years. The UCSC mascot, apparently named Sammy and not Sluggie as he was called courtside, was not suffering from a wardrobe malfunction.

Defending SAP Open champion Fernando Verdasco (SPA), the #9 ranked player on the ATP Tour, was the popular headliner for Wednesday’s night session. In a pre-tournament interview, Verdasco noted that helping his country with back-to-back Davis Cup titles in 2008 and 2009 served as an inspiration for his career. “Davis Cup was like a point of inflection for me, like I became a completely different player,” he said. Spanish Verdasco supporters dotted the stands with flags and soccer jerseys. After his opening round match, KKDV radio DJ Carolyn McArdle stepped onto the court in a ‘Got Verdasco?’ shirt and tried to return his serve unsuccessfully.