Page 19- The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 5, 1986
'Twerp' turns terri at t .S.
FLUSHING MEADOW, N.Y.
I still remember that little D 1 1 &
twerp, Aaron Krickstein, from Ph IIIIIIn I t U
my days on the Western Tennis
Association junior tournament B Phil \issel
circuit. r
For years he humiliated us
older guys because he always 4-6, to Karel Novacek of When the fifth set rolled
plavp a in the higher age groups - Czechoslovakia. In the third, he around, word got out around the
an on. Everyone was jealous was down 3-0 in the tiebreaker. grounds and the crowd poured into
as i of the kid. Miraculously, Krickstein came the stadium to watch their boy
1r ~',after my trip to the U.S. back to win the tiebreaker, the set, Annacone. They made a good
Oper ennis Championships at and the match. The last sets were decision.
Flushing Meadow, N.Y., I realize 6-1, 6-3. The difference, It turned out to be the best single
that the "little twerp" has finally according to Bolletierri, was the set of tennis I've seen in years.
become a true world-class player. return of serve. The momentum went back and
Yeah, I know he's been on the While Krickstein performed forth until the tiebreaker.
circuit for over two years, but it's the miracle on the back courts, Krickstein then took a 5-2 lead
different now - he wins the big Paul Annacone took the spotlight with Annacone to serve. The New
ones. And admittedly, it is fun to by downing John McEnroe in four Yorker needed to win his next two
watch him. sets on the stadium court. service points, but Krickstein's
Krickstein, a Grosse Pointe Annacone, a New Yorker, forehand return ended those
native, made splashes at the pro became an instant hero, but hopes. The final score was 7-3.
level at the tender age of 16 everyone 'forgot he had to play Krickstein's momentum
(nobody his own age could give Krickstein in the next round. lasted through the next round as
him a match). Then, like many The Michigan boy again he took veteran Mel Purcell in
of - tennis mentor Nick looked awful for the first two sets straight sets. Earlier this week,
Bolletierri's "wonder kids," he against the home-town favorite. though, France's superstar Henri
seemed to burn out before he could In the third, Krickstein took Leconte sidelined Krickstein 6-3,
drink his first legal beer. charge of the match with his 7-5, 6-4. But that's okay. Aaron
But all that changed last week booming forehand. If they took had a good tournament. He
in New York. stats in tennis, I'm sure they proved he can still be a superstar.
In his first match, Krickstein would show him making about 90 Anyway, he will still be a little
looked like he would continue his percent of his forehands at that twerp to me.
slump losing the first two sets, 5-7, point. It was incredible. Krickstein wasn't the only
'M' WINS NOTRE DAME TOURNEY
Lady linksters take first
player I watched in New York.
Here are some other observations:
" Ifyou think John McEnroe
acts up too much, you've never
seen Michigan's own Mike,
Leach. The former Wolverine
netter, an NCAA champ in 1982,
made a fool out of himself at the
Open in his first round loss to
Christo Steyn of South Africa.
Leach cried about almost every
close line call against him. He
really had a fit when the umpire
stopped play because a piece of
paper blew on the court. He didn't
get mad at the umpire, he yelled at
the ball person who let the paper
blow on the court.
At that point, a spectator asked
me, in a negative voice, if I knew
Leach (I was wearing my
Michigan hat). I said no. How
embarrassing, but I know how he
feels, I used to act like that on the
court when I was 14 years old.
" I know I'm really going out
on a limb, but nobody will beat
Ivan Lendl or Martina
Navratilova. They are both too
tough. Look for Boris Becker to
give Lendl a hard time in the
final, but the hard courts belong to
the big Czech.
Chris Evert-Lloyd is the best
Open
baseliner in the business, but
Navratilova is the best serve-and-
volleyer in the business. A good
serve-and-volley game will beat
the good baseline game on hard
courts every time.
* Saline native Lisa Bonder
was up to par in the tournament
winning her first two rounds. But
the amazing thing about her was
that she just didn't move her feet.
She was one of the slowest players
I saw in the tournament. She wins
with her good shot selection.
By BARB McQUADE .
Noel Brisson sparked the
womnen's golf team to a first-place
finish at the Notre Dame
tournament last week as the top
individual performer in the nine-
team field.
Brisson had rounds of 79 and
75 for a 154 final score on the par-
71 course August 30 and 31. The
sophomore took home a medal as
the tournament's top finisher.
MICHIGAN finished with 627
strokes to edge Purdue. The
Boilermakers were five shots
back at 633 for second place on the
university course in South Bend,
Ind.
Jan Idomir captured third place
overall for the Wolverines. The
senior from East Lansing had
tied for second with Purdue's
Mary Meo at 156 for 36 holes, but
lost by a stroke in a sudden-death
playoff.
"There were no surprises
really," said Michigan head
coach Sue LeClair. "We played
well. It's good solid-type
AKE THAT dominating.
Wolverines had three of the
six finishers, as Lisa DiMatteo
ied for fourth place with a pair
from Purdue. The Michigan
selior posted 78-80-158 along with
Boilermakers Jeanine Wiernik
and Mary Zehr.
The Fighting Irish, which
entered two teams, showed it was
no small potatoes. Its Blue squad
finished third at 672 while the
Gold came in seventh.
Idomir, who shot a 78 for the
first 18 holes, repeated her score
in the second round. Tied at 156,
she and Meo went head-to-head in
a playoff. But Idomir's bogey on
the par-4 sudden-death hole
wasn't enough, as Meo parred to
nab second place.
THE TOURNAMENT victory
came as no surprise to LeClair,
who heads what she terms a "well-
balanced" team.
"We don't have a big jump
between scores," the fifth-year
head coach said. "There are only
two or three shots between any of
them."
Isodir and DiMatteo were
within four strokes of Brisson's
154. Terri Mage was one shot
behind DiMatteo at 159 and Donna
Greenbury finished at 162.
The Wolverines have been
practicing as a team since August
24, just a week before the
tournament, but their games
should be up to par.
Daily Photo by SCOTT UTUCHY
Grosse Pointe native Aaron Krickstein made a splash in the U.S. Open, but Ivan Lendl (above) is the man to beat.
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SEPTEMBER 15, 1986