Lajola raises game but falls at ATP event

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Dennis Lajola’s first appearance in the main draw of an ATP World Tour event lasted more than 2 hours Tuesday. The 23-year-old from Aiea fell to Bulgaria’s Dimitar Kutrovsky 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the first round of the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif.

Lajola had 15 aces in defeat. He was down 4-5 in the final set and broke Kutrovsky’s serve to reach the tiebreaker, but lost the final four points.

Kutrovsky is ranked 438th in the world. Lajola is 719th and expects to move into the 600s with his performance the last few days. He celebrated his birthday Sunday by upsetting top-seeded Rajiv Ram, 6-4, 7-6, in the second round of qualifying. Ram is ranked 153rd. Lajola reached the main draw with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 297th-ranked Yuki Bhambri, on HP Pavilion’s center court.

Lajola was home last month to play in the $50,000 Honolulu Challenger. He fell in the first round to 19-year-old American Jack Sock, who also lost in San Jose on Tuesday. Lajola beat 378th-ranked Greg Ouellette in the opening round of qualifying at the $100,000 Challenger of Dallas last week, then trained with Michael Chang.

"He told me I had to change a few things on this tour," Lajola said by phone Tuesday. "He told me if you’re going to play on this tour, you’ve got to go for your shots more and play a little bigger. You can’t just wait for the other guy to make a mistake. It paid off."

Lajola led the University of Hawaii to its first three Western Athletic Conference tennis championships before using up his eligibility last season and turning pro. The 2011 WAC Player of the Year won $5,440 for reaching the main draw in his first ATP event, which has a $531,000 purse.

The SAP Open is the second-oldest men’s professional tournament in the U.S. Former champions include John McEnroe, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick — three times. Roddick is seeded second this year behind Gael Monfils.

Lajola will try to qualify for the BNP Paribas Open next. The main draw begins March 8 in Indian Wells, Calif. The Masters Series event is rated just below the Grand Slams.

"I learned I could compete at this level this week," Lajola said. "It gives me a lot of confidence knowing I qualified for an ATP event, especially in my first ATP experience. During my birthday weekend, it meant even more."