Tucked into a serene pocket of Kailua on Sunday, far from the pulsing overloadof the Pro Bowl, Go Soeda captured the Honolulu Challenger with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Robby Ginepri.
It closed a week that drew a vivid picture of what the U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit is all about. At the top of the list? Aside from spectator-friendly appeal and parking problems, it is nothing like the Pro Bowl.
Hawaii tennis fans flooded the Kailua Racquet Club all week to see the $50,000 Challenger event, but flooding KRC means about 400 people a day. Organizers attempted to bring in bleachers for more, but the company that rents in Hawaii had committed them all to the Pro Bowl.
Soeda was the tournament’s top seed and is ranked 99th in the world. This was his 10th Challenger title. When the 80 rankings points he won Sunday, along with $7,200, are figured in this week, he could be in the 80s — hardly "Pro Bowl" tennis material, at least for now.
Rankings points and tennis in its purest form — lots of matches and little to stroke the ego — is what the Pro Circuit is all about. The USTA launched it 33 years ago and it is now the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering nearly $3 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed.
Challengers — the circuit also offers Futures events with $10,000-$15,000 purses — have been played in Hawaii since 2000. Andy Roddick won in 2001, James Blake in 2002 and a guy named Robby Ginepri in 2003.
Two years later Ginepri lost to Andre Agassi in a five-set semifinal at the U.S. Open. He was ranked 15th in the world the following year, played for the U.S. Davis Cup team and won his third ATP singles title at the end of 2009, lifting his lifetime winnings to some $3.5 million.
Then a squirrel cut him off during a training ride on his mountain bike near the end of 2010. The squirrel lived, but Ginepri rolled about 50 yards after swerving to miss it and broke his left elbow.
The Pro Circuit is his path back to the top of the tennis world. He is now ranked 313th, and the $4,240 he won Sunday, after losing in the Australian Open qualifying round, was money well-earned.
"It’s coming along," Ginepri, 29, said. "Every week is part of the process for me, another learning curve, but I’m getting there. I got a lot of matches, which is what I wanted. That’s what Challengers are for, they are here for the taking. I was very happy with my result."
He is headed to the $100,000 Dallas Challenger early next month, same as Hawaii’s Dennis Lajola, whose professional career is just beginning.
Soeda, who speaks little English but charmingly called Hawaii "my favorite country" after the match, is somewhere in between.
Saturday’s semifinals featured three members of Japan’s Davis Cup team. Kei Nishikori, 22, who fell to Andy Murray in the Australian Open quarterfinals, is the fourth.
Soeda, from Kanagawa, is the oldest at 27. He beat third-seeded Tatsuma Ito in one semifinal. Ginepri overcame seventh-seeded Yuichi Sugita in the other, for Ginepri’s third win over a seeded player during the week.
Soeda won $542,000 last year and has built a game with no huge weapon or visible weakness. He is so quick he can sneak into the net and chase down almost anything, and he hardly missed in the opening set Sunday, breaking Ginepri on his first two service games.
Ginepri brought his game up to the same level in an hour-long second set.
"He never gives up," said Soeda, who broke Ginepri’s serve to go up 4-3, only to have Ginepri break right back.
They were never two points apart in the tiebreaker, which Soeda won by taking the final three points.The first came on a forehand down the line, the second via serve and volley, and match point came on a backhand passing shot on the line. The crowd was silent while it waited for a call. The call was in and Soeda raised his arms in triumph while Ginepri pointed at what he felt was an "out" ball mark.
"It was very tight, I was very nervous," Soeda said. "I was just lucky at the end."
Ginepri was "bummed" by the ending, but gratified by his progress.
"If we’d gone into the third set I felt like I would have had the momentum," he said, "but it was a good tiebreaker match. He’s a tough competitor."
Amer Delic and Travis Rettenmaier beat third-seeded Jack Sock and Nicholas Monroe in an all-American doubles final, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
