Sunday, July 08, 2001
Rich making name for himself at Met
16th seed advances to 3rd round
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Todd Rich hits a return.
(Brandi Stafford photos)
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Notoriety is an advantage during the seeding meeting for the Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tennis Tournament. Todd Rich, who played his first Met last year, understood the importance of earning one of its 16 seeds. So he entered the Lunken Playfield Clay Court Tournament, which had a field of 38 players, in June and turned in an eye-catching performance.
“I won the championship and lost only five games,” Rich said. “In the second round, I beat the No.1 seed, Aaron McDowell, 6-3, 6-1, which was the only close match.”
That success earned Rich a No.16 seed at the Met, and he turned in another impressive performance Saturday, defeating Seth Tieger 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.
Rain forced the postponement of 18 men's singles matches Saturday — 10 that were in progress — and the doubles matches.
Weather permitting, the men's singles matches will be played at 10 a.m. today followed by the eight first-round women's matches and men's and women's doubles.
Seth Tieger shows Rich that he bent his racket.
(Brandi Stafford photos)
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“My goal this year is to play well enough that I don't have to worry about being seeded next year,” Rich said. “I love playing on the clay, because it slows down the ball of the big hitters like Seth.”
Rich's next opponent is Chad Necaise, a Moeller graduate who defeated David Geis 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday and Robert O'Neill 7-6, 6-1 on Friday.
To prepare for the Met, Rich practiced three mornings a week with doubles partner Jay Woffington, who advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Paul Caprio Saturday.
“Since I'm new to the area, I don't know a lot of the guys playing,” said Rich, who graduated from Duke University and came to Cincinnati for employment. “That could be an advantage, because they don't know what to expect.”
Future opponents will learn that Rich, 29, is a steady player on the clay, seldom making unforced errors. Although not blessed with an overpowering serve, he is quick to the ball and tends to keep it deep.
“Sometimes it's tough staying focused, especially after working all day,” Rich said. “I agree with what Seth said today, that it's more enjoyable beating a good high school player who's on the way up.”
GOOD START: Defending and five-time champion Jeff Wolf, the men's No.1 seed, opened the tournament by defeating Joe Montag 6-0, 6-0 in a match that took 35 minutes to complete.
Besides Wolf and Rich, three other seeded players, Brett DeCurtins (No.4), Jason Zimmermann (6) and Jason Pressel (7), also advanced to the third round.
Pressel, a former Division II state singles champion from Indian Hill, defeated Brian Bailey 6-1, 6-3.
“I haven't played a lot since the (college) season ended in April because I attended summer school,” said Pressel, a senior-to-be at Ball State University.
“I started the season playing No.4 and 5 but moved up to No.1 doubles. My goal this year is to get into tournament condition. I was comfortable today. I served well and hit the ball cleanly.”
Pressel is a hard hitter, and clay is not his preferred surface. Other than last year's Met, he hasn't played in a clay-court tournament the past four years.
“I don't like the clay, because it's not good for my game,” Pressel said. “I'm a very aggressive player, and you have to be more patient and wait for opportunities. It's very hard for the younger players.”
Pressel's next opponent will be either McDowell or Thaddeus Reed. After winning the first set of their Saturday match 7-6, McDowell trailed Reed 1-3 in the second before it was interrupted by rain.
Mike Dektas, the No.11 seed, split his first two sets with Marshall Kuresman Saturday and trailed 6-5 when the rain began.
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