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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 1, 2003

ISLE PROFILE
'Aiea's Lajola blazing own trail

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

A USTA coach told the Lajola family Dennis had "pro-level" talent. "I want to become a pro, win all the grand slams, be No. 1 in the world," Lajola said.

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Don't bother looking for the footprints Dennis Lajola is following in tennis.

There are no footprints in the ocean, just as there are no Hawai'i tennis players in the past two decades who have seized the moment — to say nothing of the imagination of the U.S. Tennis Association — like Lajola.

Tenacity, a will to work and a gifted game have transformed the 14-year-old from 'Aiea into one of the most wanted Americans of his tennis generation.

"He's very mature and has a very mature game," said practice partner Erik Sandblom, a former Hawai'i Pacific University All-American who grew up playing with Stefan Edberg and Magnus Norman in Sweden.

"He's kind of stubborn in a good way, in the way that never gives up. ... He's highly motivated. That's the winning formula."

After Lajola (pronounced la-HOLE-a) won the back draw of the Super National Winter Championships last year, he was invited to join the Boys 14 National High Performance Team. He went on to reach the final of the Teen Tennis Championships in England and won the Easter Bowl doubles title.

At that point, the Lajolas' long-term focus was a top 20 national ranking that could get Dennis —ranked fourth in the USTA 14s — a scholarship to one of the country's best collegiate programs.

Big dreams

When a USTA coach told the family Dennis had "pro-level" talent, the goals grew. Now they dream of him winning a junior grand slam. He dreams of much more.

"I want to become a pro, win all the grand slams, be No. 1 in the world," the soft-spoken Iolani School incoming freshman said simply. "I dreamed of that right when I started."

That would be a little more than 14 years ago in the Philippines, according to his mother, Chato. She would give her youngest child toys when he was an infant. Dennis ignored them all until she began giving him balls. He was mesmerized.

The Lajolas moved to Hawai'i when Dennis was 1. His tennis career began three years later. By the time he turned 10, the USTA had a file on him and he had started winning 12-under championships.

Lajola had a big game then to complement his big build. While he refined his tennis, consciously mimicking Andre Agassi's relentless tactics, his body began to grow taller and leaner.

Solid game

Now, Lajola is 5 feet 6, 135 pounds of frustration to face on a tennis court. He has no weakness to exploit, can seemingly go sets without making a mistake and has a desire to win that never wavers.

He hasn't lost to a junior Hawai'i player in two years. While most his age are still developing their game, he has sophisticated skills and gets to the ball in a heartbeat.

"He just does everything better," says Bernard Gusman, Punahou's director of tennis. "On top of that he has a really great attitude. I was talking with another coach at the state tournament and we were saying if Dennis plays high school tennis next year he will have the sole distinction of being the first four-time boys state singles champion. We were already predicting that.

"He was the best player in the state as an eighth grader."

Lajola won some main draw matches at the Dillingham Championships — Hawai'i's most prestigious singles tournament — a couple years ago. It was his parents' first clue that they might have a prodigy.

He has proven himself one of the best in the United States and beyond.

Lajola won all his matches at the Junior Davis Cup qualifier in May and will represent the United States at the finals later this summer in the Czech Republic. On Thursday, he leaves with the U.S. team for France.

He plans to play in the Kailua Racquet Club Men's Night Doubles with Channon Alcon, then the national hardcourts in Kalamazoo, Mich. There are tugs in other directions inviting him back to Europe, and to places unknown to any Hawai'i tennis player.

For that, Lajola's game must go global. Sandblom has been "trying to make him more international, and that means power tennis." The USTA coaches push Lajola to the net at every opportunity. They are also focusing on his second serve, depth and consistency.

They have developed a workout to turn Lajola into a version of Lleyton Hewitt, with bursts of power and quickness, to compete with the big boys.

Family ties

Father Dado digests the USTA e-mails and phone calls and religiously reads magazines and watches tennis on TV to design Dennis' practices.

"I love John McEnroe," Dado said. "He'll tell you straight flat what's wrong and what's not."

The coaching style is reminiscent of the fathers of Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati.

It is all Dado knows.

"Nobody back home teaches us tennis," said the man who grew up in the Philippines playing lots of basketball and a little tennis. "We learn on our own."

Derrick Lajola, heading to the University of Hawai'i on a tennis scholarship, has also been a crucial element in his brother's success.

"Dennis' natural talent is a gift, but his brother helps him lot," Dado said. "We tell him every day that without his older brother he would not be this good."

Dado, who with his wife works as a caregiver, admitted the family is no longer enough. Tennis academy scholarships are available and Dennis will probably soon go to Nick Bollettieri's for a month.

Next year, he might be gone longer. Lajola's potential is too promising to stay on an island.

"We have to accept the fact that if he stays in Hawai'i, it's tough to get him competition and coaching," Dado says. "I cannot coach him anymore. I have to accept that."

Dennis has no fear of the unknown or the distance he is about to put between himself and all he has known for most of his 14 years.

He has thrived on tennis and travel. "Even when he calls every day you can tell in his voice he is enjoying every minute of it," Dado said.

The boy set his goals big and his priorities early. He spends two hours on the court every day, with another hour concentrating on fitness.

"Tennis is my first priority instead of friends," he said. "I see them a little on the weekends. We talk on the phone at night. That's about it. Everything else is tennis."

Not quite everything. When the Lajolas are home, the "T" word is never mentioned, according to Dado. And he makes a point of telling his children often that when they "don't love the game anymore, it's time to move on."

The "out" he offers, however, comes with a warning label of what they might miss.

"I always tell them if you work hard, there's always sweet success coming to you," Dado adds. "No matter if you win or lose, it's always sweet. If you take that, then you will never go wrong."