Future is now for aspiring pros

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	FUTURES FACTS WHAT: Hilton Waikoloa Village USTA Futures WHERE: Kohala Tennis Garden WHEN: Daily through Sunday, from 10 a.m. ADMISSION: Free FORMAT: 32-player main draw in singles, 16-team in doubles PURSE: $15,000 and rankings points. Singles champion earns $1,950 and 18 points

Its arrival goes all but unnoticed.

These Futures tournaments come without marquee names and entourages. The entry fee is $30. The atmosphere surrounding the courts remains laid back. Within the lines it is altogether different.

The opening rounds last week at Ala Moana looked like any other day by the beach. A few park rats watched, a few played in the middle of the day.

But on half the courts, the park rats had been replaced by real pros. It sounded different when the pros hit. The pace was pushed to the limit and the movement of the ball was dizzying. Balls rocketed through seams in the cyclone fence on missed serves.

This is where tennis dreams begin and sometimes end. Players ranked from 300 to 1,000 grind their way into the Top 100 and real money as Andy Roddick and James Blake did. Or, they realize their limitations and drop out of the game.

Dennis Lajola, the Iolani freshman with the international reputation, played in the qualifying. So did 62-year-old Honolulu attorney Rick Fried. Anyone with $30 can get in if there is room.

The USTA took over the circuit 25 years ago. It supervises the Challengers, with purses from $25,000 to $75,000, and Futures, from $10,000 to $15,000. When the USTA got involved there were 16 men's events and none for women. Now there are nearly 100 for both.

Nissan helped Hawai'i sponsor satellite events — the four-week series replaced by Futures — in the '80s. Waikoloa helped bring it back with Challengers the past few years; next January it will add a Women's Challenger to its annual men's.

No one plays circuit events for the money. There are too many zeroes missing in the purses. Only the finalists this week and last will come close to covering expenses.

What is valuable are the ranking points — 18 to the singles champion these two weeks — and the experience. That's why the names are foreign, often literally and figuratively, and the players actually hang out together and help each other.

During last week's quarterfinal between 17-year-old Robert Yim and top-seeded Peter Clarke, Yim ran out of racquets. Clark handed one over. It is not something you would see with Andre and Pete. But it worked for Clarke — who still won — and Yim and it would surprise no one if close friends Rajeev Ram and Stephen Amritraj shared equipment and close line calls on this tour.

Both are 19 and grew up in the U.S. playing tennis. Ram, seeded third and ranked 392nd in the world last week, was a freshman on Illinois' NCAA championship team last season. Amritraj is a sophomore at Duke.

Ram's parents grew up in India and work in cell biology for Dow Agra Science in Indiana. They followed his junior career closely and never missed a college match.

"I'm not exactly following in their footsteps," Ram admits. "My dad played sports growing up, but in India sports won't get you too far. ... My mom worried about me for a while, but once she realized the system was different here — sports can get you places as far as furthering your education — she was OK."

The Amritraj family was the exception in India, where Stephen's uncle Vijay might be the country's most famous athlete. Stephen is in Hawai'i not so much to win, but to improve enough to continue the family's remarkable reputation.

"Each person here has something special about them or they wouldn't be here," Amritraj says. "Whether it's a talent you can see or the talent to go work for 6 hours when you lost 7-6 in the third the day before."

The point to Futures is to never go back. The USTA believes players should advance within three years.

There are exceptions. Some are comfortable staying in the United States and make enough to get by. Others come back to recover from injuries or take a sabbatical when the main tour plays on a surface they don't like. A few, like Andre Agassi, just need to jump-start their confidence. He played in two Challengers in 1997 after his ranking and ego took a beating.

Hawai'i has been blessed the past three years, with Roddick, Blake and Robby Ginepri winning at Waikoloa and going on to Davis Cup and great success. Everyone on this circuit dreams that dream.

"You keep trying your hardest and hope the break will come one day," Amritraj says. "I think that's all of our philosophies. We're all grinding it out, trying about as hard as we can, trying to get to the big show one day. All the guys have the same goal in mind."

SHORT LOBS: Kean Feeder, 19 and No. 591 in the world this week, is working with Erik Vervloet, the Hilton Waikoloa Tennis Director and this week's tournament director. ... Rajeev Ram, who has won a Futures event and reached the semifinals of a Challenger, won two Pineapple Cup titles on the Big Island as a junior. He was the NCAA doubles champion last year. ... Part of the incentive to host a circuit event is to energize the local tennis community. Last week, the USTA's local section had a clinic for more than 100 St. Patrick's School students Friday and invited Special Olympians and the Kokua Kalihi Valley Youth Tennis program Saturday. Waikoloa also has community events planned.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.