TENNIS OJAI TOURNAMENT : O’Brien Beats Knowles for Pacific 10 Men’s Title

As an American Studies major at Stanford, one of Alex O’Brien’s areas of expertise is history. And he turned in a history-making performance Sunday in the Pacific 10 Conference men’s singles championships at the Ojai tennis tournament.

O’Brien defeated Mark Knowles of UCLA, 6-4, 6-2, to become the first player since Stan Smith to defend the conference title. Smith won three consecutive Pac-8 titles from 1966-68.

Playing in 100-degree heat at Libbey Park, O’Brien used a crisp service return to apply pressure on the hard-hitting Knowles. O’Brien broke Knowles’ serve in the first and third games, and the Bruin junior never recovered.

“I’ve played Alex several times, and the key to beating him is always getting off to a good start,” Knowles said. “Once he gets in front, he’s hard to catch.”

Knowles, who said he will turn pro at the end of the college season, broke O’Brien’s serve only once.

“I served smart,” O’Brien said. “I didn’t get many first serves in, but I mixed it up with my second serve.”

Knowles had trouble getting his first and second serves in, double-faulting nine times in nine service games, three times on game points.

O’Brien, playing in his third consecutive Pac-10 final, said he isn’t about to rest on his laurels.

“It’s just a steppingstone,” he said. “I want to keep going.”

Arizona’s Alix Creek made some history of her own in the Pac-10 women’s final. Creek became the first player from her school to win a conference championship with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over USC’s Petra Schmitt.

Creek relied on a devastating forehand for a 4-0 lead and held on to win the first set. But the Wildcat sophomore was unable to sustain the forehand in the middle of the match.

Schmitt, a freshman from Budapest, struggled with unforced errors before recovering to win the second set. With the score tied, 4-4, in the final set, Creek found her lost forehand to break Schmitt’s serve. Creek closed out the match at deuce with a service winner and one more big forehand.

Creek said the title was the culmination of a goal. Friends were skeptical.

“I thought (winning the title) was obtainable,” Creek said. “When I told everyone else what my goal was they said ‘Yeah, you can do it,’ ” in less than convincing tones.