First-time partners are first-time winners

Rick Devereux

The tandem of Oren Motevessel and Michael Jessup looked like a

well-oiled machine Sunday at the 43rd annual Roy Emerson Adoption

Guild tennis tournament at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club.

Motevessel-Jessup beat Art Hernandez and Carsten Hoffman, 6-3, 7-6

(7-2) to win the men’s 6.5 open doubles title. It might have looked

like Motevessel-Jessup have played together for years, but this was

actually the first time they had paired up.

“This our first tournament, so we’re undefeated together,” Jessup

said. “I think we play well together. Our returns are killers and we

match up well.”

The pair raced out to a 5-1 lead in the first set, relying on

tough serves and strong pressure.

“I feel like I returned really well and I was good at the net,”

said Motevessel, a 15-year veteran on the Association of Tennis

Professionals Tour. “I got good first-serve-in percentages. That was

the key because they like to chip and charge.”

Hernandez-Hoffman improved their play in the second set with

Hernandez winning crucial points with smashes and relentless play at

the net. Hoffman had a nice drop game-winner and later a smash that

evened the second set at 5-5.

But Motevessel’s serves were too strong. He served three aces in

the next game to put his team ahead, 6-5, and his serves in the 7-2

tiebreaker were a huge factor.

“There was some excitement there and we had to dig in because we

were thinking about the bubbley,” Jessup said after the match as he

was offered the traditional glass of champagne.

Hernandez-Hoffman did not leave the tournament empty-handed,

however. The two took home the doubles title in the men’s over-35

division, beating Piet Aldrich and Mike Fedderly, 7-6, 6-4.

Hernandez-Hoffman, UCI alumni and Palisades Tennis Club members,

have been playing together for five years and have won most of the

local tournaments, except the Adoption Guild.

“I think for us it’s one of the four big ones around here: Top

Gun, CHOC, Adoption Guild and Ojai,” Hoffman said. “We’ve won the

other three. This is the only one we hadn’t won, so it was special

winning this tournament for the first time.”

The victory was well earned due to the competition. Aldrich won

the U.S. and Australian Open doubles titles in 1990, and he and Fedderly have their names on the over-35 trophy a combined five

times.

“Piet’s been ranked No. 1 in the world in the mid-80s, so everyone

knows how good he is,” Hernandez said. “This is a great tournament.

You’ve got pros, No. 1 in the world, this is very prestigious. It’s

for a good charity, which is nice, and we’re from the area, which is

even better.”

Also winning open double titles were Kim-anh Nguyen, formerly

ranked No. 1 in Southern California and No. 6 nationally in girls 18,

and Trang Nguyen in the women’s and Stephanie Lansdorp and Loren

Peters in the mixed.

Nguyen-Nguyen beat Anna Bentzer and Jayme Hu, 6-3, 6-4. It was the

first Adoption Guild title for Nguyen-Nguyen.

Lansdorp-Peters beat Tiffany Brymer, who played at USC from

1999-2003, and Govan Sasson, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.