Ruckelshausen, a Man without a Home

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Richard Ruckelshausen, a player on the Futures circuit, says that the 'place of residence' listed on tennis players' profiles is arbitrary.

His place of residence is now listed as Los Angeles, California, but when asked what he likes about Los Angeles he admitted he knew nothing about the city. He says Los Angeles is convenient as a base to travel to tennis tournaments.

Oddly, his most recent 'place of residence' was South Africa, even though he is from Austria. He said he was based in South Africa because a friend Danie Visser, who had success as a doubles player, was running an academy there.

After losing in the first round in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, he said he is heading to Austria to play in the country's club tennis league. Club tennis, he said, is a way of supplementing his income because even if he were to win the Little Rock Futures' winner's share of $1,985, he would not break even.

Related:

Adam El-Mihdawy, a Friend of Richard Ruckelshausen

Learn About Another Futures Player (Eric Halal)

Show me more Futures Players (Adam Sadecky)

Resources:

Next Futures Tournament in Vero Beach, Florida

Newspaper clipping on Richard Ruckelshausen

Richard Ruckelshausen Player Profile

Little Rock Final, Play-by-play

Artem Sitak (above) eats Matt Roberts' lunch.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Artem Sitak defeated Matt Roberts in the final of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament in a triumph of Sitak's experience and seasoning over Matt Roberts' enthusiasm and adrenaline.

First set

Sitak opens the match having problems with his serve, a problem that bothered him throughout this Futures tournament. A number of double faults by Sitak led to a 1-0 lead for Roberts.

Despite the serving problems Sitak was able to move ahead 3-1 in the first set over Roberts who was playing before an enthusiastic crowd in his hometown.

Sitak was able to overcome the service problems and landed an ace for a 4-2 lead in the first set.

Roberts was able to get a little traction by using a tactic that opponents have used with success against Sitak: hit the ball to his backhand about three to four times in succession and then quickly swing it over to his forehand. Roberts was able to close the gap (4-3 Sitak, first set).

With the score 5-3 Sitak, Roberts drew on the enthusiasm of his hometown fans; Roberts put together an excellent game of serve and volley and a few overhead spikes (5-4 Sitak).

Despite a great effort by Roberts, who threw probably some of his hardest and best shots at Sitak, Sitak won the first set handily 6-4. This singular moment was a show of the difference in the level of play of the two finalists: Sitak has played tougher competition and has even won a Futures tournament this year; Roberts was playing on raw emotion, a chance to win a tournament in his hometown.

Matt Roberts waves to the hometown crowd.

Second Set

The raucous crowd cheered Roberts on for one last run. He was able to charge ahead to a 2-0 run.

In a strange way, the crowd might have helped Sitak. Sitak was a heavy favorite coming in because many of the top players were not in Little Rock and traveled to bigger tournaments in Tallahassee, Florida, and Mexico City, Mexico. The attention paid to Roberts must have allowed Sitak to relax knowing that if he could hold off the charge and enthusiasm of Roberts, the tournament was his to win.

Sitak covers the court well and runs down a lot of Roberts volleys. Roberts comes to the net occasionally but he does not put the ball away, he does not hit through the ball, and Sitak is able to run it down.

In earlier matches, Roberts used the aggression and force of the other players against them. He has a knack of hitting hard, low groundstrokes, a great forehand. Perhaps sensing this, Sitak took the pace of the ball and knocked little dingers and used a lot of spin, hitting the ball to the baseline. This didn't allow Roberts to come forward on his shots and he was unable to make 'tennis shots' and create his own pace.

Sitak took the upstart to school and it was just a matter of time before he put him away. Sitak wins 6-4, 6-3.

Little Rock in Perspective

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- After his 6-4, 6-3 loss to Artem Sitak in the finals of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, Matt Roberts said, "He was solid. He was on his game for sure. I haven't played anyone this week that patient."

He had not played anyone like Sitak all week. A little known fact is that many of the players on the Futures circuit were invited to bigger tournaments like the ones in Tallahassee, Florida, and Mexico. The players that Roberts ran through on the way to the final were not accustomed to playing this deep in the tournament.

As an example, Julio Peralta, whom Roberts beat in the semifinal, never made it to the main draw of the recent Mobile Futures having been knocked out in the first round of the qualifying round.

Adam El Mihdawy, whom Roberts beat in the quarterfinal, got knocked out in the second round of Mobile.

In contrast, Sitak lost to the eventual winner in Mobile and received extensive praise from the champion Travis Rettenmaier. Sitak also won a Futures this year in McAllen, Texas.

Artem Sitak denies the Hometown Kid

LITTLE ROCK, Ark -- Artem Sitak, the number one seed in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, was the most tested and have played against tougher opponents compared to his rivals here at the Pleasant Valley Country Club.

In the end, his toughness and experience served him as he beat Matt Roberts 6-4, 6-3 to win his second Futures tournament of the year.

He played the final match in unusually loud and raucous conditions for a Futures tournament. The players travel around the country in near anonymity but in this tournament Matt Roberts, who was born and raised in Little Rock, made it to the final and he brought what he called his 'posse' to cheer him on.

Sitak was having serious difficulties delivering his serve on the way to the final and was looking shaky coming in. But he pulled it together for the final.

In the end Sitak's experience and toughness prevailed over Matt Robert's adrenaline.

Little Rock is Longest Running Tournament

Jenny, racket stringer.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament is the longest running United States Tennis Association event, according to USTA supervisor David Littlefield. This tournament has been going on for over 28 years.

Littlefield said everyone loves the site. This is the first year the event is being hosted at the Pleasant Valley Country Club.

The week started out with a lot rain and bad weather. In fact, a week ago a tornado passed through Little Rock.

By Friday, it suddenly became very cold. Trying to interview Julio Peralta after his quarterfinal match, he quickly said, Can we go inside? It's cold.

Come Saturday and Sunday, perfect tennis weather; 75 to 80 degrees, light breeze.Rosa Colon and Tyler Neese, press liaisons.

Karrie runs the desk at Pleasant Valley Country Club. Above, David Littlefield, USTA supervisor and Karrie.

Roberts-Peralta Semifinal Play-by-Play

Matt Roberts.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Julio Peralta, from Chile, seems to enjoy hitting the one-handed backhand. Indeed, he shows great variety from the backhand side and even has a good backhand volley. Peralta played Matt Roberts in the semifinal of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament.

Matt Roberts was born in Little Rock and is attracting raucous crowds to his matches especially this weekend when people are off from work and this Futures tournament is headed to the final.

Roberts loves the forehand ground stroke. Peralta continually made the mistake of serving towards Roberts forehand: Roberts repeatedly ripped Peralta's serve down the line and each time Peralta has no chance to return.

Pretty soon the score is 5-3 in the first set. Roberts would go on to win the first set 6-0.

Peralta actually took a 3-2 lead in the second set.

Roberts stormed back with his awesome forehand return of Peralta's serve. When he rips these shots down the line, Peralta does not even bother to move. He did it three times. Pretty soon the score was 5-3 Roberts.

The match ended fittingly. Near the end of the match Roberts launched an ace against Peralta. After the ace, Peralta stood stunned. But the curious thing is, the fans couldn't discern if he wanted to complain that the serve was out, or if he was stunned as to say, 'Damn, is this guy that good?!'

Roberts won the second set for the match 6-3, 6-4.

Julio Peralta.

Sitak-Fugate Semifinal Play-by-Play

Artem Sitak.

Fugate Leads Early

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Marcus Fugate takes a 3-0 lead against Artem Sitak in the first set of this semifinal match in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament.

Artem Sitak was able to close the gap and pull to a 4-4 tie on the outdoor hard courts of the Pleasant Valley Country Club.

Fugate, who had to qualify to get in the main draw, pulled ahead 5-4 on strength of a decent serve and excellent net play.

Fugate showed a bit of lethargy and a lack of urgency and was unable to put the set away. Sitak, the number seed, pushed the set to a tie-break and he basically steam-rolled Fugate in the tie-break. Sitak wins the set 7-6 (1).

Sitak's Vulnerabilities

Sitak was shown to have serious problems in delivering his serve. Throughout the match he would give away points and control of the match due to service faults and double faults.

On his backhand side, Sitak appears unable to generate any power and makes mistakes.

Marcus Fugate.

Fugate's Woes

Fugate's serve has some heat but he doesn't drill his serve often and consistently. He brings the heat occasionally, enough just to remind his opponent he has a good serve.

Fugate can be very casual on the court. He comes to the net often but he appears unable or unwilling to react if the shot is hit away from him. There were a number of shots throughout the match that he followed the ball with his eyes and did not move his feet to attempt to run the ball down.

Still Fugate was able to go ahead 3-1 in the second set.

Sitak quickly tied up the set at 3-3. Despite Sitak's continuing and obvious problems, Fugate is complacent and unable to capitalize. Sitak goes ahead 4-3.

Sitak and Fugate continue to tie each other up at 4-4, 5-5 and eventually had to settle in a tie-break.

Fugate comes to the net often where he is very good. But he does not use his net-play as an offensive weapon against Sitak. Fugate's problems appears to be not a lack of skill but lack of effort and motivation. He fails to hit threw his shots at the net and Sitak is able to return the ball and, as Fugate has shown from earlier in the match, if the ball is hit away from him he does not run after it.

As such, Sitak wins the second set 7-6 (4).

Sitak prevails 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4).

Sitak wins in a less-than-dominant Fashion

Artem Sitak, above, reacts to one of his many mistakes.

To be blunt, some serious technical flaws were uncovered in the game of Artem Sitak. Artem Sitak won -- 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) against Marcus Fugate in the semifinal Saturday -- but had great difficulty in delivering an important part of a professional tennis player's game: his serve.

Sitak, the number one seed in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Tennis Tournament, committed one double fault after another in an uneven performance at the Pleasant Valley Country Club. Sitak survived solely because his opponent -- who was leading at critical stages of the match -- had problems of his own.

As pictured, Marcus Fugate can be overly casual to the detriment of his game.

Artem who? Matt Roberts steals the Show

Matt Roberts.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A funny thing happened on the way to the final of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Tennis Tournament. Suddenly Artem Sitak, the number one seed, no longer looks like the overwhelming favorite to win.

In fact, if one were to judge solely from the early performances of the finalists, one would say Artem Sitak is in trouble.

The hometown kid Matt Roberts -- who will face Artem Sitak in this Sunday's final -- is re-writing the script. Perhaps the players, like this reporter did, had dismissed Matt Roberts as the local player who was gifted a wild-card berth into this Futures tournament. But after seeing Roberts' 6-3, 6-4 drubbing of Julio Peralta in the semifinal, attention must be paid.

Artem Sitak (seated, during a change-over) will face a crowd cheering loudly for Matt Roberts.

Artem Sitak through to Finals

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Artem Sitak defeated Marcus Fugate 7-6, 7-6 in the semifinal of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Tennis Tournament.

Players Get Doubled Up

Haydn Lewis (pictured, above) and Bjorn Munroe (below) beat Todd Paul and Brett Ross 6-4, 6-7 (5), [10-8] in the semifinal of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament.

Raul Bermudez and Dinko Halachev defeated Christopher Kingemann and Milan Pokrajac 4-6, 6-2, [10-6].

Brett Ross.
Todd Paul.

Little Rock Player Excites Hometown Crowd

Matthew Roberts.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Little Rock is buzzing about its own home-grown talent Matthew Roberts. Roberts is making a run in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament and celebrated a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Adam El Mihdawy.

Roberts earned a spot in the semifinals against Julio Peralta in this Futures tournament.


Adam El Mihdawy.

The Artem Sitak Machine Rolls On

Artem Sitak.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Artem Sitak is the number one seed in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament and perhaps the most seasoned and tested player in this Futures tournament.

Artem Sitak has won a championship at the Futures level -- McAllen last month -- and Bryan Wooten is a qualifier at this Little Rock Futures tournament; the difference in their level of competition was evident.

Sitak dispatched Wooten 6-2, 6-3.

Bryan Wooten.

Little Rock Family Embraces Julio Peralta

Julio Peralta and the Gordon family. Megan, Julio, Sarah and David.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Part of the charm of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament and other Futures tournaments is the accessibility of the players. Fans are very near to the action on the court. And in an attempt to make players feel at home, some fans even welcome the players as guests in their homes.

The players travel around the country and the world from hotel to hotel. The Gordon family has broken the monotony for Julio Peralta and is hosting him during the tournament. He thoroughly appreciates their generosity.

"I feel at home," Peralta said after his 6-4, 6-2 victory over Phillip Simmonds. Peralta, from Chile, was particularly pleased with a meal the family ordered from a placed called the Whole Hog Barbecue.

He also enjoyed meals from the Macaroni Grill and Izzy's.

Phillip Simmonds.

James Ward Whines his way to Ignominy

James Ward.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- If James Ward could see a video of his match in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, he would not be impressed.

If James Ward were a comedian, he would say, "I bombed."

Like athletes who come clean after a particularly poor performance, James Ward would say, "I stunk up the joint."

In fact, the phrase James Ward uttered several times during his loss to Marcus Fugate 7-6 (3), 6-3 was 'embarrassing tennis.'

During his match in this Little Rock Futures, James Ward whined, and whined, and whined.

He was not whining about the officiating. He was not whining about his opponent. He was whining about his own play. James Ward apparently was not interested in, as they say, sucking it up and doing something about his 'embarrassing tennis', he was content to complain about his own bad tennis.

At a time when British tennis is celebrating small victories -- Andy Murray's victory over Roger Federer and Jamie Baker's winning of two Futures Tournaments -- and when fans might be taking a first look at other up-and-coming British players, James Ward did not impress.

James Ward showed a disregard for his opponent, the small gathering of fans and for the game of tennis.

He showed a disregard for the fans by his constant cursing (not to mention whining). He is apparently unaware of the fierce competition for 'eyeballs'. Fans, though just a handful, could have been watching the televised match of Serena Williams-Maria Sharapova, or taking a Tai Chi class, or shopping, but chose to see his match.

He showed a disregard for his opponent by having a full blown and continuing conversation with a friend during the match; at one point while waiting to receive Ward's serve, his opponent grew tired of waiting and walked to the sideline to towel off while Ward continued his conversation.

The match ended fittingly and mercifully: the chair umpire, apparently tired of Ward's antics -- on match point -- penalized him a point to end the match.

Marcus Fugate.

Michaela Moon runs a Tight Ship

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Michaela Moon is the chief of umpires at the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament. Her job is find umpires and officials for this Futures tournament.

She starts by trying to find officials right here in Little Rock. Some officials may have worked high school, state or college tournaments and could get their first opportunity to work a professional level tournament here.

Because of the great number of matches, she has pulled officials from Texas, Delaware, Missouri, Illinois and Georgia.

Some officials have a career outside of tennis and this is a side gig. Some officials have retired from their original careers and fell into tennis as a leisurely career.

Michaela Moon herself has a career outside of tennis and does her tennis assignment while on vacation from her main job.

Life on Tour -- The David Littlefield Story

USTA Supervisor David Littlefield chats with Karrie.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- David Littlefield is a veteran. He was a chair umpire for 30 Grand Slam tennis tournaments, 22 U.S. Open tournaments in a row, 25 years of tennis as a full occupation. He has traveled to over 34 countries.

Littlefield is the United States Tennis Association supervisor of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament.

Littlefield said, years ago he started to see the same umpires in big matches and he thought that might be a good job. Eventually, he got that job and his 'claim to fame' was sitting in the chair during Pete Sampras's first Grand Slam event, the U.S. Open.

Tennis was Littlefield's hobby. In West Palm Beach, Florida, he played in club tournaments and organized league tournaments. Today, tennis is his career.

"I still like getting up and going to work," Littlefield said. "Not every day...most days."

Rain Pauses in Little Rock

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Rain has held up and play begins around 2 p.m. in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament. Above, tournament director Breda Turner.

Rain in Little Rock

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- There is a sprinkling, very light rain here, the site of the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament. There is accumulation on the ground and gray, overcast sky.

This tournament is part of the Futures series.

Catching up with the Mobile Players

MOBILE, Al -- The players from the Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic are scattered around the country and even in Mexico City.

Some continued to the next scheduled Futures tournament; some upgraded to Challenger tournaments; and one even went to an ATP tournament.

Artem Sitak is ranked number one in the St. Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is a Futures level tournament and quite a number of players from the Mobile Futures are in the Little Rock Futures.

Ryan Harrison, who got knocked out early in Mobile, is in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas.

Travis Rettenmaier, the winner in Mobile, continues to roll in the Challenger Casablanca San Angelo in Mexico City, Mexico. Other Mobile players who made the trip to Mexico: Michael Yani, Carsten Ball, Ryler De Heart and Nicholas Monroe.

Gary Lugassy, Izak Van Der Merwe and Josselin Ouanna went to the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in Florida.

St Vincent Auxiliary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament
Little Rock, Arkansas
April 14-20, 2008
$15,000 / 32 Draw
Hard - Outdoors
Main Draw Singles
Main Draw Doubles
Order of Play
Qualifying Draw Singles

Challenger Casablanca San Angel
Mexico City, Mexico
April 14-20, 2008
$35,000 / 32 Draw
Hard - Outdoors
Main Draw Singles, Doubles

Tallahassee Tennis Challenger
Tallahassee, Florida
April 14-20, 2008
$50,000 / 32 Draw
Hard - Outdoors
Main Draw Singles
Doubles Main Draw
Qualifying Draw Singles

U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship
Houston, TX
April 14-20, 2008
$420,000 / 32 Draw
Clay - Outdoors
Main Draw Singles
Qualifying Draw Singles

The Mobile Futures Money List

MOBILE, Al -- Players competed for a cut of $15,000 in the Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic.

Travis Rettenmaier (pictured, above) $1,985

Ryler De Heart (below) 1,350


Michael Yani (below) 720


Artem Sitak (pictured, below) 720



Vladimir Obradovic 435

Izak Van Der Merwe 435

Luigi D'Agord 435

Gary Lugassy 435

Todd Paul , 300

Marcus Fugate 300

Adam El Mihdawy 300

Phillip Simmonds 300

Ryan Harrison 300

Greg Jones 300

Amir Weintraub 300

Josselin Ouanna 300

Tommy Garrison 176.25

Filip Krajinovic 176.25

Anderson Reed 176.25

Sunil-Kumar Supaeya 176.25

Miles Kasiri 176.25

Derek Schwandt 176.25

Christopher Klingemann 176.25

Sergio Ramirez 176.25

Nicholas Monroe (pictured, below) 176.25



Ludovic Walter 176.25

Jean-Michel Durango 176.25

James Ward 176.25

Carsten Ball (below) 176.25



Patricio Alvarado 176.25

Milan Pokrajac (pictured, below; Pokrajac, Ball, Monroe photos by Tessa Kolodny) 176.25



Dennis Nevolo 176.25

Where to eat in Mobile

MOBILE, Al -- Next time you go to a tennis tournament here eat at the Backyard Cafe. It is on Springhill near the hotel district. Due to the sprawling growth of America where entire neighborhoods spring up whole cloth, this type of restaurant and cuisine is a piece of Americana that is fading away. I had the baked chicken with green beans and greens.

(Tennis types don't feel intimidated about going to a 'soul food' restaurant. During my visit there was a good mix of people. Contrary to perceptions, southern cities tend to be more racially integrated than the so-called liberal cities.)

I took a picture of the building as I was leaving and then the ladies came out to ask me why was I taking a photo. I told them that a lot of people come to Mobile every year and they want to know where the local people eat. The owner Felecia Gunn is on the right and, I swear, I wrote down the other lady's name, but for the life of me, traveling and all, I can't find the napkin I wrote it on.

Players get 'Stretched Out'

MOBILE, Al -- After three hours of tennis, what could be better than a bit of stretching and massage? A highly qualified physical trainer is assigned to all the Futures tournaments to take care of players during medical time-outs and a little unwinding and muscle relaxation after the match.

Shuhei Suzuki from Chicago worked the Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic. Photos, Suzuki work on Travis Rettenmaier. Rettenmaier raved about Suzuki's work.

The Life of a Ball Boy

MOBILE, Al -- Tennis tournaments are run by volunteers. There are so many little jobs to be done: officials, drive the players to and from their hotels, food caterers. Some people even have players stay as guests in their home. The next time a tournament is in your area volunteer for a job you like.


Chair umpire Magdi Somat of Egypt talks to his crew at the Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic.

Ali Sutherland and McKenzie Courtney.

The littlest ball girl.


Finalist Ryler De Heart and Travis Rettenmaier thank the crew.

The Physics of Tennis

You need to have a quick reaction time to survive as a tennis player. You have less than a second to prepare for a serve. To be precise, you have 0.6 seconds.

If you were a baseball player, you would have to be even quicker. You need a reaction time of 0.4 seconds to hit a fastball.

Luckily, the laws of physics are working with you to slow down the tennis ball. By the time the tennis ball reaches you it is traveling at half the speed it started out at. A serve that starts out at 100 miles per hour, would be traveling 50 mph by the time it reaches you.

The fuzz on the ball slows it down as it flies through the air. The impact on the ground also slows down the ball.

Reaction Time. Ryler De Heart has less than a second to react.

Resources:

Sports Science. See these and more tennis physics on Sports Science TV show.

Rettenmaier: Once Retired, now Champion

Travis Rettenmaier.

MOBILE, Al -- Travis Rettenmaier is a journeyman. He took nearly two years off the tennis tour and took what he called 'a normal job.'

Rettenmaier was a bright student and went to the University of California at Los Angeles at the age of 16. He played college tennis for two years before hitting the road and playing professional tennis. He found professional tennis to be harder to break through than he had envisioned.

"I had a breakdown and was in a really bad place," he said. "I wasn't really enjoying tennis anymore. It became businesslike for me and I felt pressure from the money and decided I was done completely."

It was his girlfriend who talked him into getting back on the Futures tour. "She kept telling me to get back on the court and I began taking yoga. I needed to see what was going on inside myself instead of all the exterior stuff. I figured nothing gives me more joy than playing tennis. So I decided to give it a run."

Rettenmaier is a journeyman. A journeyman always thinks that he has a shot, an outside chance of success. That is what motivates a journeyman.

Rettenmaier has gone from a job as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to winner of the Mobile Futures.

Resources:

Travis Rettenmaier's Hometown Newspaper. Quotes in above story appeared here first.

Travis Rettenmaier wins 'Ugly'

Travis Rettenmaier.

MOBILE, Al -- Boxing people like to say, 'Styles make fights.'

What they mean is a boxer might be better on paper and theoretically should win, but sometimes the opponent has a particular style of fighting that could be particularly bothersome to the supposedly better fighter; in that case, the opponent wins. Styles make fights.

In the final of the Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic, Travis Rettenmaier's style was bothersome to Ryler De Heart.

Rettenmaier loves to charge the net. "He is tough to play," De Heart said to the crowd during closing ceremonies. "He comes in on anything and hit the ball low. It took me a set to get used too that style. It is not seen much out here anymore. It was a tough match."

Rettenmaier said he couldn't change his style even if he wanted to. "People have been telling me to be more baseline all my life," he said. "But it doesn't come naturally to me. I come to the net on everything."

Ryler De Heart.

Mobile Futures Final Play-by-Play

Travis Rettenmaier.

MOBILE, Al -- Travis Rettenmaier defeated Ryler De Heart 6-1, 7-6 (0) in the final of the Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic.

Highlights of Match

De Heart missed two easy volleys for unforced errors to give Rettenmaier a 3-0 lead in the first set.

At 5-1 (Rettinemaier ahead) in first set, Rettenmaier attempted a drop shot which ordinarily would be a winner but De Heart ran it down and tapped it back: it toggled on the net fell in. The crowd loved it and roared.

De Heart lost the set on an unforced error. It was one of three unforced errors by De Heart and could be a telling point in the match. 6-1 Rettenmaier, first set.

Rettenmaier Melt Down?

Rettenmaier was bothered by a call on the opposite baseline in the second set. The linesman hesitated slightly and Rettenmaier seized on the point and argued it with the chair umpire. The effects of the call seem to linger and De Heart ran up a 3-1 lead in the second set.

De Heart Tightens Up?

De Heart committed three unforced errors and before he could say Boo, the score was 3-3.

Rettenmaier took to arguing calls again. He seemed to have lost his demeanor and seemed to be unaware that he was in control of the match and in position to win. He slammed two balls against the fence and was given an unsportsmanlike conduct warning.

Rettenmaier continued to argue. Peter Kasavage, International Tennis Federation tournament supervisor -- watching the match as an observer -- told Rettenmaier, "You just shut up and play."

Rettenmaier turned as if to say something back but thought better of it and said nothing. But the official might have saved Rettenmaier from himself because Rettenmaier was becoming deeply involved in arguing calls apparently unaware he was in position to win at 6-1, 3-3.

Rettenmaier's distraction and De Heart's concentration allowed De Heart to go ahead 4-3 in the second set. De Heart seemed to be