Tennis: At 19, Dent making a mark

Richard Dunn

The road less traveled in tennis heads to the top, where few are

willing to go and even fewer are capable. But Taylor Dent is bent on

getting there.

With four more tournaments remaining this year on the Futures circuit

on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour, Dent, 19, is learning

patience.

His size and skills are there. He plays against, and pushes, ATP Tour

stars like Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.

But consistency is still lacking.

“It’s tough,” Dent said this week at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center,

where he regularly sweats. “I can take it to anybody. I can beat anybody

if I play my game. But I can also lose to anybody on my bad days.”

Dent, of Corona del Mar, lost to Sampras at the Tennis Masters Series

in Cincinnati last summer, but forced a tiebreaker in both sets as

Sampras advanced with a 7-6, 7-6 win.

In the first round at Wimbledon this year, Dent gave Agassi a scare

before retiring in the third set with a knee injury.

Dent, who has a burning desire to enter the game’s pantheon, went

baseline to baseline with Agassi and Sampras. But has stubbed his toe

against unknowns.

Currently, Dent is 142nd in the world, according to the ATP Tour

computer rankings, and has earned $84,452 this year on the courts.

But the 1996 CIF Southern Section singles champion as a freshman for

Corona del Mar is eager to replace fellow Americans and aging veterans

like Sampras and Agassi.

“I’m not No. 1, so I’m not happy with this year, but I made a lot of

progress and I’m excited for the new year,” Dent said. “I’m improving

every year I go out, but I wish I could leapfrog like Lleyton Hewitt (No.

8 on the ATP Tour after playing juniors only a few short years ago).

“But I’ll take 30 Grand Slams if it means being patient. I’ll take the

slow route if that’s what it takes to get there. I’ll bust my butt to get

there and stay there.”

Dent, who turned pro in 1998, when his former CdM High classmates were

juniors, has won $141,797 in prize money in his brief career.

“Patrick Rafter didn’t start (winning ATP Tour events) until his

mid-20s, and Rod Laver was 21 or 22 when he started (his climb to the

top), and they ended up as two of the best players of all time,” Dent

said.

Dent’s father, Phil, who coaches his son and travels with him, said of

all the 19-year-old players in the top 200 on the ATP Tour, Taylor would

rank in the top 10.

“He’s doing pretty well, for sure,” Phil Dent said. “He gets

frustrated because he wants to be there. But he’s doing well.

“It’s going to take a little longer (to reach the top) than he wants,

but it’s a matter of basically just going through it and sucking it up

and doing it. It just takes time. Some people jump up quickly, while for

others it takes time. People forget he’s only 19 years old.”

Dent, easygoing and hard-working, won an ATP Futures event in San

Antonio this year, but says he’s ready to turn the corner and start

winning the major stops on the ATP Tour.

“Futures (titles) don’t count,” Dent said. “I want to win ATP

tournaments.”

Dent, a serve-and-volleyer who has played doubles this year with his

stepbrother, Brett Hansen-Dent, has never dodged a challenge on the

court.

“The line is so fine (between the world’s top-10 players and those in

the top 200), it’s undefinable,” Dent said. “The difference for Hewitt

(and his quick rise to the top) was fitness; for me, it’s (going to be)

consistency.”

Dent felt a little sluggish last year and has lost 20 pounds off his

205-pound frame in the past year, 10 pounds since going on a vegetarian

diet he picked up from Pat Cash at Wimbledon.

The third annual Myron McNamara Memorial Golf Tournament will be

played Nov. 13 at Los Serranos Golf and Country Club in Chino Hills.

McNamara, who coached the UC Irvine men’s tennis team to six NCAA

Division II championships, was a dedicated tennis instructor and coach to

many in the Newport-Mesa community for several years.

McNamara also built and managed top tennis clubs, such as the Irvine

Coast Racquet Club (now the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club), Riviera Tennis

Club in Pacific Palisades and La Costa in San Diego County.

The upcoming event benefits the Myron McNamara Endowment Fund at UCI.

Details: (949) 824-8366.

Former UCI All-American and Newport Harbor High standout Glenn Cripe

will be inducted into the UCI Athletic Hall of Fame in February.