Kogan earns notice in Fallbrook

Michael Kogan was in California to play ATP tennis tournaments, and his schedule allowed him to participate in the 31st Annual Fallbrook Open Tennis Tournament at the Fallbrook Tennis Club June 4-12.

The only problem for Kogan was that the seeding system was not nationwide. Kogan, who is from New Orleans, was not seeded in the tournament.

“When he pointed out that he should have been seeded, I said, ‘Well, go

win the tournament,’ and he did,” said tournament organizer Dorothy Roth.

Kogan won both the Men’s Open Singles and the Mixed Open Doubles at the Fallbrook Open Tennis Tournament. In the Men’s Open Singles final he faced Eric Steidlmayer, who lives in La Jolla and works as the tennis coach for UCSD. Steidlmayer won the first set, six games to four, but Kogan tied the match with a 6-2 victory in the second set and added a 6-2 win in the third and deciding set. In the Mixed Open Doubles he teamed with Alexis Coulourides of Claremont, and the duo won the title after a 6-4, 6-1 match in the finals against the San Diego team of Michael Murphy and Katie Murphy.

Escondido’s Nataliya Stephan also won two open championships; she was the top seed for both the Women’s Open Singles and the Women’s Open Doubles and was the victor in both championship matches. In the singles division Stephan faced Carlsbad’s Ashley Strimple in the finals and earned the championship with a 6-0, 6-1 victory. In the doubles finals Stephan and Kathy May Fritz of Rancho Santa Fe were on the winning end of the 6-0, 6-1 match against Miranda Lagac of Wildomar and Danielle Uscinski of Scottsdale, AZ.

The Men’s Open Doubles went to the top-seeded team of Fallbrook’s Daniel Andrus and Irvine’s Aaron Yovan. Andrus and Yovan won the finals by default when San Diego’s Ryan Redondo, who along with San Diego’s Kerry Safdie comprised the second-seeded team, withdrew from the June 12 match due to a conflict.

A total of 334 players participated in the Fallbrook Open Tennis Tournament. “The tournament went very well,” Roth said. “Lots of good teams, good atmosphere.”

Linda Brokaw of Lake Elsinore and Karin Bruinsma of San Diego also won championships in two different divisions. In the Mixed 4.5 Doubles, Brokaw teamed with Dale Miller of Fallbrook and faced Temecula’s Eileen Killeen and Fallbrook’s Carl Slabicki in the finals. Killeen and Slabicki won the first set, six games to four, and the second set was tied at six games apiece before Brokaw and Miller won the tiebreaking set, seven points to five. In the third set Brokaw and Miller earned a 6-1 victory to win the match. Brokaw teamed with Terri Gillette of Fallbrook in the Women’s 4.5 Doubles division, which was played in a round-robin format.

Bruinsma won the Women’s 4.0 Singles after a three-set victory against Fallbrook’s Leslie Branson in the final match. Branson won the first set, 6-2, but Bruinsma tied the match with a 7-5 win in the second set and won the championship with a 6-3 victory in the third set. The Women’s 4.0 Doubles was played in a round-robin format, and Bruinsma and San Diego’s Carol Donahue won that division.

Philip Le of Escondido and Mary Ann Liley of San Diego won the Mixed 5.5 Doubles championship. They faced the Fallbrook duo of Dennis Houlihan and Jennifer Anderson in the finals which consisted of three sets and 37 games. Le and Liley won the first set, 7-5, and after the second set was tied at six games apiece the tiebreaker required 18 points before Houlihan and Anderson could post a two-point advantage for the 10-8 win in the final game of that set. In the deciding set Le and Liley earned another 7-5 victory for the championship.

The Temecula team of Ray Fisher and Bill Moyer won the Men’s 5.5 Doubles, defeating Fallbrook’s Ken Lawson and Oceanside’s Dennis Nelson in a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 final. Bernie Buggs of San Marcos won the Men’s 5.5 Singles after defeating San Diego’s Klaus Kuhn in a final consisting of two 6-3 sets.

Murrieta’s Joseph Balleweg and Temecula’s Jim Cunningham won the Men’s 4.5 Doubles after a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Bonsall’s Brian Lanari and Fallbrook’s Dale Miller in the final match. Richard Emard of Temecula won the Men’s 4.5 Singles after a pair of 6-2 sets over Riverside’s Eden Loy in the finals. Lisa Mandelin of Cathedral City won the Women’s 4.5 Singles by defeating Sunny Kim of Cardiff by the Sea in a 6-3, 6-4 match in the final round.

The Mixed 4.0 Doubles championship went to Andrew and Dawn Wasley of Quail Valley, who faced the San Marcos duo of Wayne Doyle and Eliza Caguioa in the final round. The first set saw each duo win six games before the Wasleys prevailed in a 7-5 tiebreaker, and the Wasleys took home the championship after a 6-4 second set.

Brian and Wendi Lanari of Bonsall won the Mixed 3.5 Doubles after a 7-5, 6-2 final match against the Fallbrook duo of Eric De Masi and Michele Glemser. Poway’s Carolyn Cassell and Escondido’s Patricia Langpap won the Women’s 3.5 Doubles after a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 final match against the Escondido duo of Patti Groves and Heather Hodgson. Bruce Brenkus of Temecula won the Men’s 3.5 Singles; in the first set of the final match against Alexander Oelfke of Hemet he won the tiebreaker seven points to three, and he followed that with a 6-3 win in the second set. Jody Hebert of Orange won the Women’s 3.5 Singles after a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 final match against Fallbrook’s Beth Sharratt.

Vojin Joksimovich of Escondido won the Men’s 65 Singles after Fallbrook’s Tom Brotherton withdrew from the finals due to an injury from a previous match. The San Diego duo of Henry Goetz and Richard Lederer won the Men’s 65 Doubles with a 6-1, 6-1 win in the finals over Fallbrook’s Lars Callne and Murrieta’s Orville Maas.

Patrick and Craig Wright of Huntington Beach won the Father-Son Doubles with a 6-1, 6-1 final round victory over Bernarr and Austin Prado of Fallbrook. In the Father-Son Doubles A division, Jay Schiller and J.B. Schiller of La Jolla won the championship after a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 final match against Dan and Daniel Andrus of Fallbrook. Michael and Jackie Mareschal of Fallbrook won the Parent-Child Doubles division with a 6-1, 6-0 victory in the finals against Walter and Susan Henderson of Fallbrook.

“It was a very good tournament,” Roth said.