City of Tonawanda native Ken White played the biggest match of his career when he recently competed in the Babolat World Tennis Championships in Palm Springs, Calif.
This prestigious national event is held annually at the Mission Hills Country Club. White, seeded third in the tournament, drew a tough competitor in his quarterfinal match — Rick Leach, who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1991 in doubles and who has many tournament victories to his credit. Leach was the 1990 Wimbledon doubles champion, a two-time Australian Open champion and U.S. Open doubles winner in 1993.
Like White, Leach now plays the 45 and over national circuit.
“It was great to play Rick,” White said. “He is truly a great player.”
White lost to Leach in a two and a half hour match, 6-3, 6-2.
“I started out the match with two clean aces right out of the gate. I knew I could hurt him, I was just wondering how consistent I would be with him,” White said.
After holding serve and having two break points on his service game, White lost the first set 6-3. “Rick was amazingly consistent. He was real patient and never missed, but he certainly knows not to hit any balls to my forehand now,” said White, who hit a number of outright winners off his forehand side at crucial points.
White reached the round of 16 by beating Mike Kovar of St. Louis, Mo., and Carlos Cruz-Aedo of Torrence, Calif. “I thought I was playing pretty well,” he said, adding, “The sun was hot and the courts were slow, conditioning is always a factor, but I felt pretty comfortable out there.”
White, a 1980 Tonawanda High School graduate who now lives in Elma, remains ranked in the top five nationally in singles and in doubles in the 45 and over category, and is currently sponsored by Babolat Tennis Racquets.
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March 16, 2010
TENNIS: Ken White revels in match of a lifetime
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