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At Legg Mason, the Heat Is On — and So Is Smith

Between singles and doubles play, Luke Smith has had 36 matches over the past four weeks, playing in such places as Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. So the Australian said he was used to yesterday's 97-degree heat in his opening-round match of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, in which he beat India's Mahesh Bhupathi, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7). But he did place a wet bandanna around his neck in the second set to cool off.

In his ATP tour debut, Smith, a senior at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, held off the overpowering service game of Bhupathi, a former star at the University of Mississippi, and won his only break-point opportunity. Bhupathi, for his part, converted only one of nine break points, and came away frustrated at the outcome.

"I dominated the whole match, but he won," Bhupathi said.

"I came in knowing if I played really well, I'd have a good chance to win," said Smith, 20. "I didn't play really well, but I thought I played solid. I served pretty well, and on the big points I think I played really smart. That's all I tried to do — I tried to mix everything up so he couldn't get into a groove." Trailing 3-1 in the second set, Smith held serve to cut Bhupathi's lead to 3-2. Smith broke Bhupathi the next game to even things up, and won the 1-hour 50-minute match on the tiebreaker.

"When I was down 3-1, if I had gone down another break, I probably would have ditched that second set and concentrated on the third," Smith said. "He didn't break me again."

Smith will face sixth-seeded Lionel Roux of France in today's second round.

In other matches with seeded players, No. 9 Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark beat Cecil Mamiit, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, and No. 12 Marzio Martelli of Italy defeated Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5. No. 14 Vincent Spadea defeated Stephane Simian of France, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, No. 15 Neville Godwin of South Africa beat Gaston Etlis of Argentina, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 16 Fernon Wibier of the Netherlands defeated Max Mirnyi of Belarus, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2).

Growing up in Australia, Smith idolized the professional players who came to his country to work with his father, Peter, a tennis coach. After finishing high school at 17, Smith wanted to turn pro immediately, but his game and his body needed development. He didn't know what he was going to do next until getting a call from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

"They really reeled me in when they said they played three hours of tennis a day," Smith said. He headed for the States.

Smith planned to leave after two years, but his singles game wasn't as eager. He went 22-18 over his freshman and sophomore years, and knew he'd be playing more waiting game than pro game for a little while longer.

As a senior — two inches taller and 30 pounds bulkier than he was as a freshman — Smith was the surprise 1997 NCAA singles champion. (He also took the doubles crown with teammate Tim Blenkiron.)

Smith has gotten used to winning lately. The 65th-ranked college player entering the NCAA singles championships, he notched six straight-set wins to capture the NCAA crown. Smith was unseeded in the 64-player draw, and became the first unseeded singles winner since 1991. He earned a wild card to the Legg Mason and an automatic spot in the main draw of next month's U.S. Open.

"I was really happy to play this tournament to get me introduced to this before the U.S. Open," Smith said after yesterday's win. "I didn't want to come into the U.S. Open and be like, 'Wow, this is really intimidating.' I'll still be nervous when I play, but the same players play in tournaments like this. I mean, huge names. I was sitting in the locker room with guys that I've been watching on TV for years. It's kind of weird. I'm not used to it."

After watching Smith at the NCAAs, UNLV coach Larry Easley told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "He certainly has the ability to be top 10 in the world."

To those expectations, Smith replied like a pro, talking about taking one match at a time and how he hasn't accomplished anything.

"I'm here, but I haven't made it," Smith said. "I've had a wild card, I've had an opportunity. ... Today puts me a little bit closer, but I still haven't made it."

© Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company

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