Publication Date: Friday, February 11, 2005
Stanford grad Goldstein stays close to his tennis roots
Stanford grad Goldstein stays close to his tennis roots
(February 11, 2005) Despite losing in SAP Open, he remains close to Cardinal program while becoming king of the USTA pro circuit
by Rick Eymer
Paul Goldstein still practices his tennis game at Stanford, where he was a four-time All-American and a member of four NCAA team championships. He calls San Francisco home now, but he's on the road a lot between January and October.
Goldstein won three matches over the weekend to qualify for the main draw of the SAP Open at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. He lost his first round match to world No. 4 Andy Roddick on Wednesday night and he couldn't be happier.
"Playing in an environment like this is a pleasure," Goldstein said. "It's the reason I stay in the game. It's not tough playing in this environment."
Goldstein, who turned pro following his senior year at Stanford in 1998, has plenty of reason to feel grateful. After eight years he figured to be part of the ATP Tour more often.
Instead he's become the King of the USTA pro circuit.
By winning the Hilton Waikoloa Village USTA Challenger (beating UCLA product Cecil Mamitt) last week, Goldstein became the winningest USTA circuit player in history, surpassing Mark Merklein's 24 career titles. Former Stanford star Bob Bryan ranks third.
"I have mixed emotions about that record," Goldstein said. "Winning the most challengers is not the goal. The goal is to be playing at this level."
In having to qualify for the San Jose event, Goldstein ended up playing nine matches in a 12-day span. It's the life of a journeyman on the tour.
After spending a week in Hawaii playing USTA level players, and a week in the Bay Area facing the best in the world, Goldstein moves on to Joplin, Missouri for yet another challenger this weekend.
"The challenge is to go from here to Joplin," Goldstein said. "The Joplin people do a great job with their tournament but the environment is different. I feel a lot like Crash Davis in Bull Durham."
The reference was to Kevin Costner's character who got a taste of the major leagues but spent most of his life in the minors, and who set the minor league home run record.
"That's not the level I want to be playing ultimately, particularly eight years into my career," Goldstein said.
That he's even playing is a bit of a success story. Goldstein, who reached as high as 69th in the rankings, finished 2003 strong and started 2004 the same way.
"I was playing great tennis but I didn't convert my opportunities," he said. "I was discouraged at how close I was. Between January and the U.S. Open (in September) I did not win consecutive matches. There were a lot of questions and I wondered if I should start getting my resume together."
Qualifying for San Jose, and having plenty of family and friends among the crowd, energized Goldstein to continue his career.
"I feel real good physically and I'm covering the court, positioning myself," Goldstein said. "That has to be my strength to do well on the tour. I have to play enough offense to keep my opponent honest."
Four other locals tried to qualify for the San Jose main draw. Stanford grads Jeff Salzenstein and KJ Hippensteel lost in the first round, while Menlo School grad James Pade, who is a redshirt at Stanford this season, won his first round match against Korea's Dylan Kim. Palo Alto High grad Doug Bohaboy also lost in the first round.
Stanford grad Scott Lipsky is also making a name for himself on the USTA circuit, having won five Futures titles in doubles and his first singles title last year. Hippensteel teamed up with former Cardinal star Ryan Haviland to win two doubles titles last year.
On the women's USTA circuit, Stanford product Marissa Irvin won three titles last year and was the circuit's leading prize winner with $34,170.
Laura Granville, who won a pair of NCAA singles titles before turning pro in 2001, won a singles title last October, and also a doubles title with Stanford grad Teryn Ashley.
Irvin, Granville and Ashley have also played on the WTA tour, which makes a stop in Stanford during the summer.
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