Kendrick Upsets Spadea at First Serve Entertainment Men’s Tennis Championship

By Fred Sidhu

Tarzana, Ca. – Fresno’s Robert Kendrick advanced to the quarterfinals of the $50,000 First Serve Entertainment Men’s Tennis Championship at the Braemar Country Club as he eliminated second-seeded Vince Spadea, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in one-hour and 41 minutes.

Kendrick, ranked 206 in the world, was tied with Spadea at 3-3 in the final set until he broke Spadea’s serve twice in the last three games to win the match.

“He (Spadea) puts so much pressure on the returns, you have to mixed it up and serve well against him,” Kendrick said. “In the third set I played a good return game to get up and I had the momentum going into the last couple of games.”

Spadea, a former top 20 player, hurt his chances in the match by committing 11 double faults. He came into Tarzana this week ranked 102. In his first round match, Spadea had beaten defending tournament champion Levar Harper-Griffith.

In other second round singles action, qualifier Eric Taino defeated fellow American Paul Goldstein, 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-2 and seventh-seeded George Bastl of Switzerland fell to Sweden’s Bjorn Rehnquist, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

The top-seeded doubles team of Scott Humphries and Eric Taino of the United States were eliminated in a first round match as they lost to Thomas Dupre of France and Jun Kato of Switzerland, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

General admission for each day of the tournament is $12. Kids under 18 can purchase tickets for $6. Series and box seats are available. For ticket information, call (818) 345-3230.

All tournament sessions through Friday begin at 10 a.m. Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s final, begin at noon.

The First Serve Entertainment Men’s Tennis Championship is a $50,000 Challenger event. The tournament is part of the United States Tennis Association Professional Circuit.