TENNIS / L.A. OPEN : Aussie Farm Boy Ready to Take On Agassi

The hard courts of North America are a far cry from the ant-bed courts of the outback in Australia, where Jason Stoltenberg grew up playing tennis. But he has been making himself right at home.

Stoltenberg defeated Steve Bryan, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, Thursday in the second round of the Los Angeles Open at UCLA’s L.A. Tennis Center.

Stoltenberg stalled with a 3-0 lead in the second set, allowing 87th-ranked Bryan to tie the score. But Stoltenberg broke Bryan’s serve on a passing shot and went on to win.

Stoltenberg, ranked 26th, has been on a hot streak during the past month.

He has advanced to finals in the last two tournaments in which he has played, losing to fourth-ranked Stefan Edberg in the final of the Legg Mason tournament in Washington on July 24 and to 15th-ranked Andre Agassi in the final of the Players Limited International tournament in Toronto on July 31.

Sixth-seeded Stoltenberg will play third-seeded Agassi tonight at 7:30 in the quarterfinals. Agassi defeated 61st-ranked Greg Rusedski of Canada, 6-3, 6-2.

In another match, second-seeded Boris Becker defeated Chuck Adams, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

“It will be great for me to get another crack at (Agassi),” Stoltenberg said, “because this is one (tournament) I would really like to win. I felt last week I had a good chance, but I didn’t quite make it.”

Stoltenberg, 24, is a good rival for Agassi, a high-profile player who is in dire need of a sparring partner. Stoltenberg’s down-to-earth, Australian charm is the perfect counterpart to Agassi’s American rock-star image.

Stoltenberg’s father, Robert, managed a cotton farm in the bush of Narrabri, New South Wales, in Australia. Robert leveled the dirt outside the family’s home and made a court of ant bed, a fine, clay-like substance that is popular in Australia.

Stoltenberg and his three sisters played tennis every day while his father worked on the farm.

But Stoltenberg quickly became too good for the makeshift court. In 1985 he moved to Sydney, where he lived with Todd Woodbridge. Stoltenberg became the top-ranked junior player in the world in 1987.

The sudden fame rattled Stoltenberg, however, and he had difficulty maintaining his focus.

“I wasn’t quite ready for the attention I got at that time,” Stoltenberg said. “I don’t think I was really mature enough or old enough to really take advantage of it.”

Stoltenberg turned professional in 1987, but didn’t become successful until after having arthroscopic surgery for a rotator-cuff injury in 1992.

“When you get an injury and (tennis) is taken away from you, you realize how much you miss it,” he said.

Stoltenberg returned in 1993 and won his first singles title on the ATP tour, the Manchester Open. He hasn’t slowed down since.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Stoltenberg said. “I’m just enjoying being able to play so many matches. . . . A lot of it comes down to confidence and just getting on a roll.”

Becker started slowly against Adams but won the tiebreaker on an overhead slam and cruised easily through the second set.

“He kind of put his head down after he lost the first set, and that’s not a very good sign in a best-of-three set match, and I took the opportunity,” Becker said.

Adams, who is from Pacific Palisades, said that even though Becker appeared sluggish at the start of the match, he has a good chance to win the tournament.

“Boris is one of these guys, the first couple matches he kind of struggles through it, gets a little lucky, and then, all of a sudden, the next thing you know he is, like, winning the tournament,” Adams said.

Becker will play a fellow German, eighth-seeded Karsten Braasch, in today’s quarterfinals at about 2 p.m.