Wolters Takes His Turn at Ojai

OJAI —  The smallest things can make the difference in a close tennis match.

A lob here. A forehand there.

A few such turns of fate left Bob Bryan counting the ways in which victory slipped away.

The Stanford sophomore and reigning Pacific 10 Conference champion lost to teammate Ryan Wolters, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5), in the semifinals of the conference championship Saturday.

“There were probably seven big points in that match,” Bryan said. “He either aced me or hit a big winner or made a passing shot.”

Those seven points came amid the most exciting action of this 98th Ojai Valley tennis tournament, with crowds packing the stands and walkways at Libbey Park.

The people came to see two highly ranked players from the nation’s best college team.

They came to see a rematch of last year’s final in which Bryan beat Wolters, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

And, early on, it looked as if they might see another Bryan victory.

The Camarillo native stands tall and thin but has a booming forehand. He utilized that with several acrobatic volleys to win the first set.

Wolters was not overly concerned. If anything, the match last year was an anomaly, a case of Bryan playing at the top of his game and Wolters suffering an off day.

In the second set, the teammates clawed their way to a tiebreaker. It was a familiar situation.

“We play practice sets up at school and they usually go to tiebreakers,” Wolters said.

“But we usually stop right there. We don’t even bother with the tiebreaker.”

Forced to play on, Wolters hit steady shots from the baseline and chased down every ball, winning 7-2 as a frustrated Bryan slammed his hat onto the court.

Throughout the morning, Bryan seemed on the verge of taking control but Wolters, whose greatest asset may be his resilience, refused to cave in.

“That’s all it comes down to,” Wolters said. “It can be just the little things.”

And it was the little things, such as well-timed shots, that decided the third set.

At 5-5, with a break point in hand, Wolters hit what appeared to be a winning lob. Bryan turned and raced to the baseline. Facing away from the net, he desperately flicked the ball back.

A surprised Wolters volleyed into the net. The trick shot allowed Bryan to hold serve for a 6-5 lead.

Wolters hung tough, though, surviving two match points to force yet another tiebreaker.

In perhaps the biggest point of the match, down 4-5, Wolters hit another lob. It was a courageous choice and, this time, Bryan had no tricks up his sleeve.

Two points later, Wolters had his victory.

In the final today, he will meet another teammate, Paul Goldstein, who beat Washington’s Eric Drew, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.