Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship Begins Thursday

Written by: Staff on 2nd March 2011

Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship Begins Thursday

Bradley Klahn (USA) |

The 122nd Annual Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship, featuring many of the top collegiate players in the country as well as an impressive field of independent players, will get underway Thursday, March 3 and continue through Sunday, March 6 at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.

The Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship has seeded Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher of Stanford along with Jeff Tarango and JT Sundling as co-number one seeds.

Klahn and Thacher reached the tournament finals in 2010 where they lost to Steve Johnson and Robert Farah of the University of Southern California. Klahn, a Poway native, is the defending NCAA singles champion.

Tarango, a volunteer assistant coach at USC, played on the ATP World Tour for 15 years. He won two singles titles and 14 doubles titles and reached a career high No. 42 in the world in singles in 1992 and No. 10 in doubles in 1999. He currently sits on the United States Tennis Association Board of Directors. Sundling, from Thousand Oaks, Calif., is a sophomore at USC.

Johnson, who teamed with Farah to win last year’s Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship, is returning and will play with USC teammate Ray Sarmiento. Farah is now playing on the ATP World Tour.

Three former winners of the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship are competing in this year’s tournament. Chris Dunk, won the 1980 title with Marty Davis while playing at the University of California at Berkeley, will team this week with Bozhidar Katsarov, a senior at UC Berkeley.

Former USC Trojan Eric Amend, who captured the 1988 championship with Scott Melville, will play with Tanner Smith of Los Alamitos, Calif. Peter Smith, current head tennis coach at USC, teamed with Kelly Gullet to win the tournament in 2000. This week he will play doubles with his son Riley Smith.

“The Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship is a unique event with top college players competing in the same draw with very strong independent players,” said William J. Kellogg, Tournament Director and President of La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. “That combination produces some incredible doubles action. I encourage tennis fans who want to enjoy high quality, entertaining doubles to come and watch.”

Thursday’s opening rounds begin at 2 p.m. (PT) The tournament continues with matches beginning at 8 a.m. (PT) on Friday and 9 a.m. (PT) on Saturday. Sunday’s schedule, which features the semifinals, followed by the finals, will begin at 9 a.m. (PT).

Admission to the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship is free and open to the public. On-site parking is available for a nominal fee. For more information please visit http://www.LJBTC.com.

Recently named “Club of the Year” for 2011 by the San Diego District Tennis Association and one of the “Top 25 Tennis Resorts” by Tennis Resorts Online, the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club’s reputation as a top tennis destination started when it attracted its first major tournament – the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship in 1942.

The Annual Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship is one of the five-oldest tennis events in the world and has a rich tournament history. First held in 1890 at The Hotel Del Monte in Monterey , California , the event was created to promote the sale of real estate on the Monterey peninsula. The original concept pitted the best players from the East versus those from the West. This coast to coast rivalry was the inspiration for the Davis Cup. Past winners of the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship include Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Bobby Riggs, Pancho Segura, Don Budge, Tony Trabert, Stan Smith, Bob Lutz, Arthur Ashe, Dennis Ralston, John McEnroe, and many other world-class champions.