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John Wallingford - May 7th, 1997

By John Wallingford

Sun Staff

This time, there was no rain.

No gray-black clouds clustered above the Bremerton High tennis courts and glowered with sinister intent.

No strange calamities were dispatched by petulant gods with ancient grudges against championship-level high school tennis.

Ah, but there was wind. A stiff southwesterly breeze had leaves shuddering on trees and tennis balls swerving and falling with the baffling mystery of a well-honed knuckle-curve.

And so Bremerton's Lars Anderson and Olympic's Laith Al-Agba, West Sound's prep tennis titans, finally faced off on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Besides the wind, the air was rife with anticlimax, as Anderson cruised to 6-0, 6-4 victory.

It was the first time the duo, probably the most skilled male players to emerge from the Kitsap Peninsula in at least a half century, played a regulation match in nearly two years.

They were callow freshmen when Anderson defeated Al-Agba in the 1995 district tournament. Now both are juniors and respected veterans of the USTA Pacific Northwest junior circuit. Anderson was ranked No. 2 last year in the 18-and-under age group. Al-Agba was ranked as the top 16-and-under player.

The showdown, originally scheduled for April 14, had been delayed by rain, the threat of rain and a variety of natural causes at least four times.

Along the way, the Olympic team was waylaid by an automobile accident, Anderson's grandmother died and Don Patraw, the Trojans coach, had to miss work to care for his father, who is recovering from a stroke.

When the volatile Puget Sound skies finally relented, they fashioned a day more fit to fly a kite than play a couple sets of tennis.

In the rough-and-tumble elements, Anderson, a powerful 6-foot-1 and 190 pounder, had a distinct advantage over Al-Agba (5-10, 150), who labored to find his finesse game all day.

By the time 30 minutes had elapsed, Anderson had swept set one 6-0 and was up 2-0 in the second. Al-Agba finally held serve, then broke to tie at 2-2. Each held serve until game nine, when Anderson, displaying a deft touch around the net, broke Al-Agba for the final time, then held his serve to fend off his rejuvenated foe.

Neither player placed great significance in the outcome.

"I think the wind had a huge factor," said Anderson. "That's not how we normally play. It pretty much took the serve out of the game.

"It was garbage. On one side you could tap it and it would go all the way out, on the other you had to hit it as hard as you could."

"It was tough to play in the wind. The conditions were not ideal," agreed Al-Agba. "He just played better in the wind. He's a lot stronger than me. But I've got to get used to it. All the national tournaments are outdoors and sometimes it can get like this in California.

"I don't really think it has that much significance. We have to play each other a couple more times. On any given day it could be different."

Weather permitting, Al-Agba won't have to lick his wounds long before getting another crack at Anderson. The rivals are set to play again tomorrow when Bremerton visits Olympic for a regularly scheduled Olympic League match.

"He's really good," Anderson said. "It's only a game, we come out and battle. One day he'll just come out and kick my ass and humble me up, and hopefully I'll come back and get him."

Staff photo by Larry Steagall

TENNIS RETURN: Bremerton High School tennis player Lars Anderson fires a return shot during his match against Olympic High School's Laith Al-Agba at Bremerton High School on Tuesday. Anderson won the match played in windy conditions.