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Sunday, June 02, 2002

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Mellon Park in Point Breeze is scheduled to become the only public courts in the city covered by a bubble to enable play this fall and winter.

The target date for resurfacing and covering the five courts is Oct. 1. The bubble will remain in place until April 15. Citiparks Department of Parks and Recreation will operate the complex, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day with different costs for court time.

The courts, which will remain free until October, will be resurfaced with a permanent Premier Courts hard surface with cushioning underneath. The current surface is Omnicourts, a synthetic mixture of grass and sand.

There is a 10 percent discount on all reservations made before June 20. Reservations can be made by calling 412-255-2362.

Court time from 7-9 a.m. on weekdays is $20 per hour, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. is $26 per hour and from 4-10 p.m. $32 per hour. The cost is $32 per hour all day Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

Members of the Citiparks staff will coordinate leagues and provide lessons at a cost to be determined

A doubleheader

The USTA $10,000 Men's Futures of Pittsburgh and the National Collegiate West Penn Clay Court Championships will run concurrently the first week of July for the second consecutive year at the Tressel Courts in Mt. Lebanon.

The Futures, whose field will include many of the rising young players in the world, has qualifiers June 29-July 1 and concludes with singles and doubles championships July 7. Australian Jaymon Crabb won the singles last year.

The Futures of Pittsburgh is sandwiched between tournaments at Buffalo and Peoria, Ill. in the three-week clay-court series.

The National Collegiate Western Pennsylvania Clay Court Championships will be July 2-6, with championships in men's and women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles. UCLA's Mariko Fritz-Krocklow won the singles and was joined by teammate Lauren Fisher (Woodland Hills) to capture the doubles. Fisher didn't play singles. Harvard's Mark Riddell was the men's singles champion.

For information, call Don Mercer, 412-343-5273.

Campus courts

UCLA's unseeded team of Fisher, a sophomore, and Megan Bradley lost to Stanford's top-seeded Lauren Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra, 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the NCAA Division I doubles championships at Palo Alto, Calif.

"They're a great team and they played well," said Fisher, who didn't play tennis as a junior and senior at Woodland Hills and was trained by Craig Perry. "We didn't play as well as we wanted to. You have to be on your game to beat them."

Tournament schedule

Wheeling Oglebay Senior Open, June 13-16. There are numerous age-group categories for men and women on the Har-Tru clay courts at the Wheeling Oglebay Tennis Club. For details, call 304-243-8123.

Washington Park Men's Senior Championships, June 21-23. Registration deadline for the singles and doubles competition is June 12. Call 412-341-0258.

Citiparks Holiday Classic, June 28-July 3, Schenley Park. Men's and women's open in singles and doubles, over 35 singles and doubles and 3.5 NTRP skill level. Registration deadline is June 22. Call 412-244-4188.

Paul Sullivan Parks Championships, July 13-21, Frick Park's clay courts in Regent Square. Renamed for Paul Sullivan, the tournament director for 68 years who died this year. The resurfaced courts are expected to be ready. Registration closes July 5. Call 412-244-4188.

Citiparks Championships, Aug. 3-11, Schenley Park. Teaching pros are not permitted to enter. Singles and doubles competition. Registration deadline is July 26. Call 412-244-4188.

What's happening

There will be clinics for boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18 starting June 17 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays each week until Aug. 17 at Settlers Park Courts. Free clinics are every Sunday at noon for adults and kids over 14 and at 1 p.m. for children 6 to 13. Court fee is $4 per person. For information, call Tom Fleming, 412-787-2824.

Citiparks Tennis Academy and USA Tennis are co-sponsoring free lessons at 10 a.m. June 15 at Schenley Park. There are no reservations and the lessons are geared for beginners and players returning to the game after a long hiatus.