Gambill-ing hurts Luke in Las Vegas

Tim Graham

Thursday, Nov. 13, 1997 | 9:09 a.m.

Luke Smith's homecoming will not be triumphant.

The former UNLV tennis star, playing here for the first time since stunning the collegiate world by winning not only the NCAA singles but also sharing in the doubles championship this summer, was bounced Wednesday from the Luxor Las Vegas/USTA Men's Challenger.

He was defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Jan-Michael Gambill in the second round of the event taking place at Smith's old stomping grounds: UNLV's Fertitta Tennis Complex.

Smith, who entered the tournament as a wild card, is ranked No. 407 in the world. Gambill is No. 181.

Smith double-faulted on the match's second point, which was a harbinger of serves to come. And as Smith continued to falter, he grew increasingly frustrated.

"I served so bad today," the Australian said. "It's so hard to serve and volley when you don't make that first serve.

"My whole game revolves around my serve. The way I play, if I lose my serve my whole game falls apart. When I lose to people, that's how."

Smith's old Rebel teammate and his predecessor at No. 1 singles, Roger Pettersson, was one of the 200 fans in attendance. He quickly noticed Smith's service struggles.

"He got in trouble and that guy (Gambill) is really good at returning serves," said Pettersson, a slot supervisor at The Mirage. "If he would have hit 60 or 70 percent of his first serves he would have been OK, but he was closer to 50 percent."

Gambill was the only one to break serve, winning three straight games to close out the first set. He also broke Smith's serve in the third game of the second set.

"Gambill's a great returner," Smith said, "especially on the second-serve volley. He really got a bead on it."

The 20-year-old from Spokane, Wash., was not concerned with Smith's home-court advantage.

"I didn't get too nervous," said Gambill, who as an amateur was ranked No. 1 in the nation at 18-and-under. "That first set at 5-4 I got more nervous than in the second set.

"I knew there would be a lot fans, and they wouldn't be for me. But I'm the type of player who likes a lot of them, even if they're not there to see me. I like a basketball atmosphere, and I try to put on a good match for them."

Gambill, who did not play college tennis and is coached by his father, will need to play much better to advance to the semifinals. He will face top-seeded Grant Stafford Friday. Stafford, of Russia, is ranked 81st in the world.

A Stafford sneak preview was in order for Gambill this morning. They were across the net from each other in doubles play on Court 2.

The tournament was the first for Smith in nearly a month. He took time off to rest tendinitis in his right knee and received a cortisone shot last week for the pain.

But Smith's stay in Las Vegas is not over. He played doubles with partner Eric Taino against Tamer El Sawy and Paul Rosner today on Court 1.

Las Vegan Andre Agassi followed on Court 1 with his second-round match against Roberto Jabali.