UNLV tennis players pumped up for tourney

Tim Graham

Tuesday, May 25, 1999 | 11:06 a.m.

No one thought Luke Smith could win an NCAA tennis championship.

Turns out he won two.

Now underdogs Asaf Tishler and the doubles team of Gregor Skorin and Nenad Zivkovic will try to accomplish feats similar to those Smith pulled off in 1997, when he became the first unseeded player to win an NCAA singles and doubles title in the same year.

Tishler, Skorin and Zivkovic are in Athens, Ga., this week for the NCAA tennis tournament. It is Tishler's second appearance in singles, but the first for the Yugoslavian sophomores.

According to head coach Larry Easley, the key to winning the tournament will be today's draw. If his players can get favorable opponents in the first round, anything is possible.

"If Asaf plays somebody who's not real mentally tough or is not a real great player" in the first round, Easley said, "he will do well. There are just five or six players out there he's not tough enough to beat. But if he can stay away from those five or six in the first couple rounds, he'll have some fun."

Tishler's draw last year was dismal. Steven Bidas of Georgia -- the tourney was held in Athens last year, too -- had a loud crowd behind him and beat Tishler 6-3, 6-3.

Chances are Tishler won't have to face such an opponent two years in a row. That, along with a year of experience, should give Tishler added confidence.

"I'm going to be less nervous," the 25-year-old senior said. "Last year I didn't know what to expect or what the atmosphere would be like."

Tishler, a former Israeli soldier, was 20-8 this year and has a career record of 85-36. He is ranked 33rd in the country, but earlier was 19th. He rattled off 15 straight victories this season.

"He's not the most talented player," Easley said, "but he is so tough. I wish I could say it's because of his time in the Israeli Army, but I've seen other Israelis and they don't necessarily have his temperament. He's the Rock of Gibraltar.

"I'd love it if Asaf could win a couple rounds and end his career as an All-American."

Because Easley is the chairman of the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Committee and will be running the tournament, a special assistant will be helping Skorin and Zivkovic this week: Tim Blenkiron, Smith's championship doubles partner.

Blenkiron hopes his experience can provide a calming influence.

"You tend to get a little bit nervous. It's the biggest tournament of the year," Blenkiron said. "It helps to get an easy opponent early, and then you can get into it a little bit. You can make a hiccup, and then in the later rounds you're much more settled.

"You just never know. The year Luke and I did it, we got a good draw. We matched up well against our first few opponents."

Skorin and Zivkovic, ranked 19th nationally, were only 9-4 this year, but they won a collegiate grand slam at the National Clay Court Championships in Baltimore. The courts in Athens, however, are hard.

"They're not as mature as Luke and Tim were," Easley said, "but they're better than Luke and Tim were when they were sophomores.

"Nenad and Gregor can beat anybody on any given day. They have a big game."

This is the sixth consecutive year at least one Rebel men's player has made the tournament. It is the first year since 1993 no Rebel woman has qualified.