Swift ascent

Thursday, March 24, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

Henner Nehles, the ace of the UNLV men's tennis team, spent the year before he came to Las Vegas confirming that medicine, his father's field, would not be a career for him.

His year of mandatory civil service in his native Germany entailed Nehles assisting with endoscopic surgery in cancer patients in a hospital near his Duisburg home. An average operation lasted 30 minutes.

"Actually, I took it pretty well," Nehles said. "But after a while, I got really depressed. It's tough when you meet people and three months later they're dead. I worked there every day for 12 hours. It was pretty sad.

"I don't know. My father is a doctor, so maybe, overall, I don't have a problem with it. It's OK."

Dr. Jochen Nehles, an internist, had no problem when Henner told him he desired to explore the hotel management business, so Henner packed his rackets in January 2003 and left Germany for Las Vegas.

Henner Nehles, who improved to 20-8 this season and 43-20 in his UNLV career by beating Rojan Gajjar of Arkansas on Tuesday, has been the 6-foot-4 cornerstone of a program that was 2-14 just two seasons ago.

The 42nd-ranked Rebels, who improved to 12-4 with their victory against the Razorbacks, aspire to conquer the nation's elite programs.

"I think so," said UNLV coach Owen Hambrook, who hails from South Africa. "We beat Oklahoma State, who lost, 4-3, to Baylor, who's the No. 1 team. On an outdoor court, I think we can compete with anyone."

The program last won a league championship, the Big West, in 1996, and it will learn where it ranks among the Mountain West Conference when it plays Brigham Young, Utah and San Diego State next week, all in San Diego.

The league tournament will be played in San Diego at the end of April, and the NCAA Regionals begin in mid-May. A Mountain West title earns a team an automatic berth in the NCAAs.

"I think we can win every match from now on in the league and tournament," Nehles said. "Then let's see how it goes."

Joel Kielbowicz, a junior out of Green Valley High, wears his heart on his back, which is almost entirely covered with a colorful tattoo of an eagle draped in an American flag -- his tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Of UNLV's top six singles players, Kielbowicz is the only American. When he was 12, he beat former Rebel Sean Margulis on center court at the Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex in his first competitive match.

Kielbowicz dropped to 14-6 in singles against Matt Roberts of the Hogs.

However, there was far more to Kielbowicz's No. 3 match. Tuesday morning, he strained to even grab and hold onto his racket because of a sore right wrist. He played with his right forearm wrapped in gauze.

That sprouted from a back injury, which he sustained after beating Tomas Bohunicky of Oklahoma State on March 13. Upset with his serve, Kielbowicz then fired off 500 a day to correct the kink, leading to the wrist issue.

"I overdid it," he said. "I strained some stuff, and it cost me."

Kielbowicz played Tuesday, though, because not going could have created a string of liabilities.

Moreover, UNLV senior Aviram Salomon, a 25-year-old native of Israel who played at No. 2 singles, saw his first court action Tuesday since a hairline fracture of his right knee sidelined him after a Feb. 5 match.

Had both Salomon and Kielbowicz sat out against Arkansas, the No. 4 UNLV singles player would have had to go at No. 2, 5 to 3, and so on.

"I'd say I was at 40 percent," Kielbowicz said. "But the team is most important, in my eyes, above my own national ranking or whatever. I'll take a loss if it means the team winning."

He said he will not even look at his racket for a week.

"Everyone's a bit beat up," Hambrook said. "It's nothing serious with Joel, and it should be good for him to have four or five days off. We'll be tough with 'Avi' (Salomon) back in the lineup. I feel pretty confident."

Nehles (pronounced NELLIS) is the elder statesman of the team by 37 days over Salomon.

"I'm like the grandfather," Nehles said of his role on the team. "That's OK. I take it."

According to the Association of Tennis Professionals records, Nehles earned the equivalent of $260 in a pro event in Lubeck, Germany, in 2001, the same year Salomon won $1,175 in a tournament in Jerusalem. Salomon has career earnings of $1,630.

Mark Wallington, UNLV's associate sports information director, said Eric Toliver, an associate athletic director in charge of compliance, reviewed that history in detail with NCAA officials in gaining both players' eligibility.

Since tennis is an individual sport, Wallington said, money can be earned in events to offset expenses, as opposed to winning prize money.

"All that paperwork got cleared, as far as being amateurs," Wallington said, "before they were allowed to play."

Nehles lost a 6-3, 6-3 indoor match to Andy Fahlke on Feb. 12, 2001, in Lubeck, up near the Baltic Sea. Duisburg is near Dusseldorf on the Western side of Germany.

"He was pretty good," Nehles said of Fahlke. "It was a good experience for me, but I was not ready, at that time, to go against that kind of player. Not yet. Hopefully, I will."

Within the next year, Nehles met Goran Ivanisevic, his athletic hero, at a tennis academy in Munich. A 6-4 lefty from Croatia, Ivanisevic rose to No. 2 in the world in 1994 and won nearly $20 million in his career.

"We talked for a couple of hours," Nehles said. "I have always liked his attitude, personality and character. He was different, a tall, big guy with a great serve. I was impressed."

Nehles expects to graduate in December with a degree in hotel management, and he said he will pursue an MBA at UNLV. Although Wallington doubted the possibility, Nehles said he'd like to seek another year of eligibility.

He gauged his chances at "50-50."

"I will ask," Nehles said. "You cannot do more than ask. Everything is possible. Nothing is impossible."

For proof, just look at how far the UNLV men's tennis team has progressed in two years.