Aust, tennis star jolted

Press, 30 December 1976, Page 20

Aust, tennis star jolted

NZPA Sydney i An unknown American col- ' lege student, Hank Pfister. I gave the newly won prestige of the Australian left-hander. Ray Ruffels, a solid denting in the third round of thei SAustIOO.OOO Marlboroi N.S.W. open tennis champion-1 ships at White City yesterday. Pfister, 23, from California, fought back after losing the first set to beat Ruffels. the i sixth seed. 4-6, 7-6. 7-5. Ruffels’ defeat follows his recall on Tuesday to the Australian Davis Cup squad for the Eastern Zone semi-final against India in Perth next month. The lanky Pfister, playing only his second tournament on grass, returned to the professional circuit two and a half months ago, after a four-

month lay-off with torn ankle ligaments. With two breaks in the first »et. Ruffels appeared well nlaced to clinch a quarterfinal berth but the American gritted his teeth and grimly fought back. The American squared the match by taking the second set in the tie-breaker with a series of blistering serves,! and the two placers settled down to battle a tense decider before Pfister emerged victorious with a break in the eleventh game. Pfister, whose serve has been clocked at 136 m.p.h„. will now play his fellow second-seeded American. Roscoe Tanner, in the fluart er-finais. Earlier the top seed, j Guillermo Vila*, of Argen-i

itina, threw down the gauntlet, .to all challengers with a! dynamic 6-2, 6-2, win over; the promising young Sydney! player, Brad Drewett. The 18-year-old Drewett. was given a resounding! lesson by Vilas, who broke! Drewett’s serve twice in each! set for a 32 minute win. I The Argentinian, ranked' number one in the world ini 1975. will now meet the! deiending N.S.W. open title-; holder. Ross Case, of Queens- j land, in the quarter-finals. ! Case qualified for the clash i with Vilas with a hard fought j ■7-5. 7-6 win over Colin | Diblev.

. Ken Rosewall was forced! i to struggle against the! ! American, Marty RiessenJ I before emerging victorious, I j 7-6, 6-1, in his third-round match. j After leading 5-2 in the I opening set and giving the I crowd of more than 3000 a fleeting glimpse of the form 'that has thrilled Australians [for more than two decades, • the 42-year-old Rosewall sur-j iprisingly lost concentration. • [ Riessen stormed back to ; break Rosewall’s service! ! three times, and force the! jset to the tie-breaker. But the Australian kept the! i pressure on with several

punishing backhand returns, and tite American lost confidence. allowing Rosewall to clinch the tie-breaker, 7-5, and the set, 7-6.

Rosewall is pitted against an American, Dick Stockton, in the quarter-finals after Stockton’s 6-4, 6-3 win over his countryman, Peter Fleming.

The former Davis Cup star, Tony Roche, continued his good form by downing John Alexander, 6-4. 6-4. Roche’s quarter-final

opponent. Phil Dent, accounted for the giant-killer, Chris Kachel, 6-1, 6-4.