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122nd ANNUAL PACIFIC COAST MEN’S
DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP SET TO BEGIN
THURSDAY AFTERNOON AT THE LA JOLLA BEACH & TENNIS CLUB
Klahn / Thacher and Sundling / Tarango are tournament co-number one
seeds
The 122nd Annual Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship, featuring
many of the top collegiate players in the country as well as an
impressive field of independent players, will get underway Thursday,
March 3 and continue through Sunday, March 6 at the La Jolla Beach &
Tennis Club.
The Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship has seeded Bradley Klahn
and Ryan Thacher of Stanford along with Jeff Tarango and JT Sundling as
co-number one seeds.
Klahn and Thacher reached the tournament finals in 2010 where they lost
to Steve Johnson and Robert Farah of the University of Southern
California. Klahn, a Poway native, is the defending NCAA singles
champion.
Tarango, a volunteer assistant coach at USC, played on the ATP World
Tour for 15 years. He won two singles titles and 14 doubles titles and
reached a career high No. 42 in the world in singles in 1992 and No. 10
in doubles in 1999. He currently sits on the United States Tennis
Association Board of Directors. Sundling, from Thousand Oaks, Calif., is
a sophomore at USC.
Johnson, who teamed with Farah to win last year’s Pacific Coast Men’s
Doubles Championship, is returning and will play with USC teammate Ray
Sarmiento. Farah is now playing on the ATP World Tour.
Three former winners of the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship are
competing in this year’s tournament. Chris Dunk, won the 1980 title with
Marty Davis while playing at the University of California at Berkeley,
will team this week with Bozhidar Katsarov, a senior at UC Berkeley.
Former USC Trojan Eric Amend, who captured the 1988 championship with
Scott Melville, will play with Tanner Smith of Los Alamitos, Calif.
Peter Smith, current head tennis coach at USC, teamed with Kelly Gullet
to win the tournament in 2000. This week he will play doubles with his
son Riley Smith.
“The Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship is a unique event with top
college players competing in the same draw with very strong independent
players,” said William J. Kellogg, Tournament Director and President of
La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. “That combination produces some incredible
doubles action. I encourage tennis fans who want to enjoy high quality,
entertaining doubles to come and watch.”
Thursday’s opening rounds begin at 2 p.m. (PT) The tournament continues
with matches beginning at 8 a.m. (PT) on Friday and 9 a.m. (PT) on
Saturday. Sunday’s schedule, which features the semifinals, followed by
the finals, will begin at 9 a.m. (PT).
Admission to the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship is free and
open to the public. On-site parking is available for a nominal fee. For
more information please visit
www.LJBTC.com .
