The buzz is back this year at the 45th annual Manhattan Beach Open, one of the South Bay’s oldest tennis tournaments.
An older tennis tournament is like an accomplished person with a distinct personality, a winning playing style and a proud past. But like many people approaching their 45th birthday, the Manhattan Beach Open was showing clear signs of its advancing age the past few years. Player participation was down, fan interest was waning, and there was a general feeling among the local tennis community that the tournament had declined since its glory days in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
“Twenty years ago the Manhattan Beach Open was the talk of the town,” said Bennet Slusarz, the veteran teaching pro who used to work at the Manhattan Beach Country Club before becoming a fixture at the Live Oak Tennis Courts over the last decade. “Lately, not so much. It really needed a makeover to get the love back.”
And who better to orchestrate that makeover than Slusarz, a former pro tour player who knows what makes for a good, fun tournament and knows everybody that matters in the South Bay tennis community?
So after signing a contract to become the new tournament director with the city of Manhattan Beach, which owns and operates the MB Open, Slusarz set out to make it more player and fan friendly. In the process, he hopes to bring back the kind of big names that once drew crowds of several hundred fans to Live Oak Park to watch the later rounds when the best players squared off.
“Players like Elliot Teltscher, Jeff Tarango and Jim Pugh used to play the Manhattan Beach Open,” he said. “We’re trying to get that quality of players to come back and bring the fans with them.”
Step one in the makeover: get a major local sponsor to bankroll the changes he wanted to make, including increasing the prize money. That goal was met when he convinced South Bay Ford to become the title sponsor. “Now we’ve got at least $9,000 in prize money, maybe more. We’re very grateful to them for stepping up,” he said.
Next, he decided to make it a non-sanctioned event, meaning you do not need to be a United States Tennis Association member to enter and play. “This is for public parks players as well as regular USTA tournament players,” he said.
His third move was to consolidate the many different player divisions into just four categories. Over the last few years, some divisions had attracted only three or four players, turning first-round matches into semi-final matches and cheapening the distinction of being a finalist or division champion.
As usual, there will be an Open Division for men’s and women’s singles and doubles.
“That’s where the best players are,” he said. “If you’re not an Open level player, then you shouldn’t enter that division because you’ll just be cannon fodder.”
For those not eager to be cannon fodder but still looking to play some tough matches and the chance to walk away with a trophy, there are three lower divisions based on the USTA rating system that most players are familiar with – the 3.5 and under division, the 4.0 and the 4.5-5.0.
“That 4.5-5.0 division will be real tough, real competitive,” Slusarz said.
Each division has men’s and women’s singles and doubles.
Those are the on-court changes. Off the court, the tournament is striving to be more player-friendly, starting with a first-ever player party at the Tin Roof Bistro in the Manhattan Village Mall. The bash is sponsored by Dealer.com, which is owned by one of the top local players, Mark Bonfigli.
The Tin Roof Bistro is owned by the same folks who own MB Post, the wildly popular downtown restaurant that recently merited a laudatory review in the Los Angeles Times. While there was talk of holding the player party at MB Post, ultimately the free parking at the mall was the deciding factor.
“We wanted the party to be accessible to all the players and their guests, and we all know how tough parking is downtown,” he said.
The party will feature a raffle for rackets, clothes, tennis bags, a trip to Vegas, two free nights in San Francisco and a $500 gift certificate at 23rd St. Jewelers.
When they check into the tournament, each player will also receive a re-usable goodie bag with all kinds of interesting surprises. There will be fruit served each morning at the courts and a free lunch for the players in the afternoon.
“What other local tournament gives the players a free lunch?” Slusarz asked proudly.
Although all the prize money goes to the Open Division winners, finalists, semi-finalists and quarter-finalists, there will be prizes and trophies for all the division finalists and winners.
The tournament will be held July 19-22, making it a Thursday through Sunday tournament. That is another big change from years past, when it was spread out over two weekends, a format that some said made it lose continuity and fan interest. “There will be some great matches Saturday and Sunday at Live Oak,” Slusarz said.
“We’re going to bring this tournament back to the same community spirit that we used to have,” Slusarz said. “We welcome all tennis fans to watch the best tennis in LA.”
Because there is only a 32-player draw for each lower division – and 60 in the Open Division – Slusarz is urging interested players to enter as soon as possible by visiting www.citymb.info. Click on Parks and Recreation, then click on tennis. For a hard-copy entry, go to the tennis office at Live Oak Park or go to Manhattan Beach City Hall. The entry fee is $35 for the three lower class divisions for singles and $50 doubles. For the Open division, it is $50 for singles and $75 for doubles.
