Tuesday, May 27, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
NOBODY was expecting it. Not the player. Not the coach. No one.
And that's what makes Luke Smith's daily double at the NCAA tennis championships so much sweeter.
The UNLV senior, seeded No. 65 in the nation prior to the nationals at UCLA, won all six of his singles matches, never dropped a set during the run and gave the Rebel tennis program its first champion. The furthest a UNLV player had gone prior to Smith was Scott Warner's advancing to the quarterfinals in 1987.
Smith teamed with Tim Blenkiron to win the NCAA doubles, losing only two sets in five matches. They were the first unseeded doubles pairing to win the NCAA title since 1989.
"I never felt like there was any pressure on me because no one expected me to do this," Smith said Monday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. "When I got to the semifinals, that was the first time I actually started to think, 'I can win this.'
"But I felt like I played solid the whole week. My serving and volleying was in a zone. In the semis, I hit 91 percent of my first serves and that was huge."
He beat Virginia Commonwealth's Olivier Tauma 7-6, 6-2 in the semis and avenged an earlier defeat to Southern Cal's George Bastl by taking the Swiss star 6-1, 7-6 Sunday for the title.
Smith followed that by teaming with Blenkiron to beat Bastl and Kyle Spencer 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles final. They join golfer Warren Schutte (1991), heptathlete Sheila Tarr (1984), 1,000 meters indoor champ Trena Hull (1987) and the 1990 men's basketball team as UNLV national champions.
The Adelaide, Australia, native realizes winning the NCAAs will change his life. His transition to the pro ranks may become easier and potentially more lucrative. By winning the NCAAs, Smith already has a spot in the main draw in both singles and doubles at the U.S. Open in August.
"I was planning on playing some satellite events in Texas and Missouri," he said. "But there's a chance I may get some wild cards (exemptions) to the (ATP) tour. Right now, I'm going to spend the next two weeks here (in Las Vegas) and sort things out."
Smith doesn't believe the transition from collegian to pro will be all that difficult. Neither does UNLV coach Larry Easley.
"Luke's got the ability to be a top-10 pro," he said. "The big thing about Luke was how much he has matured the last few weeks. He's a pretty excitable kid and for him to keep his poise over that long a period shows how much he has grown up."
Smith closed out his collegiate career by winning nine of his last 10 matches and finished with a 23-15 mark. He said his play at the NCAA Regionals helped turn things around.
"I've been known to lose my temper," he said. "But I wasn't expected to win at the regionals and I kept my poise. I think it just carried over to the NCAAs.
"I was so focused on my game, I didn't let little mistakes bother me the way they used to earlier in the year. My mental game is what won it for me."
He'll need to be mentally tough as he attempts to carve out a living on the ATP Tour. It is the culmination of a childhood dream.
"The fun's over now," he said. "In college, if you lose, it's like, 'So what? It's not like they're going to take away my scholarship.'
"But if you don't win in the pros, you don't make anything. So there's a different kind of pressure to deal with.
"But I'm looking forward to it. It's been my dream ever since I was this high," he added, holding his hand to waist level. "I always said I was going to be a professional tennis player, and now, I'm going to get my chance."
Still, Smith is savoring the conclusion of his collegiate career. He's still amazed by what happened at UCLA the last few days and the magnitude of his accomplishment really hasn't sunk in.
"I feel the same, except for the extra attention," he said of the local media blitz of the past two days. "But it's kinda neat."
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