Gomez wins rematch, slips into Open final

If there were a Cinderella at the Lawrence Adult Tennis Open on Saturday, his name was Javier Gomez.

The Parkville, Mo., resident upset the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds at the Lawrence Tennis Center and advanced to the finals of the men’s open division. Of 13 participants, only three received seeds. Gomez was not one of them. In fact, this was his first time in the tournament.

Gomez showcased his aggressive style of play on the tennis court, but it was a bit sudden. He said he hadn’t played competitive tennis in three to four years.

“After I got out of college, I didn’t want to play any more tennis, so I stopped playing and started working,” Gomez said. “I used to play in college, so I have the technique.”

Gomez’s technique produced overpowering forehands, which forced opponents to hit the ball high in the air. As a result, Gomez had more time to lean into shots for more power.

In the semifinal match on Saturday, Gomez produced such a strong forehand that his opponent, Mark Reagan, tried to take a swipe at the ball. It was too late, though. The ball went backward over Reagan’s head, onto 21st St., and landed on a resident’s front lawn.

“His first serve put me on the defensive right away, and I’d hit a short return, and he just put away the next shot,” Reagan, a 46-year-old Kansas City, Mo., resident, said. “Overall, he has a lot of power from the forehand.”

Gomez said he had met Reagan in a tournament last weekend as well. Reagan came out on top in Gomez’s first return to action. The match left Gomez with a quarter-size blister on the inside of his hand. Saturday saw different results. Gomez defeated the No. 3-seeded Reagan, 6-1, 6-4.

“I just knew that he was probably wanting to get back at me,” Reagan said. “He was totally on today compared to last weekend.”

The blister was still noticeable on Saturday, but Gomez said it didn’t affect his play.

Although Gomez made his power game known on Saturday, he also showed flashes of finesse. In the fifth game of the second set, Gomez softly hit a shot that barely cleared the net to win game five. Reagan also took notice.

“Oh pretty, pretty, pretty,” Reagan said, as the players walked back to their chairs for a break in between games. “How about no more of those?”

Gomez, who stands at 6-feet-2-inches tall, positioned the ball perfectly in the closing three games, including a laserbeam cross-court return that was too wide for Reagan to handle.

Gomez said he came into his matches on Saturday with nothing to lose.

“I wasn’t really prepared because I just started playing again,” Gomez said.

To get into the semifinals, Gomez also defeated No. 2-seeded Christopher Irick.

Gomez will face Overland Park resident Mike Harmon today in the men’s open division final. First serve is set for 9:30 a.m.