With a distinctive whoosh, officials popped open cans of fuzzy yellow balls and tossed coins for the start of the tournament at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
But minutes into the March 9 match with the University of Arizona, the doubles play on Court 3 came to a halt as Stanford's Keiko Tokuda and Emilia Anderson approached the chair umpire to question the score he'd just announced. The ump listened to their replay of each point and finally nodded in agreement. Tokuda, unperturbed, went back to the baseline and won her service game.
"If players think there's been a bad call, they have to verbally appeal to the umpire for an overrule," says Lele Forood, the first-year head coach of the women's team. "It's tough, but they've learned to do it in the 'juniors.'"
The players aren't timid with their opponents, either. Forood is guiding a team that, as of April 8, was ranked No. 1 in the nation, with a record of 8-0 in Pac-10 play and 19-0 overall. In her 11 years as assistant and associate coach, Forood, '78, saw Stanford women win four NCAA championships and finish second three other times. Last year, they went 25-0.
By the time they arrive on the Farm, Forood's players are not only technically skilled; they're unflappable veterans of 18-and-under competition. They've spent 10 years working their way up the national ladder and guzzling warm Perrier on the circuit of summer tournaments in Europe. Armed with an arsenal of shots learned at Florida tennis academies, they can hit big spinning serves and devastating slices, and they know how to mix it up on the court.
But even the savviest among them often lack experience playing for a team. That's where Forood can dig into her coaching grab bag and come up with a teachable moment. A former All-American at Stanford, Forood knows how it feels to be practicing for a critical Pac-10 match during sleep-starved midterm week. She's experienced the pressure of the grandstand court at the U.S. Open, where she reached the doubles semifinals in 1976 with partner Rachel Giscafre. And she's weathered off-court challenges, like the media storm that erupted when she defeated Wimbledon champion and second-seed Virginia Wade at the 1977 U.S. Open.
"It was one of those strange matches where I played well, and she didn't," Forood recalls, laughing. "The British press decided it was her worst loss ever and lambasted her, which took a little luster off the win."
The self-deprecation is genuine--and winning.
"We've built up a relationship with Lele and feel we can tell her about the things we want to work on," says Tokuda, '02, four-time New Jersey state high school champion. "She's taking the work we can do and building a program around it."
Tokuda has downloaded her own contribution to team spirit--"The Unfair But Clean Team CD 2000-2001," a compilation of MP3 songs she burned to warm up practice sessions. And the players are chanting a new cheer this season. When they yell "4-40-Card" from the sidelines, they're telling teammates to hurry up and win--referring to a 4:40 p.m. flight they rushed to catch at the end of a long tournament day in Oregon, narrowly avoiding an overnight in the airport.
"The dynamics are different every year," Forood says. "This year it's been a mix of a bunch of veterans and a few freshmen, plus brand-new doubles teams all around, so we're still getting the thing melded."
As they hit the courts each day with buckets of balls, Forood says she harps on improving service: "You'd better be able to hold it, or you have no chance in the pros." Take more balls in the air, she tells players. Look for opportunities to come forward. Try to play behind your opponent. And learn from your teammates: "Sarah [Pestieau, '01] has such a pretty, classical style--just watch her drop shots."
Forood thinks most of her current players will turn pro, including Laura Granville, '03, the defending NCAA singles champion, and Lauren Kalvaria, '02, one-half of the No. 1 doubles team with freshman Lauren Barnikow.
"Because Lele's had the experience of playing in the pros, she's really given us a firsthand knowledge of what it's like," says Kalvaria, who has caught grief from teammates this season for the red-toed tennis shoes she's been sporting, à la Lindsay Davenport. "It's been my dream since I was 6 or 7, so I'd love to give it a try."
