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Carter upends defending champ photo by Steve Johnson McKenna wins women�s singles title at Rogue Valley Open championships By Kevin Goff The men�s open singles finals at the fifth Rogue Valley Open Tennis Championship on Sunday fell into place just as it was supposed to all along. Top-seeded and defending champion Brian Joelson squared off against second-seeded Guillermo Carter at the Rogue Valley Swim and Tennis Club. After dropping the first set to the more experienced Joelson, Carter rallied to win the men�s singles title, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Joelson, a 38-year-old stockbroker who has played in most major Grand Slam tournaments on tour for five years, and the 22-year-old Carter battled back-and-forth the entire match with both competitors struggling to gain momentum. "It was frustrating," said Joelson. "I�d get up 30-love on some occasions and couldn�t close it out." Joelson rallied from a 3-2 deficit to take the first set on an overhand smash down the line that a frustrated Carter couldn�t catch up to. "My forehand was really bad," said Carter on his first-set performance. "I tried to adjust and slow it down and guide the ball after the first set." The adjustment worked as Carter capped off his first Rogue Valley Open appearance with the singles title. Carter smoked a backhand shot down the line to forge a 30-all tie and then grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second set. "After the first set, my serve and return were much better," said Carter, who finished 24th nationally in men�s collegiate singles for the University of Oregon. Joelson rallied to cut the lead to 4-2 with an ace but couldn�t make up the difference. Carter�s serve remained strong in the third set, with an ace knotting things up at one game apeice and then carrying him to a 5-3 lead. With his back against the wall, Joelson came back to take the next game and pushed Carter to three match-point opportunities before an unforced error ended the match. "I just got tired," said Joelson. "I�m pretty much doing this for fun now and it was hard to compete with (Carter�s) energy." In his route to the finals, Joelson ousted former North Medford High standout Jon Endrikat, 6-4, 6-1, while another former Black Tornado, Scott Schnugg, failed in his attempt to slow down Carter in a 6-3, 7-5 match. In the women�s open singles title match, unseeded Stacy McKenna, of North Bend, downed defending runner-up, Angie Cummins in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. Cummins, a 24-year-old tennis instructor from Lebanon, ousted McKenna in last year�s quarterfinal to set up Sunday�s friendly rematch. "I was just trying to win each point," said the 18-year-old McKenna, who will test her tennis skills at Washington State University next year. "It wasn�t a revenge thing for me." McKenna grabbed the first set and jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second and deciding set. Cummins volleyed a soft shot over the net that McKenna blasted into the corner to force a 15-all tie and then grabbed a 30-15 lead when she slammed a backhand past Cummins, who had charged the net. The match ended on one of many unforced errors by Cummins. In other tournament results, Endrikat teamed up with Kim Gumar to down Niren Lall and Tracy Miller, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, in the mixed doubles final; Dougal Williams and Will Forsyth downed Carter and Brad Erickson, 7-6, 6-2, in the men�s open doubles finals. Medford�s Laura Vaughn and Bob Mengis took the mixed 4.0 doubles crown by downing Tekla Delaney and John Ehrlich, while the Grants Pass tandem of John Stewart and Levi Brown ousted Eugene�s Gabe Pilette and Medford�s Gabe Rencher, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in men�s 4.0 doubles. In men�s 4.0 singles, Travis Oden defeated Bill Kelly, 7-6, 6-1. Vaughn and Barbara Vasquez took the women�s 4.0 doubles title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ashland�s Sharon Laskos and Leslie Sargent. Steve Williams took the men�s 55 singles title with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 win over George Watts. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA