The Mecco Cup 2008

ESPN TENNIS ANALYST LUKE JENSEN PLACES MECCO CUP

ON THE ROAD TO THE US OPEN

By Jerilyn Covert, Assistant Media Coordinator

ALLENTOWN, PA, July 12 – It’s not every day that a former world-tennis champ—and an

ambidextrous one at that—drops in on the Westend Raquet Club in Allentown. But there he was

on Tuesday—the 1993 French Open Doubles Champion Luke Jensen playing on stadium court

beneath a sizzling mid-morning sun. And getting aced—by a girl.

“That wasn’t in my contract,” joked the 6’2” man with the shaved head and the perpetual smile.

Of course, even a past champion shouldn’t feel too bad losing to the opposite sex when his

opponents are the formidable Jamea Jackson (Bradenton, FL), whose resume includes a win

over Maria Sharapova and a career-high world ranking in singles of no. 43, and rising Pro

Circuit player Asia Muhammed (Las Vegas, NV), who played in this year’s Mecco Cup.

And besides, the point of the 2008 Mecco Cup “Battle of the Sexes,” which also featured play by

Jensen’s doubles partner Representative Charlie Dent (R-15th district), wasn’t the competition,

as much as having a good time. And in an atmosphere like that, Jensen fits right in.

“I had so much fun,” he later confessed. “The exhibition match lets fans see the lighter side of

the pro game. And a congressman can see what it’s like to play against a pro.”

Now a tennis analyst for ESPN, Jensen is a natural in front of the camera. He took the red-eye

into town after commentating on the already legendary match on Sunday between Rafael Nadal

and Roger Federer to experience this, his first Mecco Cup. Jensen, who also serves as

honorary chairman of the event and who held sponsor clinics on Tuesday following the

exhibition, expressed a great deal of respect for the $50k tournament that many female tennis

players view as a stepping stone into the US Open.

“What you’re seeing [at the Mecco Cup tournament] is the level of play right before you get to

the Big Time,” Jensen said. “A very long, six-week stretch starts here in Allentown.”

Since playing his last professional match with brother Murphy in 2006, Jensen has turned his

focus to training young athletes. A tennis coach at Syracuse University, Jensen was also at the

Mecco Cup to cheer on two of his players, Emily J. Harman (Petersburg, WV) and Chelsea

Jones (San Dimas, CA), who earned wild cards into the tournament, their first pro event. Even

though the collegiate players fell Tuesday afternoon against the no. 4 seeds, Carly Gullickson

(Brentwood, TN) and Nicole Kriz (Australia), who made it all the way through the field into the

doubles final, Jensen couldn’t be prouder of them for making it to this point in their fledgling

tennis careers.

“It’s so rewarding,” Jensen said of coaching. “I’m 42 now. For the first half of my life, I played for

me, and I had very high goals and aspirations. But it doesn’t matter how old you are—you still

want to compete.”

According to his biography on the USTA Web site, Jensen also has a tennis academy for

children with special needs and conducts over 70 charity, seminar and tennis clinics around the

world each year. He’s arguably the only player in professional tennis history to play with either

hand, hitting right- and left-hand serves that exceed 130 mph.

But he knows the women playing at the Mecco Cup this week can keep pace even with a tennis

star like him.

“The thing that people have to understand is, these girls hit just as hard [as the WTA pros],”

Jensen said. “These aren’t the wannabes; these are the real pros in the major tour.”

And considering he’s just been defeated by one, the man should know.