Westchester pro a longshot to Open glory

Think of it as "Tennis, anyone and everyone?" The only requirements were a $125 entry fee and a minimum age of 14 to enter the new U.S. Tennis Association's national playoff, designed to offer a potential berth in this year's U.S. Open main draw to the masses.

Even for the likes of Roger Federer and Serena Williams, the sport is a meritocracy - advancement based on individual ability and achievement. But for the first time, the hoi polloi was included in the mix. Win one of the 16 regional events, then progress through the national finals (being conducted the next two weekends), and a wild card spot will be waiting at the pre-Open qualifying tournament.

Survive three rounds of the qualies, and a place in one of the world's four Grand Slams awaits. Right there on the big stage at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. "Sounds easy, huh?" said Katerina Sevcikova.

A 28-year-old Westchester County tennis instructor, Sevcikova is among the 1,232 common folks (859 men, 373 women) who took the dare. In late April, she won five matches to take the Eastern regional title and is on her way to Stanford, Calif., where the 16 women's regional winners will battle for that one wild card in the qualifying tournament. (The men's regional winners are in Atlanta this weekend.)

"I think the draw comes up in the beginning of the week," Sevcikova said in a telephone interview from the Grand Slam Tennis Club in Banksville, N.Y., where she coaches two dozen "pretty serious" players. "I play on Wednesday or Thursday. I don't know what to expect. I don't know who's out there [among the competitors]. I haven't thought about it much. But people from the Tennis Channel and everything have been calling. I guess it's a big deal."

Peripheral characters in comparison to the Nadals, Clijsters and other pros who headline the Open, the national-playoff entrants nevertheless have brought a wide range of skill and accomplishment to the table. Along with Gregg Ackerman, a 40-year-old rabbi from Woodmere, and 61-year-old East Norwich contractor Richie Bustamante, who competed well but didn't make it out of the Eastern regional, there were several highly ranked juniors, college champions, former pros and crossover jocks.

Now-retired Jeff Tarrango, 41, infamous for being defaulted at Wimbledon in the '90s, was among the losers in the Southern California regional. Olympic ski champion Bode Miller, a former high school tennis ace, was beaten in his first match in the Hawaii regional. Former Major League Baseball player Todd Walker, 37, didn't make it through the Texas regional.

Sevcikova herself is a former all-conference player in both singles and doubles at the University of Missouri, whose coach plucked her off the courts of her native Czech Republic with a scholarship offer. She had never been to the United States, and hadn't really thought about coming. But, after graduation, she moved to New York and landed a full-time job as a tennis instructor. She since has mixed graduate school (a sports business management degree from Manhattanville College) with coaching.

She has been a regular at the Open for years - as a spectator. "I practice," she said. "I don't play many tournaments. Some local USTA events, anything that's close by. One of my colleagues told me about [the national playoff]; they said, 'You've got to try it.'"

And here she is, seven victories away from playing in the Open. Where, theoretically, her chances of winning it all are not hurt by the fact that No. 1 Serena Williams is nursing a foot injury. Sevcikova laughed. "There's an opening," she said.