It’s hard to believe Miikka Keronen has had time to think about playing competitive tennis. The latest addition to the Keronen family, daughter Sofia, was born 3 1/2 months ago and joins 2-year-old Samuel in a hectic household.
Keronen has used the birth of his second child as a motivating factor on the court, and the results are obvious. Two wins leading up to the 89th Denver City Open have earned Keronen the No. 1 seed in the men’s open draw at the Denver Tennis Club.
“Ever since she was born, I’ve been playing a whole lot better,” said Keronen, a native of Finland and former All-American at Azusa Pacific in California. “It’s fun. It’s almost like it’s a privilege to play tennis again.”
Now the head professional at Boulder Country Club, Keronen posted victories at the Austin Scott Open in May and the Northern Colorado Open. Although those victories were nice, the next two months, with the City Open and July’s Colorado State Open, are the center of Keronen’s focus.
“I’ve been able to get out and play and work on my game leading up to the summer, and I feel confident going in,” Keronen said. “The City is one of the big three over the summer, and it would be nice to win.”
The Elam Classic in Grand Junction, which concluded last weekend, is another biggie.
“The funny thing is, I just never seem to play that well at the City,” Keronen said. “I don’t know what it is … but I always seem to come away a little disappointed.”
Keronen will open Wednesday against Westminster’s Brandon Lupo. The nine-day tournament begins Saturday and concludes July 3 with the women’s open championship match at 9:30 a.m. and the men’s to follow.
There will be a new champion this year, with defending champion David Hodge out. Rounding out the top four seeds on the men’s side are No. 2 Willie Dann, a semifinalist last year; No. 3 Marko Bundalo from Serbia and Montenegro and the University of Colorado; and recent Cherry Creek High School graduate Jeff Zeller at No. 4.
Alicia Salas and Dasha Zhurin clashed in the final at last year’s State Open and are on a collision course again in the City Open. Salas, a four-time state titlist from Cherry Creek, will not be the only high school champion in the field. Colorado Springs’ Tabatha Knop, a graduate of Air Academy, is seeded No. 3. Rhona Kaczmarczyk is the fourth seed.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
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Denver City Open
What: 89th Denver City Open
Where: Denver Tennis Club
When: Starts Saturday; women’s championship Sunday, July 3, at 9:30 a.m.; men’s championship to follow