PALM VALLEY It wasnt the best conditions for top-quality tennis on Sunday.
Not with the wind swirling around the tennis courts at Harlingen Country Club like an out-of-control mosh pit.
You never knew which direction the wind was going to come from, said Jamie Baker, who handled the conditions to win the singles title at the USTA Valley Baptist Health System/Harlingen Country Club $15,000 Futures tennis tournament.
Baker beat Jurek Stasiak 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) despite winds gusting up to 46 mph.
Its the second straight win on the Futures Tour for Scotsman Baker, who won last weeks event in Brownsville. Hell also play in the next event in McAllen. Baker won $1,950 and Stasiak took home $1,350.
Sundays conditions were very different from those of Friday and Saturday when the wind was calm.
Thursday was horrendous, said Baker. Friday and Saturday were good, but today (Sunday) was close to unplayable.
The wind gusts wreaked havoc with the ball, forcing both players to serve underhanded on occasion as well as making some shots do strange things.
On a number of shots, the wind just held the ball down as it hit the court and it didnt bounce as high as it normally would have.
In the second set, an exasperated Stasiak held up his hands and yelled: You cant play tennis in these condition.
And Stasiak was up 3-1 in the set at the time.
Baker said the key to his victory was his attitude.
I just tried to make a joke about it, he said. I was smiling. He was getting frustrated, but there was nothing to be done about it.
The wind played a role as early as the second game of the first set.
Baker broke Stasiak in Game 1, but couldnt press his advantage serving into the wind. On one of his serves, he made three tosses and caught them without trying to hit the ball. Stasiak broke back and the match was even at 1-1.
However, Baker won the next four games before Stasiak held his serve in Game 7 to make it 5-2.
But despite his win in that game, Stasiak just seemed to want to get the set over quickly and Baker obliged by winning the next game to take the first set.
I think we were playing about 40 percent of what we were capable of, said Baker, who came into the tournament ranked 269th in the world.
But if he had looked ready to head back home to Australia near the end of the first set, Stasiak started the second set with a new determination. He quickly took a 3-0 edge and the match appeared headed to a third set.
However, as quickly as Stasiak had gained momentum, Baker snatched it back and won five straight to take a 5-3 edge.
Stasiak held his serve to make it 5-4 and then broke Baker to tie the score at 5-5. Stasiak then held his serve to take a 6-5 edge and needed to break Baker again to win the set and force a third one.
However, Baker held his serve, including a point from an underhanded serve early in the game, to force a tiebreaker.
Baker acknowledged the wind made a mockery of the game before the tiebreak as he smiled across the net and asked Stasiak if he wanted to toss a coin for the tiebreak.
They played on, despite the wind, and Baker moved out to leads of 3-1 and 5-2, before Stasiak battled back to 6-5 before Baker clinched the match.
Nicholas Monroe and Phillip Simmonds won the doubles title with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Brian and Dann Battistone.