Ramblin' man Montenegro garners Jayhawk Open title

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 20, 2005 by Tully Corcoran Capital-Journal

NICK KRUG/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Former Costa Rica Davis Cup team member won the Jayhawk Open title, topping Shawnee Heights graduate Branden Joost 6-2, 6-1 in the final match.

By Tully Corcoran

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

He sports a short, brown pony tail that bounces like a pompom when he runs. His head is swaddled by a Nike headband that makes him look like Roger Federer. Though he speaks perfect English, it is Spanish that spills from his mouth when he makes a mistake.

It doesn't take long to figure out that Felipe Montenegro is not a native of Kansas. If you poke around at a tournament like the Topeka Tennis Association Jayhawk Open, in which Montenegro won the men's open singles competition on Sunday, you'll soon find that Montenegro is from Costa Rica, that he played for the Davis Cup team there from 1999-2001, played No. 1 at Drake University, has been ranked in the ITA top 100 world rankings and has a point in the ATP.

And there he was in Topeka, playing for the $500 first prize.

"I'm working toward the Davis Cup," he said. "I was coaching the Drake tennis team, me and my friend, the whole year. We couldn't play at all. So I had not played a match since January. I'll keep playing money tournaments around. This is preparation for Davis Cup."

It's a nomadic lifestyle for Montenegro, whose summer will amount to a never-ending edition of "are we there yet."

The TTA stop was his second tourney of the year. A 6-2, 6-1 win in the men's open singles finals over Shawnee Heights graduate and University of Arkansas incoming freshman Branden Joost put $500 in his pocket, a sum which will be dented when Montenegro makes the seven-hour drive from his home in Des Moines, Iowa, to Rapid City, S.D., for what he hopes will be the winners share of a $25,000 purse on the first weekend of July.

But even if he comes away empty handed, Montenegro will enjoy the journey.

"It's fun," he said, "because I'm with my teammates and it's like a road trip."

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