After losing to Jeff Tarango in three sets in last year's final, Motevassel beat him 6-4, 6-3 Sunday to win the men's singles title of the USTA National 40 Hard Court Championships in La Jolla.
Tarango, a former Stanford All-American from Manhattan Beach, was seeded first and Motevassel of Sunnyvale second. Both are left-handed former touring professionals.
"After last year, I was kind of upset," Motevassel admitted in a news release. "I had the match. I was up a set, and I was up a break. I just lost a little focus. I was playing too defensive from the back and allowed him to dictate. I played too tentative last year.
"I was focused today. I had a good game plan, and it worked fine. I took the ball a little earlier. I put him on the defense more. Getting the ball more on the rise helped me a lot today."
In father-son doubles, top seeds and eight-time defending champions Brian and Brett Joelson of Beaverton, Ore., lost to fourth-seeded Peter and Tanner Smith of Los Alamitos 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the semifinals.
Brett Joelson played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis last year. Peter Smith is the head coach of the USC men, who have won the last three NCAA team titles.
In the father-son final, third-seeded Tom Rettenmaier of Fountain Valley and Travis Rettenmaier, a touring pro living in Las Vegas, outlasted the Smiths 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
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