Tarango to play Motevassel in national 40 final again

   For the second straight year, Jeff Tarango and Oren Motevassel will meet in the men's singles final of the USTA National 40 Hard Court Championships in La Jolla.
   The top-seeded Tarango, a former Stanford All-American from Manhattan Beach, advanced when his boss, fourth-seeded Peter Smith of Los Alamitos, retired at 6-2, 5-7 because of illness. Smith is the head coach of the USC men, and Tarango is a Trojans assistant.
    The second-seeded Motevassel, a Sunnyvale resident, defeated third-seeded Jeff Greenwald of Corte Madera 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
   Tarango, who reached No. 42 in the world in singles in 1992 and No. 10 in doubles in 1999, beat Motevassel in three sets in last year's final.
   Second-seeded Jennifer Dawson, a Carlsbad resident and last year's runner-up in women's singles, took the title when unseeded Dina McBride of Woodland Hills retired at 3-3 in the first set with an Achilles tendon injury.
   Second-seeded Alissa Finerman of Santa Monica and Erika Smith of Oakland won the women's doubles title with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over top-seeded Gretchen Magers of San Diego and Ros Nideffer of Poway.
   Magers reached the singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon (1989), the U.S. Open (1982) and the French Open (1983). Nideffer, born Rosalyn Fairbank in South Africa, won the French Open women's doubles title in 1981 with Tanya Harford and in 1983 with Candy Reynolds.
   No. 3 seeds Brian Cory of Salinas and Rick Kepler of Aptos lost to second-seeded Neel Grover and Richard Leach, both of Laguna Beach, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the men's doubles semifinals.
   Second-seeded Kepler and Smith, meanwhile, lost to top-seeded Leach and Patricia Tarabini of Carlsbad 6-0, 6-0 in the mixed doubles final. Tarabini won the 1996 French Open mixed doubles title with fellow Argentine Javier Frana and a bronze medal in women's doubles with Paola Suarez in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
   No. 1 seeds Brian and Brett Joelson, residents of Beaverton, Ore., seeking their ninth consecutive father-son doubles title, won two matches to reach the semifinals. Brett played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2009.