Manhattan Beach Open tennis tourney gets makeover
The buzz is back this year at the 45th annual Manhattan Beach Open, one of the South Bay’s oldest tennis tournaments. An older tennis tournament is like an accomplished person with a distinct personality, a winning playing style and a proud past. But like many people approaching their 45th birthday, the Manhattan Beach Open was showing clear signs of its advancing age the past few years. Player participation was down, fan interest was waning, and there was a general feeling among the local tennis community that the tournament had declined since its glory days in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Bennet Slusarz is the new tournament director for the Manhattan Beach Open. Photo by Alene Tchekmedyian “Twenty years ago the Manhattan Beach Open was the talk of the town,” said Bennet Slusarz, the veteran teaching pro who used to work at the Manhattan Beach Country Club before becoming a fixture at the Live Oak Tennis Courts over the last decade. “Lately, not so much. It really needed a makeover to get the love back.” And who better to orchestrate that makeover than Slusarz, a former pro tour player who knows what makes for a good, fun tournament and knows everybody that matters in the South…
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