For a qualifying team, it doesn't get much better than sending home the fourth-seeded main draw duo in only your second year together.
Enter Dane Jensen and Mike Placek, two young men who were able to pull off that feat in the first round of the 2007 Cuervo Gold Crown Hunting Beach Open.
"It's cool, you put all this hard work into it and it finally pays off," said Jensen. "It's kind of a crazy thing to experience, it's an out-of-body experience. All those early mornings waking up and training, you never know if they're gonna pay off and it's kinda nice when they do."
Jensen, 23, and Placek, 24, have known each other since they were children. They even went to the same school for their undergrad careers at UC Santa Barbara. But they were different not only in majors, but also in NCAA sports. Jensen lettered for the men's volleyball team -- under the assisted guidance of Todd Rogers -- while Placek lettered in men's tennis.
Their first tourney together was in their hometown, during the 2006 San Diego Open June 10-12, where they entered with the 66th qualifying seed and left with an 89th-place finish.
"We both are from San Diego and we've known each other since we were 12 years old and so we trained all winter and all the way through the spring," said Placek. "About a month before the season started, we decided to play this year again and we made the right decision so far."
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