Travis Rettenmaier has a long list of accomplishments at The Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, including winning titles in both the Boys' 16s and Boys' 14s.

One thing Rettenmaier had never done was play a match under the lights at famed Libbey Park, but the former Camarillo High star can now scratch that off his list.

On Thursday night, Rettenmaier and Levar Harper-Griffith played the first night match in the Men's Open Division.

"I'm really excited about playing under the lights at Libbey," Rettenmaier said Thursday afternoon. "I'm hoping there will be a good-sized crowd, which should make for a energy-packed atmosphere.

"Mark (Weil) told me they were considering doing it and I really liked the idea. I was a little concerned about having so much time between my first and second matches, but I don't think it will be a problem."

Rettenmaier spent the time relaxing at his complimentary room at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, a perk of being one of the top three seeds in the Men's Open Division. He made sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

The long wait was no problem for Rettenmaier as he won the match 6-2, 6-1 to advance to today's quarterfinals.

In other Men's Open results, the other top two seeds advanced. No. 1 seed Brian Wilson defeated Quinn Calderon and Paul Warkentin. Defending champion Lester Cook beat Aram Abgaryan and Rylan Rizza.

Fourth-seeded Cecil Mamiit defeated Noah Newman and Steve Johnson.

Rettenmaier seems to have a special connection with Ojai, a place where he has played some of his best tennis.

Last year he reached the finals of the Men's Open after upsetting the top-seeded Wilson. His strong play helped him create momentum which he used to play well in a challenger events in England, where he also reached the finals.

After that, Rettenmaier said he struggled with his game for a while. So he opted to return to Ojai, this time to live. Once again the tranquil setting has helped rejuvenate his game.

Two weeks ago Rettenmaier won a tournament in Alaska and then reached the final in his next event in Mexico City.

"Ojai just seems to agree with me," Rettenmaier said. "There's just something about the tranquility that brings out the best in my game."

Rettenmaier is hoping the formula will help him win one more match than he did in 2007. That would result in him winning his third Ojai title.

Community colleges: Ventura College players got off to a good start on the first day.

In men's singles, No. 6 seed Hassan Abbas won his second-round match over Cabrillo's Landon Browne 6-4, 6-3 at Pacifica High.

Matthias Muster was also a winner, 6-4, 6-4 over Stephen Harry of Cabrillo.

Muster faces the No. 5 seed, Christian Isip of Cypress, today at 8 a.m. at Oxnard Tennis Center.

In women's singles, VC's Ally Limon recorded a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Shera Shimabukuro of Cosumnes River at Camino Real Park. Sarah Gifford of VC defeated Lindsay Becker of Imperial Valley, 6-1, 6-1 at Ventura College.

Hitting the books: After winning his first-round match, Stanford sophomore Kevin Kaiser left the court and went straight for his laptop. Kaiser has an economics paper due today at 3 p.m., so he was frantically trying to pull it all together in the midst of playing championship-level tennis.

"It's a little stressful, but it might also be good to take my mind off tennis for a little while," Kaiser said. "Although I'm still working my brain pretty hard, which can be stressful."

Kaiser said he would probably skip the team dinner on Thursday night so he could put the final touches on his paper.

The economics paper is one of three that Kaiser had due this week. So after the last sentence is written, is Kaiser planning on relaxing here in Ojai?

"I have a political science midterm on Monday, so I'll start studying for that," Kaiser said.

Doubles update: Simi Valley High's doubles team of Adam Luong-Spencer Stendel take a simple approach to playing Ojai.

Pressure? What pressure?

"You know when you play here that everybody is very good," said Stendel. "We just try to have fun and see what happens. We'll play as long as we can."

Said Luong: "We have nothing to lose That's how we play."

The tandem won their opening-round match with a 6-0, 6-2, victory over Brant Bookhamer and Michael Griffin.

Actually, the same philosophy applied to Camarillo singles player Connor Karen, especially after seeing his draw.

He beat Michael Rodriguez of Bakersfield in Round 1, but lost to top-seeded Oscar Matthews of Corona Del Mar in the second round.

— Staff writer Loren Ledin contributed to this report.