TENNIS AT OJAI : Abrams Easily Wins 16 Singles Title at Ojai

OJAI — Add a second consecutive Ojai title to Newport Harbor freshman Geoff Abrams’ growing list of accomplishments. Abrams simply overpowered a determined, but outclassed Sunny Hills High freshman Joseph Gilbert, 6-2, 6-3, in the boys’ 16 singles finals Saturday at Libby Park.

But after winning three national junior tournaments in 1992 and being named to the USTA junior national team in January, Abrams figured to win Ojai against a player who hasn’t beaten him in two attempts.

And along with the great expectations, comes higher standards, more pressure and sometimes, an anti-Abrams crowd.

“I could definitely tell they were cheering for my opponent,” said Abrams, who stands 6 feet 5 but doesn’t turn 15 until May 10. “It doesn’t bother me though. I expect it.”

But Abrams doesn’t expect to double-fault twice in a serve game and make unforced errors at the net like he did in the second set. After taking a 6-2, 3-0 lead, Abrams actually began to look human.

He lost three consecutive games, two on his serve and was down a game point in the seventh game, before rallying to win the last three games of the set. During Abrams’ three-game funk, he showed a little frustration by slamming a couple balls into the net after points ended.

“The frustration doesn’t come because I’m supposed to win,” he said. “It comes from not executing what my coaches are teaching me to do.

“When I got up 3-0, something came over me. Maybe it was dehydration. All my energy was drained.”

Worried?

“Maybe a little concerned, but I always knew I could win,” Abrams said.

Gilbert sounded as though he was resigned to the same thing.

“He’s tough,” said Gilbert, who was seeded second. “Luckily, there’s only one of him. You only have to run into him once a tournament.”

Abrams said Gilbert ran into a “very average” version of him.

“I didn’t serve well at all,” he said. “I think I only made five or six serves all day.”

Orange County juniors swept singles play in the 14-year-old division as Fullerton’s Ryan Moore and Villa Park’s Faye DeVera cruised to straight-set victories.

The second-seeded Moore, an eighth-grader at Ladera Vista Junior High, was nearly flawless in his 6-2, 6-2 victory over top-seeded Zachary Fleishman of Playa Del Rey. He took advantage of several early unforced errors by Fleishman to go up 5-2 in the first set. Then, as he trailed 40-0 in the fifth game, Moore began to attack the net. He wound up winning the game and taking the first set.

Moore continued to apply pressure, coming in behind serves and well-placed approach shots.

“I serve and volley more as a surprise on the break points,” Moore said. “I noticed he sprayed a passing shot and I kept coming at him.”

DeVera, seeded first, had even an easier time in beating second-seeded Marissa Irvin of Santa Monica, 6-2, 6-0. Although she wasn’t entirely aware of how well she played.

“I don’t even know what points I won,” she said. “My mind was a blur.”

DeVera, an eighth-grader at Cerro Villa Junior High, won all but won game after dropping the match’s first game. She was the more consistent and more powerful player. But DeVera, who acknowledged she was intimidated by large crowds and distractions of other three Libby Park courts, wasn’t sure how.

“I was nervous, but after awhile I relaxed a little,” she said. “I’m surprised I didn’t shank the ball.

Corona del Mar’s doubles team of Trenton Rhodes and Brian Walden lost in the finals of the boys’ interscholastic tournament, 6-2, 6-3, to Nathan Jackmon and Jason Merrin of Santa Barbara High.

David Robbins of Sunny Hills fell in the boys’ interscholastic singles semifinals to Phillip Tseng of Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, 6-3, 6-1.

Meet notes:

UC Irvine has nearly clinched the Big West men’s singles title by sending all of its six singles players into today’s finals. Aaron Stolpman, UCI’s No. 1 player, had the most impressive victory, upsetting 21st-ranked Lazslo Markovits of UC Santa Barbara, 6-4, 6-3. Markovits “He played almost a flawless match,” UCI Coach Steve Clark said. “I think he missed maybe one half-volley all match. All the hard work has paid off.” . . . In the women’s open singles semifinals, Jennifer Slattery of Huntington Beach defeated Stacy Margolin of Los Angeles, 6-4, 6-0. She plays Kathy May of Pacific Palisades in today’s finals.