San Diego Section Tennis : Two Familiar Faces in the Final : Carl Chang, 17, Will Taken On Brother Michael, 14, Today

SAN DIEGO —  Brothers Carl and Michael Chang get together nearly every day to play a little tennis. Today will be no exception. The only difference being that the winner of today’s match will walk away with the San Diego Section tennis title.

Top-seeded Carl, a junior from San Dieguito High School, narrowly defeated No. 3 Tom Phanco of Mount Carmel, 6-2, 7-6, in Tuesday’s semifinals at The Bishop’s School. Chang won the final tie-breaker, 10-8.

No. 2 seed Michael, an eighth-grader playing for San Dieguito, easily beat fourth-seeded Woody Yocum of Monte Vista, 6-0, 6-3.

In the semifinal doubles events, the Poway team of Steve Toomey and Bob Shockley defeated Vista’s Rich Blackstone and Chris Sappington, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Bishop’s’ David Young and Sig Huber defeated Vista’s second-seeded team of Paul Richards and Ian Skidmore, 6-3, 7-5.

Today’s finals at The Bishop’s School begin with the doubles at 2 p.m. The singles follow.

In the six tournaments in which the Chang brothers have competed against each other, Carl, 17, has been the winner except for the most recent meeting, when Michael, 14, beat him, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, in the Palomar League final.

“Mike is such an exceptional player, nobody would really want to play him,” Carl said. “He’s fun to play against, but if he weren’t my brother, he would be a guy I would never want to meet.”

The two began playing tennis at the same time, when Carl was 9 and Michael 6. They have been competing against each other informally “ever since we picked up a racket,” Carl said.

“I feel good playing my brother (in the finals) because I know what to expect,” Michael said. “I would rather play him instead of a player I didn’t know that well.”

Although the two play together most of the time, their styles of play is completely different.

Carl, whose only loss this season was against Michael, is a more overpowering player who has developed a fast-paced game at the net that is unequaled in the county. Michael, who is unbeaten this season, prefers a slower-paced approach, running his opponent back and forth across the court.

“He likes blowing people off the court with his ground strokes,” Michael said. “I like to take my time.

Said Carl: “As a player, he’s smarter, faster and uglier than I am.”

When the two met in the Palomar League final, Michael was more aggressive, which is something he said he must do today to best Carl.

“He counterpunched on everything I hit (in the league final),” Carl said.

Said Michael: “I’m going to have to attack him like last time. I’m going to have to keep him from the net and keep the ball deep.”

Michael attends Oakcrest Junior High School in Encinitas, which offers grades 7 through 9. He qualifies for the varsity team at San Dieguito, which has grades 10 through 12, because he is taking a ninth-grade Algebra 1 honors class. He must, however, relinquish his senior-year eligibility in tennis.

Michael said he decided to play with the varsity at an early age because he wanted to be on the same team as his brother.

“In two years he’s going to be gone,” Michael said. “This gives me the chance to play with him more. . . . High school tennis, for me, is just to have a good time and relax.”

He added that playing against his brother has helped him compete against older players.

“It helps me when I play bigger and better players because they usually hit harder,” Michael said.

“When we were growing up, he always beat me. But now I’m catching up in height and that helps me get my serve over the net better,” said Michael, who is 5-foot 6 1/2-inches compared to Carl, who is 5-9. “As I grow bigger, I can start hitting more with him. But sometimes I still have to slow the game down with my lob.”

Michael said today’s match will be typical because he and Carl have played against each other so many times.

“In the Palomar final I was more relaxed,” Carl said. “I was talking to him and aggravating him and joking around with him between games. But this time I’ll be more serious because the CIF finals mean more to me than the Palomar League final.

“I’d feel different if I were going to play someone other than Michael because I’d be in there trying to kill him really bad.

“I’ll try not to have any mercy on him, but I hope he has some on me the way he’s been blowing everybody away.”