Three locals still in contention

Persistence turned out to be the key between two Newport Beach

residents in a girls 14s singles semifinal matchup Thursday at the

13th annual Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic tennis tournament.

Top-seeded Melissa Matsuoka battled back from a first-set loss and

outlasted fellow local Hailey Hogan, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, in a two-hour duel at Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Matsuoka, one of three Newport-Mesa area singles players to

survive Thursday’s semifinals, will face fourth-seeded Hayley Miller

of Laguna Beach in the final at 9 a.m. today.

Both Corona del Mar resident Christopher Damion and Newport Beach

resident Jillian Braverman triumphed in their respective singles

semifinals and will play in today’s finals.

Braverman will play her finals match at 9 a.m., while first serve

for Damion will commence at 10 a.m.

It was Matsuoka and Hogan’s match, however, that turned out to be

the gruel-a-thon, reaching three sets during the peak of the heat at

Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

After losing the first set, 7-5, Matsuoka rallied with a new

philosophy.

“I just changed up my game a bit and tried to get the ball in

more,” said Matsuoka, a soon-to-be eighth-grader at Corona del Mar

Junior High.

“But it’s kind of hard playing your friend. I’ve known [Hogan] for

a couple of years now.”

It was Matsuoka’s third match in this tournament she has faced a

local -- she defeated Newport Beach’s Danielle Kaiden, 6-0, 6-3, in

the quarterfinals Wednesday, and she topped Natalie Small of Newport

Beach, 6-1, 6-0, in the first round Monday.

But being the top seed has added a boost of confidence for

Matsuoka.

“It hasn’t really added pressure,” she said. “I just try to do my

best and see what happens.”

Her final matchup presents an interesting opponent, however:

Miller is her doubles partner for the tournament.

Damion, the top seed in boys 14s singles, defeated Gregory Scott

of Manhattan Beach, 6-2, 6-4, in the semifinals Thursday and will

face third-seeded Ali Makmalchi of Mission Viejo in the final at 10

a.m. today.

Damion said he is coping with a sore shoulder.

“The last time I played [Makmalchi] I beat him, but my shoulder is

hurting so I don’t know how it will turn out,” he said. “I injured it

weightlifting earlier this week.”

Damion breezed through the first few rounds with relative ease,

defeating Newport Beach’s CJ Comeau, 6-2, 6-1, in the round of 32,

Laguna Beach’s Michael Schneider, 6-2, 6-1, in the round of 16 and

Laguna Niguel’s Taylor Stephan, 6-1, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.

His semifinal match Thursday provided more of a challenge, he

said.

“It just started getting hard in the last match I played,” Damion

said. “To beat [Makmalchi] I’ve got to get the first serve in and

make my forehands and backhands hit the corners.”

Braverman, unseeded but none the less effective in girls 18s

singles, dispatched second-seeded Christina Tan, 6-2, 6-2, in

Thursday’s semis and will face top-seeded Desiree Stone of North

Hollywood in the final at 9 a.m. today.

A 15-year-old competing in 18s, Braverman said Thursday she is

merely using this tournament as a warmup for the upcoming United

States Tennis Association national championships in San Diego, where

she will drop back down to 16s.

In doubles play Thursday, top-seeded Matsuoka and Miller defeated

Casey Kawabe of Newport Beach and Jaclyn Smrecek of Irvine, 6-1, 6-3,

in the girls 14s semis.

Second-seeded Kaiden and Kindsay Zotovich of Corona del Mar

defeated Andie Coopersmith and Elizabeth Cutler, both of New York,

6-2, 6-1, in the girls 14s semis.

Both duos will face each other in the final at 2 p.m. today.

Top-seeded Parker Rhodes and Damion advanced to today’s boys 16s

final when their semifinal opponents withdrew. The team will face

Blake Linzey and Jonathan Noguchi of Huntington Beach and Santa Ana,

respectively, at 1 p.m. today.

Top-seeded Michelle Atkins and Kelly McKitterick of Newport Beach

and CdM, respectively, defeated Newport Beach residents Avalon

Sigalos and Brittany Sowers, 6-2, 6-0, in the girls 16s semis, while Bianca Barquin of Fountain Valley and Kelli Kawabe of Newport Beach

defeated second-seeded Sasha Dunlap and Chrissy Schwartz, both of

Newport Beach, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the girls 14s semis.

Both teams will face each other in the final at 1 p.m. today.

The Costa Mesa event was preceded by last week’s War by the Shore.