Ghassemi collects 16 singles crown

COSTA MESA ? Corona del Mar resident Omeed Ghassemi didn’t want his boys’ 16 singles championship match to go to three sets, not with the way opponent Freddy Quintos of Murrieta was pounding forehands at him.

Up, 6-5, in the second set, Ghassemi dug in.

He survived four deuces in the game, capturing the match and the championship, 6-2, 7-5, on Friday at the 14th annual Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic.

The win accomplished two goals for the No. 1-seeded Ghassemi: It gave him his first Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic singles championship, and it also avenged a loss to No. 2-seeded Quintos the last time they played.

“It feels great,” said Ghassemi, who will be a sophomore at Mater Dei High. “Freddy’s a really good friend of mine. I definitely wanted to end it in the second set. Once his forehand starts going, everything starts working in his game.”

Ghassemi played nearly mistake-free tennis in the first set, not even encountering any break points on his serve. Ghassemi broke Quintos twice to roll to the early advantage.

In the second set, Ghassemi broke Quintos again and was serving at 1-0 before a disagreement about a point swung the momentum.

A Ghassemi drop shot on the sideline was called out by Quintos, and Ghassemi came to the net to disagree. After a brief exchange, Ghassemi left the court to go get a referee to call the match.

The “out” call stood, and Ghassemi’s serve was eventually broken to tie the second set, 1-1.

“I took a little time off to get the ref, and then I lost focus,” Ghassemi said. “When somebody makes an out call that you think is in, it just stays in your head and it’s tough to regain focus. Eventually, I did.”

The match got much more competitive after the disagreement.

Ghassemi broke Quintos’ serve to take a 4-3 lead, but Quintos broke back, then held to go up, 5-4.

Ghassemi survived a set point in the next game on Quintos’ unforced error, eventually holding serve in the deuce game to tie it again at 5-5.

“[Ghassemi] was on,” Quintos said. “He was serving good, and he was hitting the ball solid. I was trying to play to his backhand side and not play defense. Whenever I played defense, he attacked me more.”

“I wish I could have played a little bit better,” he added.

Ghassemi’s volley into an open space earned him another service break and a 6-5 lead in the set, allowing him to serve for the match. But with Quintos’ powerful forehand heating up, Ghassemi knew he had to hold.

After three set points, a break point and three deuces, Quintos’ forehand was long, and Ghassemi had his championship.

“It’s a massive forehand,” Ghassemi said. “Every time I had a set point, his forehand came up. I just got lucky that last point, and he made a mistake.”

Ghassemi had a more deceptive forehand ? a spinning forehand that resulted in a drop shot. Whenever Ghassemi hit that shot during the match, he usually succeeded in catching Quintos off-balance.

“I like to mix it up a lot, and the drop shot helps with that,” Ghassemi said. “Even if he gets to it, he’s tired for the next [shot].”

But the varied play was just a reason why Ghassemi earned the championship.

“I don’t usually play my best when I’m seeded,” Ghassemi said. “It feels good to be the No. 1 seed and win the tournament.”