King of the Court: Corona del Mar’s Niels Hoffmann is CIF champion
CLAREMONT — Even someone who knows little about tennis is able to study body language.
Corona del Mar High junior boys’ tennis player Niels Hoffmann can be an open book.
“If he gets up, you’ll know it,” CdM coach Jamie Gresh said. “If he gets down, you’ll know it. He can have a little bit of a roller-coaster effect there.”
The thrill ride of a high school boys’ tennis season ended in spectacular fashion for Hoffmann on Wednesday at Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont.
He certainly saved one of his best matches for last.
The top-seeded Hoffmann routed No. 2-seeded Palos Verdes Peninsula senior Sean Ferguson 6-2, 6-1 in the CIF Southern Section Individuals boys’ tennis singles title match.
It’s the first major individual title in high school tennis for Hoffmann, who was a CIF Individuals doubles finalist last year with teammate Jack Cross and an Ojai singles finalist this year.
He joins his older brother Bjorn Hoffmann, who won the CIF Individuals title as a senior for CdM in 2016. They are the first brothers to both win CIF singles championships since Rick Leach and Jon Leach did so for Laguna Beach High in 1983 and 1988, respectively. The Leach brothers went on to star at USC, where Niels is committed.
“It’s super-cool,” Niels Hoffmann said. “I’ll hear about it a lot tonight, but it’s very cool. Even without the brother, it’s still a really big accomplishment and it feels great … I definitely have made some big jumps. I don’t know if at the start of the year, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m a lock to win it in straight sets and not drop a set this tournament.’
He smiled.
“But, you know, [it’s a] happy surprise.”
He served tough against Ferguson, bound for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, in improving to 3-1 against him this season. Hoffmann did not face a break point in the final.
“It was kind of the exact type of match he wanted to play,” Gresh said. “He was able to dictate a lot with his forehand, and he kept his error count super low.”
Hoffmann rallied for a 7-5, 6-2 win in the semifinals earlier Wednesday against No. 4-seeded Avery Tallakson of Woodbridge. He was down 5-2 in the first set against the University of New Mexico-bound Tallakson, who was serve-and-volleying with some success, a rarity in high school tennis.
“It’s like, ‘Oh my God, he can’t miss a ball,’ and I’m knocking on the door and not quite there,” Hoffmann said. “Definitely, frustration crept in. I think he probably deserved that first set … but he’s tricky to play, right? He doesn’t give you a lot of rhythm.”
Hoffmann still won eight straight games to seize control of the match, and ended up beating Tallakson for the second time in three tries this season.
Niels is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom play tennis. That’s hardly a surprise, as both father Carsten Hoffmann and mother Biljana Longman played the sport in college at UC Irvine.
The middle Hoffmann brother is Nik, 22, who attended Wednesday’s match. He also played tennis for CdM but is now focusing on medical school.
Niels said he has gotten closer to Bjorn, now 25, in recent years. Bjorn played four years at Cal before he took advantage of a COVID year to play a season for UC Irvine in 2021 as a graduate student, living at home at the time. He now resides in the Los Angeles area, working remotely for Microsoft.
“As he’s stayed closer to home, our relationship has grown, but it’s also really cool because he can travel with me for tournaments and mentor me a little bit,” Niels Hoffmann said. “I’m very grateful for that as well.”
Though they are eight years apart, a sibling rivalry also can creep in. Niels will return to CdM next season with goals including winning an Ojai title, a second CIF Individuals title and leading CdM to a CIF Southern Section championship — things Bjorn came close to before falling a bit short.
“It’s super fun,” Niels Hoffmann said. “I think he’s rooting for me to surpass him.”
Gresh is rooting for it too, of course, because it would mean yet another standout season for Niels as a senior, after helping CdM reach the CIF Southern Section Open Division and CIF/USTA Southern California Regional title matches this spring as a junior.
“Obviously, Niels’ schedule outside of high school tennis has a lot of big tournaments, but he looks forward to the team environment and trying to bring CdM a title,” Gresh said. “As a coach, that’s what you want and need out of your best player.”
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