Boys’ Tennis: Big-time matches coming at The Ojai
The famous and prestigious 115th Ojai Tennis Tournament – commonly known as “The Ojai” – begins for several local players on Thursday in Ojai. Founded in 1896 by William Thacher, The Ojai is North America’s oldest and largest amateur tournament taking place at the same location, featuring over 1,500 competitors playing across 29 separate divisions, and concludes with finals in various divisions on Sunday.
The CIF Boys’ Singles and Doubles draws sport a bracket of 64 entries and concludes with finals Saturday at Libbey Park in Ojai. Corona del Mar junior Bjorn Hoffmann is expected to be one of the top contenders to win the CIF Boys’ Singles division. His chances to advance deep into the tournament are increased by the fact he won’t have to worry about facing Newport Harbor senior standout Reese Stalder. In an attempt to help prepare him for his college tennis career, the TCU-bound Stalder has chosen to forego play in the CIF divisions in favor of competing in the Men’s Open Division singles and doubles draws at The Ojai.
Orange County’s top boys’ tennis program, University High, will likely pin its hopes for Ojai glory and a return to The Ojai’s CIF Boys’ Doubles final on Konrad Kozlowski and Amirardalan Safi.
In other Open Division play, Irvine’s Kevin Lam plays in a Men’s Singles first-round match on Thursday. Parris Todd of Irvine will face No. 2 seed Ena Shibahara in a Women’s Singles first-round match Friday morning at the Ojai Valley Inn. Hoffmann’s father, Carsten, is partnering with Huntington Beach’s Arthur Hernandez in the Men’s Open Doubles draw on Friday afternoon at the Ojai Valley Inn.
Newport Beach’s Austin Di Giulio won The Ojai’s Boys’ 14 Singles title last year and hopes to carry over that good karma as he moves up to The Ojai’s Boys’ 16 Singles division, where he is joined by Corona del Mar’s Alexander Reyna.
Through the years, many tennis greats grew up playing The Ojai, including Bill Tilden, Helen Wills Moody, Tony Trabert, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, Pancho Gonzales, Jimmy Connors, Michael Chang, Lindsay Davenport, Pete Sampras and the Bryan twins (Mike and Bob). In total, 85 players who have competed at The Ojai have gone on to win Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and their names appear on the Wall of Fame in Libbey Park.
Tournament draws, daily schedules and results, tickets and general information can be found at The Ojai’s website, https://www.ojaitourney.org. The Ojai also introduces a brand-new app, available for free download (search “The Ojai” within your app store) on smartphones.
— From staff reports