Tennis: Hoffmann builds for future

OJAI — Momentum played a big role in the CIF singles division title match at the 115th annual Ojai Tennis Tournament on Saturday.

Corona del Mar High junior Bjorn Hoffmann didn’t have it in the first set, found it early in the second set but lost it again on an overcast and sometimes drizzly afternoon at Libbey Park.

Yet, even in a 6-1, 6-4 loss to top-seeded Michael Genender of Harvard-Westlake, No. 3-seeded Hoffmann found motivation for the future.

It was the Stanford-bound Genender who lost in the final last year to Austin Rapp of Palm Desert. And last year, Hoffmann only advanced to the second round of “The Ojai.”

“To make this kind of improvement definitely shows that I’m on the right track,” said Hoffmann, a Cal commit. “Genender is in the same position that I was. He finished second his junior year, so hopefully I can take it next year.”

It seems to be a distinct possibility for Hoffmann, who had a good run to make the final. He beat Brandon Holt of Palos Verdes, 6-4, 6-3, in a semifinal earlier Saturday. In doing so, he became the first Corona del Mar player to make the singles final of the prestigious tournament since Mike Briggs won it in 1987.

“I feel like Bjorn will be poised to make another run next year,” CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said. “I’m very proud of him. He’s such a nice guy that competes really hard, and with great sportsmanship and class. He’s exactly what I want the program to be about.”

Hoffmann admittedly came out a bit nervous against Genender in the final, in front of a large crowd. He double-faulted three times in his first service game to fall into an early hole, and his serve would be broken twice more in the set, which lasted only about 30 minutes.

“It’s tough trying to serve second serves to his backhand, because he’s a lefty,” Hoffmann said. “I mean, I was really excited to play out here in front of everybody but I was a little bit tight, especially big points and second serves. It definitely took me a little while to sink into [the match], but he came out on fire. The second set was definitely a little more level, but I can’t complain. It was a good match.”

Hoffmann earned his first break points with Genender serving at 1-1 in the second set, and he converted the fourth one to break. Two games later, Hoffmann would break again, as his scorching cross-court passing shot earned him a 4-1 advantage.

“Instead of just going for it right away, I definitely tried to work the points a little more,” Hoffmann said. “ That was definitely what I should have been doing, grinding until I got the ball I wanted, then I would try to take it to him.”

But Genender, who had rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Los Alamitos’ Riley Smith in the semifinals, had enough left in the tank.

He rallied, winning the final five games of the match. Hoffmann hit two nice volleys at 4-5 to save his first match point, but Genender won the match when Hoffmann’s backhand was long.

Hoffmann was presented his silver medal by tennis legend Stan Smith, who won the Ojai high school division in 1964 before starring at USC and achieving the world No. 1 ranking.

“Overall, I thought the level of play was really high,” Gresh said. “The ball-striking was tremendous from both guys. Every point, each guy had to work for, and it just came down to who executed a little bit better. I thought Bjorn really kept his composure and fought hard out there, especially in the second set after he got over the nerves. He had good energy and good momentum. I was proud of the way he competed and represented CdM.”

Earlier Saturday, Hoffmann beat Holt in the semifinal. His serve was broken serving for the first set at 5-3, but Hoffmann immediately broke back, hitting a backhand winner down the line on set point.

He then raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second set, and held at love to win the match.

“I tried to make him feel some scoreboard pressure, and I thought I executed that plan pretty well,” Hoffmann said.

Harvard-Westlake won the Griggs Cup, awarded to the school that wins the most combined CIF singles and doubles division matches, for the second straight year. Last year, Harvard-Westlake shared it with Palm Desert.

Bradley Cummins and Alex Kuperstein of Palm Desert defeated Keegan Smith and Ivan Thamma of Point Loma, 6-3, 7-6, in the CIF doubles division title match. Smith and Thamma had defeated University High’s Konrad Kozlowski and Amirardalan Safi, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, in the semifinals.

It’s the first time since 2009 that perennial power University didn’t have a singles player or doubles team advance to a CIF division final.

In other action, No. 6-seeded Hali Dickson of Orange Coast College fell to No. 2-seeded Leticia Dos Santos of College of the Desert, 7-5, 6-1, in a Community College women’s singles division quarterfinal.