Boys’ Tennis: Bjorn playing big for CdM

The first name of Corona del Mar High junior Bjorn Hoffmann stands out to anyone who is aware of tennis history, and that isn’t by accident.

Bjorn Borg was an 11-time Grand Slam champion in the 1970s and early ‘80s. He found two fans in Carsten Hoffmann and Biljana Korac, who were rising junior tennis players later in the ‘80s at University High and San Marino High, respectively.

Hoffmann and Korac both went on to play four years collegiately at UC Irvine, where Hoffmann excelled in doubles and Korac reached No. 2 singles. After they got married, the name “Bjorn” just seemed to make sense.

“Bjorn Borg was my idol growing up,” Carsten Hoffmann said. “At first, we would joke around about naming our kid Bjorn. If you joke around with a name long enough, it starts to be come familiar to you. And Bjorn’s mom liked Scandinavian names. It stuck.”

Bjorn Hoffmann has brown hair, not blonde, and doesn’t wear it quite as long as Borg did in his heyday. But that first name still seems to set him apart.

Lately, his tennis results have too.

Hoffmann has played No. 1 singles at Corona del Mar the past two years, and pulled out some big wins in that time. The biggest stage of his junior career so far, though, probably occurred last weekend at the prestigious 115th annual Ojai Tennis Tournament.

The No. 3-seeded Hoffmann became the first CdM player since 1987 to reach the CIF singles division final. It had definitely been a while. When Mike Briggs accomplished that feat in ‘87, Carsten was leading University to its first CIF Southern Section title in the same year. Also in ‘87, some kid named Pete Sampras won the CIF Individuals singles title.

Bjorn fell to top-seeded Michael Genender of Harvard-Westlake, 6-1, 6-4. Still, it was a great tournament for Hoffmann, who last year made it to just the second round at Ojai. He earned a pair of impressive wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, beating UCLA-bound San Marino senior Danny Gealer and Palos Verdes’ Brandon Holt in straight sets.

“I can’t complain,” Bjorn Hoffmann said in his typical soft-spoken way. “I played well.”

Hoffmann is respectful and humble. On the court, though, the kid with the big forehand is relentless. He has a 42-9 overall record this season and is undefeated in Pacific Coast League play.

It seems like Bjorn, who recently committed to play at Cal, has taken big strides in high school. Though he was always around the game — his mom was feeding him balls out of a basket since he was 3 or 4 — he has risen up the junior ranks only recently.

“I was more of a ‘hit it hard’ kind of player,” Bjorn Hoffmann said. “I wasn’t competing as well with those kids who are just kind of small and fast. As I got older, things started coming together and my game really developed as more of a solid, aggressive player.”

He started at No. 3 singles as a freshman, on a CdM team that advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship match. But more growth was still to come. That June, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the boys’ 16s at Southern California Junior Sectionals. Along the way, he beat his teammate at CdM, Chaz Downing, who was ranked higher than Bjorn and played at No. 2 singles that year for CdM.

In the past year Bjorn has continued to grow, all the way to a No. 3 ranking in the 18s. He also credits the help of his strength and training coach, Matt Harris. His footwork and conditioning have gotten better since he started working with Harris, who he sees twice a week. Once or twice a week, Bjorn will also go to Dent Tennis Academy in Fountain Valley, though he practices with his CdM teammates on Mondays.

“A lot of the boys he’s beating now are the same ones who didn’t want to hit with him a few years ago,” Carsten Hoffmann said. “Clearly, he started applying himself. He’s never been the kid who wants to practice five hours a day. He still has a very balanced life ... [but] there’s nothing like having success to make you enjoy something.”

Of course, there’s plenty of credit to go around. Bjorn has been coached by his father over the years, and Carsten has remained a top-level player with three gold balls (national titles) in doubles. Bjorn earned his first ball, a silver one, as he and Carsten made the finals of the USTA National Father & Son Hard Court Championships last December in La Jolla.

Bjorn said he’s grateful for the support of both his father and mother, who have been divorced for several years but are on good terms. Biljana, now known as Biljana Longman, is an elementary school teacher in Aliso Viejo and takes care of Bjorn and his two younger brothers, Nick and Niels, who also both play tennis.

Mom and dad, as well as his uncle Zoran Korac, who also played at UCI, were all on hand last weekend at Ojai. That made it even more special for Bjorn.

He has simply been a rock for CdM, which isn’t as deep as it has been in past years and looks to him to sweep every match.

“I think I handle it pretty well,” Bjorn said. “You have a little bit more pressure on you, but I like to think of it as healthy pressure. I mean, it’s not pressure like, ‘Oh, I have to win.’ It’s a nice feeling to know that people look up to you, to be able to help the team out.”

CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said Hoffmann, to his credit, enjoys the camaraderie of high school tennis.

“For his high ranking and his level of play, he’s very humble and very grounded,” Gresh said. “He’s one of the guys.”

CdM is in danger of missing the CIF playoffs for the first time in recent years, unless the Sea Kings can beat Northwood on Monday at home. They lost to the Timberwolves, 12-6, in the teams’ first league meeting.

Still, Hoffmann can anticipate a long run at CIF Individuals, where he lost a close match in the third round last year.

For Bjorn, the beat goes on.

More and more, he’s living up to that first name.

—

Bjorn Hoffmann

Born: March 17, 1998

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 155 pounds

Sport: Tennis

Year: Junior

Coach: Jamie Gresh

Favorite food: Chick-fil-A

Favorite movie: “The Breakfast Club”

Favorite athletic moment: Defeating Oliver Sec of The Beacon School, 8-7 (7-4), to help CdM win a first-round match at this year’s National High School All-American Tournament.

Week in review: Hoffmann advanced to the CIF singles division title match at the prestigious Ojai Tennis Tournament on Saturday.