Di Giulio wins opener
Austin Di Giulio is as ready to talk about his favorite basketball team, the Los Angeles Lakers, as his tennis game.
The 15-year-old from Newport Beach is a big Lakers fan, and he had an opinion on who the team should take with the No. 2 overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
“All their championship teams have had a good center,” Di Giulio said, believing that the team should go with Duke center Jahlil Okafor.
The Lakers ended up drafting Ohio State point guard D’Angelo Russell, and Di Giulio wasn’t too upset. Nor was he upset with his play at the 113th annual Southern California Junior Sectionals tennis tournament.
Di Giulio won his round of 64 match in the boys’ 16s, topping Diego Nava of Woodland Hills, 6-3, 6-1, at The Tennis Club Newport Beach. He will play top-seeded Robert Baylon of Buena Park in a round of 32 match Friday at 9 a.m., also at The Tennis Club.
It’s a tough draw for Di Giulio, who is in his first year playing in the 16s. But he has confidence. In January, he was unseeded in the 16s for the Henry Talbert Junior Championships, yet he advanced to the semifinals. The Henry Talbert, like Junior Sectionals, is a Southern California Tennis Assn. Level 1 tournament.
“I knew [this tournament] was going to be tough, but I think I’m a lot better than being unseeded,” Di Giulio said. “I think I’m better than a lot of the seeds, so I’m pretty confident ... [but] Baylon is really solid and he hits the ball really deep and heavy. It’ll be a tough match.”
Di Giulio is hoping for a deep run like he accomplished three years ago in the 12s, when he made the title match. His older brother Joseph, who now plays for UCLA, won Junior Sectionals in the 10s (2004), 12s (2007) and 14s (2009).
Joseph watched Austin’s match Thursday. So did the youngest Di Giulio brother, Perry, who is playing in the 10s at Junior Sectionals and had a quarterfinal match Thursday evening. Perry, the No. 2 seed, fell to No. 7-seeded Andy Nguyen of Long Beach, 6-3, 6-3.
Austin broke Nava’s serve twice in the first set, and was up 1-0 in the second before a bit of controversy arose. Austin called Nava’s shot near the baseline out, and a man watching the match objected to the call.
Austin and the man had a brief conversation, before Joseph stepped in.
“Mind your own business,” Joseph Di Giulio told the man. “If you have something to say, say it to me, don’t say it to the players.”
Austin said after the match that he was sure that the ball was out.
“I could see it clearly,” he said. “I was right on the line, and he was behind the court ... you’re not supposed to say anything to the players. If Diego thought the ball was in, he could say something. I think he thought it was out too, because he didn’t say anything.”
Either way, Di Giulio zoomed out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and his effort won him the match against Nava, who was inconsistent with his big forehand.
Austin Di Giulio, who attends Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine, has had some good results already in the 16s. He also won the Laguna Niguel Junior Open Tournament, a Level 5 tournament, earlier this month while competing in the 18s.
He said he liked the fact that both of his brothers watched his match on Thursday.
“It makes me play better, knowing that they’re supporting me,” he said.
Over time, he expects to be supportive of the Lakers draft pick too. For Lakers fans, anything will be better than last year.
“I’m excited,” Di Giulio said. “I barely watched any of [the games last year]. It was too difficult to watch ... especially when Kobe [Bryant] got injured, I wasn’t watching.”
