Hamilton reaches round of 16 at CIF tournament

Laguna Beach High’s Teague Hamilton continued through to the round of 16 in the CIF Southern Section Boys’ Individual Tennis Regionals, before his postseason run ended.

Hamilton, the No. 1 singles player from the Orange Coast League, competed Friday at the Seal Beach Tennis Center, where junior had his title bid derailed by Cristobal Rivera of Santa Monica High by scores of 6-2, 6-3. Rivera, the top singles player from the Ocean League, reached the tournament final Saturday, where he fell, 6-4, 6-3, to Pacific Coast League singles champ Gage Brymer of University.

It was the farthest Hamilton had advanced in the tournament. As a sophomore last year, he had reached the third round on the opening day of the tournament.

“I was really happy with how I did,” Hamilton said of his tournament run. “My opponent (Rivera) played really, really well that day. I played my best, so I was happy with my performance.”

Hamilton had advanced to the round of 16 by winning his round of 32 match May 24 at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center. Hamilton defeated Alan Leahy of Claremont High (Sierra League No. 2), in three sets, 6-0, 2-6, 6-1.

Hamilton’s tournament run started May 17 at The Tennis Club in Newport Beach. He defeated Luke Mountain of Tesoro (6-4, 6-2), and picked up a 6-3, 7-5 third-round win over Jenteel Alcafaras of Long Beach Wilson.

Following the CIF individual tournament, Hamilton captured the Boys’ 18s division title at the 16th West Coast Junior Open Tennis Tournament, held Saturday through Monday in Long Beach.

On the final day of the event, he defeated top-seed Alexandre Miaule of Westchester in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-0, and No. 2-seed Hosep Orojian of Glendale, 7-5, 6-1, in the division final. Hamilton went through the tournament without dropping a set en route to the title.

Also competing at the West Coast Junior Open Tennis Tournament was another top player from Laguna Beach, Taylor Nederlander, who reached the final of the Girls’ 18 division. Nederlander fell in three sets to Alexandra Valenstein of Laguna Hills, 1-6, 6-4, 1-6, in the final. She had reached the final by knocking off Shayla Fulton of Los Angeles, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals.

Both Hamilton and Nederlander will compete Saturday and Sunday at the 97th annual Santa Barbara Designated Junior Tournament. The tournament continues June 8-9. Hamilton said his second-round opponent Sunday will be against his Round of 16 foe, Rivera.

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Twitter: @MikeSciacca