CdM’s Hoffmann is CIF champion

SEAL BEACH — Growing up, Corona del Mar High senior Bjorn Hoffmann certainly was around tennis.

His father Carsten and mother Biljana both played the sport at UC Irvine, as did his uncle Zoran Korac. But that didn’t mean that Bjorn was a can’t-miss blue-chip prospect coming up through the ranks.

“That’s the furthest thing from the truth,” Bjorn Hoffmann said. “I was terrible when I was younger, and even when I was as old as like 12, 13.”

Genes could only do so much for Bjorn. Nothing was going to come easy. Hard work had to play a large part as well.

Hoffmann certainly put in the time, becoming known during his four-year varsity career at CdM as a clutch player but also a great and respectful teammate. He spent three years at No. 1 singles for the Sea Kings, a two-time Ojai singles finalist who could be depended on to sweep nearly every time.

That high school tennis career culminated Saturday afternoon at Seal Beach Tennis Center with a championship. Only one singles player in the CIF Southern Section got to spend the first weekend of June earning the ultimate singles prize in high school tennis.

His name was Bjorn Hoffmann.

The Cal-bound Hoffmann eased past Alex Kuperstein of Palm Desert, 6-2, 6-1, to capture the Individuals singles title. He is just the fifth CdM player to do so in the tournament’s history, the first since Fabian Matthews in 2008.

For the accomplishment, Hoffmann will be immortalized with a sign to be hung above the CdM tennis courts.

“That’s super-cool,” Hoffmann said. “At the beginning of this tournament, I was just taking it one match at a time and I had no idea how well I would do. Now that it’s finally happened and I finally got that [sign], yeah, it’s awesome. Can’t wait to see it. It’s super-meaningful, and it’s quite an honor ... This is the best way to go out as a senior.”

Impressively, Hoffmann did not drop a set in his six matches in the CIF Individuals tournament. He upset USC-bound Riley Smith of Los Alamitos, the top seed, by a 7-5, 7-6 (3) score in the semifinals earlier Saturday.

The final had an inauspicious beginning for Hoffmann, who was called for a foot fault by the umpire while serving at 15-30 in the opening game. He double-faulted on the next serve and was eventually broken.

From there, however, Hoffmann broke Kuperstein’s serve back at love and had few problems, earning two more breaks before the set was over.

“I kind of just let [the first game] go,” Hoffmann said. “After playing against Riley, who serves that big, it was nice to see serves a little bit slower. I returned well, broke the next game and felt confident again, then I took it from there.

“This is some of the tennis I’ve played. I felt dominant, I felt comfortable. I felt like I played with confidence and just played big tennis. I didn’t really know what to expect [in the finals]. I mean, I expected a good match and there were some good points, but i was also a little bit surprised with how dominant I was playing. Once I realized that I was playing that big, I had enough confidence in myself to know that I could do it.”

Hoffmann held a 3-0 lead in the second set before Kuperstein could get on the scoreboard. Serving for the match at 5-1, Hoffmann closed it out in style with a pair of aces.

“Bjorn just played really well,” said Kuperstein, a junior who had upset No. 2-seeded Connor Hance of Peninsula, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0, in the semifinals. “He definitely beat me today. He definitely deserved this win. He’s been working really hard and he just played better today.”

Things looked bleak for Hoffmann in the first set against Smith, who opened up a 5-2 lead after earning a pair of breaks. But somehow, Hoffmann won five straight games to capture the set 7-5. Smith, who will play for his father Peter at USC, double-faulted into the net on set point.

“I was just super-loose, super-relaxed,” Hoffmann said. “Sometimes when I’m returning, I’ll get a little tight. But at 5-2, I was just like, ‘I’m just going to play.’ I relaxed, and he got a little tight.”

Again in the second set, Smith served for the set at 5-4. This time, a lob by Hoffmann into the corner earned him a break point, which he converted.

In the second set, especially, Hoffmann had more answers as the tall Smith approached the net.

“I was struggling with my passing shots,” Hoffmann said. “I started mixing up my passing shots; I even threw in a couple of lobs. I think that variety on my passing shots threw him off a little bit, and I started passing much better after that.”

The second set went to a tiebreaker, where Smith won the first point before Hoffmann won the next four, capping the run with a forehand winner, then a backhand winner as he yelled out “Yeah!” He ended up winning the match when the second set ended just as the first had, with Smith double-faulting into the net.

“The biggest thing for Bjorn against Riley was the return of serve,” CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said. “If Bjorn was returning well and could get the return back with some depth, then he was moving Riley around really well and putting Riley in some defensive positions. I think a big part of it is Bjorn’s temperament. He never gets too down on himself, and I think he played really mentally tough tennis.

“He definitely played some clutch tennis and came up with some shots to give him that big win, and with Alex beating Connor, that opened up the door a little bit. That match was very physical. I think they kind of wore each other out ... Bjorn seemed to be the fresher guy.”

Gresh said he was proud of Hoffmann going out as CIF champion, saying it was “well deserved for such a nice kid.”

It was part of a busy weekend for the Hoffmanns. Bjorn had his senior prom on Saturday night. On Sunday night, the CdM tennis team was set to have its end-of-the-season banquet.

As for mom and dad, Biljana was there to watch her son triumph. Carsten was in Westlake Village, where he and his doubles partner Art Hernandez are competing in the USTA National Men’s 45 Hard Court Championships.

On Sunday, the elder Hoffmann will go for the title and the prestigious gold ball.

“He would have liked to have been here,” said Bjorn Hoffmann on Friday, “but I understand. We’ve all got to play. We’ve all got matches.”

Bjorn knows what that feeling of winning the title is like.