Di Giulio doesn't back down, plays up

COSTA MESA — Austin Di Giulio is not seeded in the boys' 14 singles division of the Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic. But that's only because he's 10.

So it might've appeared he completed an upset of sorts when he beat No. 2-seeded Alastair Hurry, a Corona del Mar resident, Wednesday at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center. But a look at the scores didn't make the win look like such a shocker.

Di Giulio, a Newport Beach resident, won, 6-0, 6-3. He advanced to today's quarterfinals.

"I think I was overpowering him," Di Giulio said of his victory over Hurry. "I was pretty aggressive. I was finishing up long points and long rallies. I stayed with it."

Di Giulio did say it was a tough match against Hurry. All his matches should be tough this week since he is playing older players.

Against Hurry, Di Giulio trailed, 2-1, in the second set, but he reeled off five straight games to take the match.

"I played up because a lot of the 12-and-unders are not playing the tournament," said Di Giulio, ranked No. 9 in Southern California in the boys' 10s by the United States Tennis Assn. "I just like playing older players because it helps my game get better."

Di Giulio will play against Alex Tran of Irvine at 8:30 a.m. If he wins, his semifinal match will be at 11:30 a.m.

He's also playing doubles with friend and neighbor Adam Langevin. They won, 7-5, 6-1, against San Clemente residents David Howren and Jay Yearn in a boys' 14 doubles quarterfinal match.

Di Giulio and Langevin will play against the top-seeded team of Diego Bennett (Ladera Ranch) and Tyler Bloom (San Juan Capistrano) today at 3:30 p.m.

Langevin, 12, and Di Giulio are playing as a doubles team in a tournament for the first time. But they have been friends, yet opponents, for a while now. They attended the same school and share a love for tennis.

They have played against each other several times. Sometimes the competitiveness carries on to the court, as they argue occasionally, Langevin said.

"It's interesting," Langevin said of playing with Di Giulio. "It's a lot of fun. We work together very well. Once in a while we do argue. But we have good communication."

In the boys' 18 singles, Andrew Kurzweil of Sage Hill School lost to No. 4-seeded Brandon Schlack of Long Beach, 6-1, 6-1, in a round of 16 match.

Newport Beach resident Miles Patricola lost in a round of 16 match to Joseph Park of Cerritos, 6-0, 6-2.