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NEWPORT BEACH - The boys 12-and-under tennis team from the Newport Beach Tennis Club won the championship of the United bStates Tennis Association Junior Team Tennis Southern California Section Tournament at UCLA on June 4. Under Coach Dave Sherbeck of NBTC, John Leonard, Parker Rhodes and Kyle Schneekluth each played strong singles matches, while Cole Pavlovich and Bret Crowley played as a solid doubles team. The team won their division in the Orange County Penn League to qualify for the Southern California Section Tournament.

CARSON — The UC Irvine co-ed club tennis team advanced to the United States Tennis Assn. Campus Championship Southern California title match on Feb. 23, before falling to defending champion UCLA at the Home Depot Center. UC Irvine advances to the Tennis on Campus National Collegiate Championships, to be held beginning April 17 in Cary, N.C. UCI, making only its second appearance in the sectional championship, edged USC in the semifinals in a super-tiebreaker. UC Irvine then split the men’s and women’s doubles matches with UCLA, but the UCLA team won both the singles matches to capture the victory.

Carsten Ball and Wesley Miller, who will both be seniors at Corona del Mar High this fall, along with Newport Beach resident Kaes Van't Hof, have all been named to the National High School Tennis All-American Foundation team. The trio was among 40 players selected to the team by a panel of eight national district chairmen, recognized as the top high school coaches in the nation. To become an All-American, one must compete on a high school team, maintain an above average academic and citizenship standing and achieve a national individual ranking.

Corona del Mar High freshman Chaz Downing won the boys' 14 singles "North" consolation draw at the United States Tennis Assn. Winter Junior Nationals, completed Monday in Tucson, Ariz. Downing was unseeded in the tournament. But, after losing his round of 64 match to No. 30-seeded Taylor Fritz, he won five straight consolation matches. These included a victory over No. 19-seeded Max Pham of Newport Coast. In the "North" consolation final, Downing was tied with Andrew Gu, 6-6, before Gu was forced to retire at Reffkin Tennis Center.

Costa Mesa resident Reese Stalder won a boys' 14 doubles title Tuesday at a USTA national tournament at Woodbridge Tennis Club in Irvine. Stalder won with his partner, Rafael Lenhard of Carlsbad. The No. 2 seeds defeated No. 7-seeded Max Pham of Newport Coast and Ryan Cheng of San Marino, 8-6, in the championship match. Stalder is ranked No. 3 in Southern California in boys' 14 doubles. He will be a freshman at Newport Harbor High in the fall. His older sister Samantha, who will be a junior at Harbor, is in the semifinals of the Chapman tournament this weekend.

Richard Dunn If anyone understands the art of playing doubles, it's senior tennis phenom Jim Nelson of Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach. A winner of about 85 United States Tennis Association gold balls -- the prize for a national championship on the amateur circuit -- Nelson captured his third career Grand Slam in 2000, winning USTA titles on all four surfaces (hard court, grass, clay and indoors). As a veteran of the game who has learned to play the angles and slice the ball, Nelson is a master at the net, according to longtime doubles partner Lenny Lindborg.

schedule conflicts Richard Dunn For top junior tennis players in Southern California, scheduling conflicts become a way of life. But it doesn't have to be that way, according to the Corona del Mar and Peninsula high school coaches. If anyone understands the struggle of players juggling the CIF Southern Section circuit and the United States Tennis Association designated tournament schedule, it's CdM Coach Tim Mang and Peninsula Coach Tom Cox, both of whom feature nationally ranked boys every spring and girls every fall.

Richard Dunn Lenny Lindborg and Jim Nelson, longtime friends and doubles partners, are an odd couple who make a great pair on the tennis court. "Jimmy's like a surgeon -- I'm like a hustler. It works pretty well," said Lindborg, a first-year player in the men's 65s division, along with Nelson, who plays at Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach. Both players are part of an amazing collection of coastal Orange County seniors who continue to roll up United States Tennis Association championships as if the gold balls awarded to winners are made of the real stuff.

Richard Dunn The reason tennis is the sport for a lifetime is because, despite ourselves, we can always make the great venture of a comeback, perhaps the prize catch of senior athleticism in today's society. Tennis never goes away for the lifelong afflicted. It is merely courtside while your racket waits endlessly for another set. For at least the third time in his stellar senior career, Newport Beach's Robyn Ray is attempting to walk another path in the comeback trail, this time in the men's 55s. Ray, a back-to-back national champion in the 45s in singles in 1992 and '93, is living proof that real competitive juices never freeze over or trickle away.

Richard Dunn Former Newport Harbor High and Stanford star Geoff Abrams won the United States Tennis Association Futures of Chico men's doubles championship last weekend with Diego Ayala of Coral Springs, Fla. Abrams and Ayala, seeded third, defeated Peter Luczak of Australia and Chris Magyary of El Cerrito, Calif., 7-6 (3), 6-4, in the Chico final. Abrams, who turned 23 on May 10, has won over $10,000 on the pro challenger and satellite circuits since last year.

A full first round of doubles play and four first-round singles matches launched the first day of the main draw at the $10,000 Costa Mesa Pro Classic, part of the United States Tennis Assn. Pro Circuit tour, at Costa Mesa Tennis Center. There will be 12 singles matches Wednesday, including six of the top eight seeds, including Nicolas Meister, a Trabuco Canyon native and former UCLA player. The other top seed playing Wednesday with a Southern California connection is second-seeded Daniel Nguyen, of Oxnard, a former player for USC. Other players competing Wednesday include Carson High senior Deighton Baughman, Andre Dome of Arroyo Grande, Michael Grant of Santa Barbara, Eduardo Nava of Woodland Hills and three players with UCLA connections: current members Marcus Giron and Mackenzie McDonald, and former player Dennis Novikov.

Corona del Mar High freshman Chaz Downing won the boys' 14 singles "North" consolation draw at the United States Tennis Assn. Winter Junior Nationals, completed Monday in Tucson, Ariz. Downing was unseeded in the tournament. But, after losing his round of 64 match to No. 30-seeded Taylor Fritz, he won five straight consolation matches. These included a victory over No. 19-seeded Max Pham of Newport Coast. In the "North" consolation final, Downing was tied with Andrew Gu, 6-6, before Gu was forced to retire at Reffkin Tennis Center.

Julia Sampson Hayward, a world champion tennis player who won two Grand Slam titles in the 1950s, died in her Eastbluff home after a short illness, family members said. She was 77. Hayward was born in Los Angles on Feb. 2, 1934, to Alberta and Ralph Sampson. She grew up in San Marino with her sister Edith (Dee Dee) and attended South Pasadena High School and USC. She won two Grand Slam titles: the 1953 Australian doubles and mixed. She also won 21 national titles and was a finalist in many United States Tennis Assn.

Costa Mesa resident Reese Stalder won a boys' 14 doubles title Tuesday at a USTA national tournament at Woodbridge Tennis Club in Irvine. Stalder won with his partner, Rafael Lenhard of Carlsbad. The No. 2 seeds defeated No. 7-seeded Max Pham of Newport Coast and Ryan Cheng of San Marino, 8-6, in the championship match. Stalder is ranked No. 3 in Southern California in boys' 14 doubles. He will be a freshman at Newport Harbor High in the fall. His older sister Samantha, who will be a junior at Harbor, is in the semifinals of the Chapman tournament this weekend.

MESA, Ariz. — Corona del Mar High senior Lynda Xepoleas suffered an upset in a round of 16 match of the United States Tennis Assn. Winter National Championships (16s and 18s) at the Gene Autry Tennis Center Wednesday. Stephanie Vlad, an unseeded player from Scottsdale, Ariz., beat the No. 3-seeded Xepoleas, 7-5, 6-4. Vlad had already upset the No. 14-seeded player to reach the round of 16. Instead of advancing to the quarterfinals, Xepoleas, who advanced to the CIF Individuals semifinals earlier this month, went into the consolation bracket.

CARSON — The UC Irvine co-ed club tennis team advanced to the United States Tennis Assn. Campus Championship Southern California title match on Feb. 23, before falling to defending champion UCLA at the Home Depot Center. UC Irvine advances to the Tennis on Campus National Collegiate Championships, to be held beginning April 17 in Cary, N.C. UCI, making only its second appearance in the sectional championship, edged USC in the semifinals in a super-tiebreaker. UC Irvine then split the men’s and women’s doubles matches with UCLA, but the UCLA team won both the singles matches to capture the victory.

They know they have game. Now, they'll see how their game measures up to the top junior tennis players in the country. Four Corona del Mar High tennis players will be playing this weekend in the USTA National Championships, held at various sites around the country. The Sea Kings' Fabian Matthews and Chris Damion are headed to Michigan. Meanwhile, CdM's Melissa Matsuoka and Hailey Hogan will be in San Diego, along with Newport Coast's Jungyeun Lee. In addition, Costa Mesa resident Nelly Radeva and Newport Beach's Ali Walters will be in the girls' 18 National Championships in Berkeley.

javascript:OpenNewsysWindow('import:edit', 'id=dpt-gtennis15', 600, 570) Two locals in top three at USTA event|TENNIS:... Corona del Mar resident Cierra Gaytan-Leach continued her impressive summer, finishing second in girls' 16 doubles at the United States Tennis Assn. national hardcourt championships completed Sunday in San Diego. Gaytan-Leach, paired with Tayler Davis from San Jose as the No. 2 seed, fell in the title match, 6-1, 6-2, to No. 4-seeded Lauren Embree from Marco Island, Fla. and Rachel Saiontz from Miami, Fla. Cosa Mesa resident Nelly Radeva, playing with Sarah Guzick from Greer, S.C., finished third in the girls' 16 doubles.

Four local teens and two teams advance to quarterfinal matches at tourneys in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.A quartet of local singles players and one doubles team are still alive as play continues in a pair of United States Tennis Assn. National Open tournaments in the area. Newport Beach's Fabian Matthews, Costa Mesa's Christopher Freeman, Newport Beach's Melissa Matsuoka, Corona del Mar's Cierra Gaytan-Leach and the duo of Gaytan-Leach and Newport Beach's Hailey Hogan advanced to quarterfinal matches today.

tennis tourney at Cost MesaThree locals are scheduled to play in holiday weekend tournament at Costa Mesa Tennis Center.The United States Tennis Assn. National Girls 16 Open will be held at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center, starting today through Monday. The tournament will feature 64 of the top girls under-16 from across the country. The first two rounds of singles play will begin today at 8 a.m. Doubles competition starts Friday at noon. The Newport-Mesa area will be well represented in the tournament.