Di Giulio resilient in victory

Steve Virgen

Point after point, deuce after deuce, there seemed to be no way

9-year-old Joseph Di Giulio would let his chance at a tournament

title and the top ranking in Southern California slip away Friday.

Even after losing the first set, 6-4, when he had been up, 4-0, Di

Giulio weathered the storming comeback by 10-year-old Alexios

Halebian. Even after being down, 5-3, in the second set, Di Giulio

concentrated on victory.

Di Giulio, a Newport Coast resident, collected, perhaps, the

biggest victory in his young, promising career, defeating Halebian,

4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-1, to win the boys 10s singles title in the 102nd

Southern California Tennis Association junior sectional championships

at the Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club.

The match lasted three hours.

Also, Newport Beach resident Oscar Matthews advanced to today’s

1:30 p.m. boys 14s final by defeating Andre Dome of Arroyo Grande,

6-0, 6-4.

“That was a tough match,” said Di Giulio (pronounced De-ju-lee-o),

who is left-handed, but can also play with his right. “I didn’t want

to give up in the second set. I knew I just had to stay calm and keep

playing hard. I just concentrated on winning that second set.”

With the victory, Di Giulio, who was the No. 2 seed, will be

ranked No. 1 in boys 10s singles in Southern California. Halebian was

the No. 3 seed who defeated top-seeded Jonathan Huang of Santa Ana,

2-6, 6-4, 6-4, Thursday to reach the final.

Halebian, who, at times, appeared frustrated with his play,

bounced back from an 0-4 deficit in the first set, by correcting his

errors and capitalizing on Di Giulio’s. On the strength of his

first-set victory, it seemed as if Halebian would ride his momentum

to win the championship.

However, Di Giulio answered with a comeback of his own. Down, 5-3,

in the second set, Di Giulio won 10 of the final 12 games to become

the champion.

When he was on the verge of losing, Di Giulio’s mother, April, was

making plans for a post-match dinner. Di Giulio’s father, Paul, was

telling his friends he was planning to throw away the

video-camera-tape copy of the match.

In the end, Di Giulio was photographed, smiling with the

championship trophy. He said he was excited to play in such a

thrilling match.

The match included some lengthy encounters. In the second game of

the first set, Di Giulio won after four deuces.

In the fifth game of the second set, Halebian won after three

deuces to go up, 3-2. Di Giulio eventually won the match, but

Halebian went down swinging.

Halebian survived three match points before Di Giulio won a rally

after a fourth deuce to break Halebian’s serve and win, 6-1.

Di Giulio turned 9 June 16. He usually trains at Palisades Tennis

Club. Last year, he reached the round of 16 in the boys 10s at the

junior sectionals. He will compete in the boys 12s in the Santa Ana

junior tournament Tuesday.

While Di Giulio battled to gain his win, Matthews did the

opposite, as he had little trouble in his semifinal victory.

Matthews, the No. 4 seed, said he used an effective forehand and

first serve to collect the win over the No. 5-seeded Dome. In the

final, Matthews will face top-seeded Danny Moss, a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3

winner over Bradley Klahn of Poway.

Matthews, who won the boys 12s title in the junior sectional

championships in 2002, will be freshman in the fall. He said he has

not decided his high school, which will be either Corona del Mar,

Mater Dei or Newport Harbor. Corona del Mar boys tennis coach Tim

Mang watched Matthews’ semifinal victory. Matthews lives on Lido

Isle. He won the boys 14s title in the Quicksilver tournament last

month and has maintained his rhythm in the junior sectionals.

“My confidence is pretty high right now,” he said. “I’m going to

try my best to take two in a row.”

In other matches at the junior sectional championships:

Newport Beach resident Kaes Van’t Hof, who was upset in Thursday’s

quarterfinals, lost to Laguna Niguel’s Lee Singer, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, in

the semifinals of the quarterfinal playoff also known as the back

draw of the boys 18s.

Jake Fleming, who will be a sophomore at Newport Harbor in the

fall, lost his back-draw match, 6-3, 6-4, to Steve Johnson of Orange

in boys 16s.

Also in a boys 16s round of 16 playoff quarterfinal match, Wesley

Burrows of Costa Mesa defeated Jonathan Sanchez of Fullerton by

default (injury). Burrows lost his next match, 6-0, 6-2 to Jared

Drucker of Northridge.