Swing into Costa Mesa

Rick Devereux

The heat of summer signifies the start of the junior tennis

tournaments. On the heels of the War by the Shore junior tennis

tournament at Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club, which finished play

Friday, the 13th annual Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic opens play

today at both the Costa Mesa Tennis Center and Orange Coast College.

Several locals are high seeds in their respective divisions and

carry lofty expectations.

Corona del Mar resident Christopher Damion is the top seed in boys

14s singles and Newport Beach resident Melissa Matsuoka is the No. 1

seed in girls 14s singles. Matsuoka advanced to the semifinals of the

girls 14s singles and finals of the girls 14s doubles at the War by

the Shore.

Corona del Mar High freshman-to-be Parker Rhodes is the No. 2 seed

in boys 16s singles. Rhodes advanced to the boys 14s singles

semifinals at last year’s Summer Classic and was the runner-up in

boys 16s singles in the War by the Shore last week, where he teamed

with Jason Lin of Irvine to win the boys 16s doubles title.

Three locals are the No. 3 seed in their divisions. Costa Mesa’s

James Zillman (boys 10s singles), Newport Beach’s Michelle Atkins

(girls 16s singles) and Newport Coast’s Elika Fateri (girls 12s

singles) all are the No. 3 seed.

Sarah Criag from Newport Beach is the No. 4 seed in girls 12s

singles and Hailey Hogan from Newport Beach is the No. 5 seed in

girls 14s singles.

Other locals include: CdM’s Jonathan Kroopf and Newport Coast’s

Ara Demirjian, both in boys 18s singles; CdM’s Omeed Ghassemi, Costa

Mesa’s Bradley Fisher , and Newport Beach’s Ryan Peyton and Henri

Chomeau (all in boys 16s singles); Newport Coast’s Eric Wright and

Erik Mutzke, Newport Beach’s C.J. Chomeau, Ryan Peyton and Erik

Heimstaedt (boys 14s singles); CdM’s Hayden Tremper and Newport

Beach’s Brecht Van’t Hof and Christian Ball (boys 12s singles); Costa

Mesa’s Dante Saleh (boys 10s singles); CdM’s Katie McKitterick, Costa

Mesa’s Evelyn Wallace and Shauna Durbin, and Newport Beach’s

Brittanny Sturgess, Roxanne Kaiden, Jillian Braverman and Carly Adams

(girls 18s singles); CdM’s Elyse Murphy, Rachel Cox, Kelly

McKitterick and Anne Russell, and Newport Beach’s Emily Gelbaum,

Brittany Sowers, Whitney Griffith, Avalon Sigalos, Elizabeth Van’t

Hof and Christina Schwartz (girls 16s singles); Costa Mesa’s

Elizabeth Cramer, CdM’s Neda Ghassemi, and Newport Beach’s Natalie

Small, Nicole Wagner, Danielle Kaiden, Ariana Cernius, Lexy Longman,

Christina Cooley, Karen Ishii and Megan Chomeau (girls 14s singles);

and Newport Beach’s Kristi Kawabe (girls 12s singles).