Locals grind it out at Lakewood pro tennis event

LAKEWOOD —  As the late afternoon sun beat down from overhead, Newport Beach native Max McKennon limped to the service line in obvious pain.

McKennon was the victim of unfortunate timing late in his opening round match at the Lakewood Southern California Pro Series ITF event on Wednesday.

He started to cramp at 5-5 in the third and final set against Noah Zamora. He somehow made it to a tiebreaker by bombing some serves, but clearly was not at his best.

Zamora, who just completed his sophomore year at UC Irvine, beat McKennon 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 in the battle of college tennis players.

McKennon, a lefty who won two qualifying matches earlier in the week to make it to Wednesday’s main draw, just finished his junior year at Arizona State.

After the match he was worked on by trainers in the medical tent, with the cramping still bothering him.

Max McKennon of Newport Beach pumps his fist after winning a game against Noah Zamora on Wednesday.

(James Carbone)

Laguna Beach native Kelly Keller beat Corona del Mar High alumna Danielle Willson in the first round of the women’s event at Lakewood, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), earlier Wednesday.

Keller and Willson are now both 23 years old. Keller, who has been studying public relations and advertising, finished up her senior season at Arkansas this year but said she plans to return to pursue a Master’s degree and also continue playing tennis.

She led Willson 5-2 in the second set before Willson battled back to force the tiebreaker.

Laguna Beach native Kelly Keller returns a serve against Danielle Willson of Newport Beach during Wednesday’s match.

(James Carbone)

“She’s a super-good competitor,” said Keller, adding that she trained with Willson as recently as a couple of weeks ago. “I knew it wasn’t going to be over until the last point. It was a good match.”

Keller will play Taylor Cataldi in the second round Thursday at 10 a.m.

Willson, meanwhile, graduated from USC and earned a Master’s degree in accounting from Ohio State this spring.

She said she rekindled some of her love for tennis while playing with the Buckeyes. Back home in Newport Beach now, she said she hits sometimes with her former CdM tennis coach Jamie Gresh.

Danielle Willson of Newport Beach hits a backhand against Kelly Keller of Laguna Beach during Wednesday’s opening round match.

(James Carbone)

She got to the quarterfinals at last week’s SoCal Pro Series event in Irvine. At Lakewood, Willson is still alive in doubles, and will play with Madeline Atway in a quarterfinal match on Thursday.

“I’m going to give tennis a go for a year, plus or minus, and see how it goes,” Willson said. “If it goes really well, I’ll keep playing. If I’m able to keep playing, then I might as well, because I really love tennis.”