Tennis: Willson wins opener

Danielle Willson trains at Dent Tennis Academy, and the teacher watched the student on Wednesday afternoon at Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Taylor Dent, the former Corona del Mar High standout and tennis professional, saw Willson try to close out her girls’ 18 singles round-of-64 match at the 114th annual Southern California Junior Sectionals tournament. Willson, who will be a junior at CdM, couldn’t do it the first time. Her serve was broken at 5-4 in the second set by Frances Cornwall of Poway.

“Buckle up,” Dent said at the time.

Willson did, however, stick the landing. She immediately broke back and went on to the 6-1, 7-5 victory over Cornwall to move on in the main draw. Willson will play No. 5-seeded Julia Haynes of San Diego in the round of 32 on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club.

Willson said she’s happy to be back at Los Cab, where she practices at the Dent Academy. She earned the chance by beating Cornwall, to whom she had actually lost in a tight three-set match last year.

“I think it was just hard for me back then with ‘pushers,’” said Willson, who was more aggressive Wednesday. “I think I’m getting the hang of coming in and attacking more, which I needed to do to beat her. I did that really well in the first set today, but then my forehand got a little shaky in the second, and I started to be a little bit less consistent.”

The second set was on serve until Willson earned the break late, one of three straight breaks of serve. The third one allowed Willson to earn a 6-5 lead, and this time she was able to serve out the set.

“I was just focusing on trying to be positive,” she said. “I knew that if my emotions took over that it would be maybe a third set, and I didn’t really want that.”

Willson’s CdM teammate, senior-to-be Jasie Dunk, fell to No. 9-seeded Riley McQuaid of Tustin, 6-0, 6-3, in another round-of-64 match Wednesday. Willson stayed around to see who should we be facing in the next round, and she watched Haynes finish off a 6-0, 6-4 win over her friend, Katherine Nguyen of Fountain Valley.

Willson said she has lost to Haynes twice in recent months, so Wednesday’s match will be a challenge. But she is happy with her progress. Last year at Junior Sectionals, she failed to make it out of qualifying.

“For sure, it’s a difficult tournament and really good competition,” Willson said. “[Haynes] gets a lot of balls back. If I stick to my game plan and execute it, I think I have a good chance.”

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Other main-draw winners Wednesday included two other locals in the girls’ 18s: Parris Todd and Mackenzie Worsnop of Newport Beach. Todd, the No. 9 seed, got past Lola Gorbacheva of Los Angeles, 6-0, 6-0, and will play Rena Lin of Northridge in the round of 32 on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Los Cab. Worsnop topped Dominique Stone of North Hollywood, 6-2, 6-3, and plays No. 5-seeded Hannah Zhao of San Diego in the round of 32 at the same time and venue.

In girls’ 14 singles, No. 5-seeded Maxi Duncan of Costa Mesa topped Sofia Lazzaroni of Encino, 6-0, 6-1. Duncan has also already earned a default victory in the round of 32. She’ll play in the round of 16 on Friday at 11 a.m. at Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Also in girls’ 14 singles, No. 9-seeded Leyden Games of Newport Beach beat Allison Isaacs of Dana Point, 6-1, 6-1. Games will play Taylor Cataldi of Corona in the round of 32 on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Seal Beach Tennis Center.

On the boys’ side, No. 5-seeded Austin Di Giulio of Newport Beach beat Michael Vergara of Huntington Beach, 6-1, 6-3, in a boys’ 16 singles round-of-64 match. Di Giulio plays Alex Scemanenco of Cardiff in the round of 32 at 11 a.m. Thursday at La Habra Tennis Center.

In the same age division, No. 9-seeded Andre Saleh of Newport Beach beat Daniel Dulay of Chula Vista, 6-3, 6-2. Saleh will face David Arkow of Los Angeles in the round of 32, also at 11 a.m. in La Habra.