Ma subdued, Jackson 'excited' after winning Sectionals

Second-seeded Connie Ma, left, beat fifth-seeded Katherine
Duong 6-2, 6-4 for the girls 18 title in the NorCal Junior Fall
Singles Sectional Championships. Photo by Paul Bauman

   FOLSOM, Calif. -- Connie Ma didn't so much as pump a fist after winning the girls 18 title in the NorCal Junior Fall Singles Sectional Championships.
   The tiny 15-year-old's subdued reaction today was understandable, considering that she excelled in low-level professional tournaments over the summer and helped the United States win the Junior Fed Cup in Budapest, Hungary, in late September.
   In comparison, Ma's march to the NorCal title was easy.
   "Maybe, but the competition was still pretty good from the quarters until the final," the second-seeded Ma, only 5-foot-3 (1.60 meters) and 95 pounds (43.1 kilograms), said diplomatically after beating fifth-seeded Katherine Duong 6-2, 6-4 in a matchup of San Francisco Bay Area players at the Broadstone Racquet Club. "The last set of the final was pretty tight."
   That was the only time in the tournament that Ma lost as many as four games in a set. She dismissed fifth-seeded Vivian Ovrootsky, ranked fifth nationally in the 14s, 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and fourth-seeded Amber Marie Lee 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.
   In contrast to Ma, winning the Sectional boys 18 title for the fourth consecutive time (in the summer and fall) was a big deal for Ryder Jackson. The second-seeded Jackson, a 17-year-old resident of Nicasio in the Bay Area, downed ninth-seeded Luke Casper, 15, of Santa Cruz 6-2, 6-4 in the final.
   "I think this is my last one, so I'm real excited to go out on top and play as well as I could," said Jackson, who will head to USC next year. "It's a lot of pressure to deal with because everybody wants to beat you. To handle the pressure and play as well as I did, I'm really happy about that."
   Casper, ranked 16th nationally in the 16s, sprained his left ankle when Jackson wrong-footed him while serving at 3-4, 30-15 in the second set. Casper favored the ankle the rest of the way.

Second-seeded Ryder Jackson, left, downed ninth-seeded
Luke Casper 6-2, 6-4 for his fourth consecutive NorCal
Sectional boys 18 title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Ma, from Dublin, reached the quarterfinals of a $25,000 hardcourt tournament in Baton Rouge, La., as a qualifier in June, stunning then-No. 373 Emiliana Arango of Colombia in the first round of the main draw.
   Ma then qualified for the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge before losing in the first round to eighth-seeded Mayo Hibi, then ranked No. 187, advanced to the final of a $15,000 event in Evansville, Ind., and won the Evansville doubles title.
   So why play in the NorCal Sectionals?
   "To keep playing tournaments," Ma explained. "I need to work on match play and get a feel for competing still."
   Duong, from Cupertino, almost had to hit a perfect shot to win a point against Ma. Sometimes, even that wasn't enough. Ma generally kept the ball in play until Duong, ranked third in the 16s and fifth in the 18s in Northern California, made a mistake.
   "Connie is probably one of the best movers out there, so it's really hard to hit winners against her," said the 16-year-old Duong, who eliminated top-seeded Ashley Yeah in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Klara Kosan in the semifinals. "She's also really consistent, so you have to out-rally her, which is one of the hardest things to do as a tennis player. That's what makes her one of the best players in the nation."
   Jackson also did not lose a set in the tournament, although third-seeded Daniel Baturyn of San Leandro extended him to a tiebreaker in the semifinals.
   The 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Jackson overpowered the 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Casper in the first set, but Casper worked his way back into the match in the second set before his injury.
   "His serve was way more consistent than mine, and he got more balls back," lamented Casper, who demolished top-seeded Aryan Chaudhary 6-0, 6-1 in the round of 16.
   Third-seeded Brian Chong and fifth-seeded Rhea Rai, both of Cupertino, won the boys and girls 16 titles, respectively.
   Chong outlasted top-seeded Brian Bilsey of Belmont 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, and Rai beat unseeded Maryia Hrynashka of Rancho Cordova 6-4, 6-4.

A. Zamarripa, Quan stay hot in Winter Nationals

   Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena in the Napa area and Rudy Quan of Roseville in the Sacramento region continued their remarkable runs in the USTA National Winter Championships today.
   Zamarripa upset a seed for the fourth time to reach the girls 16 semifinals in Orlando, Fla. Quan, seeded seventh in the boys 12s, throttled top-seeded Nicholas Mangiapane of Davidson, N.C., 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals in Tucson, Ariz. Quan has lost only seven games in his five matches.
   Zamarripa ousted No. 11 Carmen Corley of Albuquerque, N.M., 6-4, 6-2 in the hard-court tournament. Zamarripa also knocked off No. 4 Anessa Lee of San Marino in the Los Angeles region in the first round, No. 17 Allison Zipoli of Winnetka, Ill., in the third round and No. 13 Katja Wiersholm of Kirkland, Wash., in the fourth round.
   Zamarripa will take on No. 1 Gianna Pielet of El Paso, Texas. Pielet held off No. 10 Rosie Garcia Gross of New York 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 after edging Leyden Games of Newport Beach 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the fourth round.
   Fourth-seeded Allura and Maribella Zamarripa lost to top-seeded Corley and Pielet 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles semis.
   Meanwhile, No. 7 Priya Nelson of Sacramento and No. 10 Anushka Khune of Palo Alto advanced to the girls 14 semis in Tucson, but No. 14 Tomi Main of Seaside in the Monterey area lost.
   Nelson beat No. 17 Nevena Carton of Middletown, N.J., 7-5, 6-2, and Khune outclassed Emma Baker of Chicago 6-2, 6-3. Khune has not lost a set in her five matches.
   Midori Castillo, from the San Diego suburb of Bonita, dominated Main 6-1, 6-3 to prevent an all-Northern California matchup against Khune.
   In the boys 14 quarterfinals in Tucson, No. 3 Samir Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J., downed No. 14 Brian Chong of Cupertino (near San Jose) 6-3, 7-5.

Miller saves match point, wins NorCal Junior title

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Saving a match point, top-seeded Alaina Miller of Saratoga edged second-seeded Rachel Chong of Danville 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) today for the girls 18 singles title in the NorCal Junior Excellence tournament at the Rio Del Oro Racquet Club.
   Miller double-faulted to trail 6-5 in the tiebreaker. But the 15-year-old, who slugs the ball with two fists on both sides, pulled even with an inside-out forehand after a long rally.
   Miller, ranked fifth nationally in the 16s, won the next point with another inside-out forehand and closed out the match when Chong, 17, netted a forehand return of a soft first serve.
   Fourth-seeded Adrian Chamdani of Santa Clara won the boys 18 singles title when unseeded Andrew Gu of El Cerrito retired with a sore elbow while trailing 6-3, 4-1.
   Gu was coming off a long 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Cameron Klinger of Elk Grove on Saturday.
   It was the third injury-related victory of the tournament for Chamdani, a hard hitter with a sensational one-handed backhand. Riley Scott of Salinas retired while trailing 6-3, 4-2 in the second round, and top-seeded J.T. Nishimura of San Jose defaulted in the semifinals with a back problem. Nishimura is headed to Cal in the fall.
   In addition to Klinger, Gu knocked off the No. 3 and No. 5 seeds. A win over Chamdani would have made it No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 for Gu, who has verbally committed to Santa Clara.
   Please see below for results of the singles and doubles finals in all age groups.
   USTA 30 Indoors -- Top-seeded Clayton Almeida of West Palm Beach, Fla., outlasted unseeded Brett Van Linge of San Luis Obispo 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the men's singles final of the USTA National Men's, Women's & Mixed 30 Indoor Championships at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center in the Sacramento suburb of Gold River.
   Almeida, 33, will play second-seeded Jan Tiilikainen of Reno for the title on Monday at 9 a.m. Tiilikainen, a four-time champion at 42, dominated third-seeded Michael Kwong of Woodland 6-1, 6-2.
   Heather Nobler of Lincoln, Neb., improved to 2-0 in women's round-robin singles with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Amy McCampbell (0-2) of Austin, Texas. In the other match, Marisue Jacutin-Mariona of Los Altos (1-1) defeated Petra Wallace (1-1) of Sacramento 6-3, 6-1.
   Play concludes on Monday at 9 a.m. with Nobler facing Wallace and Jacutin-Mariona meeting McCampbell.

NORCAL JUNIOR EXCELLENCE

At Rio Del Oro Racquet Club in Sacramento, Calif.

Finals

Boys singles

   18 -- Adrian Chamdani (4), Santa Clara, def. Andrew Gu, El Cerrito, 6-3, 4-1, retired. 
   16 -- Victor Pham (2), Saratoga, def. Conrad Russell (3), Palo Alto, 6-2, 6-2. 
   14 -- Jenson Brooksby (1), Sacramento, def. Stevie Gould (2), Corte Madera, 6-0, 6-2. 

   12 -- Stefan Leustian (2), Mather, def. Alex Lin (5), Granite Bay, 6-1, 7-6 (4). 

Girls singles

   18 -- Alaina Miller (1), Saratoga, def. Rachel Chong (2), Danville, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6). 
   16 -- Jillian Taggart, Fair Oaks, def. Niluka Madurawe, Sunnyvale, 6-4, 6-2.
   14 -- Katie Volynets (1), Walnut Creek, def. Stephanie Nguyen (5), Fremont, 6-1, 6-2.
   12 -- Muskan Mahajan (2), San Ramon, def. Azaria Hayes (1), Pinole, 1-6, 6-1 [10-4].

Boys doubles

   18 -- Adrian Chamdani, Santa Clara, and Andrew Gu (3), El Cerrito, def. Zachary Hewlin, Los Gatos, and Everett Maltby (1), Sunnyvale, 8-6.
   16 -- Joseph Conlin, Alameda, and Jayson Fung (1), San Francisco, def. Daly Meinert, Fresno, and Conrad Russell, Palo Alto, 8-2.
   14 -- Jenson Brooksby, Sacramento, and Aditya Singh (2), Cupertino, def. Scott Bout, Los Gatos, and Dean Stratakos (4), Saratoga, 8-3.
   12 -- Stefan Leustian, Mather, and Aidan Mayo (1), Roseville, def. Mason Fung, San Francisco, and Jason Holland-Morrison (2), Elk Grove, 8-6.

Girls doubles

   18 -- Paige Cline, Kentfield, and Darya Possokhova (3), San Francisco, def. Kristy Jorgensen, San Carlos, and Vanessa Nommensen (1), San Jose, 8-5.
   16 -- Jillian Taggart, Fair Oaks, and Elena Van Linge, Menlo Park, def. Carina Burdick, Los Altos, and Christine McCarthy (3), Menlo Park, 8-3.
   14 -- Nadia Ghaffari, Los Altos, and Jenna Schlatter (1), Saint Helena, def. Stephanie Nguyen, Fremont, and Julia Pham (2), Los Altos Hills, 8-6.
   12 -- Katherine Duong, Cupertino, and Molly Heber (1), Mill Valley, def. Azaria Hayes, Pinole, and Angela Huang (2), Piedmont, 8-4.