Klinger wins battle of top Bay Area juniors for title

Cameron Klinger, right, defeated Lane Leschly to win the USTA
National Open boys 16s in Elk Grove. Photo by Paul Bauman

   ELK GROVE -- Cameron Klinger and Lane Leschly, nationally ranked 15-year-olds, live about 20 miles (32 kilometers) apart in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   So they've played each other since they were toddlers, right?
   Not exactly.
   Klinger and Leschly met for the first time Monday in the boys 16 singles final of the USTA National Open at the Laguna Creek Racquet Club.
   Klinger, ranked No. 34 in the 18s and No. 32 in the 16s, won the battle of hard-hitting baseliners 6-3, 7-5 for his second singles title in two weeks in the Sacramento area. He also took the 18s crown at the Rio del Oro Championships at the Rio del Oro Racquet Club in Sacramento. Leschly, ranked No. 23 in the 16s, breezed to the 16s title in that tournament.
   The best career results of both players came in the 14s of the USTA National Hardcourt Championships in San Antonio. Klinger swept the singles and doubles titles in 2011, and Leschly reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles final last summer.

Claire Liu, 12, left, beat Sarah Hu for the girls 16s title
in Elk Grove. Photo by Paul Bauman

   In Monday's girls 16 singles final, second-seeded Claire Liu routed third-seeded Sarah Hu of Oakland 6-0, 6-3. Liu, from Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles area, will turn 13 on May 25. She defeated CiCi Bellis of Atherton to win the 12s singles crown at the prestigious Orange Bowl in Coral Gables, Fla., in 2011.
   Klinger, from urban San Jose, is eight months older than Leschly, of wealthy Atherton near Stanford University. Klinger will turn 16 on Aug. 1; Leschly turned 15 on April 2. Also, Klinger has trained out of the area, according to Leschly's mother, Darcy. Klinger was not available after Monday's match. The players did team up in doubles in the USTA National Open, winning the title on Sunday.
   Both Klinger and Leschly possess strong serves and topspin groundstrokes and employ two-handed backhands. That's where the similarities end, though. Klinger, 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters), has more firepower than Leschly, 5-9 (1.75 meters), and is far more emotional on the court.
   After hitting winners, Klinger almost invariably pumped his fist. After breaking serve, he yelled "C'mon!" And after committing errors, he swatted the ball against the fence, dropped his racket in frustration or berated himself aloud.
   Leschly, meanwhile, remained stoic throughout the match. He even smiled after netting an easy overhead on match point. When is the last time you saw that?
   "I try to keep my composure on the court," Leschly, who knocked off top-seeded Kalman Boyd in the first round, explained afterward. "That's one of the main things my dad tells me. As long as I keep my composure, I feel it's a good match."
   Mark Leschly, a managing partner of a venture capital firm and Lane's coach, attended Monday's match with Darcy. Mark, the son of Danish Davis Cup veteran Jan Leschly, reached No. 22 in the college rankings as a Harvard junior in 1989 and briefly played professionally before a rotator cuff injury ended his career.
   Monday's match featured many long baseline rallies, and one game in the first set lasted 24 points. Leschly served for the second set at 5-4.
   "I thought we both played well (in the match)," Leschly said. "Cameron stepped it up and played a great game when I was serving at 5-4. He went up 40-0. Kudos to him."
   Leschly was coming off a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory over fifth-seeded Jonathan Li of Cupertino in the semifinals.
   "I was a bit sore in the morning, but it had no effect in the (final)," said Leschly, who was broken early in the first set. "I got loosened up and was fine. Cameron played better than me today."
  USTA National Open boys 14s in Alameda -- Third-seeded Sean Hill of Berkeley topped second-seeded Alafia Ayeni of San Diego 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 for the title at the Harbor Bay Club.
   National 30 Indoors in Gold River -- Top seeds Calle Hansen of Newbury Park in the Los Angeles area and Romana Tedjakusuma of Tracy retained their singles titles at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center.
   The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Hansen, a 33-year-old native of Sweden and former Pepperdine All-American, beat second seed and four-time champion Jan Tiilikainen of Reno 7-5, 6-2.
   The 5-foot-2 (1.57-meter) Tedjakusuma, a 36-year-old native of Indonesia, dominated Francesca LaO of Bellevue, Wash., 6-2, 6-0. Tedjakusuma peaked at No. 82 in the world at 17 in 1994 but later suffered burnout and quit to attend Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La.

OTHER FINALS

USTA National Open

At Laguna Creek Racquet Club in Elk Grove

Boys 16 doubles

   Cameron Klinger, San Jose, and Lane Leschly, Atherton, def. Andrew Gu, El Cerrito, and Jonathan Li (3), Cupertino, 8-3.

Girls 16 doubles

   Kelly Chen, Cerritos, and Claire Liu, Thousand Oaks, def. Jessica Livianu, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Ally McKenzie, Glendale, 8-2.

At Harbor Bay Club in Alameda

Boys 14 doubles

   Alafia Ayeni, San Diego, and Stefano Tsorotiotis (3), Libertyville, Ill., def. Nate Eazor, Dallas, and Kailas Shekar (4), Cupertino, 8-5.

National 30 Indoors

At Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center in Gold River

Men's doubles

   Calle Hansen, Newbury Park, and Sherif Zaher (1), Folsom, def. Ryan Sablan, Martinez, and Jeff Thomsen, Newport Beach, 6-3, 6-4.

Women's doubles

   Marisue Jacutin-Mariona, Los Altos, Romana Tedjakusuma (1), Tracy, def. Michelle Chapple, Rancho Murieta, and Isabella Kling (2), Orangevale, 6-1, 6-3.

Mixed doubles

   Tedjakusuma and Zaher (1) def. Sarah Ansboury, Portland, Ore., and Monty Basnyat, Sacramento, 6-1, 6-0.

Local players fall in National 30 finals

Calle Hansen beat Sherif  Zaher for the men's
singles title at the USTA National 30 Indoor
Championships in Gold River. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   It was a tough day for hometown players.
   Sherif Zaher and Kelly Wilson, both from the Sacramento area, won a combined five games Monday in the singles finals of the $10,000 USTA National 30 Indoor Championships at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center in Gold River.
   Zaher, seeded fifth in the men's draw, lost to No. 3 Calle Hansen of Newbury Park in the Los Angeles area 6-2, 6-1, and Wilson, the second-seeded woman, fell to No. 1 Romana Tedjakusuma of Tracy 6-1, 6-1. Each champion pocketed $1,000 and each runner-up $700.
   Zaher, a 5-foot-10 left-hander from Folsom, earned only one break point against Hansen, a 6-foot-5 right-hander. It came in the second game of the second set, and Hansen saved it with a backhand volley set up by a big serve. After the point, the frustrated Zaher cried, "He's 6-foot-20!"
  "He's a great all-around player," Zaher, a 33-year-old native of Cairo, Egypt, said after his first career match against Hansen. "He has good groundstrokes, a good volley and obviously a good serve. He does everything pretty good."
   Including play defense.
   "His court coverage is really good," marveled Zaher, the Big Sky Conference MVP in 2001 and 2002 at Sacramento State. "He made it hard for me to put the ball away."

Romana Tedjakusuma, left, receives a gold ball after beating
Kelly Wilson, background, in the women's singles final of
the National 30 Indoors for the second consecutive year.
Photo by Paul Bauman

  Hansen, a former All-American at Pepperdine, never came close to losing a set in four matches. His closest match was 6-3, 6-3 over top-seeded Jan Tiilikainen, the two-time defending champion and four-time winner, in the semifinals.
   "I've been playing super good the last three weeks," conceded Hansen, who reached No. 717 in the world in singles and No. 520 in doubles before knee surgery and financial considerations ended his brief professional career. "I've only played three tournaments in the last year. Three weeks ago, I played a local tournament (near Newbury Park) and beat two or three really good players. It was a good warmup for these players. When you're not playing as much, it's like you're more relaxed."
   Also, the 32-year-old native of Sweden was comfortable playing indoors.
   "I grew up playing indoors in Sweden," he noted. "I'm used to it. It fits my game. I serve well indoors. There's no sun, no wind and no sound. It's very clean hitting."
   Hansen, however, played in the tournament for the first time this year. He wanted to play on grass last year, so he entered the National 30 Grass Court Championships in Philadelphia. After winning it, he decided to play more national championships. Other than that, he said he's "too busy" as the co-director of tennis at the Westlake Tennis and Swim Club to play more tournaments.
  The women's final, a rematch of Tedjakusuma's 7-5, 6-2 victory for last year's title, was closer than the score indicated. Wilson engaged her opponent in many long rallies and games but tired in them after playing a 3 1/2-hour singles semifinal, plus women's doubles and mixed doubles, on Sunday.
   "Where I'd really feel it was when I'd get deep into the longer points," said Wilson, a 38-year-old teaching pro at the nearby Gold River Racquet Club formerly ranked in the top 200 in the world. "When I had some opportunities to convert defense to offense, I couldn't organize my feet enough. I didn't have the quickness to organize my shot."
   The 5-foot-2 Tedjakusuma, meanwhile, was fresh after winning 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals and made few errors.
   "I played solid groundstrokes and went for my shots, and it worked out," said the 35-year-old Indonesia native, whose parents live in Tracy.
   In 1994, Tedjakusuma reached the third round of the Australian Open and a career-high ranking of No. 82 at 17 years old. However, she abruptly left the tour to attend Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., for four years. She eventually returned to pro tennis only to find the sport increasingly dominated by tall, powerful players. Despite struggling, she said she doesn't regret going to college.
   "Not really. I didn't enjoy (the tour) anymore. I was kind of burned out," said Tedjakusuma, who plays full-time in the United States and is ranked No. 729. "Everybody always asks why I went to college when I was doing so well, but everyone makes their own decisions."
   Results of other finals in the National 30 Indoor Championships:
   Men's doubles -- Junaid Hossain, Sacramento, and Zaher (4) def. Amine Khaldi, Courtland, and Martin Rothfels (3), Gold River, 6-2, 6-2.
   Women's doubles -- Isabella Kling, Orangevale, and Wilson (2) def. Marisue Jacutin-Mariona, Los Altos, and Tedjakusuma (1), 7-6 (8), 1-6, 6-3.
   Mixed doubles --  Khaldi and Wilson (1) def. Elizabeth Seiverling, Portland, Ore., and Zaher, 7-6 (3), 6-3.