THE TIMES’ ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : BOYS’ TENNIS : Roditi Decides to Stick Around, Court Success

SAN CLEMENTE —  David Roditi came to the United States from Mexico three years ago, thinking that he would stay for just a short time.

Roditi, a San Clemente High School junior who first visited California when he was 10, wanted to accomplish two things: play tennis in the States and learn more about the country.

“I came here in the summer of ‘88,” said Roditi, The Times’ boys’ tennis player of the year. “Back then, there was a lot more competition in tennis here, but my main purpose was to see what it was like here.”

That summer, Roditi, who has dual citizenship, traveled from Guadalajara, Mexico, to Southern California. He came from his native country to live with club Coach Bob Clauson, who first met the young man four years earlier when he played in a junior tournament in Newport Beach. Then, Clauson made an offer to Roditi’s parents to train their son and become his legal guardian. Four years later, Roditi decided to take the offer.

“I came over by myself,” said Roditi, who was dropped off at Clauson’s Orange County door step by his aunt and uncle, who live in Los Angeles.

Clauson said Roditi was a sight when he first saw him again.

“He showed up in a car--he’d just come from Palm Springs where it was a 100 degrees,” Clauson said. “He was asleep in the car and it looked like he just came out of a knapsack.”

The two headed straight for the tennis courts, where Clauson started work on changing Roditi’s forehand and backhand and converting him from a two-fisted to a one-handed grip. Roditi now lives in San Clemente with his parents, who moved to the United States in June, 1990.

This year, Roditi finished the season with a 53--3 record, not including his performances at the Ojai Tournament in late April.

Roditi reached the interscholastic championship at Ojai, losing to Santa Barbara’s Peter Jeschke, who is ranked first in the boys’ 18s by the Southern California Tennis Assn. Jeschke won, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

In the semifinals, Roditi defeated Adam Peterson of Mater Dei, who was the No. 1-seeded player, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, in a match that lasted more than three hours.

In early May, Roditi won the South Coast League individual championship. In the Southern Section individual tournament, Roditi reached the second round, where he lost to Pasadena’s David Murphy, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Roditi was serving for the match at 6-3, 5-2, when Murphy got back into it.

In team competition, Roditi led San Clemente to the second round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs, where the Tritons lost to Beverly Hills, 10-8, on May 17.

Roditi, who played his freshman year at Dana Hills before transferring to San Clemente, is 5 feet 5 and weighs 140 pounds. He makes up for his lack of size with desire and talent.

San Clemente Coach Rob Hogrefe says one key to Roditi’s success is his repertoire of shots.

“Of all the players in high school that I’ve seen, he’s the most entertaining,” Hogrefe said. “He’s an unbelievable showman. He’s got shots I’ve never seen anybody hit before and he always has opponents off-balance.”

Times’ All-County Boys’ Tennis

FIRST-TEAM SINGLES Player: Kurt Bruggeman School: Dana Hills Year: Senior Comment: Reached the Southern Section individual quarterfinals where he was defeated by top-seeded Peter Jeschke of Santa Barbara. Player: Joey Frantz School: University Year: Senior Comment: Led his team to the 4-A championship, where it was defeated by Santa Barbara, 14-4; Sea View League champion. Player: David Roditi School: San Clemente Year: Junior Comment: Competed in Ojai tennis tournament final, where he lost to Jeschke; South Coast League champion. FIRST-TEAM DOUBLES School: Corona del Mar Player: Trenton Rhodes Year: Sophmore Player: Brian Walden Year: Sophmore Comment: Youngest doubles team that reached the Southern Section championship, where it was defeated by Ventura’s Alex Lynch and Darren Potkey. School: Mission Viejo Player: Jeff Holroyd Year: Junior Player: Vince Cheng Year: Senior Comment: Reached Southern Section semifinal, where they were defeated by Lynch and Potkey. School: University Player: Steve Tze Year: Senior Player: Bryan Shapiro Year: Junior Comment: Advanced to Southern Section’s round of 16; Helped lead University to 4-A team final. SECOND-TEAM SINGLES

Player: David Bain School: Corona del Mar Year: Junior Comment: One of Orange County’s top players; reached Southern Section quarterfinals, where he was defeated by eventual winner Heath Montgomery of Santa Barbara. Player: Adam Peterson School: Mater Dei Year: Junior Comment: Top junior player, ranked No. 1 in the nation in 16s last year. He was 23-1 in Angelus League play and Ojai semifinalist. Player: Ben Stevens School: Dana Hills Year: Senior Comment: Led his team to the 4-A semifinals, where it was defeated by University. SECOND-TEAM DOUBLES

School: Dana Hills Player: Steen Lundblad Year: Junior Player: Todd Mueller Year: Senior Comment: Consistent doubles team; runner-up in South Coast League; swept sets against University in 4-A semifinal. School: Laguna Beach Player: Brad Buchsbaum Year: Junior Player: Bobby Nichols Year: Junior Comment: Were defeated in individual quarterfinals by Pasadena Poly’s Charlie Hoecker and Danny Polsby. School: Sunny Hills Player: Jon Messrah Year: Senior Player: Jason Nevadomsky Year: Sophmore Comment: Compiled record of 53-1; Helped Sunny Hills defeat San Marino in 3-A championship. Honorable mention: John Bowerbank (University), Mike Hammer (Esperanza), Steve Johnson (Valencia), Phillip Lim (La Quinta), Cameran Lindee (Loara), Ion Marinescu (Capistrano Valley), Jason Meyers (University), Ryan Muller (Capistrano Valley), Bach Nguyen (La Quinta), Davey Robbins (Sunny Hills), George Saba (Dana Hills), Eddie Weiss (Fountain Valley), Julian Zajfen (Laguna Beach).