Ailing Shoulder Can’t Stop Bayani

Bernadette Bayani sat in a chair holding a bottle of ice on her right shoulder.

It’s been sore for a month. And her father fears it might be serious.

But youth is on her side. Not to mention talent.

The Simi Valley teen upset top-seeded Natalie Mikolich, 6-2, 6-3, Saturday in the semifinals of the girls’ 16-and-under division in the Southern California Junior Tennis Championships.

Bayani, seeded fourth, made it look easy, as she overwhelmed her opponent from San Diego with a steady diet of baseline winners and pinpoint approach shots at the Los Caballeros Sports Village.

“I feel pretty happy,” said Bayani, 14. “I have a lot of tenderness in my shoulder.

“But I know if I can win tomorrow I can take some time off and rest and spend some time with my friends. But if I don’t, I’ll have to continue playing.”

Bayani will face second-seeded Tiffany Brymer of Apple Valley at noon in today’s final. Brymer defeated Shervin Saedinia, 6-2, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

“She’s a good player,” Bayani said. “She can hit volleys. [Today] could be anybody’s match.”

Bayani seemed unaffected by her ailing shoulder against Mikolich. Her first serve was powerful and her ground strokes were crisp and decisive. She put on a clinic.

“I shouldn’t have lost to her,” Mikolich said. “I didn’t play my game. I didn’t control the person and move her around and set up the volley.”

Bayani did. And far too often Mikolich was late getting to balls and unable to set up her shots properly.

After Mikolich broke Bayani’s serve to lead, 1-0, in the first set, Bayani returned the favor. Bayani went on to break Mikolich four times in the set and seven times in the match.

While Bayani maintained her eye-of-the-hurricane calmness, Mikolich let out a shriek upon losing her serve for the fourth time to end the first set.

Mikolich made a bid to get back into the match in the second set when she broke Bayani’s serve to trail, 2-1. But the effort was exhausting. It took 19 points to win the game.

When Mikolich took over the serve, Bayani broke back at 15-40. Bayani was broken again to make it 3-2, missing an open volley. But then she attacked Mikolich’s serve again, winning four consecutive points for another break.

Bayani held her next two serves to close it out.

It ended in appropriate fashion. Mikolich was on the run, trying to keep up with Bayani’s deep, corner-to-corner ground strokes. Bayani moved in and spanked a forehand down the line to Mikolich’s forehand side for a winner.

“At first I just wanted to keep the ball in,” Bayani said. “But once I got ahead, I wanted to get her as far off the court as I could.

“I’ve seen Natalie play a lot better. I knew if I got to Natalie in this tournament I had to play well.”

Mikolich blamed herself for not being patient and going for winners too early, which often resulted in wild shots.

“It was two balls and the point was over,” Mikolich said. “I was standing. . . didn’t know where to go. . . wasn’t moving. . . .”

Both Bayani and Mikolich are 14 and started playing in the 16-and-under division last year.

Bayani, who started playing tennis at 7, was ranked in the top-10 of 12s in 1994 and 14s in 1996, but she dropped to No. 18 last year as she made the jump to 16s and still tougher competition.

This is her first appearance in a final since 1992, when she beat Jessica Roland in two sets for the 10-and-under title.

“That was my best year,” Bayani said. “After that I went down. The competition was tougher and there were more rounds to play. There was more pressure and more good players.”

Plus there were injuries. A stress fracture in her right wrist sidelined Bayani for several months. She has had problems with her right knee and various other minor injuries. All of them went away with rest.

Now she hopes her shoulder will hold out long enough to win today and make a strong showing in the national tournament in San Diego in August.

“On my serve, it’s bugging me right now,” she said.

Nestor Bayani, Bernadette’s father, is optimistic.

“Looks like it’s a rotator cuff,” he said. “But when she has an injury, I pretty much know what to do. Rest.”