Tennis: Fleming takes boys 14 title at War by the Shore

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - Talk about carrying momentum over from one match to

the next.

Newport Beach’s Jake Fleming, fresh off a hard-fought, three-set

semifinal victory over top-seeded Clifford Yook, won the boys 14 singles

title at the War by the Shore Junior Tennis Classic with a convincing,

6-0, 6-1 win over Leland Buttle Friday morning.

“This was the first time I’ve won a tournament while playing up in

age,” Fleming said. “Today was one of the best matches I’ve ever played.”

Against Buttle, Fleming, seeded third in the tournament, used a wide

variety of shots and carried his positive mojo from Thursday’s semifinal

win into Friday’s final.

“My coach has been working with me on hitting balls deeper and that

worked very well for me,” Fleming said. “Today’s match was a lot closer

than the score indicated. There were a ton of 40-30 games and deuce games

that I had to grind out. My serve helped me a lot out there.”

In Thursday’s semifinal against Yook, Fleming overcame a first-set

loss to rally for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over the Garden Grove standout.

“He’s one of the hardest hitting players I’ve ever faced,” Fleming

said. “When you play someone bigger or stronger than you, my coach tells

me to outsmart them. Force them to play into your style of game and

fortunately, I was able to do that.”

The soon-to-be seventh-grader also said he likes to wait for the short

ball to come his way before making his move. “That’s my game,” he said.

In other action, second-seeded Charlie Alvarado ran into a buzz saw in

the form of Hacienda Heights standout Brian Fang.

The top-seeded Fang made few mistakes and pulled out a 6-0, 6-2 win

over Alvarado in the boys 10 singles final.

For Alvarado, it was a solid tournament, overcoming a near upset at

the hands of Newport Beach’s Daron Arnold in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 6-4,

6-4. From there, he defeated third-seeded Charlie Corum of Costa Mesa,

6-2, 6-0 before running to Fang.

Alvarado shook off the tough first set with a strong showing early in

the second set. He fought off a break point to pull out his serving game

to tie the score at 1-1 in the second set.

After Fang broke Alvarado’s serve, the Costa Mesa native battled back

to fight off two break points and prolong the match with a solid

all-around game, cutting the deficit to, 4-2.

But it was too little, too late as Fang pulled out the final two games

and the match.

In boys 12 singles action, second-seeded Ryan Coughren of Newport

Beach lost to Quoc Doan of Garden Grove, 6-0, 7-6. Coughren had won four

straight sets coming into the final, but the top-seeded Doan was just too

tough.