Southern California Junior Sectional Championships: Yelsey ready

for uphill battle

Steve Virgen

FOUNTAIN VALLEY - Anne Yelsey didn’t know she’s No. 1 in Southern

California girls’ 18 singles tennis. The Corona del Mar High standout,

who will be a senior in the fall, is too busy to check rankings. Besides,

she’s not concerned with them.

Nevertheless, Yelsey will put her No. 1 ranking on the line in the

100th Annual Southern California Junior Sectional Championships, which

features 68 players from the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa area and runs

through today to June 30.

The Junior Sectionals, the largest junior tennis tournament in the

U.S., will be headquartered at Los Caballeros Racquet Club in Fountain

Valley, and will be played at seven Orange County locations, including

the Costa Mesa Tennis Center. There are an estimated 1,700 players who

will be vying for Southern California championships in 12 divisions.

Since Yelsey did not play in any Southern California tournaments this

year, she can not be the No. 1 seed in the Junior Sectionals. She has to

win twice to get into the main draw. Lindsey Nelson (Orange) is the No. 1

seed. Yelsey will play Sunday at 8 a.m. against the winner of Rachel Nass

vs. Taylor Grant.

“I don’t check (rankings),” said Yelsey, who will also compete in

girls 18 doubles competition. “I don’t play in Southern California

tournaments. I’m ranked nationally because I play in a lot of national

tournaments, and I’ve been playing on the Satellite tour.”

Yelsey, who is ranked No. 31 in the USTA girls’ 18 singles, will team

up with Riza Zalameda (Beverly Hills High), who is ranked 39th. The duo

won the Junior Sectionals girls 18 doubles title last year.

They will defend their title as the No. 1 seed in the tournament and

will open with a bye. Yelsey and Zalameda begin play in the round of 16,

Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Los Caballeros. They will face the winner of

Kristin Bronowicki-Kristen Wilson vs. the Granada Hills tandem of Randi

Levine and Yuka Otaka.

Yelsey and Zalameda won the USTA Girls Super National Hard Court

Championships in San Diego last year. They also won the 16s national clay

court crown in Virginia Beach, Va., and finished second in the

prestigious Easter Bowl. The duo formed when a mutual partner was

injured.

Also, in the girls 18 doubles junior sectional tournament, Back Bay

counterparts have united. Recent graduates Kelly Nelson (Newport Harbor

High) and Brittany Minna (Corona del Mar) will play Tuesday at 2 p.m. at

Los Caballeros. In addition, CdM’s Brittany Holland is teamed up with

Christine Dao of Northridge, and they will play Monday at 2 at Los Cab.

The girls 18 singles field also includes recent Newport Harbor

graduate Natalie Braverman, a high school All-American who’s headed for

Pepperdine. Braverman is the sixth seed and will start in the round of

32, Tuesday at 11 a.m. Newport Harbor’s Krista McIntosh, Carmen Khoury,

along with Minna, Holland and CdM’s Taylynn Snyder are also among the

competition..

In the boys 18 doubles tournament, Sea Kings Issei Saida and Bryan

Warsaw have teamed up. The top-seeded team is Aaron Yovan and Daniel

Andrus.

In boys 16 singles action, Corona del Mar sophomore-to-be Carsten Ball

is seeded seventh. He will play Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the round of 32,

at the Neal Machander Tennis Center in Santa Ana. Kaes Van’t Hof (Mater

Dei High) of Newport Beach is seeded eighth and he plays at the same site

and time as Ball. Jonathan Sanchez of Fullerton is the No. 1 seed in the

boys 16s, that also includes CdM’s Nicholas Gingold, Daniel Gushue and

Brennan Roberts, and Newport Harbor’s Dylan Espley-Jones.

In girls 14 singles, Alexa Glatch of Newport Beach is seeded No. 2,

and in girls 12 singles, Costa Mesa’s Kelly Radeva is seeded 12th. In

girls 10 singles, Cierra Gayton-Leach of Corona del Mar is seeded

seventh.