Players get no love in CIF

Rick Devereux

Experience has been called a good teacher, but the fact that it gives

the tests before the lessons is sometimes cruel.

The inexperience of playing in big matches resulted in losses in

the round of 16 to both Newport Harbor High’s Robert Khoury and

Corona del Mar’s doubles team of Sean Pham and Alex Nguyen Friday at

SeaCliff Country Club in the CIF Southern Section singles and doubles

boys tennis championships.

Khoury lost, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, to Santa Barbara’s Blake Muller.

Pham-Nguyen lost, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), to Kellan Webb and Mike Sindoni

from Palm Desert.

The good thing for Khoury was he had already played Muller twice

this season, winning the first meeting, 6-1, but losing the second

get together, 3-6. The bad news was that Muller was the top seed in

the singles bracket.

“I was excited to play him,” Khoury said. “I knew it was going to

be a tough match.”

Khoury took an early advantage, hitting several strong backhand

shots down the line to win the first set, 6-4, in the best

two-out-three format.

“After I won the first set I thought, ‘Anything could happen,’ ”

he said. “But after that first set he started playing even better.”

Khoury, a powerful server and baseline player, tried to hit some

softer shots in hopes of catching Muller off guard.

“We knew he had to mix it up against Blake because he’s a smart

player and he’s got great hands at the net,” Coach Jeff Thomsen said.

“Robert had to hit some dippers and mix it up in order for him to get

a chance to win it. It just wasn’t enough today.”

Khoury, a sophomore, needed some lucky bounces in the second and

third sets. But all the luck seemed to go to the senior Muller.

“I played pretty good, actually, but he just played better,”

Khoury said. “He just beat me. I had opportunities. Some shots would

hit the top of the net and come back on my side. I just didn’t get as

lucky as he did.”

The whole experience wasn’t a bad one for Khoury, however.

“I got to learn something from him, so in a way I won,” Khoury

said. “To keep fighting in everything that happens, he showed me

that. He lost the first set, and he played even better in the second

set.”

Pham-Nguyen got off to a slow start in their doubles match. Lucky

for them Webb-Sindoni weren’t exactly clicking on all cylinders,

either. Neither team could break the other’s serve in the first half

of the first set, but finally Webb-Sindoni took a 5-4 lead.

“Everybody was nervous out there,” CdM Coach Tim Mang said. “The

more matches they get to play, the more tournaments they play in,

that’s when they start getting more confidence.”

Pham-Nguyen battled back, but eventually lost, 7-5.

“In the first set it kind of went back and forth,” Pham said. “I’m

guessing it was probably nerves for both teams. It just wouldn’t go

our way today.”

Nguyen said that Webb-Sindoni settled down before he and Pham.

“[Today] was kind of slow at the beginning and they [Palm Desert]

had a fast start,” he said. “But slowly at the end we started to pick

it up, but it wasn’t enough.”

CdM worked for a 5-4 lead in the second set with lob shots by

Nguyen when both Aztec players charged the net and strong net play by

Pham. But Palm Desert battled back and tied the set, 6-6, when

unforced errors by the Sea Kings failed to put Webb-Sindoni away.

Webb-Sindoni won the tiebreaker, 7-5.

The juniors know what the major factor was in the match.

“This match and a lot of the other matches this season that came

really close, it came down to the big points,” Pham said. “If we

could win those big points then I think we’re going to win a lot more

matches. That will make the difference next season.”