Sea Kings’ Miller makes center stage

Rick Devereux

Most individuals would be grinning ear to ear to advance to the CIF

Southern Section individual tennis final. Most individuals would be

ecstatic to lead a tennis team to the CIF Southern Section Division I

semifinals.

But Wesley Miller is not most people.

Miller, the Corona del Mar High senior, accomplished both last

week to earn Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors. Is he happy?

Sure. But is he satisfied?

“It would have been nice to win one of [the titles],” he said.

“The team title would have been good because you would have more

people to celebrate it with, but any one of [the titles] would have

been good.”

Miller won all three No. 1 singles’ sets against Santa Barbara,

including a 7-6 (7-3) victory over Blake Muller, in the team

semifinal tournament. The Sea Kings, however, fell to the Dons, 10-8.

Miller, ranked No. 8 in the country in boys 18s by the United

States Tennis Association, bulldozed his way into the individual

final.

He swept Villa Park’s Garrett Gillon, 6-0, 6-0, in the first round

and defeated Newport Harbor’s Jake Fleming, 6-3, 6-4, in the Round of

32.

Miller, the third seed, defeated Tyler Bowman of Peninsula, 6-3,

6-3, in the round of 16. He followed with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 triumph

over Chris Kerney of Mater Dei.

The semifinal would have been a rematch between Miller and Santa

Barbara’s Muller, but Muller, the No. 2 seed, forfeited due to an

illness, setting up a final between Miller and Woodbridge’s Michael

McClune, who was the No. 1 seed and ranked No. 2 by the USTA in boys

16s.

McClune won, 6-4, 6-3, but Miller said he gave it his all.

“I think I played as hard as I could,” the two-time Sea View

League singles champion said. “[The season] ended the best way it

could, I just came up a little short, that’s all. [Finishing as

runner up] is better than losing in the semis or quarters.”

The expectations for CdM tennis are so high, anything less than a

championship is almost frowned upon. Miller knew playing for the Sea

Kings would be difficult.

“When I was a younger classmen I felt a lot more pressure to

succeed,” he said. “You see all of the CIF team banners and all of

the individual banners, and you know you have to perform at a high

level. I think I’m just used to the pressure now.”

Miller grew up playing baseball, but at the age of 9 he took up

tennis. His father, Rusty Miller, played and coached on the pro

circuit, is currently the owner of the Anaheim Hills Racquet Club and

runs the Rusty Miller Tennis Academy in Arcadia.

The foundation his dad taught gave Miller a solid game headed into

high school, but he did not step up his performance until he stepped

up his preparation.

“When I first came in to CdM, I thought I had a nice forehand,” he

said. “Since then, I’ve really worked on my serve. The biggest

turning point for me was about a year ago when I started to get

through national tournaments into the semis when I used to get

knocked out a lot earlier. [The biggest factor was] my practice

habits mostly. I used to tank in practice and didn’t care. I didn’t

think there was a connection between practice and how I did. Then I

started to care more and try harder in practice. [I tried harder]

because I didn’t like losing.”

Imagine that.

Someone not happy with a second-place individual finish or a

semifinal run in the team tournament not happy with losing.

Miller, who turns 18 next month, will play tennis collegiately but

is still undecided about which school. He said he wants to play in

college before testing the pro circuit.