Damion turns out lone Newport-Mesa crown

Corona del Mar resident Chris Damion was a little uneasy entering

Friday’s boys 14s championship match of the 13th annual Costa Mesa

Summer Junior Classic tennis tournament.

He had reason to be -- his opponent, third-seeded Ali Makmalchi of

Mission Viejo, had only lost two games in four matches heading into

Friday’s final.

Still, Damion held fast.

The Corona del Mar High freshman-to-be earned victories on nearly

all of the key points and held on to defeat Makmalchi, 6-4, 6-4, for

the boys 14s singles championship at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Damion was the lone Newport-Mesa area singles champion, as Newport

Beach residents Jillian Braverman and Melissa Matsuoka were defeated

in their respective finals Friday.

“[Makmalchi] has been playing really well, so I was a little

nervous coming into this match,” said Damion, ranked No. 50 in

Southern California boys 14s singles by Southern California Tennis

Association. “It was nice to finally have a [challenging] match.”

Both Makmalchi and Damion, the top seed, entered Friday’s final

undefeated in sets, as they cruised through their earlier rounds.

Both said the final was the first arduous match they had competed in

during the tournament.

“I was expecting a hard match,” said Makmalchi, who will be a

freshman at Santa Margarita in the fall. “I tried my best and that’s

all I can do.”

Makmalchi, who is expected to be a top player for the Eagles’

tennis team in the spring, entered the final with a 48-2 record in

games while Damion entered with a 48-17 record.

The Mission Viejo resident’s pristine record, however, was marred

after the showdown with Damion, who seemingly earned victories on

every necessary point.

Corona del Mar boys tennis coach Tim Mang, observing as a

spectator Friday, was pleasantly surprised by Damion’s pressure

points.

“Very impressive -- I was impressed that he won all of the games

he was down in,” Mang said about Damion, who will play doubles for

CdM in the spring. “He was key in the pressure situations. His game

is starting to come together. He has a great future.”

Case in point: trailing, 3-2, in the second set, Damion fought off

a game-point to force deuce and eventually won the point for a 3-3

tie. He then breezed through the next point for a 4-3 lead before

Makmalchi stifled his momentum and tied it at 4.

But it was all Damion from there, as he fought off numerous

game-points in the next two sets and pulled out the victory.

“I wasn’t used to playing a hard match,” Makmalchi said. “I wasn’t

used to playing tight and it kind of threw me off.”

Damion will be leaving today for San Antonio, where he is slated

to compete in the United States Tennis Association national

championships in boys 14s singles beginning August 7.

“Leaving with this [tournament] win is big,” Damion said.

Unseeded Braverman, 15, competing in girls 18s singles, lost to

top-seeded Desiree Stone of North Hollywood, 6-4, 6-4, in Friday’s

final.

Braverman will be playing in the girls 16s USTA national

championships in San Diego, also beginning August 7. She was playing

in the Costa Mesa Classic as a warmup, she said.

“I thought I played really well,” said the CdM soon-to-be junior.

“I had a lot of unforced errors in the first set but I don’t want to

take any credit from [Stone] -- she played great.”

Braverman was also testing a tender right ankle in the tournament,

but midway through Friday’s first set, she removed her ankle wrap.

“I’m pleased with my ankle,” she said. “I was looking to see if I

could hold up on a court for an hour and a half, and I can, so this

is great.”

Braverman said she was ailed with tendinitis in her ankle.

Top-seeded Matsuoka fell to her doubles partner in the tournament

-- fourth-seeded Hayley Miller of Laguna Beach -- 6-1, 7-5, in the

girls 14s singles final.

In doubles play Friday, top-seeded Matsuoka and Miller defeated

second-seeded Danielle Kaiden and Lindsay Zotovich, of Newport Beach

and CdM, respectively, 6-3, 6-2, in the girls 14s final.

Matsuoka and Miller finished 24-9 in games.

Top-seeded Michelle Atkins of Newport Beach and Kelly McKitterick

of CdM defeated Bianca Barquin of Fountain Valley and Kelli Kawabe of

Newport Beach, 6-2, 6-2, in the girls 16s final.

Atkins and McKitterick also went undefeated in sets while going

36-8 in games.

Top-seeded Damion and CdM resident Parker Rhodes -- who will be a

freshman at Corona del Mar in the fall -- lost to second-seeded Blake

Linzey of Huntington Beach and Jonathan Noguchi of Santa Ana, 7-6,

6-3, in the boys 16s final.