Locals flourish at USTA Opens

Four local teens and two teams advance to quarterfinal matches at tourneys in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.A quartet of local singles players and one doubles team are still alive as play continues in a pair of United States Tennis Assn. National Open tournaments in the area.

Newport Beach’s Fabian Matthews, Costa Mesa’s Christopher Freeman, Newport Beach’s Melissa Matsuoka, Corona del Mar’s Cierra Gaytan-Leach and the duo of Gaytan-Leach and Newport Beach’s Hailey Hogan advanced to quarterfinal matches today.

Matthews, the No. 6 seed in the boys’ 16 singles, will meet No. 15 seed Walker Kehrer of Pacific Palisades in a 12:30 p.m. match.

The Corona del Mar High sophomore won the third set in a tiebreaker to oust 12th-seeded J.T. Sundling of Thousand Oaks, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6. He previously defeated Irvine’s Jason Lin, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Calix Van Lier of Longmont, Colo., 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

Freeman, who was unseeded in the boys’ 14 bracket, scored three victories to reach the quarterfinals. He defeated Palos Verdes Estates’ Erik Lim, 6-4, 6-0, upset No. 7 Michael Elortegui of Salinas, Calif., 6-4, 6-2, and topped No. 13 seed Clarke Spinosa of Claremont, 7-5, 6-1.

He’ll face No. 3 seed Alex Rovello of Portland, Ore., in a 2 p.m. match.

In the girls’ 14 singles, Gaytan-Leach rolled through the first three rounds. The No. 3 seed won in straight sets over Austin, Texas’ Hideo Tachibana (6-4, 6-1), and Vista’s Elena Najera (7-5, 6-0). Gaytan-Leach needed three sets to take care of San Diego’s Anna Yang, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1.

The Newport Beach resident will meet up with No. 12 seed Ellen Tsay of Pleasanton, Calif., in a 2 p.m. match at the Newport Beach Tennis Center.

Matsuoka scored an upset in the first round of the girls’ 14 singles, taking out No. 5 seed Monica Yajima of Greenwich, Conn., in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6. She followed it up with 6-3, 6-2 victories over Palos Verdes Estates’ Cze-Ja Tam and Rowland Heights’ Stephanie Hui.

Matsuoka’s next match will be against top-seeded Sophie Chang of Cupertino, Calif., at 2 p.m.

Corona del Mar High freshman Flora Lee lost in the first round of the girls’ 14 singles bracket, 6-0, 6-1, to Laguna Niguel’s Kristina Smith.

Gaytan-Leach and Hogan are the No. 2 seed in the girls’ 14 doubles bracket and advanced with a first-round bye. Matsuoka and Smith advanced when their opponents, Kacie Nakamura of Wahiawa, Hawaii, and Sarah Toti of Las Vegas, withdrew.

Gaytan-Leach and Hogan will face Najera and Lacey Smyth of Oceanside in a second round match at 6 p.m. at Newport Beach Tennis Club. Matsuoka and Smith will take on sisters Malavika and Arthi Padmanabhan of Saratoga, Calif. in another 6 p.m. match.

In boys’ 14 doubles, Corona del Mar’s Christopher Damion and Los Angeles’ Jackson Issacs were defeated by the No. 1 seeded team of Santa Rosa, Calif.’s Chris Eriksson and Hillsborough, Calif.’s Spencer Talmadge, 8-6.

In the girls’ 16 singles, Corona del Mar’s Ali Walters lost when she had to retire with an injury against Temecula’s Molly Aloia, trailing, 6-4.