Chomeau serves up a victory against Moss

COSTA MESA ? At times, Henri Chomeau and Spencer Moss both struggled with their serves on Tuesday in a round of 32 boys’ 16 singles match at the Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic.

But Chomeau’s powerful first serve ? while not always accurate ? helped him win, 6-1, 6-2, without much trouble in a battle of Newport Beach residents at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Chomeau didn’t always get his first serve in, but when he did, it usually ended up as a quick point in his favor.

“I need to get my first serves in better, and at the end I kind of got tight,” Chomeau said. “But everything else felt pretty good.”

Chomeau, the No. 8 seed, advanced to today’s round of 16 match at 1 p.m. against Connor Whitty from New York, also at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Whitty defeated Bradley Fisher of Costa Mesa, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Chomeau and Fisher are the No. 2 seed in boys’ 16 doubles. They play in the quarterfinals today at 4:30 p.m.

The 9 a.m. match against Moss ? one of the first of the day ? was competitive early. After Chomeau broke Moss’ serve for a 2-0 first-set lead, Moss broke back to get back on serve at 2-1.

Chomeau, who will be a junior at Mater Dei High in the fall, then took control.

He won the last four games of the first set and the first four games of the second set.

Chomeau and Moss had never played each other before Tuesday.

Chomeau’s serve, combined with his powerful, looping forehands and solid volley game, proved to be a winning combination.

“His serve was a beast, so my serve returns were pretty weak,” said Moss, who will be a sophomore at Corona del Mar High in the fall. “On my serve, I was just making a lot of double-faults. I figured it was going to be a pretty tough match.”

Up, 3-0, in the second set, Chomeau was down, love-30, on his serve before holding for a commanding 4-0 lead.

But after Moss held serve, Chomeau was broken for the second time in the match, and Moss pulled within 4-2.

Moss, who had been yelling at himself throughout the match, suddenly was down by just one break.

Just like in the first set, however, Chomeau immediately broke back, then successfully served for the match.

Chomeau has already advanced further than his showing at last week’s War by the Shore tournament, when he lost in the round of 64.

“I feel better this week,” he said, adding that he wants to make a deep run at the Costa Mesa Junior Summer Classic. “I can handle it. I’m ready.”

Moss, meanwhile, is looking to gain some momentum. Still, the round-of-32 exit was better than last week’s first-round loss at the War by the Shore, where he said he was a late entry after just returning from a trip to Israel.

After occasionally filling in at the varsity level for the Corona del Mar High tennis team last year, Moss said he hopes to be more in the mix for the Sea Kings next spring.