Tournament attracts local talent

Five local youth tennis players are seeded for the 15th annual Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic, which begins today.

Locals are seeded No. 1 in both the boys’ and girls’ 12 singles draws. Dante Saleh of Newport Beach is the top seed in the boys’ 12s, while Alison Ishii of Newport Beach is seeded No. 1 in the girls’ 12s.

Saleh is coming off a strong showing at the annual War by the Shore tournament, where he made it to the boys’ 12s semifinals at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club.

Other highly seeded players for the Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic include Estancia High’s Ellie Edles, who is the No. 3 seed in the girls’ 16 singles draw.

Corona del Mar resident Neda Ghassemi, whose older brother, Omeed, made it to the War by the Shore boys’ 18 finals, is the No. 4 seed in the girls’ 16s draw.

Corona del Mar High’s Ryan Peyton is the No. 4 seed in the boys’ 16 singles draw.

Tournament action runs through Friday, when all of the championship matches are scheduled. Matches will be played at both the Costa Mesa Tennis Center and Orange Coast College.

— From staff reports