Corona del Mar’s Matthews headed to UCI

Corona del Mar High senior Fabian Matthews is going to play tennis for UC Irvine next year, according to CdM tennis coach Tim Mang.

The No. 1 singles player for the Sea Kings decided to commit to UC Irvine after he was offered a full scholarship, Mang said.

Matthews was also considering Southern California.

“With UCI’s schedule, he’ll be playing all the top guys in the Pac-10,” Mang said. “That’s going to be exciting. I can just drive five minutes over and watch him play at home.”

At CdM, he won the CIF Southern Section doubles title with partner Dustin Hladek, who has since graduated, for the past two years. They became the first team since CdM’s Jim Curley and Jordan Otterbein, in 1975-76, to repeat as doubles champions.

Hladek is now a freshman at Indiana University, but he’s not playing tennis there.

“He should be playing a lot, so he’ll improve that much quicker,” Mang said. “He will be playing more futures tournaments, too.”

Matthews also teamed with Ryan Cheung to win the boys’ 18 doubles title of the 105th Southern California Junior Sectional Championships this summer.

Matthews lost in the boys’ 18 singles fifth round at the USTA National Championships, a round short of the quarterfinals, in Kalamazoo, Mich. this summer.

He was also coached by Newport Beach Breakers player Rick Leach, one of the most successful doubles players in tennis history.

Leach is a coach at Newport Beach Tennis Club.

At UCI, Matthews will be playing under coach Trevor Kronemann, who is also the coach of the Newport Beach Breakers.

“The kids like him,” Mang said. “He’s a good coach.”

Matt Szabo contributed to this story.

— Soraya Nadia McDonald