Felgueroso fits in with Sea Kings

Gabino Felgueroso may be a foreign exchange student from Spain, but he has plenty in common with many of the students at Corona del Mar High.

Namely, he loves to surf. So the CdM sophomore loved it last week when he and his host family went to Hawaii for a week.

They stayed at Wailea, on Maui Island, and Felgueroso went surfing at Paia Bay.

“It was my dream,” Felgueroso said. “I wanted to go to Hawaii since I was 3 years old. It was pretty good. I surfed; I did everything.”

Thankfully for the CdM boys’ tennis team, Felgueroso is also quite adept with a racquet. He has been playing on the clay courts of Spain since he was 3 years old, he said.

Felgueroso is from Asturias, a coastal area in northern Spain. He came to Southern California six months ago, and he’s headed back to Spain in June.

For now, however, the Sea Kings are glad to have Felgueroso, who suffered a knee injury two years ago and is still trying to get his game back where he wants it.

“I’m playing good, but not as good as I could play,” he said.

But on Friday, just back from Hawaii, he won a singles set in CdM’s first-round match against Salpointe Catholic at the National High School All-American Tournament. In the second round, Felgueroso and Shane Korber won a doubles match against Santa Barbara.

“He’s a fighter,” CdM Coach Tim Mang said. “We’ve just got to get him to close the net. He’s got beautiful strokes, but on that clay court, they bring the racquet way back. In doubles, he’s just got to cut down that backswing a little bit, and he is now. He’s getting more aggressive at the net.

“When you play on cement, you’ve got to react a lot quicker, but he makes some unbelievable shots. He’s got good hands.”

Felgueroso has been staying at the Balboa Island home of Janet Curci, who said her son, Jonathan, met Gabino in Spain about three years ago.

Felgueroso’s mother and father, along with his younger brother and sister, visited him last month and they went to Las Vegas. Curci said she’s trying to get him to one other locale, hopefully San Francisco, before his visit is up.

“He’s been a real joy to have,” Curci said. “It’s been a marvelous experience for both of us, because of the different customs and everything. He’s an outstanding student and a fabulous athlete. He’s an incredible surfer. It’s just fun to see the world through somebody else’s eyes, to see what he likes.”

Corona del Mar senior Fabian Matthews, who also played doubles with Felgueroso on Friday, said the sophomore from Spain is just another guy on the team.

“It was hard at first conversing with him,” Matthews said. “Now, you know, he’s part of the team ... He’s the same as everyone. He’s like the surfer kid at CdM.

“He’s exactly like a CdM kid, except that he’s from Spain.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.