16TH ANNUAL COSTA MESA SUMMER JUNIOR CLASSIC:

COSTA MESA — The night before, Samantha Stalder was a ball girl during a World Team Tennis event in Newport Beach.

She retrieved balls for tennis great John McEnroe.

On Wednesday morning, the 13-year-old from Costa Mesa took the court with a racquet and forced her opponent to chase balls.

Jasmine Hosseini knew what she was in store for against the No. 3 seed at Orange Coast College. She recovered most balls, not all.

Stalder used her strong backhand to win, 6-4, 6-3, and advance to the girls’ 14 singles semifinals of the 16th annual Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic.

Afterward the two players praised each other and caught up. They met before during last month’s Orange County Community Tennis Assn. Junior Open Championships.

Stalder easily took that semifinals match, 6-1, 6-3, to qualify for the final.

This time Hosseini made things more difficult for Stalder.

Stalder definitely worked her way into today’s semifinal against La Mirada’s Camille Deleon at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center at noon.

The 11-year-old Hosseini used her speed to track down shots spread all over the court. She had to turn it on trailing, 4-1, in the opening set.

The set belonged to Stalder, so much that her mother, Diane, wasn’t sure if she needed to feed the parking meter again.

She thought that maybe this one wouldn’t last long. Her son, Reese, won his boys’ 12 quarterfinal match against Chula Vista’s Humberto Lopez, 6-0, 6-1, in a half an hour at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

But Diane had to stick around for this one. She rose from the bleachers and used a couple of more quarters as Hosseini won three of the next four games.

One of Hosseini’s weaknesses caught up to her. The long games and rallying took a toll.

“It was really hard because I get tired really easily,” Hosseini said.

It showed while down, 5-4. Hosseini couldn’t hold serve.

Stalder went ahead after Hosseini struck the net, followed up by back-to-back sweet shots down the line that Hosseini stood no chance of returning.

With Stalder at match point, Hosseini whiffed on a shot near the baseline.

Stalder breathed a sigh of relief.

“I wasn’t really thinking about the score,” Stalder said. “I was just thinking to [stay] concentrated and not lose it. She was coming on strong [down] 4-1.

“She’s really hard [to play against]. She gets to every single shot. I tried to put balls away, but she’d just always get them. I had to stick in there and make my shots.”

Stalder’s cross-court shots started falling in for winners.

After splitting the first four games in the second set, Stalder won two straight.

Three in a row looked promising until Hosseini battled again. She cut the deficit to 4-3, making Stalder’s mother wonder if she needed to check the meter again.

Diane didn’t have to. There would be no third set.

Stalder finished off Hosseini by claiming the next two games. The spare change is hers, too.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.