Tennis: Locals digging Newport Beach Bowl
Carson Branstine always thought that it made sense to have an International Tennis Federation juniors tournament in Newport Beach.
Branstine is a quickly rising 15-year-old who lives in Orange and trains at The Tennis Club’s Grand Slam Tennis academy.
“We have so many courts for a tournament like this,” Branstine said. “I’ve been waiting for that to come for a long time, actually.”
Branstine and The Tennis Club owner Sean Abdali got their wish this week. Anyone who is into watching high-quality junior tennis will see it at The Tennis Club, which is hosting the first ITF juniors event to be held in Orange County.
Branstine is the No. 3 seed in the girls’ draw at the event, which is relocated from Claremont and is now called the Newport Beach Bowl. She outlasted fellow American Ivana Corley, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, in a third-round match Wednesday and will play Hailey Baptiste of Washington, D.C. in the tournament quarterfinals Thursday at 9 a.m.
Championship matches are scheduled for Saturday. Luke Hammond of Great Britain is the top seed in the boys’ singles draw.
The top-seeded player in the girls’ draw is Michaela Gordon from Northern California, who reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon juniors tournament last year and ended the year ranked No. 28 in the world among juniors. That’s a level that Branstine wants to reach, as well.
Earlier this month, she competed in the BNP Paribas Showdown exhibition at Madison Square Garden with tennis legends like Serena Williams. She got to hit with French men’s tennis star Gael Monfils.
“I played in front of about 10,000 people,” said Branstine, who won a short exhibition match there with fellow junior player Hurricane Tyra Black. “It was amazing. It was a dream. They were all so nice.”
Branstine’s older sister Constance played for Villa Park High and has signed with Texas A&M. The oldest Branstine sister, Cassidy, plays for UC Irvine.
For Carson, this week’s Newport Beach Bowl will help her accumulate points to hopefully eventually play in junior Grand Slam tournaments. She is currently ranked No. 190 in the world in ITF juniors. This is a Grade 4 tournament, while her next two tournaments — the International Spring Championships at the Stubhub Center and the Easter Bowl — are both more prestigious Grade 1 tournaments. So, the Newport Beach tournament offers a nice sort of warm-up.
“I’ve had more competing academies and coaches and colleagues come to me and thank me for bringing this tournament to Orange County than ever before,” Abdali said. “This is the beginning. Here, to Carson, to Easter Bowl.”
Abdali said he eventually wants to make this Newport Beach tournament the major ITF stop on the West Coast, comparing it to the prestigious Orange Bowl in Florida. Players from 20 different countries are competing in the Newport Beach Bowl, said tournament director Trevor Kronemann, the former UC Irvine men’s tennis and Orange County Breakers coach. Kronemann is now the Southern California Tennis Assn. Director of Junior Tennis.
“It makes for a great little three weeks,” Kronemann said of the Newport Beach Bowl. “You can go from here, up to Carson and then out to Indian Wells for the Easter Bowl. To be in California for three weeks in a row, and the weather’s usually good, you get a lot of matches and a lot of practice in ... It gives our local players an opportunity to play against some of the best juniors in the world here.”
Abdali thought that was important. CdM junior Jasie Dunk participated in qualifying here, and she teamed with CdM senior Siena Sharf in the doubles main draw.
Other Grand Slam Tennis kids who competed in qualifying or the main draw included Sage Hill freshman Steven Ferry, Jacob and Diego Cooper of CdM, as well as Parris Todd, Maxi Duncan and Sofia Kabany on the girls’ side. Newport Beach’s Austin Di Giulio and Andre Saleh also played.
Newport Coast resident Max Pham was the other local still alive in singles Wednesday before suffering a tough 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss to Bryce Pereira in the third round of the boys’ draw.
“More than anything, I think it has really inspired a lot of our kids to play more,” Abdali said of the tournament.
—
•Another high-level tennis tournament also returns to town this weekend, this time on the boys’ high school level. The 17th annual Corona del Mar All-American Invitational Tournament will be played Friday and Saturday.
The top-four seeded teams are Torrey Pines, Palisades, San Marino and Peninsula. Torrey Pines is the defending champion in the 16-team tournament that features five singles sets and three doubles for each match, with players allowed to play both. The tournament championship is scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 p.m., at Palisades Tennis Club.
Corona del Mar, led by seniors Bjorn Hoffmann and Pedro Fernandez del Valle, opens its tournament at 8:30 a.m. Friday at CdM against Phillips Academy of Andover, Mass. Should the Sea Kings win, they’d likely face No. 2-seeded Palisades at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
CdM has lost in the All-American Tournament quarterfinals for nine straight years.
