Youth Tennis: Knickerbocker, Dunk in semis
Newport Beach residents Nicole Knickerbocker and Jasie Dunk have reached the girls’ 18 singles semifinals at the 27th annual The Tennis Club Junior Tennis Tournament.
No. 2-seeded Knickerbocker beat Catt MacEachern of Seal Beach, 6-1, 6-0, on Wednesday at the tournament better known as the “War by the Shore.” Knickerbocker will play No. 3 Grace Olyphant in a semifinal Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
Dunk, the No. 4 seed, will face top-seeded Julia Lilien of Scottsdale, Ariz. in the other semifinal at the same time. Dunk beat Jami Pinter of Aliso Viejo, 6-0, 6-0, in another quarterfinal match Wednesday.
No. 3-seeded Camellia Edalat of Newport Beach moved into the girls’ 16s semifinals with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Cheyenne Crawley of Irvine. Edalat will play No. 2-seeded Amanda Sharng of Rolling Hills on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
In the girls’ 14s, Newport Beach resident Reece Kenerson moved into the semifinals by upsetting No. 2-seeded Madeleine Page, also of Newport Beach, 6-4, 6-3. Kenerson will play Emily Markus of Irvine on Thursday at 11 a.m.
On the boys’ side, Newport Beach’s Adam Langevin is in the 18 singles semifinals after a 6-3 (retired) quarterfinal win over Julius Kim of San Diego. Langevin plays No. 3-seeded Jacob Lee of Yorba Linda in the semifinals Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
Diego Fernandez del Valle of Newport Beach advanced into the boys’ 16s semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Arthur Bazil of Newport Coast. Fernandez del Valle plays No. 5-seeded Reini Igna of Irvine in a semifinal Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
Top-seeded Perry Di Giulio of Newport Beach moved into the boys’ 12s semifinals with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Brodie Young-Smith of Los Angeles. Di Giulio plays No. 4-seeded Jerry Chen of Yorba Linda on Thursday at 11 a.m.
In the boys’ 10 singles, Niels Hoffmann of Newport Beach upset top-seeded Jake Presser of Rancho Mirage, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 in a semifinal match Wednesday. Hoffmann plays George Hakopian of San Clemente in the final Thursday at 11 a.m.
Doubles semifinals in all divisions also take place Thursday, with the championship matches on Friday.
All matches are at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.
— Matt Szabo