Scorteneau Wins Tennis Tournament

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Palm Springs’ Andy Scorteneau battled to win a tiebreaker and then went on to win the Quiksilver Tenn X Main Event boys’ tennis tournament Sunday, defeating Jose Lieberman of Beverly Hills, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, at the Linborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach.

Scorteneau, the top-ranked player in Southern California in the 18s, led, 6-3, in the tiebreaker, but needed five set points before finally putting away Lieberman.

In the second set, Scorteneau took control early, breaking Lieberman’s serve with dazzling net play to quickly put the match away.

Scorteneau and Lieberman were only two of the premier participants in the tournament. Chris Ganz, tournament director, put the event together in just over a month and was able to draw some of the best talent in Southern California. Assembling a draw that included 16 players ranging from ages 14 to 18, Ganz wanted to showcase the Southland’s best talent.

“The idea of this tournament is to see who is the best junior in Southern California with no age discrimination,” Ganz said.

And he got what he wanted out of the competition.

To advance to the championship match, Scorteneau defeated Santa Barbara’s Paul Warkentin (No. 3 in 14s), 6-1, 7-6, Fullerton’s Chris Chung (No. 12 in 18s), 6-3, 7-5, and Dana Point’s Brandon Fallon (No. 4 in 18s), 6-3, 7-5.

Lieberman, ranked second in 16s, had to get by Costa Mesa’s Mike Leonard (No. 27 in 18s), 6-2, 6-2, Irvine’s Nick Varvais (No. 13 in 18s), 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, and Santa Barbara’s Adam Webster (No. 2 in 18s), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

And while the final showcased two of the Southland’s best, some of the best matches took place in the first round, with top 14-year-olds facing their older counterparts.

Fallbrook’s Ryan Redondo, the top-ranked 14-year-old in the nation, played Chung, ranked 12th in 18s. Redondo battled Chung to a tiebreaker in the first set and battled long into the second set before losing the match, 7-6, 6-4.

And Irvine’s Chase Exon, (No. 5 in 16s) faced off with Torrance’s William Yang (No. 2 in 14s), with Exon winning, 6-4, 7-6.

“This was a great success,” said Ganz. “We had a lot of interest with the talent we had here. Next year is going to be huge.”