Sea King Doubles Team Falls One Match Short

Corona del Mar’s Sameer Chopra and Christian Jensen paired up to play doubles just over a month ago.

After competing in doubles at the Ojai Tournament, they won the Sea View League title in doubles and on Saturday, found themselves in the Southern Section championship match at Seacliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach.

Facing top-seeded David Glieberman and Goh Fukugaki of Palos Verdes Peninsula, third-seeded Chopra and Jensen came up short, losing, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).

Peninsula and Corona del Mar had met on Thursday in the section team semifinals with Corona del Mar winning, 11-7. That victory helped ease the disappointment of losing the doubles final for Chopra and Jensen, who play singles in team play.

“I’d rather have won the team match than this,� Chopra said.

Jensen agreed. “The team victory is for nine guys,� he said, “not just us.�

In the first set, Glieberman, who won last year’s doubles title with a different partner, and Fukugaki broke Chopra and Jensen, taking a 4-2 lead after Chopra double faulted. Glieberman and Fukugaki extended the lead to 5-2.

Chopra and Jensen gave up only two points in the next two games to close the gap to 5-4. Jensen’s volley split the middle on game point in the next game to make it 5-5. Glieberman held serve and then gave his team the set with a backhand winner off Jensen’s serve.

In the second set, Chopra and Jensen took a 4-3 lead, breaking Glieberman, who had only given up six points on his serve at that point. But Glieberman and Fukugaki got back on serve in the next game, shutting down Jensen’s serve to tie the set, 4-4.

“We mentally lost it there,� Jensen said. “There were a few key points we didn’t win. We had the opportunity and we didn’t take it.�

The teams stayed on serve, with Jensen’s ace sending the set into a tiebreaker. Glieberman and Fukugaki went up 4-3 and scored three straight points to win the tiebreaker, 7-3.

To reach the final, Chopra and Jensen pulled off a tough 7-5, 7-5 semifinal victory over second-seeded Jon Lippert and Blake Wilson-Hayden of Dana Hills.

Down, 4-1, in the first set, Chopra and Jensen rallied to win it 7-5. In the second set, tied at 5-5, they broke Lippert and Wilson-Hayden and then Jensen served out the set for the 7-5 victory.

“We just kind of clicked with each other when we started playing together,� Chopra said. “We just fit with each other.�

Chopra and Jensen will now go back to playing singles; their team takes on Woodbridge in the Division I final on Tuesday.

In the singles final, sophomore Phil Sheng of Thousand Oaks beat junior Nick Weiss of Calabasas, 0-6, 6-1, 6-3.