Boys’ Tennis: Adamson moves on

CORONA DEL MAR — Plenty of spectators watched Alec Adamson’s first match Thursday morning at the CIF Individuals singles tournament, but it had little to do with the Corona del Mar High senior.

Adamson was playing Kwang Lee of Sunny Hills, who enjoys to extremely vocally pump himself up at every opportunity. Some players from other teams even had their cell phones out as they watched the match, presumably capturing video of Lee’s latest reaction.

“Yes!” Lee screamed out loudly late in the first set, after he finally earned a game to get on the board. “No bagel!”

But Adamson, who had a bye in the first round, stayed steady on his home courts. He earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lee. He also survived some tough moments late in his third-round match to earn a 6-0, 6-3 win over Aliso Niguel freshman Garret Vincent.

The UC Davis-bound Adamson, making his CIF Individuals debut, has qualified for the round of 16 on May 31 at Seal Beach Tennis Center.

“It definitely feels really good,” he said. “I’m definitely excited to get to Seal Beach. Everyone who’s left is a really good player, so from now on, every single match is going to be tough. I’m really looking forward to it next week.”

Two Estancia High doubles teams weren’t as fortunate. The Orange Coast League champion team of seniors Matt Thomas and Robert Marrone fell to Jeffrey Aldina and Hans Hu of Rowland, 6-1, 6-4, in a first-round match. Also in the first round, the Eagles’ team of senior Erik Cerros and sophomore Sterling Gates lost to Matt Kreiser and Peter Harairi of Trabuco Hills, 6-3, 6-1.

Fairmont Prep freshman Max Pham, a Newport Coast resident, defeated Cody Tran of Garden Grove, 6-0, 6-1, in the singles first round. Pham then lost to Laguna Beach’s Teague Hamilton, 6-1, 6-1.

Adamson did not have too much trouble with Lee, despite his opponent’s theatrics. He was in more of a fight against Vincent, the Sea View League singles champion.

Adamson cruised through the first set, but his serve was broken to begin the second. He was broken again while serving at 2-2.

But Adamson rallied, capturing the last four games to take the set and match against Vincent, ranked No. 67 in the Southern California 16s by the United States Tennis Assn. Adamson is ranked No. 9 in the 18s.

“I got off to a slow start serving in the second set, and he started playing a little bit better,” Adamson said. “I just kind of elevated my game a little bit to get through. But yeah, he played well in the second set, so got to give him credit.”

It’s just part of a busy week for Adamson, who will lead the Sea Kings in the CIF Southern California regional tournament Friday. No. 5-seeded CdM plays No. 4 La Jolla in a quarterfinal at 11:30 a.m. at The Claremont Club. The teams have split their first two meetings in tournaments, but this should be the first time they’re both at full strength.

“I think definitely the whole team’s really excited,” Adamson said. “Hopefully we can come out strong; last time we had a little bit of a slow start against them. It should be a good match. I think we’re deeper than them, so we have a good shot, but everyone’s going to have to bring their ‘A’ games.”

Estancia Coach Carlos Beltran said he was very satisfied with his doubles teams, who helped lead the Eagles to a share of their first league title in six years.

They are also believed to be the first Eagles boys to make CIF Individuals since Bradley Fisher in 2008.

“I’m proud of all four of them,” Beltran said. “They were very much the anchors of the team this year ... every team out here is just good. There’s no chumps out here.”

Other singles players advancing through the first day at CIF Individuals included University’s Gage Brymer, Hamilton and Dana Hills’ Chase Mascorini. Brymer is the two-time defending CIF singles champion.

University also advanced both its doubles teams, Stefan Menichella and Drew Dawson, as well as Eric Hseng and Arash Hafezi. Ryan Mariano and Nic Valko of San Clemente, as well as Cam Marco and Vatsal Bajpai of Los Alamitos, also advanced.