Tennis: Dunk aims for another title

Newport Beach residents Jasie Dunk and Nicole Knickerbocker met last year in the girls’ 16 singles championship match at The Tennis Club Junior Open Tournament, with Dunk winning in straight sets.

The two have now moved up a division to the 18s. They again have title aspirations in the 27th annual tournament, better known as the “War by the Shore,” which begins Tuesday at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.

Both players are seeded. Knickerbocker is the No. 2 seed and could face recent Corona del Mar High graduate Siena Sharf in a tournament quarterfinal match Wednesday. Sharf opens the tournament against Catt MacEachern of Seal Beach in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

Dunk, who will be a senior at Corona del Mar High, is the No. 4 seed in the 18s and has a bye in the round of 16, so she will also have a quarterfinal match Wednesday. All matches are at The Tennis Club.

Other local seeded players at the War by the Shore include CdM incoming senior Camellia Edalat, the No. 3 seed in the 16s who plays in the round of 16 Wednesday against either Malia Rivera of Laguna Niguel or Tiffany Markus of Irvine.

Madeleine Page of Newport Beach is the No. 2 seed in the girls’ 14s and will play Isabelle Poblador of the Phillipines in the round of 16 on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Newport Beach’s Audrey Kranson is the top seed in the girls’ 10s and has a bye in the three-player field, meaning she has automatically advanced to the final on Friday.

On the boys’ side, Corona del Mar resident Alex Reyna is the No. 2 seed in the 18s. Reyna plays Julius Kim of San Diego in the round of 16 on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.

There will be an-all local match in the boys’ 16s between a pair of Sage Hill School incoming sophomores, as Steven Ferry plays Emin Torlic in the round of 32 on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Perry Di Giulio of Newport Beach is the top seed in the boys’ 12s, and has a bye to the round of 16.

Other Newport-Mesa locals competing in girls’ singles include Morgan Mann, Roxanne Mackenzie, Natasha Hill, Shaya Northrup and Brooke Kenerson (16s); Lauren Lipowski, Hannah Jervis and Reece Kenerson (14s); Kate Lipowski, Jane Paulsen and Ellie Rosing (12s); and Lily Roman (10s).

Five Newport Beach residents are in the boys’ 18s draw, including Grant Brown, Grant McCabe, Matt Paulsen, Grant Janavs and Adam Langevin. Arthur Bazil, Diego Fernandez del Valle and Ryan Wessler will vie in the 16s, as will Ari Abrams in the 14s.

Newport residents Logan Friedman, Adam Bain and Paul Dandler are competing in the 12s, and so are Niels Hoffmann, Ryan Honary and John Cross in the 10s.

All-local doubles combinations include Edalat and Brooke Kenerson, the top seeds in the girls’ 16 doubles. Northrup and Hill are the No. 2 seeds in that division.

CdM’s Wessler and Jacob Cooper are teamed in the boys’ 18 doubles. They face their CdM teammates, Matt Paulsen and Grant Brown, in the semifinals Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The four players helped the Sea Kings win the CIF USTA Southern California regional title this spring,

All divisions conclude with finals on Friday at The Tennis Club.