Freers put on quite a show in CIF Individual Tournament
A three-week break in between matches gave Jack Freer and Ian Freer plenty of time to prepare and make adjustments for their first appearance in the CIF Individual Tournament.
The standout brotherly duo from the St. Francis High tennis team made the trek to the University of Redlands on Thursday to compete in the opening rounds of the tournament, which brings in top players from acrossSouthern California.
The Freers held their own, losing just three games, to keep their quest of winning a championship in tact.
Jack, a senior, and Ian, a sophomore, had a first-round bye before posting a 6-1, 6-0 second-round win against Anderson Grant and Shravan Patel of Hemet. The Freers, who finished runner-up in the Mission League Tournament on May 4 at L.A. Valley College, then earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Clyde Siringoringo and Eric Chang of Etiwanda.
Veteran St. Francis Coach Ron Zambrano said the Freers were eager to get back to competing.
“They were ready and a lot of that had to do with the fact they are really in to tennis,” Zambrano said. “They had the bye in the first round, but you could tell they were ready to go.
“The match against Hemet was pretty easy. Jack and Ian got on a roll and took care of things pretty quickly. The last match was more difficult. The scores were a lot closer than what’s indicated. There were a lot of close games in between. Jack and Ian did a very good job returning shots and they served consistently well.”
The Freers, who advanced to the semifinals of the prestigious Ojai Tournament in April, will next compete in a round-of-32 match at 1 p.m. Thursday at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in South El Monte or the round of 16 at 11:30 a.m. June 2 at Seal Beach Tennis Center.
The lowest-seeded eight singles players and doubles teams moving on from the five sectional tournaments on Thursday based on the CIF Southern Section Tennis Advisory Committee seedings will take part in the round of 32.
The quarterfinals will occur June 2 and the semifinals and finals will be held June 3 at Seal Beach Tennis Center.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
