Boys’ tennis: Matias wins City singles crown

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Ace Matias made the most of his second chance.

The junior from Narbonne defeated Richard Catabona of Van Nuys, 6-0, 6-3, to win the City Section Individual singles championship Thursday afternoon at Balboa Sports Center in Encino.

Matias, the top seed, trailed 3-2 in the second set before reeling off four straight games, closing out the match with a clean forehand winner just inside the baseline.

‘Richard and I are good friends so we know each other’s games,’ said Matias, who lost in straight sets to Josh Tchan of Taft in last year’s final. ‘As it got closer to the end I couldn’t contain my nerves. I was too excited, but eventually I got my game together and pulled through.’

Second-seeded Catabona, also a junior, lost to Matias, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals last year and hoped for a better outcome this time. ‘He’s a really good player,’ Catabona said. ‘I got a little momentum early in the second set but I kind of ran out of gas.’

Palisades’ Max Licona won the third place match by default over teammate Oliver Thornton, who was hobbled by an ankle injury in Tuesday’s semifinal loss to Catabona.

Second-seeded Kramer Waltke and Kyung Choi of Palisades won the doubles title with a 6-3, 6-1 win over eighth-seeded Anthony La and Joseph Cho of Narbonne.

‘It took us a few games to get warmed up,’ Waltke said. ‘Then we began playing more steady and shot the alleys a little bit more.’

‘I’m better at the baseline and he’s a better volleyer, so it makes for a good combination,’ Choi added.

Third-seeded Steven Chow and Vincent Zhao of Franklin took third place, beating unseeded William Thi and James Wong of Eagle Rock, 6-2, 7-5.

-- Steve Galluzzo