Finalists Show State of Tennis in Boys’ 12s Is Massachusetts

If seeing California and Florida tennis players consistently finish well in major tennis championships has become tiresome, please take note.

The two finalists of the boys’ 12-and-under national championships at Morley Field represent the New England Lawn Tennis Assn., and they beat a Californian and a Floridian in getting there.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing an all-New England final,” said Joshua Hausman of Waban, Mass., after he defeated B.J. Stearns of Seminole, Fla., 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), in Saturday’s morning semifinal.

Hausman’s wish was granted. In the afternoon, Ry Tarpley of Milton, Mass., defeated Michael Jessup of Saratoga, Calif., 6-2, 6-3.

Hausman and Tarpley used different methods to come by their berths in today’s 11:30 a.m. final. It took sixth-seeded Hausman 2 hours 45 minutes to defeat No. 2 Stearns. Fourth-seeded Tarpley and Jessup, who is unseeded, held court for just under an hour.

Hausman and Stearns had met once before, at the clay court championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., just two weeks ago. Stearns won, 6-1, 6-4.

“I knew I could do better,” Hausman said. “The pressure was on him.”

After winning the first set and taking a 5-3 lead in the second, Hausman said he had a slight breakdown.

“I thought I’d win it in the second set when I was up 5-3, “ he said, “but then I let up a little.”

Stearns fought back, holding his own serve twice and breaking Hausman twice to even the match at one set each. But in the third set, Hausman took advantage of a tiring Stearns, forcing him to the net time and time again.

“B.J.’s a little slow,” Hausman said, “so I was giving him lots of drop shots, mixing them up a lot. They didn’t always work, but I knew he was getting tired.”

Well into the final set, Stearns took a 5-4 lead.

With Hausman serving, Stearns had three opportunities to break and close out the match. Three times, Hausman denied him the chance.

“I wasn’t thinking about the match points,” Hausman said. “I didn’t even know there were three. I was just trying to win each point.”

After reaching deuce all three times, Hausman finally evened the set at 5-all. First Stearns hit a shot long to give Hausman the advantage; then Hausman took the game with a short forehand lob that sailed over Stearns’ head.

Stearns and Hausman broke each other’s serve in the next two games, forcing the first-to-seven tiebreaker.

Trailing, 6-4, Stearns pulled Hausman off the court with a sharp forehand to the forehand court, forcing Hausman to hit a lob off his back foot. But Stearns’ overhead return caught the net, giving Hausman the match.

Said Hausman: “In the third set, I just tried to catch all his (shots) on the rise and not let him take his big topspin swings.”

In the other semifinal, Tarpley never gave Jessup--a winner over No. 1-seeded Scott Humphries on Friday--a chance to get into the match. Neither did Jessup.

“He was making a lot of unforced errors,” said Tarpley, who was a little surprised at how easily he won.

“After he beat the No. 1 seed, I thought he’d be tougher,” Tarpley said.

Tarpley and Hausman are tied for the No. 1 ranking in the New England Lawn Tennis Assn., and they have met four times in sectional matches there, each winning twice.

Overall, Hausman holds a 3-2 lead. He defeated Tarpley, 7-6, 6-3, in the consolation quarterfinals of the clay courts two weeks ago in Winston-Salem.

“I’m not really nervous about the finals,” Hausman said. “I’ve done my best, win or lose. I had got much further then I had expected to.”

The statement was somewhat surprising; Hausman had lost just six games in the tournament before his meeting with Stearns.

“My other matches weren’t that easy,” he said. “I had to work for them.”