Section Tennis : Reunion in Final of Singles : Saints’ Martinez, Hilltop’s Santillan Renew Old Rivalry

Francisco Santillan and Ignacio Martinez last played each other at junior tournaments in their native Mexico. Martinez said he vaguely remembers the matches.

“I think he won one, and I won one,” Martinez said.

Although they have waited almost five years to play the rubber match, Martinez and Santillan couldn’t have picked a much better place--the San Diego Section boys’ singles final at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club.

Martinez, who moved from Tijuana a year ago and now attends St. Augustine High, moved into the final Thursday with victories over Gene Carswell of Mt. Carmel (6-4, 6-3) and Jeff Miyamoto of Patrick Henry (5-7, 6-4, 6-4). Santillan, a native of Cuernavaca (near Mexico City) who attends Hilltop, defeated Gene Swortwood of Torrey Pines (6-4, 6-1) and Tim Clark of San Marcos (6-0, 6-4).

Santillan, a junior who is seeded fifth, was helped by the withdrawal of top-seeded Marco Zuniga of St. Augustine, who was out with a bad back. Santillan would have played Zuniga in the quarterfinals.

“I wanted to play (Zuniga),” said Santillan, who attended the well-known Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida for a year and a half. “I just wanted to see how I would do against him.”

Santillan took less than an hour to dispose of Clark but struggled a bit against Swortwood.

“(Swortwood) is a very good player,” Santillan said. “I knew I had to win the first set to break him down mentally. I’m playing with a lot of confidence now. I’m confident on the big points.”

After being lobbed to death in the first set by Miyamoto, No. 2-seeded Martinez, a 6-foot-1 junior, began to cover the net better in the second.

“The lobs were working well in the beginning,” Miyamoto said. “He covers the net well, and he’s quick up there. So I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

In the third set, Martinez began to wear down Miyamoto.

“I think he was in better shape than I was,” said Miyamoto, a senior who will attempt to walk on at UC Irvine. “I think that was the difference.”

Martinez, who beat Miyamoto in straight sets earlier in the year, also began to find his serve in the second and third sets and took a 5-2 lead. Miyamoto closed to 5-4, but Martinez held his serve and won when Miyamoto hit a forehand approach shot long.

It will be an all-Torrey Pines doubles final. Mike Kestler and Jim Sunderland will face teammates Efrem Zimbalist and Jason Wurl at 12:45 p.m. Kestler and Sunderland beat St. Augustine’s Pablo Zaragoza and Uliases Kyriakides, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, in one semifinal. Zimbalist and Schaedler downed Dan McKenzie and Jim Brown of La Jolla, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the other.