TENNIS OJAI TOURNAMENT : Hansen-Dent’s Victory Is Relative in Boys’ 18s

Two 17-year-olds from Orange County who live about 10 minutes apart and practice together once a week came to the Ojai Valley for the Battle of the Sons of Famous Fathers.

One one side of the net stood 17-year-old Jonathan Leach, son of USC tennis Coach Dick Leach.

Then there was Brett Hansen-Dent, son of former No. 5-ranked player Phil Dent.

As the famous fathers looked on, Hansen-Dent defeated Leach, 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 6-4, Saturday to win the boys’ 18-year-old singles title at the Ojai Valley tennis tournament.

Famous father Dent peered through dark glasses as his son accepted a gold medallion after the match.

“We made a rule when he started playing tennis that he would have to ask me to play and that I would never ask him,” Dent said.

Does the system work?

“He asks me a lot,” said Dent, who is married to former women’s pro Betty Ann Grubb.

Hansen-Dent, from Newport Harbor High in Newport Beach, fought off two set points in the first set and came back from 2-4 in the third to defeat Leach in their first encounter since Leach, from Laguna Beach High, won two years ago.

“I don’t know where some of those shots came from,” Leach said. “It was scary.”

Not until earlier this month did the junior tennis world know a lot about Adam Peterson of Orange.

But then Peterson, who will be 16 in July, won the boys’ 16-year-old singles title at the Easter Bowl tournament in Miami.

“The Easter Bowl put Adam Peterson on the map,” said USC coach Leach.

Peterson’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over David Roditi of San Clemente Saturday wasn’t a major like the Easter Bowl, but it was another important age-group victory for the sophomore at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana.

“The Easter Bowl gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I can beat anyone,” Peterson said. “I also know that everyone will be trying even harder to beat me now.”

Round II: Today’s Pac-10 women’s singles final is shaping up as a rematch between Debbie Graham of Stanford and Mike Walden of Prime Ticket.

A year ago, Graham lost to Sandra Birch in the final and then complained that Walden had distracted her during the match by talking too loud and discussing her double faults.

But when Graham plays Stanford teammate Meredith McGrath at 8:30 a.m. today, Walden plans no change in decibel level.

“At 8:30, there’s no one here, so I could be calling the match from across the street and everyone would still hear me,” Walden said.

Jason Netter of UCLA, who defeated Jared Palmer of Stanford, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, will play Alex O’Brien of Stanford for the Pac-10 men’s singles final. O’Brien defeated Mark Knowles of UCLA, 7-6, 6-4.