SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Hansen-Dent Celebrates Singles Victory

After he hit one last unreturnable shot Saturday, Brett Hansen-Dent paused a moment, reached for the second ball in his pocket and belted it high and deep into the SeaCliff Tennis Club parking lot.

It was a rare show of emotion for Hansen-Dent, a senior at Newport Harbor High School who takes carefully measured steps on a tennis court. There never seems to be room in his game for outbursts.

But there is a time and place for celebration, and Hansen-Dent found it after defeating Ari Nathan of Brentwood, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, to win the Southern Section singles title.

Later, Hansen-Dent laughed when someone mentioned his home run ball. He acknowledged it was a dramatic break from his method of operation.

Even when he defeated practice partner Jon Leach of Laguna Beach to win the Ojai Valley tournament’s 18-and-under title last month, his calm demeanor never waivered.

“I kind of thought Ojai was bigger because all the colleges play there,” said Hansen-Dent, whose father, Phil Dent, was once the fifth-ranked player in the world. “For high schools this was bigger. This is the real CIF.”

Winning the Southern Section title was something of a breakthrough for Hansen-Dent, who though he is older than Leach, has played in his friend’s shadow.

“Up until this year, my high school career was all right,” Hansen-Dent said. “Now, it’s really happening for me.”

In the first set, Nathan ran Hansen-Dent ragged, blistering one passing shot after another.

“No one could have beaten him in that first set,” Hansen-Dent said. “Not Leach. No one.”

Hansen-Dent maintained his composure and rallied, winning the second set easily. When he broke serve for the second set in a game that had seven deuce points and four set points, Hansen-Dent also seemed to have broken Nathan’s spirit. Nathan didn’t offer much resistence in the third set.

“I don’t really think I played much different,” Hansen-Dent said. “He was just so hot. I just waited for him to cool down.”

When Nathan did, Hansen-Dent was ready to pounce.

Hansen-Dent did not get a second shot at beating Leach this season.

Nathan, down 4-1 in the third set, rallied to beat Leach, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, in the semifinals Saturday morning.

Leach, a junior, had advanced to the final the past two seasons, winning as a freshman and losing last year.

It was his last high school match. He will graduate early and begin classes in January at USC, where his father is the tennis coach.

“It’s funny,” Leach said. “My game is getting better each year, even though my record got worse. I’m improving. I think I’ll be ready for college next year.”

Mater Dei’s Jason Harnett and Adam Jarrett, who began playing doubles together three weeks ago and only to qualify for the Southern Section tournament, won the title, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), over Sean McKenna and Derek Shinden of Thousand Oaks.

The last time Harnett, a senior, and Jarrett, a junior, played together they advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s Southern Section tournament.

“They (the Thousand Oaks players) were a lot better than we expected,” Harnett said. “We didn’t think they’d be able to raise the level of their game that much.”