SECTION TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Martinez in Repeat Performance

If Ignacio Martinez didn’t know how tough it was to repeat as a champion two days ago, he does now.

The St. Augustine High senior, who won the singles title of the San Diego Section tournament in 1989, was taken to three sets and two tiebreakers for the second day in a row before recapturing the championship Friday at San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club.

Martinez, seeded first, had to outlast an old nemesis, second-seeded Francisco Santillan of Hilltop, 6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, in a two-hour, 55-minute showdown. Martinez beat Hernan Olivas in the semifinals Thursday, 6-7 (7-3), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

In the earlier doubles final, La Jolla’s Jimmy Brown, part of a top-seeded doubles team that was upset in last year’s semifinals, teamed with Tim Kreysing to defeat La Jolla teammates James Conda and Jon Elsberry, 6-2, 7-5, in another match in which No. 1 beat No. 2.

Santillan is known to Martinez as the opponent who won’t go away. Santillan lost to Martinez, 6-3, 7-6, in last year’s final, and Martinez had beaten him four times in seven previous meetings. But Santillan has never gone down without a fight.

Santillan was on the verge of losing the first set, trailing, 5-3, and serving at love-40, but came back to win the game. Martinez not only failed to capitalize on the triple set point, he double-faulted away the next game.

Santillan then double-faulted his serve to make it 6-5 Martinez, but he again broke Martinez to force the tiebreaker, where he won five of the last six points.

“That first set, I was not playing too well,” Martinez said. “But he always comes back like that. Our matches are always like this.”

Santillan had trouble with first serves in the opening set, but he took away the defending champion’s greatest asset, his serve-and-volley game, by hitting deep ground strokes and beating Martinez with passing shots when he approached.

“His backhand passing shot was very strong,” Martinez said. “I had to sit and wait for approach opportunities until the final game.”

“I really thought I was going to beat him today,” Santillan said. “I was getting a lot of confidence in my passing shot. But I got too anxious in the third set.”

Martinez said he was nervous when he saw Santillan rally from deficits in the final two sets. Santillan was down, 5-2, in the second set before rallying to force a tiebreaker. It was then that Santillan began to look tired, and Martinez began to assert himself.

He won the tiebreaker and took a quick 4-0 lead in set three. In two of those games, Santillan lost all four points on unforced errors. But he later broke Martinez’s service to make it 4-3.

“I started feeling pressured at that point,” Martinez said. “All I could do was concentrate on hitting my first serve.”

Santillan said he didn’t tire in the third set but started to force his shots in his comeback effort.

“I love to be down and come back,” he said. “That’s how I win a lot of matches. I never give up. I’m a fighter.”