OJAI VALLEY TENNIS TOURNAMENT : Camarillo Twins’ Attempt to Meet in Final Falls Short

Alejandro Hernandez proved to be double trouble in singles for Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday at the Ojai Valley tennis tournament, but White and White was just right for a doubles championship.

Hernandez, who splits his time playing out of San Diego in U. S. junior events and in Tijuana to compete in Mexican tournaments, won his boys’ 14 singles semifinal match Saturday morning with an impressive 6-1, 6-4 win over Camarillo’s Bob Bryan. Hernandez came back in the afternoon to dispatch Bob’s twin Mike in the final, 7-5, 6-1.

In the girls’ 18-and-under doubles division, Molly White of Camarillo and Amelia White of Santa Barbara pocketed the title with an easy 6-0, 6-1 victory over Marissa Mell and Renee Urricariet of Fountain Valley at Libby Park.

The Cal Lutheran team of Jason Munro and Paavo Salmi, meanwhile, failed in its bid for a men’s independent college doubles title. The pair edged Gavin Fenske and Kurt Kopp of Cal State Bakersfield in the quarterfinals, 7-6, 7-6, but lost to Lance Au and Chris Noyes of Claremont-Mudd in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-2.

After winning a girls’ 16 doubles title last year at Ojai, Molly White and Amelia White (no relation) were not surprised to bring home another championship this year. But they were shocked by the ease with which they won.

The pair dropped only eight games in four matches, including a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Angela Arias and Farrah Tierney on Saturday morning in a semifinal. But on a windy day in Ojai, the final round proved to be even more of a breeze.

Relying heavily on Molly’s sharp volleys and serves and Amelia’s crisp returns, the duo won its first nine games against Mell and Urricariet and finished off the match in just 40 minutes.

Making the result all the more remarkable was that Molly was playing in her first tournament since August. She since had undergone surgery on her right shoulder to repair a damaged rotator cuff.

Molly said that last year’s title “felt good, but this one feels even better.”

She and Amelia said they had been best friends for a number of years before forming a doubles team last year before the Ojai tournament. “We decided to play together and we really clicked,” Amelia said. “Now we’re looking forward to (USTA) nationals.”

Bob and Mike Bryan had hoped to give their family a lock on the boys’ 14 title by both making the final. Mike did his part by wearing down the talented Casey Pelle of Yorba Linda, 6-2, 6-2, but Hernandez used his powerful ground strokes to overwhelm Bob in straight sets.

“I wanted to beat (Hernandez) more because he beat Bob,” a disappointed Mike said after the final.

In women’s intercollegiate doubles, Cal State Northridge’s Cindy Neilson and Gabriela Knizek were toppled by Debbie and Tracy Matano of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 6-2, 6-2, in a quarterfinal match.