SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS / INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Injuries, Peters Catch Up With Harvard’s Tseng

Philip Tseng’s surprising march through the Southern Section boys’ individual tennis championships ended abruptly Saturday when the Harvard-Westlake High sophomore lost a semifinal match to Peninsula’s Loren Peters, 6-2, 6-0, at SeaCliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach.

The fourth-seeded Peters, a junior, defeated Santa Barbara’s Alex Decret, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, in the championship match.

This was Tseng’s first tournament in a month because of back problems, yet he defeated top-seeded Heath Montgomery of Santa Barbara, 7-5, 6-3, in the quarterfinals Friday.

“Coming in we weren’t sure if he’d be competitive,” Coach Harry Salamandra said. “He’s a tough player.”

After pulling a muscle during the semifinals of the Easter Bowl tournament in Florida, Tseng did not even practice until one week ago. He looked sluggish Saturday, double faulting four times and struggling with his backhand.

“I wasn’t on,” Tseng said. “I wasn’t focused on the match. It seemed like I never really got into it.

“And (Peters) was unbelievably on. He came up too strong. He responded to my shots with better shots. Every single shot he had a winner, basically.”

Peters defeated Tseng, 6-0, in match play at Peninsula earlier this year. The Harvard bus arrived just before the match started and Tseng was out of sync from the beginning.

On Saturday, Peters won the first game and Tseng won the second, with Peters scoring only on a double fault.

Peters won 11 of the next 12 games en route to the Southern Section title.