Bleszynski Survives Lapses to Win Title : Tennis: Thousand Oaks player rebounds after losing first set in girls’ 18 singles final at Ojai tournament.

Ania Bleszynski is an impressive sight on a tennis court. She’s 16, stands 6-feet and has a murderous serve.

Her baseline shots--diving top spins, bending cross-court winners, passing shots that dart at the corners--are powerful and pretty.

It was a combination of her towering presence and her graceful precision that both thrilled and mystified all who watched Bleszynski dominate, self-destruct and then rise again to defeat Rosemary She of Cerritos, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the girls’ 18 singles final of the 94th Ojai Valley Tournament on Saturday.

Those who looked on at Court 3 at Libbey Park delighted in Bleszynski’s smooth stroke as the Thousand Oaks youth exhibited total command--hitting the ball exactly where she wanted--in taking a 3-0 lead in the first set.

Then, without any warning, Bleszynski’s shots started missing wildly. They still looked nice but continually flew out of bounds. Ahead, 40-15, and serving in the fourth game, Bleszynski committed four unforced errors.

Bleszynski began to miss everything and She (pronounced Shay) won nine of the next 10 games.

A confused silence fell over the place. Even the public-address announcer appeared stunned when he said, “Game and set . . . She.” There were moans, lots of whispers and hundreds of eyes on Bleszynski, watching to see if the girl with so much talent--a former Ojai champion in 14 singles--could pull out of her tailspin.

“I started missing by a little bit,” said Bleszynski, a student at Harvard-Westlake High, “then I got nervous and started missing by more. And then I got tentative.”

Bleszynski nearly put a stranglehold on herself by falling behind, 3-0, in the second set, missing with her rocket-like first serves, putting drop shots into the net and blowing easy baseline attempts.

“Sometimes I’d get lazy and not get all the way to the ball,” said Bleszynski, “and I would be reaching (to hit it). Some days my first serve is a good weapon. Today wasn’t one of those days.”

Bleszynski’s opponent worked herself into a full sweat, keeping all of Bleszynski’s good shots in play until the latter hit one long, wide or short. Eventually, Bleszynski decided to play She’s game. And that’s when she rallied back, holding her second and third services in the second set and breaking She twice to lead, 4-3.

She began to crack, double-faulting on game points. Her second double fault gave Bleszynski a 3-1 lead and the momentum she needed in third set. Bleszynski won a 14-point marathon to lead 5-2, putting a backhand winner past a charging She.

Bleszynski then finally gave the crowd what it had been waiting for. On match point, she served an ace.

In the boys’ interscholastic final, Harvard-Westlake junior Phillip Tseng couldn’t capitalize on seven service-break opportunities and lost to Alex Decret of Santa Barbara, 6-2, 6-1.

In men’s open singles, Desi McBride of Woodland Hills advanced to today’s final by defeating Chris Dundas of San Marino, 6-2, 6-4. McBride will face Pat Crow of Long Beach at 9:30 a.m. In women’s open doubles, Julie Tullberg and Jamie Pisarcik, both of Ojai, will play Tracie Johnstone of Carpinteria and Colleen Patton of Santa Barbara in the women’s final today at 2 p.m.