BOYS’ TENNIS / SEASON PREVIEW : Tseng Exercising His Right to Lead

The Harvard-Westlake High boys’ tennis team--powerful, well-conditioned, highly respected, ranked No. 2 in Southern Section Division II--started the season sweating on a patch of campus grass.

Instead of breezy afternoons at the club polishing their serves and drop shots, the Wolverines were stretching, running wind sprints, gasping for air in a boot-camp setting.

The boys were caught off-guard because leading the drills was Philip Tseng, possibly the section’s foremost singles player.

Tseng, 17, is ranked 15th in the nation by the United States Tennis Assn. and No. 2 by the Southern California Tennis Assn. in the boys’ 18-and-under division. At 15, he was a member of the USTA Junior National team, playing 18-and-under tournaments in Italy and France.

The Wolverines were surprised. A player of Tseng’s caliber usually spends his afternoons getting custom rackets restrung or toenails clipped. Certainly, he does not play drill sergeant for his high school classmates and lead agility exercises.

“We were a little apprehensive,” said Wilton Park, a Harvard-Westlake singles player. “But we had confidence in him, being the player that he is.”

Many top junior players don’t find time to play for their high school teams, instead training under a private coach. But Tseng, a senior who could be headed to Stanford on a partial scholarship, is not just dropping in to play a set for the Wolverines every once in a while. He has made them a pet project.

“Normally, the way teams practice is you hit balls for an hour and a half,” Tseng said. “It’s kind of humdrum. I think this will lead to more discipline. I know what it takes. I’ve been there.”

Before the season Tseng, a semifinalist in the 1993 section individual tournament, suggested that Harvard-Westlake could benefit by using his personal workout twice a week. Coach Harry Salamandra agreed, thinking better endurance might help the Wolverines. Even, perhaps, avenge their 1993 loss to Sunny Hills in the Division II team final.

Sunny Hills is ranked No. 1 in Division II this season, Harvard-Westlake No. 2.

“He came to me and said, ‘How best can I help the team? I want to run this training program, because it helped me become the player I am,’ ” Salamandra said. “The other players have been impressed that he would even be willing to share that.”

Said Tseng: “(My teammates) took it as a joke at first. But I think it’s brought us together as a team more. We’ve got a lot of sophomores and juniors who were on the JV level before. They don’t have experience dealing with pressure.

“I’ve tried to step forward and give some leadership. I’d like to try to be another guy out there, but Coach Sal tells me the younger guys look up to me.”

Said Park, a junior who plays No. 2 singles behind Tseng: “At first, we asked why we were even doing this. It was like track or football workouts. But the next day, a lot of guys were hurting. We had a tendency to get tired at the end of matches. This showed we needed a lot of work.

“I was accepting it with open arms the whole time. Philip wants to teach and we need to learn.”

Tseng stands to reap more than the gratification from helping the other players. He is afforded the opportunity to be part of a team, an unusual experience.

“I think most ranked kids that skip high school tennis miss a lot of friendships and intangibles that are very important,” said Coach Clyde Richards, who led the Burbank boys’ team to the Division III title last year. “Last fall, Corie Simmons, a ranked player on my girls’ team, was burned out on tennis. The team rejuvenated her. What I like about Philip is he’s played his team’s matches.”

The three best girls’ players in this area--Meilen Tu, Ania Bleszynski and Krissy Hamilton--didn’t play high school tennis last fall because they couldn’t make part-time arrangements with the coach.

“I’m really fortunate,” Tseng said. “My coach is really very cooperative. He understands my situation, that outside practice is a priority.”

But Tseng also realizes this might be his only chance to play team sports, something he has dreamed of during his long, solitary upbringing on a tennis court.

“Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to play soccer and Little League baseball,” Tseng said. “But I’ve always had to stick to tennis. I also wanted to try football. There was always the possibility of injury.

“It’s important for me to have the chance to contribute to the school. It’s not important to my game, because the competition is lower. But the camaraderie is good and I feel obligated. This school has done a lot for me.”

Teams to Watch:

Westlake: The defending Marmonte League champions have two strong singles players and enough firepower to justify a preseason No. 7 ranking in Division I by the Southern Section, said first-year Coach Grant Calkins. One concern: The Warriors have no seniors.

In singles, No. 1 player Nick Varvais, No. 2 Todd Campbell and No. 3 Seth Springer are sophomores. Calkins is also high on the No. 1 doubles team of Jason Joe and Justin Huffman, a pair of juniors.

“Both could play No. 1 singles on a lot of teams,” said Calkins, 54, a walk-on coach who is a computer software writer.

Singles is not a concern, but the development of the lower doubles teams is. Calkins must teach some singles players how to play in tandem.

Harvard-Westlake: Without Philip Tseng, the Wolverines wouldn’t be ranked second in Division II. With him, they might be headed for a title rematch with Sunny Hills. Youth could work against Harvard-Westlake. Tseng is the only returnee from a squad that finished 17-3 last season.

The other top singles players are sophomores David Brown and Farbod Nasseri, and junior Wilton Park. In doubles, seniors Ryan Taban and Johnny Levine, junior Jamie Green and sophomore David Hatkoff are expected to make big contributions.

Harry Salamandra, now in his 14th season as coach, usually has talent and knows what to do with it. Harvard-Westlake is a lock to win the Mission League title.

Burbank: The Bulldogs are defending Division III champions and ranked No. 1. They won’t have a dominant singles players as they did last year. Doug Young has graduated. Vazghen Zaghiyan steps into the No. 1 role.

With a new Southern Section scoring system that awards 1 1/3 points for doubles victories, Richards has some interesting options for Phil Cano and Brad Warner, seniors who played together at No. 1 doubles last season. Warner likely will move to singles, but both could bolster the doubles ranks while playing with new partners. Or they could stay together at No. 1 doubles.

Much depends on the development of singles players Varand Ghazikhanian, Rafi Hovanessian and Yamil Sarmiento, and doubles players Tim Harris, Stratos Christianakis and Amerson Suson in doubles.

Also returning is the 1993 doubles team of Roy Kim and Jack Liu, who clinched the section title with a three-set victory against Righetti.

Quartz Hill: Once again, Coach Bill Lenaway will have better-than-average players and probably will make them excel. The Rebels have gone undefeated in the Golden League each of the past three seasons.

“I think the players are aware they have a little reputation to uphold,” Lenaway said. “I’m not afraid to put that on them. It gives them a vision. It gives them a little pressure, and they’ve got to get used to pressure.”

Here’s a challenge for Lenaway: He must find replacements for Kenny Park (No. 1 singles) and Richard Harper (No. 1 doubles), who dropped out of the program. Top freshman Shahid Tahir also left after getting homesick for his native Pakistan.

Seniors Yatin Patel and Val Valcarcel will vie to fill the void at No. 1 singles. Jose Guerrero will play at No. 3. Quartz Hill, ranked fourth in Division III, has depth at doubles with Brian Kim, Bob Harkins, Ryan Drury, Stan Howdek, Rohan Dharma and Matt Banks.

Calabasas: The Coyotes, ranked No. 1 in Division IV, are loaded with talent and littered with off-court snags. A bad back has kept No. 1 singles player Jason Weiss, a high-ranking junior, out of action. Conflicts have kept doubles players Darren Miller and Anupam Mishra on the sidelines.

But with No. 2 singles player Jason Cook, another ranked junior, and No. 3 Jeff Herz and seven capable doubles players in the mix, Calabasas (17-1 last year) should be the favorite for the section title.

“I know all the Division IV teams are complaining about us being moved down from Division III,” Coach Casey Allen said. “I know when we have all our guys, we can play with anybody in the state.”