TENNIS / EASTER BOWL JUNIOR TOURNAMENT : Prestigious Event Draws Talented Field With Move

Sixty-one players from California, including 14 from Orange County, are entered in the prestigious Easter Bowl junior tennis tournament that begins today at the Riviera Resort and Racquet Club in Palm Springs.

Kevin Kim of Fullerton, the second-seeded player in the boys’ 18 division, is the highest of five county players who are seeded. Newport Beach’s Geoff Abrams is among players seeded ninth through 16th. Specifics rankings are not known for those players.

Ryan Moore of Fullerton is in the group seeded from ninth to 16th in the boys’ 16s, Taylor Dent of Newport Beach is seeded fifth in the boys’ 14s and Faye DeVera of Villa Park is seeded seventh in the girls’ 16s.

Other county players entered are Fullerton’s Joseph Gilbert and Huntington Beach’s Brett Hankey in the boys’ 18s, Westminster’s Cody Jackson and Irvine’s David Lingman in the boys’ 14s, Corona del Mar’s Nina Vaughn in the girls’ 16s and Corona del Mar’s Nadia Vaughn and Huntington Beach’s Melissa Esmero in the girls’ 14s.

Seena Hamilton, organizer and founder of the tournament, said she would have liked to include more Southern California players in the 64-player draws.

“The depth of tennis in this country is in Florida and California,” said Hamilton, who is bringing the Easter Bowl to California after 26 years in Miami. “We took in eight players in the boys’ 18 division from Southern Cal. If had it to do again, I’d take 10.”

In most national tournaments, the draw includes 128 players, but the Easter Bowl limits its field to 64. The Easter Bowl is also the only national junior event that stages six age-division tournaments. The others are all-boys’ or all-girls’ tournaments.

“I never had so many parents and children crying,” she said.

Santa Ana’s Ryan Thompson, Villa Park’s Ryan Hollis and Orange’s Brandi Freudenberg were some of the prominent county players not invited to the tournament.

Hamilton said the Palm Springs community and the tennis community has embraced the tournament surprisingly well. In fact, it might be here to stay.

“We have sold out 3,300 rooms in Palm Springs,” she said. “We even had 61 kids from the state of Florida. When we were in Florida, the most I had was 49. This is the first time I know of that a (junior) tennis tournament is considered an incentive for tourism. We have people just clamoring to come out there.

“The difference between Riviera and Doral (the event’s former site in Miami) is Doral is a gated community, off the beaten path. Riviera is accessible to everyone.”

The first Easter Bowl featured 15-year-old Jimmy Connors losing to Harold Solomon in the finals of the boys’ 16s. This year’s final could feature Kim and top-seeded Ryan Wolters of San Jose, Kim’s roommate at Palmer Tennis Academy in Tampa.

Wolters has committed to Stanford and Kim is one of the most heavily recruited juniors in the country. To others, a good showing at the Easter Bowl can mean a college scholarship.

“Since only a small percentage are going to turn pro immediately, the Easter Bowl is a tremendous factor in potential college scholarships,” said Kevin O’Connor, director of tennis at Palmer. “Doing well in this tournament will enable a player to receive a high critical seeding in the nationals, and the record shows that this has led directly to the most coveted scholarships for many juniors. “