Lingman Heads to Semifinals in Boys’ 16 Singles

Irvine’s David Lingman, completely recovered a from a rare bacterial infection in his back that sidelined him for six months last year, advanced to the semifinals of the boys’ 16 singles Friday at the Southern California Junior Sectionals at the Los Caballeros Sports Village. Lingman, seeded seventh, defeated second-seeded Cody Jackson of Los Alamitos, 6-4, 6-2.

A year ago, Lingman was weak and out of shape and lost in the second round of qualifying.

“I wasn’t thinking about last year,” Lingman said. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to qualify. I’m healthy, I’m playing well and I’m strong.”

Lingman never let Jackson, a serve and volleyer, into the match as he made very few unforced errors. Jackson struggled all day as his volleys and ground strokes were a bit off.

“He’s a good front-runner,” Lingman said. “Once I got the first set, I knew I had him. I’m trying to attack more. I’m trying to keep my balls deep so I can come in.”

Lingman was almost joined in the semifinals by his good friend, Tom Lloyd of Yorba Linda. But Lloyd lost to top-seeded John Paul Fruttero of San Marino, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Lloyd, ranked 29th in the 16s, played four qualifying matches, San Marino’s Zoran Korac and eighth-seeded Eric Basica of Lomita to reach the quarterfinals.

“I was just hoping to get to the main draw,” Lloyd said. “I just played a couple loose games and I was kind of tentative in third set.”

Lingman will play third-seeded Nicholas Weiss of Calabasas in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m.

In the boys’ 18s, Fullerton’s Ryan Moore was an upset victim, losing to Anthony Mateljan of Fallbrook, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Mateljan upset fifth-seeded Joost Hol of Santa Ana in the round of 32. Scott Carlton of Upland defeated Chase Exon of Irvine, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5.

In the girls’ 18s, fourth-seeded Faye DeVera, who recently graduated from Villa Park, reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over fifth-seeded Kari Olsen of San Diego. DeVera’s former teammate, Katey Becker, also reached the semifinals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Stacey Roeck of Solana Beach.

Note

Chris Chung, a two-time Times first-team all-county player who graduated from Sunny Hills, signed a letter of intent with California, his father, Marcus, said Friday. He chose Cal over UC Irvine.