Tiebreaker a Bust for Granada Hills

For nearly two hours after everyone else finished their matches on Tuesday, Michal Zeituni of Granada Hills High and Kamilah Smith of Hamilton struggled to see which one of their teams would advance to the City Section 4-A Division girls’ tennis final.

With the Highlanders and Yankees tied in sets, coaches, players and parents watched as the No. 3 singles players battled to near exhaustion before Smith prevailed, 6-4, 6-7, (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) in three hours 45 minutes at the Studio City Racquet Center.

Hamilton (12-2) emerged with a 4-3 victory and will to play Palisades in the final Friday. Second-seeded Granada Hills lost its first match of the season, falling in the semifinals for the second consecutive year.

Zeituni seemed ready to collapse when she lost a 5-2 lead in the second set but recovered to win the tiebreaker.

Early in the third set, Smith argued several calls with a judge, and nearly walked off the court.

Smith nearly had to withdraw after suffering a cramp in her leg with Zeituni holding a 5-4 lead in the final set.

The players had to move to a court with lights when darkness fell with Zeituni holding a 6-5 lead.

Smith adapted well to her new surroundings, winning the next game and taking a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker.

“I’ve never played that long,” Zeituni said. “It took a lot of energy, but she obviously played better at the end.”

The Highlanders rebounded from a 3-1 deficit with three matches left to get back into the match. Freshman Jasmin Dao pulled Granada Hills to within 3-2 with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Annie Lippman at No. 1 singles.

“There’s a little bit of pressure because I’m a freshman playing at No. 1,” Dao said. “By the third set, I just wanted to get the point for us.”

Moments after Dao’s match ended, the No. 2 doubles team of Nicole Frydman and Julie Kang tied it for Granada Hills (13-1) with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) victory over Sunny London and Jaspreet Kaur, turning everyone’s attention to Zeituni and Smith.

The Highlanders’ only early victory came at No. 3 doubles, where Valerie Ramirez and Ilah Layosa defeated Malika Brooks and Quan Le Trang, 6-4, 6-2.

Palisades 7, Van Nuys 0--The defending 4-A Division champion Dolphins (13-1) dropped just 18 games in a semifinal match at the Racquet Center.

“If anyone wins a set, it would have been a moral victory,” said Van Nuys Coach Jim Buck.

Leslie Musser came the closest to winning a set for fourth-seeded Van Nuys (13-2). Musser lost to Ilona Kordonskaya at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

The No. 3 doubles team of Debbie Chang and Tina Trinh lost to Emily Zehr and Elisa Miller, 6-2, 6-2.

Palisades has won two of the past three 4-A titles.