Sheng Sizes Up, Cuts Down Competition

It would be fair to say Phil Sheng grew into his role as the top 16-and-under tennis player in Southern California.

Sheng grew into it technically.

“My game has really improved this year,” he said.

He grew into it mentally.

“I’m thinking a lot more positive now.”

He plain-old grew.

“That sort of just happened,” he said.

Sprouting to a precocious 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, the 15-year-old from Thousand Oaks has the size to overpower most of his opponents, as was the case in his 6-4, 6-1 quarterfinal victory over Ryan McNaughton of San Diego at the Southern California Junior Sectional Championships.

“I couldn’t get a rhythm going on my forehand,” McNaughton said. “He was hitting the ball too deep.”

So it goes for a young man who entered this tournament at Los Caballeros Sports Village as the top-seeded player and has lived up to his billing so far, blowing through the first three rounds without losing a set.

“Now everybody knows how good I am,” Sheng said.

It wasn’t always that way. When he competed in the 14-and-under division, Sheng was merely a face in the crowd--the crowd that was consistently dominated by front-runners Ryan Redondo of Ojai and Nicholas Weiss of Santa Monica.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to the next age division. It was called a growth spurt.

“I didn’t notice till someone mentioned it too me,” Sheng said.

Travis Rettenmaier, another top boys’ 16 player, explained: “Phil got a lot stronger than a lot of the other kids. He became the new guy.”

Neng-Haung Sheng wasn’t surprised to see his son grow. The boy was 23 inches long at birth.

“The doctor said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 23 inches when he was born,” the elder Sheng said. “So we expected Phil to be tall.”

But it would be unfair to regard Sheng’s new-found success as purely a matter of genetics. His increased physical strength has been complimented by an emotional fortitude.

“It was just working hard and trying to get there,” he said. “And when you go out against someone better than you, ranking-wise, you have to keep telling yourself not to give up, to stay in the match.”

That toughness translated into a startling prep season in which he won the Marmonte League individual championship as a freshman.

Now that Sheng has become the main man in this qualifying event for the USTA national championships, he must find another kind of motivation. This is the mentality he takes into a semifinal match against Redondo today.

“It’s definitely scary because everybody is trying to beat me,” he said. “I’m like, ‘OK, if you want to beat me, come and get me.’ ”

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In one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament, Redondo defeated Weiss, a former Calabasas High student, 6-4, 6-1.

“I was a little shaky in the beginning, just feeling my shots out,” Redondo said. “Then I got consistent.”

He came storming back from 1-3 to take 11 of 13 games.

“I don’t know what happened,” Weiss said. “He’s just a good player.”

Both teens recently returned from touring Italy and France with a USTA junior national squad.

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Chase Exon of Irvine got an unexpected reprieve after losing, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, to Marco Tulio Borges of Santa Ana in the round of 16.

It turns out Borges is in the United States on a student visa and, under tournament rules, does not qualify as a resident of Southern California.

“We had no way of knowing beforehand,” tournament chairman Jim Hillman said. “I just heard the drift from people talking so I called [Borges].”

Borges was disqualified and Exon made good use of his second chance, beating Ryan Haymond of Bakersfield, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

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In boys’ 16, Travis Rettenmaier of Camarillo defeated Andrew Rosenfeld of Beverly Hills, 6-4, 6-3.

In boys’ 14, third-seeded Robert Yim of Glendale defeated seventh-seeded Aaron Yovan of Irvine, 6-3, 6-2. Fourth-seeded Stephen Amritraj of Calabasas defeated eighth-seeded Justin Montgomery of Channel Islands Harbor, 6-4, 6-4.

In boys’ 12, second-seeded Sergy Vagramian of Glendale defeated Jake Smith of Malibu, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4.

In girls’ 16, top-seeded Luana Magnani of Pasadena ousted sixth-seeded Jieun Jacobs of Valencia, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.

In girls’ 14, third-seeded Lori Stern of Ojai defeated seventh-seeded Masha Zeveleva of Santa Monica, 6-1, 6-4.

In girls’ 12, top-seeded Erica Sauer of Somis defeated Amber Harper of Tarzana, 6-0, 6-4.