Abrams Still Has Moore’s Number

Stanford senior Geoff Abrams, who starred at Newport Harbor High, took a step closer to his fifth Ojai title by easily defeating former juniors opponent Ryan Moore of USC, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round of the Pac-10 men’s tournament.

Moore, a sophomore from Servite, had a break chance in the first game that he let slip away, and he never got back in the match.

“I needed to capitalize on that to get into the flow of the match,” Moore said. “I needed to show him that I could play.”

Abrams has never lost a set to Moore in three matches.

“Today he missed a few easy shots and I was able to keep the pressure on him with my ground strokes,” Abrams said. “I also served pretty well and it’s tough to beat me when my serve is on.”

Moore is coming off a back injury that sidelined him for most of his freshman season.

“It’s coming,” he said. “I returned better today than I have since the injury. But he played so incredibly well and he’s got such a big game.”

Abrams, ranked eighth nationally in singles, plans to test his big game on the pro tour when he graduates from Stanford in June.

“I’m going to apply to medical school next year,” Abrams said. “Medical school is nice. But if I can play tennis for a living, why not do it.”

In the Pac-10 men’s invitational singles play, Arizona freshman Tom Lloyd (Esperanza) and USC freshman Parker Collins (Corona del Mar) won their first-round matches, but each lost in the second round.

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In junior play, Aaron Yovan of University, Kevin McQuaid of Los Alamitos and Garrett Snyder of Santa Margarita advanced to the second round of the boys’ 16 singles tournament. Corona del Mar’s Brian Morton was upset by Lester Cook of Woodland Hills, 6-4, 6-3, and second-seeded Matt Loucks of Irvine withdrew because of a hip injury.

In the boys’ 14 singles, Fullerton’s Gregory Sturman defeated Carsten Ball of Newport Beach, 6-3, 6-3.

In girls’ 16 singles, Woodbridge’s Elizabeth Exon and Megan Biorkman, Dana Hills’ Chelsy Thompson and Orange eighth-grader Lindsey Nelson advanced to the second round with straight-set victories. Dana Hills freshman Kady Pooler took three sets to beat Monica Wiesener of Woodland Hills. Top-seeded Kim Singer of Corona del Mar was upset by Casey Cross of Rancho Mirage, 6-3, 6-1.

Top-seeded Tracy Lin of Anaheim reached the quarterfinals of the girls’ 14s with a straight-set victory and a win by default.

In the girls’ 18 singles, Laguna Hills senior Jessica Prause reached the round of 16.

In the boys’ interscholastic singles, Corona del Mar sophomore Cameron Ball, Joseph Kao of Sunny Hills and Mike Nguyen of Capistrano Valley advanced to the round of 16. Ball upset second-seeded Nicholas Weiss of Calabasas, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Kao beat Blake Wilson-Hayden of Dana Hills, 6-2, 7-5.

In the girls’ 18 doubles, the top-seeded team of Caylan Leslie of Corona del Mar and Ashley Backus of San Diego, advanced to play Leigh Ann Merryman and Carolyn Mitchell of Capistrano Valley in today’s semifinals.