Lingman Stuns No. 1 Player
There was nothing magical about Susanna Lingman’s upset of top-seeded Iris Ichim in the girls’ 18 quarterfinals at the Ojai Valley tennis tournament. And there was no celebrating either, at least not right away, after Lingman’s surprisingly easy 6-4, 6-1 victory over the 14-year-old Romanian who lives in Beverly Hills.
“I played solid today,” said Lingman, a junior at Woodbridge. “She hits it hard, but that’s right in my strength zone. I kept it deep and tried not to go for my shots too early.”
Lingman’s semifinal will be her first at Ojai in just her second trip to the artsy town north of Ventura. Lingman will meet Saddleback’s Kim Nguyen, a two-time Times’ Orange County player of the year. Nguyen defeated Dana Point’s Amberly Tantee, 6-2, 6-2.
Nguyen’s semifinal appearance is not a big surprise, considering she beat Tantee to win the girls’ 16s here last year. Lingman didn’t play well at the Easter Bowl tournament in Palm Springs last week and she is coming off a short hiatus from tennis.
“I didn’t have the results I was looking for,” she said. “I took time off to think about what I wanted to do. I decided to change my attitude and my practice.”
Whatever changes Lingman made impressed Ichim, who beat Lingman last year at a Fullerton designated tournament.
“She had a great day,” said Ichim, who moved to California 3 1/2 years ago. “I couldn’t find the court. She pushed me back all day. I couldn’t step into the ball.”
Nguyen had no such problems against Tantee. She controlled the match from the beginning and is playing as well as ever. Nguyen’s only trouble spot is a sore right quadriceps she injured this week while sprinting.
Nguyen would love to add a few inches to her 5-foot-3 frame to help her reach more balls at the net, but hasn’t been very successful.
“I’m not growing,” she said. “My dad measured me and I think I shrunk.”
In the other girls’ 18 semifinal, Villa Park junior Arpi Kojian will meet Ojai’s Erin Burdette. Kojian defeated Palm Desert’s Jennifer Baker, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.
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In the girls’ 18 doubles, the top-seeded team of Caylan Leslie (Corona del Mar) and Ashley Backus (San Diego) defeated Capistrano Valley’s Leigh Ann Merryman and Carolyn Mitchell, 6-2, 6-0, in the semifinals. Leslie is shooting for her third consecutive Ojai title. She will be making her fourth appearance in a row at Libbey Park, where all the junior finals are held.
“I’m excited just to see that court again,” said Leslie, who has won the girls’ 18s and 16s the last two years. “It’s my good luck tournament.”
Notes
In the girls’ 16 singles, Dana Hills’ Kady Pooler, Woodbridge’s Elizabeth Exon and Orange eighth-grader Lindsey Nelson all were defeated. Pooler lost to Ashley Schellhas of Ojai, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3, Exon fell to Jessica Siebel of Ross, 6-0, 3-6, 6-0, and Nelson defaulted to Casey Cross of Rancho Mirage because of an injury. In the girls’ 14 singles, top-seeded Tracy Lin of Anaheim reached the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ashley Williams of Irvine. . . . University sophomore Aaron Yovan advanced to the boys’ 16 semifinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jesse Inghelram of San Francisco. Yovan will meet top-seeded Doug Stewart of Malibu.
UC Irvine advanced to the semifinals of the Big West men’s tournament with a 4-1 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Anteaters (14-8) ranked 74th nationally, clinched the victory with wins by Chris Chung and Stefan Pongratz in singles.