Sunny Hills’ Kao Shows Some Fight Before Falling

Phil Sheng might have landed a few more telling blows than Joseph Kao. But judging by Sheng’s weary expression and soaking-wet trunks and shirt, he knew he had been in a fight.

The top-seeded Sheng, a junior at Thousand Oaks, hit the Sunny Hills senior with everything he had and then some before Kao finally succumbed, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals of the Southern Section individual boys’ tennis tournament Saturday at Seacliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach.

“He didn’t do anything unexpected,” Sheng said. “The ball just kept coming back. And they weren’t just coming back with nothing on them, they had something on them. I wanted to be on top of the net, but he didn’t let me.”

Kao, known until recently as a counterpuncher, showed Sheng an all-around game that has been rounding into form the last six months. He proved he could return Sheng’s rocket serves, run down his ferocious forehands and hit hard enough to blast winners from deep in the court.

“He hit some unbelievable returns and he kept hitting them all match long,” Sheng said.

Had he chosen to, Kao said, he could have gone toe-to-toe with Sheng, the defending section and Ojai champion.

“I can hit as hard as him, but I’m not going to get the ball in the court as much,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been smart. So I just stayed smooth and hit it where he’s not.”

Although he wasn’t pleased with the result, Kao was proud of his resolve and is encouraged by his progress.

“It’s good to know that this is my game plan and I didn’t deviate from it,” said Kao, who also reached the semifinals of Ojai. “It proves to me that I can win playing my game.”

Kao played his game to near perfection in the first set, recovering from a 2-0 deficit to take six of the next eight games--two on Sheng’s serve--and the set. He finished off the set by passing Sheng with a running forehand down the line.

In the second set, Kao was able to break Sheng again. But he had his serve broken in the third and fifth games as Sheng capitalized on Kao’s poor first-serve percentage and several second serves that hung in Sheng’s strike zone too long. Sheng won the set, 6-4, but he couldn’t keep the momentum.

Kao opened the third set by holding serve and he kept the lead thanks to a barrage of unforced errors off Sheng’s forehand side. The momentum changed for the last time in the seventh game with the score tied, 3-3, 30-30. Kao had an easy forehand volley that he barely missed wide, giving Sheng a break point.

“That could have been the turning point,” said Kao, who plans to walk on at Stanford next season.

Sheng got the break when Kao couldn’t run down a short ball. Sheng held serve twice to finish the match.

“I think it came down to conditioning,” Sheng said. “He looked really tired in the third set.”

But Kao looked pretty spry on match point. He sprinted from beyond the baseline to catch up with a drop volley that landed just over the net. Kao’s flip lob landed inches over the line.

Sheng’s victory may have taken a toll, however. He missed his chance to become the first boys’ tennis player in 34 years to repeat as Southern Section singles champion when he had to retire against Manhattan Beach Mira Costa’s K.C. Corkery while trailing, 4-6, 6-4, 3-0, in the title match.

Peninsula’s Goh Fukugaki and Tiege Sullivan won the doubles title with a 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-2 win over Beverly Hills’ Brian Swatt and Raymond Hekamat.