Stewart Outlasts Buchanan

Doug Stewart of Malibu High went through almost five hours of tennis, two tenacious opponents and three T-shirts, but he eventually won the Southern Section individual singles title Saturday at Seacliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach.

The top-seeded Stewart defeated fourth-seeded Malcolm Scatliffe of San Bernardino San Gorgonio, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in the morning semifinals and outlasted second-seeded Patrick Buchanan of Servite, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-2, in a 2 1/2-hour afternoon match.

Stewart’s victory came 45 years after his father Forrest Stewart, playing for Pasadena Muir, lost in the section singles final to Allen Fox of Beverly Hills.

“I had wheels like him, but I couldn’t play like he can,” said Forrest Stewart, a Malibu assistant coach who was offering his son strategic advice during changeovers.

Buchanan also had pretty good wheels and a solid baseline game, but his shots began losing some of their steam late in the match.

“He was a little tired in the third set,” said Stewart, a junior. “I thought I was a little more fit.”

Buchanan, who defeated University’s Aaron Yovan, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals, said he had the energy but not the shots.

“I just couldn’t put the points together,” he said. “I couldn’t quite hit my forehand well enough and I could have closed with my volleys better.”

Buchanan, this year’s Ojai singles champion, appeared to have the momentum after winning a first-set tiebreaker, 10-8. But Stewart took control when he broke Buchanan’s serve in the fourth game of the second set to go up, 3-1. He broke Buchanan three times in the third set.

“My serve was fine,” Buchanan said. “He was just tenacious and solid from both sides. He really has no weakness. You just have to out-hustle him and I couldn’t do that today.”

Buchanan reached the final by beating Yovan for the third time in the last two months. He also beat Yovan at the South Bay junior tournament and in the Ojai final.

“I thought Pat played better today than he did at Ojai,” said University Coach Jeff Hammond. “No matter how well you play, you’re not going to beat a guy when he’s playing like that.”

In the doubles final, top-seeded Brian Morton and Garrett Snyder of Corona del Mar defeated second-seeded Phil Sheng and Andrew Lieu of Thousand Oaks, 6-4, 6-2. Morton and Snyder’s doubles title was the first for an Orange County team since 1992 when Dan Roditi and Jeff Marsden of San Clemente won.

Morton and Snyder didn’t begin playing together until two months ago, but they were nearly flawless over the two-day tournament, winning four matches without dropping a set. They also reached the Ojai final, losing to Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Teige Sullivan and Jeff Kazarian in three sets.

“It’s worked well because we’re good friends and we flow really well on the court,” Morton said. “We’re thinking the same thing out there.”

In the final against Sheng and Lieu, Morton and Snyder were thinking they needed to hold their serves. And they did for the entire match. Meanwhile, they broke Lieu’s serve once in each set and Sheng’s once in the second set.

Morton, who played singles last year, said he was pleased to finish his high school individual career with a doubles title.

“I love playing doubles,” said Morton, who has signed with UC Irvine. “I’ve been playing doubles at my club since I was 6 or 7.”

Snyder, a sophomore, said he will try to win the singles title next year.