Roshan Knows the Score and Wins Singles Final

Nima Roshan of Granada Hills High completed his improbable run through the City Section tennis tournament with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Matt Jones of El Camino Real in the singles final Wednesday at Balboa Sports Complex in Encino.

Roshan overcame controversy in the second set to exact revenge on the player who defeated him in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament and in the City team final two weeks ago.

Seeded sixth in the 32-player draw, Roshan beat third-seeded David Keyes of University in the quarterfinals, a player he lost to 6-0, 6-0 at a junior tournament in April.

Roshan outlasted defending champion and second-seeded James Magsino of El Camino Real in a 2 1/2-hour semifinal last Friday.

“I normally lose to Matt and James, but I was very determined to win here because I lost to both of them in the team finals,” said Roshan, who finished 15th in Southern California in the boys’ 16s last year. “They got the team title, but to beat both of them in the same tournament is pretty special.”

Roshan used his serve-and-volley style to break Jones in the first game of the match and broke again to win the first set.

Roshan broke Jones’ serve in the second game of the second set and appeared to be on his way to an easy victory. But the momentum swung before the start of the seventh game when USTA official Sol Jolly announced the score as 3-3.

Roshan thought he was leading, 4-2, and while he pleaded his case, Jones claimed ignorance.

“I wasn’t keeping track of the score, Sol was,” said Jones, a senior headed for Cal State Sacramento. “It’s not my job to keep score.”

Said Roshan: “Everyone knew what the score was. Matt knew, his dad was there watching and he knew, the umpire just made a mistake. As a friend, I was a little disappointed Matt didn’t correct it, but as a player I respect his decision. He wanted to win as much as I did.”

The incident rattled Roshan, who lost his serve at love. Jones held his serve and broke at 5-3 to tie the match one set apiece. But Roshan regrouped on the ensuing changeover and broke Jones to open the third set.

“My ultimate goal is to become a professional,” Roshan said. “So I have to handle adversity like a professional. I had a game taken away, but I handled it like a pro. I stayed in the match mentally and that’s something I wouldn’t have been able to overcome last year.”

Roshan served an ace on the winner-take-all deuce point to hold serve and ended a baseline rally with a backhand crosscourt winner to break again for a 4-1 lead.

Jones broke back and held to pull to within 4-3, but Roshan won his last two service games, spinning an ace off the center line on match point.

Magsino defeated Reyniere Roxas of Carson, 6-4, 6-4, to take third place.

Peter Shirley and Alex Leb of Palisades won the doubles title, defeating Ron Esguerra and Nick Noa of Carson, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

In the third-place match, Shaun Flynn and Nick Kogan of El Camino Real defeated Anand Murthy and Brad Steinberg of Granada Hills, 6-4, 6-3, in a rematch of their City team finals meeting, which the Conquistadores won in a tiebreaker.

“We came into the match really confident because we’d played them three times before and we beat them the last time,” said Flynn, a senior bound for California. “They beat us twice in league play, but we beat them when it counted.”

Kogan and Flynn were 27-3 this season.