Nelson, Yelsey Are Only Two of Stellar Contenders

It will be difficult to distinguish the final rounds of the Southern Section individual tournament from a top-flight U.S. Tennis Assn. junior-circuit event.

After three rounds of preliminaries two weeks ago, play continues at 11 this morning with the round of 16, followed by quarterfinals, in singles and doubles at SeaCliff Country Club in Huntington Beach. Semifinal and championship matches are Friday at the same site.

Seedings and matchups won’t be released until today, but the 16 remaining singles players are among the best in high school and junior-tournament tennis, and the doubles draw is intriguing because several top teams are made up of players better known for their singles play.

“The field is very balanced,” said Paul Castillo, Southern Section assistant commissioner in charge of tennis. “It’s a great field. At this point, any one of these players could win.”

The contenders: Villa Park High’s Lindsey Nelson, Newport Harbor’s Natalie Braverman, Anaheim Canyon’s Tracy Lin, Corona del Mar’s Anne Yelsey, Irvine Woodbridge’s Elizabeth Exon, Dana Hills’ Kady Pooler, Palm Desert’s Robyn Baker, Carpinteria Cate’s Lori Stern and Calabasas’ Monica Wiesener.

Nelson, a Villa Park sophomore, was a Southern Section quarterfinalist last season and is at No. 11 in Southern California in the USTA girls’ 18 division standings. She is No. 39 in girls’ 18 national standings and at No. 7 in girls’ 16s nationally.

She finished third in the 2001 USTA Girls’ 16 Super National Hard Court Championships.

Nelson suffered a broken toe early in the high school season but recovered nicely and is 54-0 in sets.

“I’ve been working out, working hard, and I can run, no problem,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.

“Anything can happen, but I think I can do pretty well.”

Yelsey is a junior ranked 46th nationally in girls’ 18 and 19th in Southern California behind Stern, a semifinalist last season.

Stern is ranked No. 12 in Southern California and No. 63 nationally.

Nelson was eliminated from last year’s tournament by Exon, an Irvine Woodbridge junior.

Baker, a Palm Desert junior ranked 12th nationally in girls’ 16 standings, beat Yelsey, No. 9 nationally in 16s, in a round-robin set in team playoffs last week.

Braverman, who sat out last year’s high school season, has lost only twice this season, to Exon and Peninsula’s Alex Jurewitz.

A Southern Section quarterfinalist as a sophomore, Braverman won the Sea View League singles title over Exon and is at No. 16 in Southern California in girls’ 18 standings and at No. 64 nationally.

Los Alamitos’ Melissa Selmanson and Gia Nafarrete were doubles semifinalists last season, but will have their work cut out this year.

Peninsula placed Shilpa Joshi and Colby Comstock, both top singles players, on doubles teams with Macall Harkins and Nikki LaBrucherie, respectively.

Calabasas and Corona del Mar also teamed top singles players. Celia Durkin and Erin Everly will play for the Coyotes, Brittany Holland and Taylynn Snyder for the Sea Kings.