Breakers Fall to Top-Seeded Viewpoint in Tennis Finals

Laguna Beach and Viewpoint have been the juggernauts of CIF Southern Section Division 4 boys tennis this season, and on Wednesday, the second-seeded Breakers and top-seeded Patriots squared off in the championship match at The Claremont Club.

When the dust settled, Viewpoint, led by four senior players, came away with an 11-7 victory for its second-consecutive section title.

Setting the tone for the remainder of the match was the opening set on center court between the No. 1 singles players from both teams: Viewpoint senior Bryce Beisswanger and Laguna Beach senior Jake Michaels. Both appeared amped and ready to decide the winner as they ripped shots back and forth – and this was during the warm-ups. 

In the early going, the fire of each players was evident. Three separate calls were disputed and some moderate jawing ensued between the two. Regardless, Beisswanger jumped  to an early 2-0 lead. Michaels came back and tied up the set 2-2, winning his second game with an emphatic ace.

It appeared as if the two were headed toward a long, competitive match, but Beisswanger had other ideas.  He reeled off three straight games to go up 5-2.  Beisswanger was able to take advantage of Michaels' errors and won the set, 6-3.

It’s difficult to assess the importance that a single set between individuals can have on the entire teams.  But the way it appeared as if Michaels was about to make a comeback only to have Beisswanger step up and stop him in his tracks, had to affect both teams.

“This is the last step on the journey,” Viewpoint coach Travis Kikugawa said. “I told the guys to appreciate it and remember that it’s not every day you get to compete for a championship. Our boys are locked in right now.”

Particularly locked in were the Patriot’s doubles teams -- Nishanth Yamani and Jeremy Wacker, Ben Willner and Charlie Werman, and Jack Kleinman and Charlie Greulich -- who won seven of the nine sets.

“We were getting thumped in doubles all day,” Laguna Beach coach Peter Davidson said. “Viewpoint has a bunch of seniors on their team and seniors typically make great doubles players.”

Experience certainly played a part in the decisive victory.

Viewpoint’s senior Nishanth Yamani spoke like someone who had been to the championship match before.  That was because he had. But he said his performance last season was not what he had in mind.  This year was going to be different.

“Today is our day.  When we want something, we go after it,” Yamani said. “Today, we wanted it more.”

The best individual performance of the match belonged to Laguna Beach's Teague Hamilton, who won all his singles sets.  The hard-hitting sophomore played smartly and appeared in controlled all day long. 

“Everyone played their best,” Hamilton. “It would have been nice to have won a few more doubles.”  He added that, hopefully, next year the Breakers would be back in the CIF championship match.

With the outcome already decided, Jake Michaels, Laguna Beach's captain, was battling with Viewpoint senior Kobi Joffe.  At 3-3 it would have been easy for both players to lose focus and just hit around for the last few games.  But not these players on these teams.  They matched each other shot-for-shot through the final games, even debating a few calls along the way. With a 6-5 lead, Michaels hit an ace to win the set.

Laguna Beach finishes its season at 14-8 and with an Orange Coast League title.  The Breakers will lose only two seniors -- Jake Michaels and Benito Romeo. 

“Both of our seniors put it all together at the end of the year,” Davidson said. “They both produced for us and it would have been nice to give them a W today, but we just have to give credit to Viewpoint.  There’s a saying that you only play bad when the other guys play good.  Viewpoint played really good and handled the pressure.”