Local Stars Shine at PTC Tourneys

The Palisades Tennis Center hosted a USTA-sanctioned novice and satellite tournaments last week and is hosting an Open level event this week at the public courts off Alma Real. The tournaments have attracted players from as far away as Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Florida, Virginia and New York, but it was the local players who dominated the draws. In the boys 10-and-under satellites, Corpus Christi student Christian Gambale stole the show, winning three three-set matches (including five tiebreakers) to reach the finals. PTC’s own Charlie Hollingsworth won the boys 12s Novice division with wins over Palisadian Schuyler Dietz and Kian Rahimnejad of Los Angeles along the way. Nine-year-old Palisadian Lucas Bellamy won the boys 12-and-under satellite, taking out Ethan Drapac of Tarzana, top-seeded Elliot Miller of Newhall in straight sets and Jonah Anderson of Beverly Hills, 7-6, in a third-set tiebreaker. In the girls 14-and-under satellites, it was an all-PTC final with Elizabeth Ryan upsetting top-seeded Perri Zarat to win the division. Ryan eliminated Chloe Wright of Santa Monica, Sumayyah Shabazz and No. 2-seeded Gabriella Chung of Culver City on her way to the final. This week’s Open division, which concludes Friday, started with nearly 200 players. Among those entered is rising PTC junior Brandon Michaels, an 11-year-old from Corpus Christi School, who won two matches in the boys 12s division of the Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas, last week. ‘Last [Sunday] was all about the pros,’ PTC founder Steve Bellamy said, referring to the inaugural Shotgun 21 unisex tournament August 9 at the PTC. ‘Last week and this week, though, are about the juniors and there’s been some great tennis out here. Our own players are proving they can hold their own against anyone.’ Meanwhile, at the boys 14s nationals in Sacramento, PTC pals Alex Giannini, Robbie Bellamy and Joshua Kameel were three of the four semifinalists. Two other PTC teammates, Cristobal Rivera and Alexander Solonin, also made the quarterfinals. Brandon Clarke won four rounds while fellow PTC player Blake Anthony won two. Kameel reached the finals, beating players from Fort Lauderdale, Sacramento and Santa Barbara on his way there. Robbie Bellamy won six matches and Giannini won five. Those two also teamed up to make the semifinals in doubles, ousting duos from Orlando, Sacramento and Sunnyvale by scores of 8-2, 8-5 and 8-3. In the semifinals, the PTC pair had match point before falling to top-seeded Justin Chan and Maksym Tavetkov of Walnut Creek, 9-7.