Goldberg Makes Matador Final

Nearly 1,000 of the best junior tennis players in California, Nevada, Utah and Texas were in San Fernando Valley last week for the 45th annual Matador Designated Tournament. Not surprisingly, the Palisades Tennis Center’s contingent dominated in Northridge. Six of the final 16 players in the boys 10s and boys 14s represented the PTC. In the boys 10s division, Harry Cohen, Ben Goldberg, Lucas and Roscoe Bellamy, Cole Pilar and RJ Sands all made it to the second weekend. Sands pulled off the biggest win of his young career by sweeping fifth-seeded Spencer Dalton 6-1, 6-2. Roscoe Bellamy advanced to the quarterfinals and Goldberg, who turned 10 on Tuesday, kept up his current streak of getting to tournament finals. In the boys 14s, five of the eight quarterfinalists train at the PTC. The draw of 128 players included Alex Giannini and Alexander Solonin (each of whom got to the quarterfinals), Garrett Auproux and Brandon Clark (each of whom made the semifinals) and Seth Stolar, who reached the final. In the boys 16s, Brett Alchorn dropped only one set in five matches on his way to the quarterfinals. In the girls 10s, Grace Danko made the quarterfinals. In the girls 16s, Krystal Hansard knocked off the 17th seed in the first round, breezed through the second round, then lost to fourth-seeded Mayo Hibi of Irvine. At the Home Depot Center in Carson, Katie Vincent of the PTC breezed through two rounds to reach the semifinals of the 12-and-unders. At the Nationals in Las Vegas, PTC standout Brandon Michaels beat Daniel Maese of Texas in three sets, then lost to the No. 4 seed in the boys 12s singles. Michaels then partnered with Mease in doubles and the duo lost in the finals 9-8 in a tiebreaker to the No. 1 seeds. In the 14s, Robbie Bellamy lost a close match to top-seeded Brendan Aguilar in singles, then he and his partner fell to the No. 1 seeds in doubles. Palisadian Walker Kehrer was the No. 1 seed in the boys 18s and breezed through the first three rounds before losing to Zack Leslie in a third-set tiebreaker. In May, Kehrer led Brentwood’s boys tennis team to the CIF title.