Michaels Wins Orange County Title

Palisades Tennis Center star Brandon Michaels won the boys’ 12-and-under championship in Orange County last week, knocking of Titus Strom of Texas in a final that proved to be a junior version of Sunday’s epic Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. ‘ The second-seeded Strom hadn’t dropped more than two games in any of his matches leading up to the finals. Michaels, however, got off to a fast start, winning the first set and building a 5-3 lead in the second. Strom fought back to take the set in a tiebreaker, forcing a decisive third set. Once again, the players matched each other shot for shot. The third set also went to a tiebreaker, but this time Michaels turned it on when he needed to and pulled out a 10-8 victory. Michaels, who attends Corpus Christi School, beat Ian Ross, Saumaun Heiat and Tyler Lu on his way to final.’The Orange County tournament had over 200 entries from California, Texas and Nevada. “Brandon is an incredible work horse and a humble, wonderful child,” says PTC Head Pro Jon Neeter. “He is on track to have his pick of colleges’that is for sure!” Michaels trains Monday through Thursday at the PTC Crunch Camp and is ranked in the top 10 in Southern California in his age group.