The San Diego Section individual boys tennis championship tournament wrapped up May 18 with a decided South County flavor: the Otay Ranch High School tandem of Daniel Dulay and Matthew Lanahan won the doubles title while Hilltop’s Ivan Smith finished runner-up in the singles competition.
The Mustangs are believed to be the first doubles team from the Metro Conference to win a CIF title.
The Otay Ranch duo, top-seeded in this year’s draw, said finishing runner-up in last year’s tournament provided more than enough motivation to succeed this year.
“Last year we made it to the finals and we really wanted to win it this year,” Lanahan said. “From the beginning of the season that was our main goal — to win it. Losing really bad last year go into our head.”
The Mustang duo finished 5-0 in the tournament, capping the four-day event with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Rancho Bernardo’s Jay Blando and Mike Blando.
The Otay Ranch tandem defeated doubles teams from La Jolla, Bishop’s and Canyon Crest Academy en route to the finals.
Smith’s finals appearance is also noteworthy.
A check of the section record book indicates that he is the first player from the west side school since 1990 (Francisco Santillan) to make the CIF individual singles final. Hilltop’s John Burrman won it in 1969.
“It feels good, especially being a sophomore and last year losing in the Round of 16,” explained Smith, who lost 6-4, 6-1 to Torrey Pines senior Nik Speshilov, the 2018 San Diego Section Player of the Year.
“I played real well. I could have lost in any round, even the first round, they’re all tough competitors. I hope to win it next year and my senior year. That would be really fun.”
Smith, seeded third in the singles draw, won his opening four matches to advance to the championship round.
He defeated Francis Parker’s Zakai Stone 6-2, 6-4 in the feed-in round on May 16 and then defeated Canyon Crest Academy’s Luke Williams 6-1, 2-0 (injury) in the Round of 16, also on May 16.
Next up were two more matches on May 17. Smith defeated Poway’s Ryan Hahn 6-4, 2-6, 10-2 in the quarterfinals and then defeated Del Norte’s Peter Stratton 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals.
Speshilov (59-0) entered the draw seeded fourth and dominated the field.
The Torrey Pines senior, by way of Moscow, finished 5-0 in the tournament. He won by scores of 6-1, 6-1 against Bishop’s William Olson (in the feed-in round), 6-0, 6-2 against Canyon Crest Academy’s Max Tokman (in the Round of 16), 6-1, 6-1 against Sage Creek’s Diego Navarro (in the quarterfinals) and 6-1, 6-0 against Bishop’s Matthew Mu (in the semifinals).
Mu entered the tournament seeded second.
Olympian’s Marco Alvarez advanced as far as the quarterfinals while Eastlake’s Mauricio Rovira and High Tech High Chula Vista’s Carlos Robles both advanced as far as the Round of 16.
Teams from Bonita Vista and High Tech High Chula Vista both advanced to the second round of doubles play.
