Altamirano avenges loss, gains first ITF singles final

Collin Altamirano, shown in 2014, beat University of Virginia
teammate Carl Soderlund to reach the final of a $25,000 pro-
fessional tournament in Long Beach. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Collin Altamirano's victory today was especially sweet.
   The 21-year-old wild card from Sacramento avenged last week's loss to a University of Virginia teammate to reach his first ITF Pro Circuit singles final.
   Altamirano, a junior at two-time defending NCAA champion Virginia, outlasted No. 7 seed Carl Soderlund, a freshman from Sweden, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours, 5 minutes in the Legends $25,000 Tennis Tournament in Long Beach.
   Soderlund beat Altamirano 7-6 (7), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the USC/Los Angeles $25,000 Tennis Tournament en route to the final.
   Altamirano, who owns one ITF doubles title, will face unseeded Marcos Giron, 23, of Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles area.
   Giron, the 2014 NCAA singles champion from UCLA, topped Germany's Sebastian Fanselow, a 25-year-old former Pepperdine All-American, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (6), 6-2 in 2 hours, 46 minutes.
   Altamirano, 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters), and Giron, 5-11 (1.80), have split their two meetings. Giron seeks his fifth ITF singles title.
   In 2013, Altamirano became the first unseeded player to win the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in the tournament's then-71-year history.