Chaudhary channels Nadal for Sectional boys 18 title

Aryan Chaudhary, left, beat Eric Hadigian 6-4, 6-0 for the
NorCal Boys 18 Junior Sectional singles title at the Natomas
Racquet Club in Sacramento. Photo by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- He's neither Spanish nor left-handed, and he doesn't have a corkscrew forehand.
   But Aryan Chaudhary (pronounced AH-ree-un CHOD-uh-ree) has some Rafael Nadal in him.
   Like Nadal, Chaudhary is tenacious.
   "I don't give up on any balls," Chaudhary asserted.
   Largely for that reason, the second-seeded Chaudhary dismantled top-seeded Eric Hadigian 6-4, 6-0 today to win the NorCal Boys 18 Junior Sectional singles title at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   Chaudhary, a 15-year-old resident of Santa Clara in the San Francisco Bay Area, won the last eight games.
   "It was pretty tough," insisted Chaudhary, adding that he has not lost a set in three matches against Hadigian (pronounced HAD-i-gun). "The guy hits the ball really deep. I just told myself I had to grind for every single ball, get every single ball back and do my best to put him under pressure. I just didn't give up on any ball. I think that worked out pretty well in the end."
   Another 15-year-old, Luke Casper of Santa Cruz, won the boys 16 title at Natomas. The top-seeded Casper overpowered fifth-seeded Mason Fung of San Francisco 6-2, 6-2.
   Hadigian, 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters) and 175 pounds (79.4 kilograms), repeatedly ripped flat groundstrokes into the corners during the final. And Chaudhary, 6 feet (1.83 meters) and 155 pounds (70.3 kilograms), repeatedly kept the ball in play until Hadigian made an error.

Aryan Chaudhary, playing great defense, won the last
 eight games of the final. Photo by Paul Bauman

   "He's a great side-to-side mover and made me hit a lot of balls," said Hadigian, an 18-year-old Sacramentan who's headed to the University of Arizona in the fall of 2019. "Looking back, it would have been nice when he was on defense if I closed the net a little better. Yeah, his defense is great."
   Hadigian, ranked first in Northern California and 65th nationally in the 18s, broke serve for the only time in the match to even the first set at 4-4. But Chaudhary, ranked second in the NorCal 18s and 16s and 22nd nationally in the 16s, broke right back when Hadigian netted a low backhand.
   Serving for the first set, Chaudhary trailed 0-40 but won the next five points.
   "I just told myself, I'm going to put a couple of first serves in and make him play; I'm not going to give him any easy errors," Chaudhary, the runner-up in last year's Easter Bowl 14s, said of the pivotal game. "Then I just ended up running for every single ball. I got a couple of unforced errors from his side, took control of the game and won the set."
   Hadigian lamented that he was "upset with myself for being undisciplined on a couple of those points at 0-40. On the 0-40 point, I went for a return I shouldn't have. That was tough. It would have been nice to get a break there."
   Chaudhary, who did not lose a set in six tournament matches, recorded his second service break of the second set to lead 3-0 on a point that typified the match. After he made a series of great gets, Hadigian slugged an overhead wide.

Luke Casper, left, defeated Mason Fung 6-2, 6-2 for the
boys 16 singles title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   On Chaudhary's first match point, Hadigian mis-hit a forehand that struck the opposite fence.

   "I was a little frustated with how I was playing (in the second set) and some of the errors I was making, but I gave it my all," Hadigian said. "He was playing too well and lifted his game as well, so this is a tough situation."
   Attending the match were Arizona coach Clancy Shields and his brother, Fresno State coach Luke Shields.
   Chaudhary, who will be a junior at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, eventually could face Hadigian, a senior who takes online classes, in the Pacific-12 Conference.
   "If I could get in, I would love to go to Stanford," Chaudhary said of the university located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Santa Clara. "That's always been my dream."
   Casper, playing aggressively, won the last four games of each set against Fung.
   "It seemed to work when I hit extremely hard and moved him around," said Casper, ranked fourth in NorCal and 72nd nationally in the 16s. "Then he gave me weak balls to put away."
   Whereas Casper did not lose more than three games in a set in his six tournament matches, Fung survived long three-set battles in the third round and quarterfinals. He overcame a 2-5 deficit in the third set and saved three match points in a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8) victory over third-seeded Hugo Hashimoto of San Jose in the quarters.

Luke Casper, playing aggressively, won the last four
games of each set in the final. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Fung, ranked 10th in NorCal and 224th nationally in the 16s, said those marathons took a toll on him in the final but weren't "the main factor. He just played really well."
   Casper, who will be a sophomore at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, is the fourth of seven children. The oldest, Caroline, represented the family at today's final.
   Caroline reached the NCAA Division III semifinals as a sophomore at Pomona College last year and the NCAA quarterfinals this year. Their father, a lawyer named Mark, played tennis at Santa Clara University.
   Fung, 16, will be a senior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco. He said he has not received any college scholarship offers and is looking at schools.
   Fung's brother Jayson plays at D-III Amherst in Massachusetts, but Mason said he could stay near home and play for one of his two coaches, Pablo Pires De Almeida, at the University of San Francisco or at Santa Clara.

NORCAL JUNIOR SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sunday's results

Boys 18

At Natomas Racquet Club in Sacramento

Singles semifinals

   Eric Hadigian (1), Sacramento, def. Andrei Volgin (4), Fremont, 6-0, 7-5.
   Aryan Chaudhary (2), Santa Clara, def. Daniel Baturyn (3), San Leandro, 6-4, 6-2.

Singles final

   Chaudhary def. Hadigian, 6-4, 6-0.

Doubles final

    James Bell, Fremont, and Aryan Chaudhary (5), Santa Clara, def. Zachery Lim, Fairfield, and Daniel Papacica (1), Carmel, 7-5, 3-6 [10-7].

Boys 16

At Natomas Racquet Club in Sacramento

Singles semifinals

   Luke Casper (1), Santa Cruz, def. Philip Martin (9), Los Altos, 6-1, 6-2.
   Mason Fung (5), San Francisco, def. Theodore Dean (2), Livermore, 6-4, 6-1.

Singles final

   Casper def. Fung, 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles final

   Theodore Dean, Livermore, and Joseph Teh (4), San Jose, def. Luke Casper, Santa Cruz, and Philip Martin (2), Los Altos, 1-6, 6-1 [10-5].

Girls 18

At Copper River Country Club in Fresno

Singles final

   Anna Campana (3), Hillsborough, def. Muskan Mahajan, San Ramon, 6-4, 6-1.

Doubles semifinals

   Anna Campana, Hillsborough, and Jennamarie Gordon (1), Saratoga, def. Klara Kosan, Carmichael, and Jozephine Yen, Los Altos, walkover.
   Katherine Duong, Cupertino, and Stephanie Nguyen (2), Fremont, def. Taylor Gould, Los Altos, and Anna Yu, Palo Alto, walkover.

Doubles final

   Duong and Nguyen (2) def. Campana and Gordon, 6-3, 7-5.

Girls 16

At Copper River Country Club in Fresno

Singles final

   Allura Zamarripa (2), Saint Helena, def. Tomi Main (1), Seaside, 6-4, 7-6 (0).

Doubles semifinals

   Allura Zamarripa and Maribella Zamarripa (1), Saint Helena, def. Mirabelle Brettkelly and Claire Galerkin, San Francisco, walkover.
   Tomi Main, Seaside, and Makenna Thiel (2), Piedmont, def. Madison Weekley, Alamo, and Sophia Zaprianov, Concord, 6-2, 6-1.

Doubles final

   Zamarripa and Zamarripa (1) def. Main and Thiel (2), 6-0, 6-2.

Boys 14

At Arden Hills Club & Spa in Sacramento

Singles semifinals

   Nicholas Chen (1), Oakland, def. Luke Bollinger (9), Napa, 6-1, 6-2.
   Dylan Tsoi (3), El Dorado Hills, def. Ryan Hoang (5), San Rafael, 6-3, 6-4.

Girls 14

At Arden Hills Club & Spa in Sacramento

Singles semifinals

   Rhea Rai (1), Cupertino, def. Emily Novikov (5), Campbell, 6-3, 6-3.
   Gayathri Krishnan (5), Cupertino, def. Emily Zhao (2), Cupertino, 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles semifinals

   Maryia Hrynashka (1), Rancho Cordova, and Lauren Joyce (1), Lodi, def. Gayathri Krishnan, Cupertino, and Kamila Wong, Palo Alto, 6-2, 7-5.
   Ava Martin, Menlo Park, and Natasha Rajaram (4), Cupertino, def. Sofia Daryaie, Los Gatos, and Emma Pell (2), San Rafael, 6-3, 4-6 [18-16].

Boys 12

At University of the Pacific in Stockton

Singles semifinals

   Kosei Ogata (1), Saratoga, def. Sterling Davies (3), El Dorado Hills, 6-3, 6-2.
   Min Htun (5), Sacramento, def. Karthikeya Gannavarapu (4), Pleasanton, 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles quarterfinals

   Nav Dayal, Roseville, and Karthikeya Gannavarapu (1), Pleasanton, def. Arnav Bhandari, San Ramon, and Jack Satterfield (5), Lafayette, 8-6.
   Ted Nguyen, Elk Grove, and Daniel Wu (3), El Dorado Hills, def. Ajay Ravichandran, Union City, and Elbert Said (5), San Ramon, 8-4.
   Kosei Ogata and Somei Ogata (5), Saratoga, def. Arin Pallegar, Granite Bay, and Tej Patil (4), San Jose, 8-6.
   Min Htun, Sacramento, and Luke Stratakos (2), Saratoga, def. Dhyey Patel, Napa, and Aryan Yenni (5), Fremont, 8-6.

Girls 12

At University of the Pacific in Stockton

Singles semifinals

   Aspen Schuman (1), Menlo Park, def. Clarissa Sutami (9), Folsom, 6-2, 6-2.
   Penelope Wong (9), Mountain View, def. Aoi Kunimoto (2), Palo Alto, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Doubles semifinals

   Anushka Jaiswal, Fremont, and Aspen Schuman (1), Menlo Park, def. Clarissa Sutami, Folsom, and Penelope Wong, Mountain View, 7-5, 6-3.
   Varsha Jawadi, San Mateo, and Mila Mulready, Burlingame, def. Rachel Hernandez and Sophie Hernandez (2), Los Gatos, 7-5, 6-1.