UPDATE: Arthur Toledo defeated teammate Bruno Duarte, 6-4, 6-2 in the singles finals, while the duo were upset in doubles play by Jan Simon and Lucas Legrand, 8-6
For the fourth season in a row, the Cerritos College men's tennis team has advanced their players to the finals of the conference singles and doubles tournament championships. The semifinals in singles included four Falcon players, while the doubles semifinals saw three of the four teams from Cerritos. The championships will be played on the Cerritos tennis courts on Monday, with doubles getting underway at 11:00 a.m. and singles to follow as the conclusion of doubles play.
SINGLES: The top two seeds of the tournament, freshman Arthur Toledo (Goliath Academy, FL HS) and sophomore Bruno Duarte (Centro Educacional Rogêdo, Brazil) each won a pair of straight set matches on Thursday and then defeated teammates on Friday in the semifinals. Duarte opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Devin Mervillas of Victor Valley College and then dispatched Riley Lizardo of Mt. San Antonio College, 6-4, 6-0. In the semifinals, he posted a 6-3, 6-4 win over freshman Lucas Legrand (Marie, France). It was a similar path for Duarte, who also opened with a 6-0, 6-0 victory in his first match against Richard Meza of Victor Valley. A 6-2, 6-2 win against sophomore teammate Tomas Bella (Colegio Mallinckrodt, Argentina/Cypress College) on Thursday was followed by a 6-4, 6-2 victory over sophomore Jan Simon (Gymnasium Auf Der Karthause, Germany/Cypress College) in the semifinals.
All five, including sophomore Nico De La Pena (Downey HS), who won his backdraw match, have advanced to the CCCAA State Championships, which will take place in Ventura and Ojai at the end of the month.
DOUBLES: Toledo and Duarte, the top seeds, posted an 8-0 win over El Camino's Andre Dinh and Sietaro Tarracka in their first match and then recorded an 8-2 victory over Bella and De La Pena to reach the finals. The pairing of Simon and Legrand started with an 8-0 win against Adam Kasbon and Chris Pena of Victor Valley and was followed with an 8-4 win over Simon and Legrand in their semifinal match on Friday. All three teams have advanced to the CCCAA State Championships.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
