Boys’ tennis: Little points add up to a big win for Carson duo

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The way they performed throughout the City Section Individual doubles tournament you’d never know that Carson teammates Andrew Sarawasi (left) and Sammy Macias just started playing together. They were seeded No. 1 and that’s right where they ended up.

The Colts’ tandem won, 6-2, 6-4, in the finals over Palisades’ Jeremy Shore and Matt Goodman--the third Dolphins duo they had to beat on their way to the championship.

‘All of them were pretty good but they’re all a lot different,’ said Sarawasi, a junior who learned a lot from losing in the finals last year with another partner, Jeffrey Yun. ‘I think today both teams had equal amounts of athleticism, we just tried to play to our strengths and do what feels comfortable.’

The Carson duo broke Shore to open the match but the third-seeded Dolphins’ pair broke back in the fourth game to pull even at 2-2. After breaking for a 3-2 lead, Macias held serve and Carson took a commanding 5-2 lead when Goodman sprayed a forehand long. Sarawasi held to win the first set.

‘We felt we had an advantage serving so the key was to get the first one in,’ said Macias, a senior who also won the tournament’s sportsmanship award. Sarawasi added: ‘The key was not to get caught up with the big picture but rather concentrate on the little points.’

In the second set, Sarawasi poached at every opportunity while Macias was content to blast passing shots from the baseline. The strategy worked to perfection, as they became the first Carson duo to win the City Individual title since Roel and Rene DeVera in 1991.

Second-seeded Aaron Teitelbaum and Alex Freeman of Taft rebounded from their only loss of the season to beat Palisades’ Ren Nielsen and Kyung Choi, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the third-place match.

-- Steve Galluzzo

Photo: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times