BOYS’ TENNIS

West Valley League rivals El Camino Real and Granada Hills won their semifinal matches in the City Section boys’ tennis playoffs Monday at the Warner Center Tennis Club.

Top-seeded El Camino Real (14-1) dispatched No. 5-seeded Carson, 19 1/2-10, in round-robin scoring used only in the playoffs.

No. 2-seeded Granada Hills (14-1) took care of No. 3-seeded University, 17-8, to set up a rubber match for the City title at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Warner Center Tennis Club.

Matt Jones swept his four singles sets and James Magsino won three of four sets for El Camino Real, which finished tied for first place in league play with Granada Hills and earned the No. 1 seeding by coin flip.

“We’ll have to be strong throughout the lineup to beat them,” said Magsino, the Conquistadores’ No. 1 player.

Magsino missed El Camino Real’s 5-2 loss at Granada Hills in the second round of league play because he was competing in the Easter Bowl in Palm Springs. He played in the teams’ first match, a 4-3 Conquistador victory.

“Everyone knows [Granada Hills has] really strong doubles,” he said.

Doubles was supposed to El Camino Real’s weakness, but you couldn’t tell by the way the Conquistadores handled Carson (12-1). El Camino Real won 7 1/2 of a possible 12 1/2 doubles points, thanks to the No. 2 tandem of Burton Newman and Eric Movsessian, who won their three sets, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-4.

For Granada Hills, No. 1 player Nima Roshan won three of four sets and the Highlanders won all six doubles sets against University (11-2). Granada Hills dominated despite missing half of its No. 3 doubles team, Anand Murthy, who was taking an advanced-placement test.

The Highlanders’ No. 1 doubles team of Brian Mintz and Brad Steinberg won, 6-3, 6-0, 6-1, and the No. 2 team of Mike Edelson and Ananya Sreepathi won, 6-1, 6-0, 6-4.

El Camino Real and Granada Hills were so evenly matched in league play that they won an equal number of games in head-to-head competition.

“This isn’t a big surprise. We knew all year long it would be us and El Camino Real in the final,” said Yury Tsirulsky, Granada Hills’ No. 3 singles player. “I think the round-robin format will favor us.”

Granada Hills defeated El Camino Real, 15-14 1/2, in the semifinals last year, and Highlander Coach Ron Wood expects another close match Thursday.

“Last year, it couldn’t have been any closer, and this time it’s too close to call,” Wood said. “The team that brings its ‘A’ game will win.”