MODESTO — Facing an opponent he had already swept twice in the regular season, Manteca’s Yok Chai Ma wanted to sharpen up his game for the competition to come.
He defeated Sierra’s Brady Alves 6-2, 6-1 in an all-sophomore final-round showdown Thursday, winning the Valley Oak League singles title.
Ma was part of the winning doubles team last year with Jonas Mueller, and they went on to capture a Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship.
The finalists and third-place finishers in both singles and doubles advance to the SJS Division II Individual Tournament. Manteca sophomore tandem of Landon Butler and Edward Chen had to shots to qualify but lost in the semifinals and third-place match.
Ma was the heavy favorite coming into the tournament, but he took coach Frank Fontana’s instructions and applied them to the matches. He clinched the opening set with an ace and continued to mix up Alves with a combination of power and accuracy on his varied shots.
“I just focused more,” Ma said. “Put a little more direction on the ball, like coach (advised). Just didn’t want to zone out.”
In previous meetings, Alves dropped a 1-6, 1-6 decision but fared better in the rematch, 3-6, 3-6. He struggled with service errors in the title match, but all in all, he is proud to have reached the final.
“It’s great, man,” Alves said. “Last year, I lost in the first round as a freshman and that has always been in the back of my mind and stuck with me. I just wasn’t good enough last year, and this year is kind of my chance to prove that I am good enough to be a finals guy and go onto Sections.”
The SJS Individual Tournament is on May 15-16 at Johnson Ranch Racquet Club in Roseville.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Alves said. “Anything to play more tennis.”
Ma is anticipating his return to Johnson Ranch, this time as a solo act.
“Pretty excited, actually,” he said. “I know the competition is going to be a lot tougher.”
Manteca teammates Butler and Chen fared well as a true doubles team. Duos that typically make the final four are comprised of singles players.
Fatigue ultimately set in for the Buffaloes tandem. Butler and Chen started with a hard-earned 8-6 win over Oakdale’s Jaden Lebsack and Dylan Krause. In the quarterfinals, they eked past Sierra’s Max Perez and Kyle Madrigal in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (5).
With little time to rest, Butler and Chen jumped into their semifinal against Alex Azevedo and Justin Genasci, the Nos. 3 and 4 players on Central Catholic’s ladder. The Buffaloes’ pair started strong but felt the affects the warming weather and taxing first two matches. Butler and Chen lost, 6-2, 1-6, 0-6.
Central Catholic’s Anmol Gill and Sebastian Guzman defeated them in the third-place match, 6-1, 6-1. All three Section qualifiers in doubles are coming out of Central Catholic. Top-seeded Julian Marquez and Matthew Dunn joined Azevedo and Genasci in the final.
“Their teams had longer breaks between matches, and our guys just had nothing left by the end of the day,” Fontana said. “(Butler and Chen) should be proud of their accomplishment in making it this far.”
Before the individual tournament, Fontana and the Buffaloes will compete in the SJS team playoffs beginning May 4.
