Teenagers Nico Pollero and Ariel Beckerman dominated the men’s and women’s singles draws in the Leslie Allen Tennis Tournament on April 11th. The annual tournament was hosted by the City of Santa Barbara and held at the Municipal courts and at Pershing Park.
The unseeded Pollero cruised through four matches in the men’s open draw, including a win over teammate, Avery Chernin, securing him a spot in the finals. The match between the two Dons was filled with long points and strategic net-play, but Pollero came out on top, 6-1, 6-2. The final match of Pollero and No. 2 seed, Logan Liddell of Carpinteria has yet to be decided.
Beckerman, the No.1 seed in the women’s draw, powered through her first two matches without dropping a set. In the finals, the Santa Barbara High player showed no signs of stopping when she went head-to-head with Dons teammate, Talia Hudson. Both players came out firing, hitting both winners and drop-shots from the baseline. At 4-4 in the in first set, Hudson had a chance to go up 5-4, but Beckerman hit three lightning serves to win the game, and eventually win the first set 6-4. In the second set, Beckerman took control and dictated almost every point, winning the set 6-1.
Not only did Pollero and Beckerman stand out in the tournament, but Anthony Aiello, the No. 4 seed in the men’s 4.0 singles, did as well.
Aiello won all four of his matches, but not without a fight. Every one of his matches went to three sets with a tiebreaker, but he managed to pull out each one. In the semi-finals, Aiello played Ignacio Gallardo of Goleta. Aiello won the first set 7-6 in a tiebreaker, and then went on to lose the second set, 7-5. Though the match was close, Aiello ultimately won the third set tiebreaker, earning himself a spot in the finals against Phillip Grimmett of Lompoc.
