Several former local high school standouts are among the field of quality players in the open divisions of the 75th Santa Barbara Open tennis tournament, which runs over the next two weekends at the Municipal Tennis Courts and Pershing Park.
Action in all divisions begins at 7 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
Julian Mannix, a former All-Channel League player at San Marcos now playing at Cal State Bakersfield, is the top seed in the women’s open.
UCSB’s Erica Cano, a former Dos Pueblos star, and Natalia Lozano figure to challenge Mannix for the coveted title.
On the men’s side, San Marcos grad Matt Stith returns home after completing his junior season at the University of Washington. He’ll be joined by Santa Barbara High alums Grant Chen, Jimmy Vaughan, Chris Ho and Samuel Webster, and former Dos Pueblos standout Christian Edstrom.
Current Santa Barbara player Sammer Aziz and Dons coach Greg Tebbe (a SBHS alum) are also in the men’s open field.
Luis Antonio Perez of Los Angeles is the No. 1 seed in the division. He’s won two of his last three tournaments, including the USTA National Open Hardcourt, and is ranked 17th in the open division rankings of the Southern California Tennis Association.
Perez reached last year’s final in Santa Barbara and lost to Nima Rohan, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. He beat Webster and former UCSB star Alex Anselm in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
The No. 2 seed is Encino’s Joshua Friedman, a standout player at Boston University.
Seedings are based on points earned in SCTA-sanctioned open tournaments, according to tournament director CathyAnn Simon.
Another player to watch in the field is Michael Kogan, a former All-American at Tulane University.
The open division final will be played Sunday, July 9 at Tennis Club, which is also hosting the USTA Men’s 50 Hardcourt Championships.
Prior to the Santa Barbara Open final, the Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons will be presenting its Hall of Fame Award to Harvey Bottelsen, one of the founding fathers of the Patrons organization.
