Masato Perera earned another Channel League singles championship for the San Marcos tennis program and his family, while Mason Lender and Taylor Kleine brought home the doubles title for Santa Barbara High on Wednesday afternoon at the Knollwood Tennis Club.
Masato joined his brother, Kento, and sister, Yuka, as league champions for San Marcos by defeating teammate Dominik Stefanov in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Lender and Klein defeated Bryan Shott and Alexi Gill of San Marcos, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Kento Perera, a four-time champion who now plays at Stanford, and Yuka Perera, a three-time winner who is headed to MIT, watched their younger brother win his first title.
Masato was dominating in all facets during the opening set against Stefanov, who is a senior. On a couple of points, the pace of his forehand was too much for Stefanov to even get his racket on it.
“He’s got heart and he’s really aggressive,” Stefanov said of what makes Perera so tough. He’s determined to win.”
Asked if winning Channel League was a goal as a freshman, Perera said it’s more about doing well in CIF competition.
“I want to get as far as I can in CIF,” he said.
Perera is one of the best age-group players in Southern California. He’s ranked fifth in the 16 age division in the Southern California Tennis Association and won the So Cal Sectionals 14s title over the summer. On the national USTA level, he said he’s ranked 120th.
“Masato is our No. 1, and he’s the one that keeps us up there (the Royals are 15-0). He wins all of his matches,” said Stefanov. “He’s been pushing it through all season.”
Perera pointed out that he started the season with a loss against Arroyo Grande’s Sam Ashbrook.
“It was a lot of pressure,” he said of playing his first high school match. “I lost my first match coming in and that was pretty scary.”
He fully relaxed now and playing at a high level.
The doubles final was a roller-coaster of momentum. Kleine and Lender regrouped after a tough second set, controlled the net and pulled out the three-set victory.
“Taylor was just serving phenomenally, so he was setting me up with my volleys and overheads,” Lender said of their play in the third set. “From there, we just took control. That’s what really sealed it, serving great and playing well at the net.”
Kleine called the third set a “kind of re-set” after missing several shots in the second set.
“The second set I kind of fell apart, and Mason kept me going even though I was down on myself,” Kleine said. “I was really mad. After hitting the ball really hard in the last point of the second set, I just decided, ‘I’m going to hit the ball as hard as I can and see what happens, because I know we’ll get this third set if Mason was with me.’”
The break between sets helped Kleine settle down and refocus.
“Once I took a five-minute rest I thought that was a really good cool-down session for me,” he continued. “I got relaxed again and could start my serve off right and get the first game. Once we got the first game, and started the second game 1-up, I thought that was the turning point.”
Lender and Kleine are both seniors and first-time champions. They acknowledged that Gill and Shott should be the team to beat next year.
“They’re definitely good players,” said Lender. “They’re both juniors. I think they’ll have it next year. They’re definitely good enough to win it.”
