LAKEWOOD, July 6, 2023 (by Steve Pratt)

The ebb and flow of professional tennis was on full display as 32 first-round men’s and women’s singles matches were played on a monster day of SoCal Pro Series action at the Lakewood Tennis Center on Wednesday.

Just three days ago, USC’s Learner Tien was lifting trophies in both singles and doubles by winning ITF $15,000 World Tennis Tour titles at his hometown event at the Racquet Club of Irvine. Wednesday, the 17-year-old Tien couldn’t overcome the powerful play of Australia’s Derek Pham, 19, falling, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

Tien is entered in next week’s stop of the SoCal Pro Series being played once again at Lakewood, but said after winning on Sunday that if he did well this week, he might bypass the tournament. With the loss, there’s now a good chance the reigning Kalamazoo Boys’ 18s Nationals champion will be back for the final stop of the SoCal Pro Series.

“That’s still the plan,” Tien told tournament director Eric Stephens after asking if he’d see Learner next week.

Part-time Palm Desert resident Patsy Daughters was also down, then up in a major way after her first-round singles match. The 18-year-old recent high school graduate survived six match points – including five serving down 5-6 in the third set – and came back from down 0-4 in the final set overcoming bad leg cramps to beat University of Kentucky’s Makayla Mills, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4) in 3 hours, 52 minutes.

It was the first WTA point and main-draw win in 14 ITF Pro events for Daughters, who learned the game from former Pepperdine All-American Calle Hansen in Eugene, Ore., before going out on a limb and making a brave telephone call to work with a coach in Southern California.

“One day I cold called Rosie Casals and asked her if she would coach me,” said Daughters of the Hall of Famer and 12-time Grand Slam champion based in the Coachella Valley. “She said, ‘If I like you, maybe. And if not, no guarantees either.’ ”

Daughters woke up and told her mom, “This is it. This is my chance and I’m going to win today no matter what,” said Daughters, who is taking a gap year but would still like to play college tennis. “I’m one of those people who loves to play tennis and to compete.”

Daughters has a monumental task ahead of her and she takes on No. 2 seed and USC All-American Eryn Cayetano in the second round Thursday. Cayetano dropped just one game beating Emily Gelber, 6-1, 6-0.

Last week’s Irvine women’s winner Haley Giavara from San Diego also advanced winning by the same scoreline as Cayetano. The current “Race to Indian Wells” points leader, Giavara added two more points to her total of 47 points increasing her lead. 

Former Laguna Beach High School player Kelly Keller – who recently finished her fourth year playing for the University of Arkansas – beat training partner and former junior rival Danielle Willson of Newport Beach, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Other highlighted Southern California players moving into the second round were top-seeded Hanna Chang, former UCLA player Taylor Johnson and No. 5 Brandy Walker of Brea. In a big upset, Pepperdine’s Savannah Broadus beat earlier SoCal Pro Series winner and No. 4 Megan McCray, 6-4, 6-1.

Last year’s Lakewood men’s champion Jaimee Floyd Angele and No. 4 took out Rancho Santa Fe’s Hudson Rivera, while wild card Jacob Bullard came up big in a straight-set win. Other straight-set winners were seeded SoCal players No. 2 Omni Kumar, No. 6 Tristan Boyer, No. 7 Stefan Dostanic and No. 8 Gage Brymer.

Daily tournament admission and parking is free to the public at all SoCal Pro Series events. The SoCal Pro Series’ remaining tournament dates and locations are:

• Currently through July 9 – Lakewood Tennis Center, Lakewood
• July 10-16 – Lakewood Tennis Center, Lakewood

To learn more about the SoCal Pro Series, go to: https://www.ustasocal.com/proseries.