Kamden Harden isn’t new to high-pressure tennis so heading into Friday’s Moore League singles final – the Long Beach Poly freshman was ready to leave his mark in the record books.
Harden seized his moment defeating Wilson’s Jake Paiva 6-1, 6-0 to claim the Moore League boys’ singles championship at Billie Jean King Tennis Center.
“Playing tournaments, you play a lot of matches, so I think I definitely had that experience coming in,” Harden said. “I’ve played so many tournaments, so for me it was just about coming in and winning this one.”
With his win, Harden became the first Jackrabbit to win the boys’ singles title since Darren Hall won back-to-back titles in the 2018 and 2019 season.
Harden’s success this season has been a big part of Long Beach Poly’s return to be Moore League champion and is part of the reason coach Ricardo Montecinos had confidence in their chances this season when he joined the team.
“I think it’s an amazing accomplishment for a freshman to come here and win in the manner and style that he did,” Montecinos said of Harden. “He’s a unique kind of talent that you don’t really see too often at this level with lots of poise, super comfortable and relaxed. He didn’t let any of the pressure get to him. Normally in these situations, people have a hard time calming down and staying relaxed, but from the start, he was ready to go. I knew it was going to be a good day for him.”
Harden wasn’t the only Jackrabbit making history on Friday as Alex Fearing and Andrew Guerrero defeated teammates Luke Teter and Stewart Turnour 6-4, 6-2 for the boys doubles title. It was redemption for Fearing who lost in the finals with his teammate last year and it marked the first time a true doubles team won the title in at least 10 years according to coaches.
In recent memory, the title has been won by a thrown together duo of a team’s top singles athletes.
“It feels really good,” Fearing said about winning with Andrew. “This is our first year playing together, but we’ve known each other for three years, and it’s good to finally have the opportunity to play together. We’ve been playing so much that we kind of understand each other – there’s an unspoken connection where we know where the other person is going to hit it and where to move.”
The path to the finals wasn’t an easy one for the duo as they had to win a close contest against Wilson’s Daniel Gerstner and Filip Svrdlan to punch their ticket to the final.
“These guys have been playing doubles for us for years,” Montecinos said. “Alex is a three-year varsity starter and Andrew is a three-year varsity starter and it’s kind of deserved because they’ve wanted it for so long. I finally put them together – they’d been asking me to do that for a while and I thought they played really well.”
Wilson’s Gertsner and Svrdlan defeated teammates Jake Paiva and Evan Itoh to take third and in the third-place singles match, Daniel Gerstner defeated Poly’s Luke Teter for the bronze medal.
Both teams will now await their postseason fate when the CIF-SS brackets are released on Saturday.
“I’m hoping for a nice draw,” Montecinos said. “That’s about it. You don’t expect anything at CIF because the competition is so strong, and you can get upset at any time. You just hope your guys show up.
