SANTA MONICA — For being a freshman playing on the Calexico High varsity boys’ tennis team Raul De La Torre is no stranger to a challenge.
On Sunday, De La Torre took on another challenge and succeeded as the 15-year-old freshman won the 96th annual Dudley Cup Junior Open & Junior Satellite Tournament here.
“It’s one of the oldest tournaments in California and a lot of players that have gone pro have played in it,” De La Torre said. “I was very excited to go and compete and I felt very confident that I could win … I felt prepared.”
The tournament was sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association and featured a 32-man bracket. De La Torre needed to win five times to capture the title.
“The competition was very hard. I had to play two matches on both days of the tournament.” He said. “When I played in the quarterfinals I thought I was in the semis playing a person seeded third, so I was a little nervous.
“But I built some confidence and won.”
In the finals, Del La Torre faced off against Adrien Azera of Laguna Beach and was able to win in two sets, 6-2 and 6-0.
“I was happy when I won,” De La Torre said. “My whole family was there to see me play, and after we got to celebrate at KFC.”
De La Torre is currently undefeated in Imperial Valley League play this year and he feels that this win is only going to help him continue his strong season.
“It’s going to prepare me better for the rest of league, IVLs and CIF,” he said. “I’m going to play better so our team can win league and go to CIF.”
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
