Palos Verdes Teenagers Andy Johnson and
Tia Messerli Open with Wins at Jack Kramer Club

Two of the Palos Verdes Peninsula’s top teenage talents scored big first-round victories on Wednesday at their hometown Jack Kramer Club USTA Southern California SoCal Pro Series tournament as Andy Johnson and Tia Messerli moved into the second round.

Johnson, ranked No. 867 in the world and the No. 5 seed, defeated a tough Timofey Stepanov from Switzerland, 6-4, 6-4, while Messerli came back to edge out Sacramento’s Klara Kosan, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Johnson, 16, is coached by the five-time NCAA champion and Jack Kramer Club GM Peter Smith, and in February the high school junior won his first ITF pro title, a $15,000 event in Sunrise, Florida, becoming the youngest player since Carlos Alcaraz in 2019 and the youngest American since 2007 to do so.

Johnson said he remembers being a ball kid at early professional events at Jack Kramer Club watching former SoCal ATP standout Sam Querrey compete. He also said he looked up to Brandon Holt, the son of Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, when his family joined the Jack Kramer Club when he was just 6 years old.

“It’s crazy to think about 10 years ago,” Johnson said. “It’s like a big family and a lot of familiar faces. It’s been amazing to have them here and cheering me on. It’s really awesome.”

A recent Palos Verdes High graduate, Messerli is the 17-year-old daughter of former Grand Slam winner Kimberly Po (Wimbledon mixed doubles in 2000) and Peninsula Racquet Club Director of Tennis Oliver Messerli. She took advantage of her USTA SoCal wild card to earn her first WTA point in the United States after recently spending six weeks traveling and playing pro events in South Africa, where her father is originally from.

“I did feel like she had more weapons than me, but sometimes all you need to do is just stay in the point long enough and they end up missing,” Messerli said of Kosan, whom she had never played before. “It’s nice to be here and surrounded by family after my six weeks in South Africa. Even though I was with family there, it’s just different sleeping in your own bed and having the comforts of home.”

Messerli had a degree of success during her six events in April and May qualifying for the first five of six tournaments and advancing to the second round four times.

Her final two tournaments were in Gaborone, the capital and largest city of Botswana in South Africa, which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe. “You have to learn to be patient,” Messerli said. “There’s no sense of urgency. Everything is late and it’s tough finding food. It’s just learning to adjust to things like cracks on the court and the balls bouncing everywhere. That’s the big part of being an athlete, learning to adjust.”

Messerli said because her mother was a touring pro and her father traveled the tour as her hitting partner, they have passed on a lot of valuable advice recently. “They’ve taught me a lot,” she said. “They give me a lot of head’s up.”

Messerli is happy to be healthy after missing a year because of a back injury suffered in December of 2024. She re-injured it one year ago at the Jack Kramer Club event and finally made her return to the courts this past December. She will use this as a gap year and see how she does on tour before deciding on turning pro or going to college.

This week’s draw is filled with promising young juniors and college players looking to earn valuable ATP and WTA touring points and prize money. Top-seeded on the men’s side, Week 1 Lakewood SoCal Pro Series winner Kaylun Bigun opened strongly with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Canada’s Volodymyr Gurenko. Last week’s Lakewood 2 finalist Kristina Penickova drew top-seeded Sofia Shapatava from the country of Georgia and was able to move on leading 5-0 when Shapatava was forced to retire because of an injury.

For the second straight week, 15-year-old Abigail Haile from Los Angeles advanced with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over former Kansas player Victoria Mulville.

Other Southern California first-round winners included Irvine’s Kenzie Nguyen, who beat San Diego’s Midori Castillo Meza, and 17-year-old Valley Village resident Maria Aytoyan, who eliminated Sophie Suh, 16, from Orange, 6-1, 6-3. Former Loyola Marymount star Veronika Miroshnichenko and former USC player Salma Ewing also advanced, as did former Trojan Karl Lee, a qualifier who upset the No. 3 seeded Matt Kuhar, 6-4, 6-2.

Last week’s Lakewood 2 singles winner Oliver Bonding from the village of Wimbledon was upset by Canadian Alex Rozin, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula area was honored by the USTA Southern California with its Tennis Towns Award on Wednesday night. Trevor Kronemann presented the award to tournament director Smith before the night match.

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