Alyssa Ahn Upsets Top-Seeded Haley Giavara to
Make Semis at SoCal Pro Series in Lakewood

After a long junior year of tennis and studies at UCLA, Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer needed a break. The Hawaiian Island of Kauai came calling and Lutkemeyer answered, putting her racquets down for a week of rest and relaxation, and of course all of the activities that go along with a tropical vacation.

“We did it all – swimming, snorkeling, ATV rides,” said Lutkemeyer, a qualifier who won her fifth match in five days on Friday beating unseeded Natsuho Arakawa of Japan, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the SoCal Pro Series Lakewood event: “We had amazing food and it was very relaxing and enjoyable.”

The Bruin senior said she is happy to be back on court, and will next face 18-year-old and recent Torrey Pines High graduate Alyssa Ahn on Saturday following the first semifinal that starts at 10 a.m. The No. 8 seeded Ahn upset top-seeded Haley Giavara of San Diego, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Ahn said it was the first time she had beat fellow San Diegan Giavara following two losses to the former UC-Berkeley star – last October in three sets in qualifying at the W75 at Rancho Santa Fe and in straight sets in 2023 at the SoCal Pro Series Irvine tourney.

“Haley is such a great player and I knew I had to keep my level pretty high if I was going to beat her,” said Ahn, who will play six of the seven SoCal Pro Series events only missing the first one at Barnes Tennis Center because of graduation. “She forces you to play your best tennis and I know she’s always able to come up with great shots.”

This is the third straight Saturday of play for Ahn, who reached the semis last week at Rancho Santa Fe and made the final at USD two weeks ago.

Of course, Ahn loves playing close to home and will play her favorite tournament in a few weeks in her final USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ Nationals 18s and 16s at Barnes. “It’s my home courts,” said Ahn, who trains there with coach Steve Adamson. “I won the 16s back in 2022 so it holds a lot of special memories for me.”

A US Open main draw wild card is on the line at BJK Nationals, and Ahn is hoping to join future Stanford teammate Valerie Glozman in New York. Glozman, a sophomore from Washington, recently punched her ticket to the US Open by winning the American Collegiate Wild Card Playoffs earlier this month, earning a coveted spot in the singles main draw.

Irvine’s Lutkemeyer said she recalls playing Ahn in doubles and called her a “great junior and a great player” and said she was looking forward to playing her.

Ahn said she recalls that Lutkemeyer hits a hard ball, “kind of like what I got to practice with today against Haley,” Ahn said.

In the other women’s semifinals, it will be former USC All-American Eryn Cayetano, the No. 2 seed, taking on No. 5 Alexis Nguyen, a high school senior from Northern California. Cayetano beat Ahn’s future Stanford teammate Tianmei Wang from San Marino, 6-2, 6-4.

On the men’s side, No. 1 seeded Karue Sell of Torrance beat qualifier Dominique Rolland from West Hills in the closest match of the day, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3). But all four quarters proved to be close and went the distance as Sell’s semifinal opponent unseeded Trevor Svajda overcame a slow start to beat No. 5 Dane Sweeny from Australia, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. 

“He’s really improved since the last time we played at a couple of UTRs,” said Sell of UC-Santa Barbara’s Rolland. “He knows where his game is and he’s moving a lot better and has a good identity on the court.”

Sell continued, “I had to use everything I had today, to be honest, to squeeze that one out. He was playing really good, especially in the big moments. I’m happy I was able to fight through it and play one more day.”

In the other semifinal it will be No. 2 Garrett Johns taking on qualifier Spencer Johnson from UCLA and Ladera Ranch. Johns eliminated No. 8 Kyle Kang from Fullerton 6-3 in the third and Johnson took out qualifier Maciej Rajski from Poland, 7-5 in the third.

In the women’s doubles final on Saturday, the top seeds Cayetano and Giavara will face Jordyn McBride and Kristina Nordikyan, the No. 3 seeds, who just squeaked past Claire An and Alanis Hamilton, 7-5, 5-7, 10-8. In the doubles final it will be Svajda and Kang taking on top-seeded Alfredo Perez and Jamie Vance.

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