Palisades Beats Granada Hills to Win 22nd City Tennis Title

The only apparent challenge left for Palisades High tennis players Danny Westerman and Artin Tafazoli is if they meet each other.

The two singles specialists have faced little adversity this season and Friday was no exception: Westerman and Tafazoli lost a combined four games in sweeping their eight sets to help lead Palisades to its third consecutive City Section 4-A Division boys’ championship.

With a 21 1/2-8 victory over Granada Hills at the Studio City Racquet Center, Palisades won its 22nd section title.

Van Nuys claimed the 3-A title, 16 1/2-13, over Eagle Rock.

Westerman and Tafazoli likely will be seeded first and second when the individual playoffs begin next week. They would like a chance to meet somewhere other than on the practice court.

“I hope we face each other in the finals,” said Westerman, a junior who has lost only one set this season and recorded 10 aces Friday.

“Danny’s our best player,” said Tafazoli, a sophomore who lost one game in sweeping his four matches. “I haven’t been able to beat him in four challenge matches, but we’ll see what happens if I get that far.”

Van Nuys once again was carried by its doubles teams.

The three duos combined to win seven of nine matches and score 10 1/2 points.

The No. 1 team of Bradley Herman and Peter Kung swept its three matches, but Van Nuys Coach Jim Buck was impressed with the effort of his No. 2 doubles team, Glendon Woo and Ming Lo.

Woo and Lo lost their first match but won their next two.

“They got off to a slow start, but they got better later and that really gave us a big lift,” Buck said.