CITY SECTION TENNIS TOP SEED ROLLS INTO SEMIFINALS.

Byline: Anel Laj Staff Writer

It's his first appearance in the tournament, and sophomore Jason Nguyen has already made an impact.

Chatsworth's Nguyen, seeded No. 1, is only one victory away from reaching the finals. After breezing through the first three rounds of the City Section singles tournament at Warner Tennis Center, Nguyen advanced to the semifinals Wednesday with two convincing victories.

Nguyen (23-1) beat Dorsey's Matthew Jones 6-2, 6-2 in the round of 16 and University's Giancarlo Cava (6-1, 6-2) in the quarterfinals and will face El Camino Real's Matt Jones in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday.

Nguyen and Jones have never played each other in City Section competition, but they know each other well. They've played and practiced at Cal State Northridge with El Camino Real's James Magsino. All three players swept their sets and earned semifinal berths, but the most exciting match is expected to be Jones vs. Nguyen.

``It should be a good match, his game matches up with mine,'' Nguyen said. ``We're both baseliners, and we'll be counter-punching each other. I've got to see how he comes out. Sometimes he comes out big, (while) other times he's consistent. Either way, I'll have a game plan.''

The No. 7-seeded Jones advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over No. 4-seeded Nima Roshan of Granada Hills. Sixth-seeded Magsino earned a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 win over the No. 2-seeded Norman Tan of Belmont.

The Valley had no local doubles teams advance to the semifinals. Granada Hills - with three teams reaching the quarterfinals - had the best chance in the doubles bracket, but lost to higher seeds.