TENNIS: THACHER MAKES QUICK WORK OF JOHNSON.

Byline: ERIK BOAL Special to the Daily News

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- In the past six months, Ryan Thacher has won a USTA winter national title, reached the finals of the Easter Bowl and Southern Section tournament and ascended to the top of the boys' 16-under national rankings.

As far as defining victories go, perhaps none were bigger than the one the Harvard-Westlake of Studio City standout recorded Thursday at the 104th annual Southern California Sectional Championships.

Nearly a month after a straight-set loss to Orange High's Steve Johnson in the Southern Section final, Thacher needed only 53 minutes in the rematch to produce a 6-1, 6-2 triumph in a round-of-16 showdown in the boys' 18-under draw at Los Caballeros Sports Village.

``Since I lost last time, I felt if I could come out and play a little more energized and with a little more fire, then I would be a little more satisfied with the result, win or lose,'' said Thacher, who will be joined in today's quarterfinals by Granada Hills' Eric Lee, who outlasted Harvard-Westlake's Michael Vann 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

``I thought it would be a good match, considering what we had last time. But to play him in the round of 16 in the sectionals just shows what a tough draw it is. Everyone at this level is so good that one service break makes the difference.''

Thacher didn't record a single service break May 27 in his 6-3, 7-6 (3) loss to Johnson, who suffered his first loss since a semifinal setback at the Ojai Valley tournament April 29.

The 16-year-old Thacher didn't waste any time swinging the momentum in his favor Thursday, breaking Johnson in the first game and four more times on the afternoon, one to clinch the first set and another to close to out the match.

``In the last match, he served unbelievable,'' said Thacher, the fifth seed, who will face No. 2 Jason McNaughton of San Diego at 12:20 p.m.

``But I got the feeling early on that he wasn't in the same zone as he was last time.''

Serving also wound up being a major factor in the outcome of the match between Lee and Vann. Less than 24 hours after both players recorded grueling three-set victories, Vann was able to grab the early momentum, relying on a high first-serve percentage and a couple of service breaks to put the pressure on Lee.

In similar fashion to his upset of top-seeded Steven Forman on Wednesday, Lee then started to find his rhythm, building big leads in the second and third sets, forcing Vann to play catch up.

``Everything I hit in the first set was going a foot out, but (in the final two sets) my ball just started dropping in,'' said Lee, who will face Tesoro of Las Flores' Nicolas Meister -- who recorded a straight-set victory in the last meeting between the players at the Ojai Valley tournament -- at 2 p.m.

``(Beating Forman) gave me more confidence, but it's also more pressure to do well.''

Vann, who was playing his third three-setter in five days, closed the deficit to 5-3 in the final set, but Lee held serve to win his fifth match in six days.

``I really thought I could come back,'' Vann said. ``In the third set, it came down to one break. But I've never been to the round of 16 at sectionals, so this is really exciting.''

Campbell Hall of North Hollywood's Jenson Turner was the only other area player in the 16s or 18s to advance, holding off Huntington Beach's Evan Urbina 7-6 (4), 6-4. Turner will face Brentwood's Walker Kehrer at 11 a.m.

Two other seeded Campbell Hall players, Katarina Reveche in the girls' 18s and Michelle Sulahian in the 16s, suffered tough losses Thursday. Agoura's Leyla Entekhabi and Burbank's Marianna Khachatryan were knocked into the consolation draw in the girls' 18-under division, as was La Crescenta's Jessica Harrow in the 16s.

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