Gabriel Grobben of Gardnerville cracked the top 10 at the recent Western Region Junior Tennis Championships held in San Diego, Calif.
Grobben played in the 11-year-old bracket and finished sixth in an event that attracted players from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii at the 26-court George E. Barnes Tennis Center.
Grobben, who finished fifth last year, won five of his seven matches this time. His only losses came against the No. 2 seed and against the eventual third-place finisher.
His most memorable highlight during the high-calber tournament came during a match played on the stadium court against Northern Californian A.J. Arvin, a player who attained national recognition last year. Grobben rose to the challenge, blew out his opponent in the first set, 6-1, then toughed out a 6-4 win in the second set.
Grobben now intends to focus on an intensive training program to prepare for the Nor-Cal tournament circuit which gets under way in January.