During the first four months of 2008, Denis Lin and Kyle McMorrow have won a lot of tennis matches, playing for their Thousand Oaks High boys' team or in junior tournaments. But most those results have come in singles. Wouldn't you know their most impressive performance of the year would come in doubles?

Playing against many of the best junior players in the nation last week, Lin and McMorrow captured the boys' 18 doubles title at the 41st annual Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage on Sunday. Along the way they had to beat another team from Ventura County, Thousand Oaks' JT Sundling and Daniel Nguyen of Oxnard, in the semifinals.

"That's a great accomplishment for two players who are known for their singles," said Thousand Oaks High coach Dave Assorson.

Lin and McMorrow have certainly fashioned their impressive skills in singles this year for the Lancers, overwhelming all their opponents with huge serves and powerful shots from everywhere on the court. And in the Easter Bowl 18 singles they played very well, each reaching the round of 16.

As it turned out, however, the Thousand Oaks High juniors were saving their best tennis for doubles — in one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country.

"It's just a really big win," Lin said. "This was the first time we made a serious run like this."

Playing as a doubles team was nothing new for Lin and McMorrow. They have played tournaments together before. One was an ITF event (the International Spring Championship in Carson) a few weeks before the Easter Bowl. But a first-round loss there didn't exactly boost their confidence.

McMorrow, however, sensed their confidence level change right away at the Easter Bowl.

"We beat the No. 3 seeds (Harry Fowler and Johannes Vanoverbeek) in the first round," McMorrow said. "We won the first set 6-1, which was a great start. We decided to play more aggressively."

That aggressive strategy included each player serving and volleying on first and second serves, taking advantage of McMorrow's forehand and Lin's strong backhand returns from the ad court.

Lin and McMorrow marched through the 32-team draw winning their first four matches in straight sets until needing a match tiebreaker to secure the final over the Puerto Rican team of Alex Llompart and Jose Sierra-Short, 7-6, 2-6, (10-7).

Update on The Ojai: One week from today the 108th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament begins. The Pacific-10 Conference will once again bring many talented players to Libbey Park. One of those players is a freshman from Stanford, Alex Clayton, ranked No. 6 in the nation. ... In the men's open, defending champion Lester Cook will return to defend his title and 2007 runner-up Travis Rettenmaier will also be back. The men's open will begin the qualifying on Tuesday, with 64 players competing for the remaining 16 spots into the main draw.

Passing shots: Because injuries forced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet to the sidelines, last weekend's intriguing Davis Cup quarterfinal between the United States and France was not nearly as competitive as it was expected to be. Andy Roddick carried the Americans to a 4-1 victory, but it probably was a disappointment to many tennis fans the hard-serving American did not have a chance to face the talented Tsonga. Roddick was so dominant it didn't matter that Camarillo's Mike and Bob Bryan lost for only the second time in Davis Cup doubles. ... Who Would Have Thought Dept.: Thousand Oaks' Sam Querrey has won more titles so far in the 2008 season than Roger Federer. ... At Pacifica High, Kevin Tanghal and Jonathan Jimenez have become big contributors as a doubles team this season. Tanghal and Jimenez also play volleyball for the Tritons. Naturally, the duo has been aptly named "Team Volleyball." They usually split time with the practices and often after playing their tennis match in the afternoon have to rush to the gym to play their volleyball match. ... Tim Kplun defeated Calle Hansen 7-5, 6-2 to win the Conejo Cup men's open title last Sunday at Sunset Hills Country Club. Shayne Austin defeated Julia Baltas 6-4, 6-1 to win the women's open championship. In the men's open doubles championship, Ryan Cheung and Kplun defeated Jensen Turner and Matt Jones 6-3, 7-6. ... Thousand Oaks High has added a non-league match to its schedule and it will be against Mira Costa, the No. 8-ranked team in Division I. The Lancers, who had been ranked 10th most of the year until dropping out of the latest poll, will have its top three singles players — Lin, McMorrow and Marcos Giron, available for that match. The match will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Friday at Thousand Oaks. ... Following the success of 2007, the Newport Beach Breakers have assembled a strong lineup for the 2008 World TeamTennis season. Joining former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport on the Breakers' roster is fan favorite Ramon Delgado, returning player Michaela Pastikova, Angelika Bachmann and Bruno Echagaray.

— Keith Kropp writes on tennis for The Star. E-mail address: kkropp@VenturaCountyStar.com.