Seventeen Tennis Tournament of Champions : Injury Forces Amend to Withdraw

In the 1984 Seventeen Magazine Tennis Tournament of Champions, Krista Amend of Rolling Hills Estates lost a three-set title match of the 14-and-under division to Arizona’s Jessica Emmons.

Tied for the fifth seed in the 16s division of this year’s tournament, which began Tuesday at the Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo, Amend hoped to avenge that loss against Emmons, who is the top seed in 1985.

Such prospects will have to be postponed until next year’s event, however, as Amend was forced to pull out of the tournament because of a pulled upper-thigh muscle in her right leg. The injury was sustained this past weekend when she competed in a tournament in Ojai.

“I’m really going to miss it,” Amend said in a telephone conversation from her home. “I really had a lot of fun here last year, and I thought I had a pretty good chance (this year). But, there’s always next year, I guess.”

The No. 2 seed in the 18-and-under class, Tami Whitlinger of Neenah, Wisconsin, also withdrew just before the opening round of the tournament with a case of chicken pox. Whitlinger was expected to pose the biggest challenge to top-seeded Cammy MacGregor of Palos Verdes.

The 16-year-old MacGregor, who was given a bye in the opening round, will face unseeded Leslie Fahrenkopt today.

Iwalani McCalla of Los Altos, the No. 3 seed in the 14s, beat West Virginia’s Melinda Wang, 6-0, 6-1, in the first round. Today she is scheduled to play Oregon’s Lynne Jackson.

Palos Verdes Estates’ Lucinda Gurney had little trouble getting by Hawaii’s Leilani Magee, 6-1, 6-2, in the 16s division. Gurney, Tennis Magazine’s co-Junior Player of 1984, and the No. 4 seed in this tournament, will face Tracie Johnstone of Arizona today.