Tennis : Capriati Is Only 12, but Playing Her Is More Than Child’s Play

What troubled Jennifer Capriati’s opponents in last weekend’s Seventeen magazine tennis tournament at Mission Viejo had little to do with groundstrokes or volleys.

Rather, it was Capriati’s age and size. For example, her semifinal opponent in the 18-and-under division, Debbie Graham of Fountain Valley, is headed to Stanford University this fall. Capriati? Well, she’s headed all the way to seventh grade.

And she stands about two heads shorter than her competition. Graham, who is 5 feet 11 inches, had at least 8 inches on Capriati.

Keeping this in mind, imagine Graham’s surprise and chagrin as she dropped the first set to Capriati, 7-5, losing her serve at love in the 12th game. It took all of Graham’s experience and patience to finally halt Capriati’s run against the big girls, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

“I mean, she was younger than the ball people on the court,” Graham said. “It was scary.”

This wasn’t the first time Capriati, 12, has surprised the older competition. She nearly qualified for a spot in a women’s professional tournament at Largo, Fla., earlier this spring, losing in the final of a regional event. Had Capriati won, it would have put the WITA (Women’s International Tennis Assn.) in a tight spot. The group no longer allow girls under 14 to play in women’s professional tournaments.

Then, Capriati moved on and played in the 16-and-under division, winning the Easter Bowl tournament in Miami. That victory brought on the decision, by her father, Stefano, to play the 18-and-under national circuit this spring and summer. She is now competing in an international junior event in Milan, and, playing in front of her grandparents for the first time.

Graham, however, didn’t think the decision to move up two age groups was a wise one, saying that Capriati should experience the pressure of playing her peers.

“I think she may be the best 12-year-old in the world,” UCLA women’s Coach Bill Zaima said. “But I think it is a mistake for her to be playing the 18-and-unders.”

Said Stefano Capriati: “She’s still a baby. She’s still young. . . . We’ll see what happens. But I think she’s ready to play the 18s. I think she should keep playing the 18s.”

Either way, there is precedent for skipping one or two age groups and most certainly, Capriati, whose idol is, of course, Chris Evert, knows how the big girls feel about a 12 year olds.

“I know they still want to bite my head off,” she said, laughing.

Trade-off? The Volvo Collegiate championships will move from Los Angeles to the University of Georgia for this year’s tournament, Oct. 20-23. This event, which has always attracted small crowds, was played at UCLA’s L.A. Tennis Center since 1984. The tournament also determines the preseason rankings in men’s singles and doubles competition. Last fall, USC’s Scott Melville won the tournament, defeating Stanford freshman David Wheaton in a three-set final.

With the move of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. team and individual tournament from Georgia to the Grand Champions in Indian Wells, it would seem as if the switch of the preseason event is being made to fill the void. Also, the crowds at Georgia will likely be larger than in Los Angeles.

Once again, the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles will have another strong field. Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have made commitments to enter the event, which is Aug. 8-14 at the Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach. Also, Gabriela Sabatini, who has defeated No. 1-ranked Steffi Graf twice this year, also will play, according to her management firm.

The 1987 tournament featured the top four women players at that time, Navratilova, Graf, Evert and Hana Mandlikova. With the victory, Graf reached the No. 1 spot in the world and has held it since.

In last year’s semifinals, Evert defeated Navratilova in straight sets before losing to Graf in the final. Since then, Evert has shown the performance was no fluke as she already has defeated Navratilova twice in 1988. She beat Navratilova, 6-0, 6-4, last month in Houston, which makes it the first time Navratilova has lost a set at love since 1982.

Evert is marrying former Olympic skier Andy Mill in Boca Raton, Fla., on July 30 and the Manhattan Beach event will be her first tournament after the wedding.

Although the coaches are often fond of talking about the relatively new concept of parity in the women’s collegiate game, it seems more true with teams than individuals.

Last season, Florida broke the West Coast dominance as it was ranked No. 1 most of the year. Even though the Gators lost to eventual champion Stanford, another Southeastern team, Georgia, made an impact by reaching the final.

This year, Kentucky, Duke and South Carolina made the 20-team field. Duke and South Carolina didn’t participate in the 1987 tournament.

Whereas the team tournament is well-balanced regionally, the individual event again is dominated by West Coast players. All six singles players from UCLA--Allyson Cooper, Jessica Emmons, Kirsten Dreyer, Joni Urban, Stella Sampras and Maria LaFranchi--qualified for the 64-player competition, which starts Monday.

Trisha Laux, Mary Norwood, Stephanie London and Lupita Novelo qualified from USC. Barring injuries, Stanford will also have Lisa Green, Tami Whitlinger, Teri Whitlinger, Sandra Birch and Eleni Rossides competing for the singles title. For Pepperdine, Ginger Helgeson and Janna Kovacevich are in the singles competition. And California has qualified four of its six singles players--Karen Shin, Jean Marie Lozano, Tiffany Silveria and Kay Louthian.

Florida has qualified four players and Miami three.

Tennis Notes

The 62nd L.A. City Public Parks Championships begins June 4 at the Griffith tennis complex and Arroyo Seco courts. The tournament will determine the Los Angeles representatives at the National Public Parks tournament later in the summer. Entry fees for the event are $15 for singles and $20 for doubles and the registration deadline is May 20. For more information, call (818) 246-5613. . . . College signings: Bill Behrens of Rolling Hills, who won a junior singles event last month in Ojai, has signed with UCLA. Pepperdine has a commitment from Noelle Porter of San Clemente, who is ranked No. 12 in the national girls 18-and-under division. Rolling Hills’ Krista Amend, who lost in the 18-and-under final last weekend at the Seventeen magazine tournament, will attend Arizona State. Florida, which could lose its top two players to the pro tour next season, has signed Andrea Berger, the younger sister of U.S. Davis Cup player Jay Berger. Berger is ranked No. 5 in the national 18s. . . . The Virginia Slims of San Diego, Aug. 1-7, will be held at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club for the second straight year. Prize money for the 32-player tournament has been increased to $100,000 from last year’s $75,000. In 1987, Italy’s Raffaella Reggi won, defeating Anne Minter of Australia.