SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE TENNIS TOURNAMENT : Davenport Shrugs Off Growing Pains to Advance

Lindsay Davenport was holding a bag of ice against her lower back to ease growing pains Thursday, but it was opponent Kati Edwards who had suffered the most from Davenport’s rapid rise in the world of junior tennis.

A 14-year-old from Palos Verdes, Davenport is 6 feet 2, three inches taller than she was last spring. She is also the No. 1-ranked 16-and-under player in the country, and Thursday she showed why, beating Edwards, 6-3, 6-0, in second-round play of the Seventeen Magazine Tournament of Champions at the Mission Viejo International Sports Complex.

Davenport’s hard-hitting base-line game put her head and shoulders above Edwards of Tucson, who was ranked No. 56 by the United States Tennis Assn. last year. Both players had received first-round byes and then Davenport bid goodby to Edwards in less than an hour.

Davenport said her sore back, which first flared up during a practice session at the Easter Bowl Tournament in Miami this year, should not be a problem today when she meets Julie Steven of Wichita, Kan., in the quarterfinals. Steven was a 6-0, 6-3 winner over Puerto Rico’s Joanna Bauza on Thursday.

“I guess I’m growing a little too fast,” Davenport said, smiling. “My back hurts, my legs hurt and I keep pulling my quad muscles. I guess I just have to do a lot of stretching.”

Anne Mall of Laguna Niguel was stretched a bit more than she would have liked in her opening-round match in the 18s division, but she eventually prevailed over Terry Ann Zawacki of Union, N.J., 6-4, 6-3.

Mall, the Southern Section singles champion from Dana Hills High School who is seeded No. 1 in the 18s, broke Zawacki in the fifth game of the first set, served an ace on game point of the sixth game and broke another Zawacki service to take a 4-2 lead. But Zawacki, who made a habit of running down would-be winners, broke back and then held her serve before losing, 6-4.

The second set was tied, 2-2, when Mall seemed to finally wrest control of the match, pushing her opponent around the court with her powerful ground strokes. Mall, 17, has a strong serve for a junior, but she kept blowing chances to break Zawacki.

As she set up for a deuce point after letting another break point slip away, Mall said aloud, “Geez, I’ve been up 40-5 four times and can’t win one.”

“She played very consistent and I started real slowly,” Mall said. “I had a little trouble concentrating and sort of got away from my game plan. I kind of laid back a little.”

Mall meets Keirsten Alley of Melrose, Mass., today in the quarterfinals. Alley defeated Jennifer Fiers of Sarasota, Fla., 6-3, 6-1, Thursday.

Brandi Freudenberg, a 13-year-old from Orange who was seeded fourth in the 14s, lost a marathon battle to Ashley Maner of Charlotte, N.C., 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4). Top-seeded Amanda Basica of Lomita defeated Adrien Alder of Ogden, Utah, 6-1, 7-5. Northridge’s Meilin Tu, seeded second, beat Massoumeh Emani of McLean, Va., 6-3, 6-0.

In the 16s, second-seeded Ditta Huber of La Jolla rolled over Joy Mitchell of College Park, Md., 6-1, 6-0.