SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE TENNIS TOURNAMENT : Mall Leads Stampede of California Girls Into Finals

Karen O’Sullivan and Jennifer Poulos traveled all the way from Boston. Christina Moros made the trek from Sarasota, Fla. Jennifer Nasser came from Arlington Heights, Ill. And Kristen Sanderson was down from Edina, Minn.

And then those inhospitable California girls sent them all packing Friday during semifinal matches of the Seventeen Magazine Tournament of Champions at Mission Viejo International Sports Complex.

The event is designed to be a showcase of the nation’s top-ranked juniors, but this year’s tournament turned into a locals-only party when Californians swept all six semifinal matches.

Anne Mall of Laguna Niguel overpowered Nasser, 6-3, 6-0, and will meet Lodi’s Beth Berris, who defeated Poulos, 6-1, 6-0, in the 18-and-under division final at 1 p.m. today.

Palos Verdes’ Lindsay Davenport blew away Janet Lee of Rancho Palos Verdes, 6-1, 6-1, in one 16s semifinal. And La Jolla’s Ditta Huber did the same (6-0, 6-1) to O’Sullivan. Davenport and Huber meet in the final at 11:30 a.m.

In the 14s, Amanda Basica of Lomita cruised past Moros, 6-2, 6-2, and Northridge’s Meilin Tu defeated Sanderson, 6-1, 7-6. The 14s final starts at 10 a.m.

Friday wasn’t all fun in the Southern California sun for the local girls, though. Mall, ranked No. 10 in the country, and Davenport, ranked No. 1, had much tougher quarterfinal matches in the morning.

Mall fell behind Keirsten Alley, of Melrose, Mass., 0-5, before changing her strategy and rallying to win 11 consecutive games. Alley came out hitting blistering ground strokes for winners, but when Mall took a little pace off her shots and stopped trying to out-slug her, the momentum of the match changed rapidly. Mall won the first set, 7-5, and ran away with the second, 6-1.

In the semifinal, she took control from the outset and played strong and steady tennis.

“I’m in pretty good condition, so I think the first match helped me,” Mall said. “I was able to keep the momentum going.”

Davenport, struggling with her first serve, dropped the opening set in the morning quarterfinal to Julie Steven of Wichita, Kan. Steven, whose head doesn’t even reach the shoulders of the 6-foot-2 Davenport, began missing her attempts at winners and, after two hours, finally lost to Davenport, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Lee upset Tiffany Gates of Granville, Me., the third-ranked player in the country, in a 2 1/2-hour quarterfinal marathon in the morning. After Davenport had routed her in the afternoon’s semifinal, Lee said, “I really didn’t want to play that match.”

Lee and Davenport, who practice together at least once a week, are members of the junior national team, but the natural rivalry turned out to be one-sided this time around.

Davenport, who won the 14s division title at this tournament last year, said she was also tired, but felt confident that at least her opponent was in the same boat.

Not long after the first serve, Lee had fallen overboard.

“I was very tired and my toes hurt,” Lee said. “And she’s so tall .”