They Rose to Top of the Junior Ranks Down Under : Tennis: Lindsay Davenport and Nicole London won the girls’ doubles title at the Australian Open.

Lindsay Davenport of Palos Verdes and Nicole London of Rolling Hills Estates were on the verge of winning the biggest doubles match of their junior tennis careers Jan. 25 when the Australian Open crowd began to cheer.

The applause grew louder and louder during each point and it wasn’t for their Australian opponents, either. But only after the match--a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Maija Avontins and Joanne Limmer--did the 15-year-old amateurs discover the origin of the applause.

The women’s open singles championship between Monica Seles and Mary Joe Fernandez had started on an adjoining stadium court before a capacity crowd of 15,000.

“We played on a large court, probably the largest we’ve ever played on, but only 15 people watched our match,” London said. “Obviously the crowd noise was for Seles and Fernandez.”

While Seles earned $270,000 for her 6-2, 6-3 victory, Davenport and London collected their racquets and headed to a nearby mall to go shopping.

When they got back to their hotel, they called their parents.

“Yeah, I said something like, ‘Hi, mom, I’m coming home,’ ” London said. “ ‘Oh, by the way, we won.’

“My parents told me it’s expensive to call (from Australia) so I kept my conversation short and I didn’t call too often.”

The way Davenport and London have been playing lately, tennis will be their calling card. A lucrative professional career appears to await both players.

“Right now, they could enter the pros and do respectably well in some tournaments, “ said Paul Holbach, the player’s personal coach. “But there is a big difference between playing and winning at the pro level and winning money consistently.

“I don’t want to rush them. I want them to win championships.”

JoAnne Russell, the 1977 Wimbledon doubles champion, was recently hired by the United States Tennis Assn. to coach the junior team in Australia. She believes that Davenport and London can succeed as a professional doubles team.

“They could go into the pro tournaments now and win at the $10,000 and $25,000 tournament levels,” Russell said. “Those tournaments are good confidence-builders and they could move up from there. Me being their coach, I’m a little biased. But the big thing is that I have a lot of confidence in them.”

Russell is not alone in her assessment.

When the USTA recently announced its junior rankings, Davenport was selected the No. 1 player in the 18-and-under class and London was No. 3.

As a doubles team in 1991, they have won the USTA Girls’ 18 National Championships in Memphis, Tenn., and the USTA Girls’ 18 Clay Court Championships in San Jose. They also helped the USTA team beat the Netherlands in December to win the Continental Cup.

Davenport also won singles titles in the USTA Nationals and Clay Court Nationals in 1991. She lost to Limmer, 7-5, 6-2, in the girls’ final of the Australian Open.

London lost in the quarterfinals in Australia. She was a semifinalist in singles at the 1991 Campari Avvenire, a French event for girls 16 and under. Her only singles victory in 1991 was in the girls’ 18-and-under championship at Ojai.

Davenport and London belong to the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates, which has been home to several of the United State’s best women tennis players. The prestigious list includes Tracy Austin, who at 16 years and nine months was the youngest player ever to win the U.S. Open in 1979, and current professionals Kimberly Poe and Cammy MacGregor.

“I’ve only been here for two years so it’s hard for me to compare,” said Kim Perino, general manager of the Kramer Club. “Let me put it this way. You probably won’t find another girl that hits as hard or is able to dominate the junior level with the strength and power of Lindsay.”

But while Davenport may be having a better singles season, she has been playing catch-up to London, who has skipped levels in the junior ranks.

“She’s been playing really well,” London said. “She’s only beaten me once even though she’s ranked higher. Yeah, when she gets too high and mighty, I tell her that her record isn’t very good against me.”

London comes from a tennis family, much like Austin and MacGregor. Her sister, Stephanie, played tennis at Miraleste High and USC. Today she is a teaching pro at the Warner Center in Woodland Hills.

London used to shag balls while her sister practiced with their father. Sometimes it was a painful experience.

“I always watched her play,” London said. “One time she was serving and I was running across the court, she hit me smack in the face with the ball. I was about 5 or 6.”

London, who will turn 16 on Monday, started playing in satellite tournaments at 9 and began winning national tournaments at 12. She has won nine junior titles since 1989, including consecutive victories at the Easter Bowl in Miami.

London, a 5-foot-6 right-hander, hits her forehand or two-handed backhand equally hard despite breaking a bone in her right arm in 1988.

“She’s talented in the sense that she can do anything with the ball,” Holbach said. “She can slice, she can hit hard, she can volley. She’s got more than one thing to rely on. Players her age are not as well-rounded.

“She still needs to improve her speed and get stronger physically, but that comes with age.”

London, a sophomore at Peninsula High, said she would like to play at the college level before turning pro.

Davenport, whose father Wink played volleyball in the 1968 Olympics, began playing tennis at 7 and has won 11 tournaments in the past two years.

The 6-2 Davenport has the size and power to dominate at the junior level, but must improve her speed and endurance to successfully compete in the professional ranks.

“I would like to turn pro in the next six months,” said Davenport, a sophomore at Chadwick High. “I’m working on a new training program and depending how well that goes will determine my future.”

While both players spend most of their time on a tennis court, they still managed to enjoy such teen-age frivolities as going to the movies and chasing boys.

“(Nicole) always has a crush on someone,” Davenport said. “She flirts with (boys) at the tournaments. Then she comes home and it’s over.”

London’s latest crush involved Goran Ivanisevic, the 16th-ranked player in Australia. London managed to get Ivanisevic’s number at his hotel, but was too nervous to call him. It took Davenport to arrange the rendezvous.

“I’ve liked him for about a year,” said London, who met Ivanisevic at her hotel. “I think he’s cute. It was the highlight of my trip besides winning the doubles.”

London, however, had the entire USTA team watching after her when she met her new beau.

Said Russell: “I told Nicole if she got a date with Goran, she had to take the whole team with her. I don’t want to be responsible for a 15-year-old on a date.”

Until their return to a Grand Slam event, Davenport and London will hold center court as the best girls’ doubles team in the nation.

“I think the reason we play so well together is because we’re such good friends,” London said. “I think you and your partner have to click together. If one is down, the other can’t get mad, otherwise the team goes down the tubes.

“I couldn’t play with someone I didn’t like.”