High Marks for Junior Achievement : Tennis: Despite limited membership, Rolling Hills Estates’ Kramer club has a large number of quality young players.

Some of the photographs that adorn the Junior Wall of Fame at the Jack Kramer Tennis Club in Rolling Hills Estates are probably familiar to the casual sports fan. Pictures of Kramer club members and U.S. Open winners Tracy Austin and Pete Sampras, for instance.

Other players’ pictures on the wall, such as those of John Austin and Derrick Rostagno, are recognizable to the ardent tennis follower.

A third group of photos, however, is probably only meaningful to followers of junior tennis or to Kramer members. These are pictures of top-flight junior members that call the Kramer club home.

The Wall of Fame was initiated by club manager Kim Perino two years ago. To qualify, a club member must be either a successful tennis professional, an All-American in college or a winner of a United States Tennis Assn. national championship.

For a club that has a limited membership, the Kramer club claims a large number of highly ranked junior players. At the recent Easter Bowl Junior Championships in Miami, Fla., Kramer members won the girls’ 14 and 16 divisions and had the runner-up in the girls’ 18 division.

“Outside of the nationals, the Easter Bowl is the premier junior tournament in the country,” Kramer club pro Dennis Rizza said.

“Going back for 15 years, the club has been able to attract good local kids, as well as kids from other areas. We get tremendous parent involvement (in the junior program). You don’t see too many great players develop without supportive parents.”

How talented are the juniors playing at the Kramer club?

Talented enough to place three players on the USTA junior national team. According to national team Coach Lynne Rolley, the team is composed of players the USTA feels can have an impact.

“We are obviously looking for players who have had outstanding results,” Rolley said. “We look for maturity, commitment, heart, athleticism. Commitment is a big thing. How hard do they push themselves? Many of the kids have all the tools, but they just don’t want it.”

Nicole London, 16, who is playing on the national team for the third year, finished second in the girls’ 18 division at the Easter Bowl. According to Rolley, London may not realize how good she can be.

“She hits some gorgeous ground strokes,” Rolley said. “She just needs to get more international experience and to learn how to use all of her tools.”

Club member Janet Lee and Lindsay Davenport are also on the national team. Although no longer a Kramer club member, Davenport, who has been competing in selected pro tournaments as an amateur, still practices at the club.

Amanda Basica, who won the 16 division at the Easter Bowl, is only 13. Basica is “in a pool of players who we are looking at” for future National Team consideration, said Rolley.

Kramer pro Bill Dunkle has given lessons to Basica and traveled to the Easter Bowl to help coach Amanda and her sister, Amber, who finished fifth in the 16 division in Miami.

“She has a very bright future,” Dunkle said of Amanda. “She has the mentality and the game that complement each other. She can shut down her opponents because she is so tenacious.”

Tennis pro Robert Lansdorp, part-owner of the West End Club in Torrance, has worked with Amanda for five years. He also cited her mental toughness as being a key attribute.

“She’s an intelligent little player, very savvy,” Lansdorp said. “She’s very quick and has very good timing.”

Peninsula High freshman Amanda Augustus won the 14 division in Miami. She is being scouted by Rolley for future National Team consideration. Rizza, who has coached Augustus for five years, said she was “firing on all pistons” when she breezed to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in her final match.

Dunkle has also worked with Augustus. He likened her style of play to that of Monica Seles, the world’s top-ranked player.

“The game today for all of these girls is (to be) aggressive, like Seles,” he said. “(At the Easter Bowl) all of our girls were aggressive and dictated the points. When they had the opponent at a disadvantage, they went for the winners. They were playing to win rather than just make a good showing.”

The fourth Kramer junior to make an impact in Miami was Amber Basica. The 15-year-old finished fifth in the 16 division, losing in the quarterfinals.

Amber enjoyed the Miami experience and was interviewed by television analyst Bud Collins.

“He was really funny,” said Basica, who acknowledged that she didn’t know who Collins was when he interviewed her. “I don’t watch much tennis on television.”

The Easter Bowl was played during the week that most high school students are on vacation. Instead of being in Palm Springs or at the beach, the Kramer club juniors were practicing their strokes in Florida. Augustus said her week in Miami was just fine with her.

“Sure, I’d like to be on the beach with my friends, but I still have time for that,” she said.

London, while enjoying the Easter Bowl, has participated in the tournament five times but isn’t sure if she will return next year.

A top-seeded player in Miami, London doesn’t feel added pressure being No. 1.

“A lot of people put expectations on you, but it doesn’t matter to me if I was seeded 16th,” she said.

Several junior players get burned out, something Lansdorp has witnessed.

“To be the No. 1 player in the world, or to shoot for being the best player that you can be, you have to have tunnel vision,” he said. “But people forget that very few people make it to the top. Many players falter on the way up. You have to find a medium, if possible. I’ve seen too many phenoms at age 14 who aren’t around anymore at 20 or 21.”

So far, the Kramer club juniors have been able to achieve the balance Lansdorp talks about.