Stories From the Service Line

In concept, playing up a level at the Ojai Valley tennis tournament makes sense. A player’s ranking within his age division is protected and facing older competition isn’t so daunting in this relatively relaxed setting.

In practice, the experience can exhilarate one day and humble the next, as 14-year-old Stephen Amritraj of Calabasas discovered.

The son of professional Anand Amritraj held tough for one set against Armando Carrascosa of Calexico before collapsing, 7-5, 6-0, in the boys’ 16 singles round of 16 Friday at Seoul Park.

A day earlier, Amritraj upset third-seeded Derek Betyar of Poway, 6-3, 7-6, in one of the best efforts of his young career.

“I only get a chance to play guys of this caliber a few times a year, so that was a huge victory over Derek,” Amritraj said. “Armando painted every line on the court. He just had a brilliant stretch, and he made me play badly.”

Amritraj told his father as much over the phone Thursday night. The elder Amritraj, who is his son’s coach, is in Las Vegas judging an international beauty contest.

Ah, the spoils of celebrity status. The mere thought brings a smile to Stephen’s face.

His first memories are of watching his father and uncle, Vijay Amritraj, play in major tournaments. At the age of five, he watched them win the over-35 doubles division at Wimbledon.

Following in his father’s ground strokes doesn’t appear to bother Amritraj, who as a 13-year-old was ranked No. 3 nationally in doubles and No. 42 in singles at boys’ 14. Only seven players who remain eligible at 14 were ranked ahead of him and he expects to be in the top 10 this year.

“People ask me about pressure and having my dad as coach, but I think of growing up in a tennis family as luck,” he said. “When God handed out gifts, this is what I got.”

He also got his fair share of brains. Amritraj is part of an academic decathlon team from St. Mel’s School in Woodland Hills that won a regional championship and will compete for the state title next week in Sacramento.

His specialty is social studies and he confesses to being a buff of World War II and of the British Empire. Idle time Friday was spent reading “One Hundred Days,” the memoirs of Adm. Sandy Woodward, the British commander in the Falklands war.

Geography is also a natural after traveling throughout Asia, Australia and Europe with his parents for tournaments. Oh, and there were the two African safaris.

At home, tennis gets the lion’s share of his attention. After school, at the dinner table, on weekends, it’s the unquestioned family devotion.

“Thank God we have tennis,” said his mother, Helen. “It occupies Stephen’s time, the family is together.”

Amritraj is reaching the age where many top young players leave home to board at prestigious tennis academies. Nicholas Weiss, 16, of Calabasas will leave next month for an academy in Florida.

He won’t be joined by Amritraj.

“Neither he nor his father are ready for that,” Helen said.

Amritraj will attend Crespi next year and plans to play on the school team like his cousin, Prakash, 15, does at Harvard-Westlake.

He and Prakash, who is Vijay’s son, are a dynamite doubles team, and they count their career highlight as winning the Southern California boys’ 14 doubles championship last fall. They yearn for the day they can defeat their fathers, who still compete professionally as a team.

“We have a bet that we beat them by the year 2000,” Amritraj said.

What’s on the line? Both boys will be 16 by then, and Amritraj has more on his mind than whether he will again play up a division at Ojai.

“A car?,” he said hopefully.