Emotional Toil

Rylan Rizza wears his emotions on his sleeves, but he’ll roll up those sleeves anyway and get to work this weekend in the Southern Section individual tennis tournament.

Rizza, a senior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High, is among the top contenders in the competition, which has singles and doubles champions and runners-up from each league vying for the annual championships beginning today.

“I think I have a shot,” said Rizza, whose preliminary will take place at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center. “If I play well and play the way I’m capable of, I think I have a good chance to win.”

If he does, the feat is likely to bring a smile to his face as easily as a line call against him or a backhand volley into the net makes him grimace, grouse or grind his teeth.

It would be no surprise if he threw his racket into the air in celebration. After all, he has been known to slam his racket to the ground in disgust, usually with himself.

“It’s just reaction, right at the moment,” said Rizza, who did not play in the high school singles tournament last year. “But I play with passion. I think it’s hurt me sometimes and helped me at other times.”

Rizza , the U.S. Tennis Assn. Southern California section’s junior player of the year in 2000, is No. 8 in the USTA’s Southern California boys’ 18 division standings.

Nationally, he is at No. 18, behind only No. 9 Doug Stewart of Malibu among players competing for the high school title. Both will attend Virginia on tennis scholarships next season.

“I feel like Doug comes to us as a pretty complete player, and Rylan’s not far behind,” Virginia Coach Brian Boland said. “[Rizza’s] so quick and athletic and has so much room for improvement. If he puts his mind to it, his potential is just unlimited.”

But Rizza needs to learn to control his emotions, Peninsula Coach Tom Cox said.

Cox has pressed the point by defaulting Rizza out of three sets this season for disciplinary reasons. The defaults account for all but one of the player’s losses.

“I think you have to learn to control yourself,” Cox said. “You can’t act like an idiot in other places. Why should you do it on the court?”

Rizza won the Bay League singles title and has posted a 49-4 record in sets this season, losing on the court only to San Marino senior Travis Kinard, 7-6 (6). That defeat in Peninsula’s 13-5 loss to the Titans on April 1 came after Rizza squandered two match points. It precipitated defaults of his other two sets that day after Rizza threw his racket to the ground as he came off court, he said.

Cox declined to discuss the incident.

“It’s just impulse,” Rizza said of his actions. “If I took three seconds to think about it, I wouldn’t do it.”But if I didn’t care, if I didn’t play with the passion that I do, I don’t think I’d be as good a player.”

Rizza’s parents have tried to curb those negative impulses, using tactics ranging from giving him an earful, to grounding him, to fining him--usually about $5--for each outburst.

“I couldn’t tell you how many times I’d tell him, ‘I don’t care if you win or lose, as long as you play hard, don’t misbehave and respect your opponent,’” said Dennis Rizza, Rylan’s father and coach. Dennis is a teaching pro at Jack Kramer Tennis Club in Rolling Hills Estates.

“It’s always about himself. When he’s not doing well, he can get down on himself in a very negative way.”

Rizza has twice received warnings from tournament officials but has not received penalty points or been defaulted from junior-circuit matches.

And beyond the San Marino defaults, and another one he took against Mira Costa in March, Cox said Rizza has been a positive force for Peninsula.

He and Paul Matysek are team captains, and the coach credits Rizza for making a point to attend practices and work out with teammates in an effort to help them improve.

Rizza is the crucial factor in the Panthers’ 15-7 record, nine-match winning streak, 11th consecutive league title and progress into Tuesday’s Division I team quarterfinals.

“He’s clearly above everybody else in terms of ability and rankings,” Cox said. “It’s nice to go into a match knowing you’re probably going to get those three points every time.”