Stunova Turns Match Point Into Czechmate : Tennis: Rio Mesa’s transfer with a pedigree takes little time to make her presence felt in the Channel League.

OXNARD — Oh, Zuzana! Won’t you play for me?

Any high school tennis coach would like--Czech that, love-- to have Zuzana Stunova on the team, for her pedigree if nothing else. Seems her mother used to be a friend and hitting partner of Martina Navratilova when they were teen-age hotshots in Czechoslovakia.

But her mother--also named Zuzana--passed on more to her daughter than just her name and a trivia-question link to Navratilova.

Stunova, a 15-year old exchange student from the Czech Republic, inherited a bundle of talent as well.

Her sledgehammer ground strokes and shot-making abilities earned her a top 10 age-group ranking in her home country.

So when she decided to stay in the United States after visiting this summer and enrolled at Rio Mesa High, the Spartans’ coach was ecstatic.

“It proves that God’s a tennis player, right?” Steve Worthington quipped. “I think Zuzana is the best player in the Channel League. She’s just a pleasure to coach.”

The sophomore got here two months ago, but last week, she arrived, defeating senior Monique Allegre of Camarillo, 6-4.

Not bad, considering Allegre is ranked No. 10 among 18-and-under singles players by the Southern California Tennis Assn. and is being recruited by Arizona, Arizona State and Michigan, among others.

“It was very exciting,” Stunova said. “I played very carefully because I knew she was a very good player.”

Stunova has a 14-1 record, including a 6-0 defeat of Santa Barbara’s Pilar Montgomery, the No. 1 singles player for the league leaders.

Stunova’s only loss came Wednesday when she fell to defending league singles champion Kara Warkentin of San Marcos, 6-4. Her talent and work ethic have impressed local tennis cognoscenti.

“She could be an NCAA Division I player,” said Wayne Brian, owner and club pro at the Cabrillo Racquet Club, where Stunova and Allegre train. “And depending on her size and improvement, she could be a (professional) tour player.”

Said Allegre, her practice partner at the club: “She has great ground strokes and she’s pretty quick and athletic, too. She competes really well. In practice, she’s always giving it 100%. The same in matches. She’s improved since she came to the club.”

Nearly two years ago, Stunova’s native Czechoslovakia underwent “The Velvet Divorce,” peacefully and amicably splitting into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Equally smooth, velvety if you will, has been Stunova’s move to Rio Mesa. “She’s fit in beautifully,” Worthington said.

Said Allegre: “Ever since she got to the club, she’s been everyone’s friend.”

“I like America,” she said. “The people here are very friendly. They are very helpful for me.”

Stunova’s English is heavily accented but improving, and her personality is bright and engaging. Sitting on the couch at the Cabrillo club with her father, Jaroslav, her sprightly smiles contrast the storm clouds outside. She waves to friends often during an interview.

“I think it belongs to the age, that younger people can adapt easier,” her father said. “And also probably a little from her nature.”

Stunova’s father, who three years ago started his own engineering company specializing in industrial automation, has been in his firm’s Los Angeles office since coming to the United States with his daughter in July.

However, Jaroslav Stuna (in Czech, only females use an extended family surname) is departing for the Czech Republic today.

He returns to the family’s home in Pilsen, brewer of famous Pilsner beer since the Middle Ages, and where Zuzana first took a sip of the tennis life.

She began playing for fun at 5 and in tournaments at 10, the youngest age possible in Czech. She was trained by her mother, the former Zuzana Korakova, who played professionally in Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands and twice played the great Navratilova.

“She lost both,” Stunova said with a giggle.

Early this year, Stunova won a tournament in Ingolstadt, Germany, home of the Audi.

Stunova proved to be a sports car among sedans after joining a women’s team there at the club’s invitation.

She never lost, playing there for months.

Her life in the tennis autobahn continued when, thanks to the new openness in her home country, she left with her father to explore the sunnier tennis opportunities in California.

She enjoyed immediate success, winning the SCTA-sanctioned Reebok tournament in Whittier and another junior tournament in Cerritos.

Buoyed by those victories, she decided to stay in the United States.

She was sponsored by the Camarillo Rotary club’s international exchange program, and found an ideal host family, the Distads--who have two daughters, Sally and Sarah, on Rio Mesa’s tennis team.

And she maintains that despite missing her family and friends at home, she is happy.

“It’s good for me; I have more opportunities (here),” Stunova said. “In Czech, I play (only) one or two hours a day because we have such long school.”

Here, she plays up to four hours a day in weather that will permit her to play outdoors year-round.

Jaroslav makes a point to list everyone who has helped Zuzana’s transition to the United States, even calling a newspaper at 10 p.m. to make sure his gratitude to Rio Mesa was on the record.

But rather than gush about his daughter, he is quite humble.

“She has only won two tournaments,” Jaroslav said. “She has done nothing yet.”