IRVINE : Wheelchair Tennis Whiz a Real Fighter

A full day had passed since Donna Miller upset the No. 3 seeded women’s player at the U.S. Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Irvine, but fellow players still congratulated her when they passed by.

“That a girl, Donna,” said one. “Go get ‘em,” said another. And the smile on Miller’s face grew brighter with each compliment.

“I’m hungry for this one,” she said.

Miller is one of 262 players from 14 countries competing at the Racquet Club of Irvine through Sunday. She is the first player in five years to beat out Monique Van Den Bosch of Holland in the first round of play.

The players, many with custom-made wheelchairs and tennis racquets, compete nationally and internationally each year, starting in April and culminating with the Irvine tournament. Over the last 10 years, the circuit has grown from the original 75 players.

“This is just a small percentage of people who play wheelchair tennis,” said Brad Parks, 33, who founded the National Foundation for Wheelchair Tennis in 1980.

While recuperating in the hospital from a skiing accident in 1976, Parks wondered what sport he could take up.

“I’d never heard of it (wheelchair tennis),” he said. But then he got on the court in his set of wheels from the hospital and hit a few balls to his parents. “I couldn’t move very well and I knew there was only one way to go, and that was up.”

“It’s very aerobic,” said Rich Rosenbaum of Ft. Lee, N.J., who is completing his fourth season on the circuit. “It’s also one of the few wheelchair sports that you can do with able-bodied people.”

For Miller, it’s the competitiveness that drew her in.

At 28, she is the executive director of a referral service for the handicapped in Middletown, N.Y. Her staff encourages disabled people to live as independently as possible, focusing on their abilities instead of their disabilities.

She trains for several hours every day, playing tennis, swimming, lifting weights and pushing a specially designed wheelchair up and down the streets of her neighborhood. She has a coach whom she credits with teaching her to outthink her opponents.

Before her multiple sclerosis was diagnosed five years ago, Miller was a nationally ranked swimmer. After she became wheelchair-bound, she tried road racing and basketball, but neither sport pushed her competitive spirit the way tennis did. She is now ranked third nationally.

The tournament at the Racquet Club of Irvine, 5 Sandburg Way, is open to the public. Admission is free.