NEWPORT BEACH : Tennis Stars Serve Up Fun for Ill Children

Janet Navarro limped onto the tennis court Friday, her hand pressed on her leg.

Within moments after meeting tennis superstar Tracy Austin, the 10-year-old fifth-grader, who has bone cancer, let go of her thigh and gripped her tennis racket. And then, with a big smile and intermittent giggles, she forgot about her pain.

Austin, 29, who won three Grand Slam championships and was placed in the International Tennis Hall of Fame this year, was at the Balboa Bay Club to give private tennis lessons to Navarro and Angela Willey, 16.

Willey, a sophomore at Canyon High School in Orange, has leukemia and hasn’t been allowed to attend classes. But that didn’t get her down Friday, as she struck the tennis balls with fire in her backhand swing.

“I never played before,” she said. “This is great.”

“When I see kids like this,” Austin said, their tragic illness “doesn’t make sense to me. . . . It’s wonderful to see them smiling and laughing, and if I can make them do that, it’s well worth it.”

Willey and Navarro were treated to the lesson that six terminally ill children will also receive Sunday during the fifth annual Charity Tennis Invitational. Austin will be joined by seven other tennis luminaries to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County.

The children were thrilled upon learning that they will be meeting some of their heroes, said Gay Weeks, executive director of Make-A-Wish. “It’s a chance for them to feel special.”

She said the event is expected to raise at least $15,000--that’s six wishes for dying children. The average cost of a wish is $2,500, Weeks said.

Willey’s wish will come true next week when she goes to Hawaii and learns to surf. Navarro, of Santa Ana, wished to go to Disney World. She returned from Florida two weeks ago and is still talking about the trip. Meeting Austin was an extra treat, she said.

While on the court, Austin hit one of her trademark serves and instructed Navarro to “slam this one.” The youngster did, and her eyes crinkled from her widening smile.

“Good shot,” said Austin, who received her first tennis lesson at age 2 and became the youngest player, at 14, to compete at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

“This is cool,” Navarro said.

Judging from their grins, the girls were happy, Weeks said. That’s what Make-A-Wish, a nonprofit organization, is after, she said. “Both of them have been going through some hard times, and to see those smiles meant a great deal,” she said.

“Angela was exceedingly happy about meeting Tracy Austin,” Willey’s wish coordinator, Cy Finestone, said later. “She didn’t think anything like this could ever happen to her. It boosted her spirits way up.”

Sunday’s event will be sponsored by two pharmaceutical companies, G.D. Searle & Co. and Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. About 100 doctors will pay the $15,000 to play against Austin and tennis pros Elsie Burgin, Vitas Gerulaitis, Johan Kriek, Bob Lutz, Marty Riessen, Roscoe Tanner and Tony Trabert.

The six Orange County children getting lessons from the tennis pros will include 9-, 10- and 11-year-olds with life-threatening or terminal illnesses.

Last year’s event was held in Chicago. It raised about $15,000 for the Make-A-Wish chapter there.