TENNIS / DANA HADDAD : Big Push On to Lure Pros to Burbank

Steve Starleaf always has imagined a rags-to-riches story for Burbank in which his city grows from a tennis nonentity into a thriving stop on the pro tour. The coach and former player who grew up and still lives in Burbank always has been a believer.

His idea is no longer a fairy tale.

Since they took over the lease at McCambridge Park in late 1993, Starleaf and Paul Xanthos, a former Pierce College coach, have renovated a clubhouse, established the Burbank Tennis Center and assembled a teaching staff and a comprehensive program for juniors and seniors. Membership has grown to about 200.

Starleaf and Xanthos have visions of starting an academy for players and coaches, building a championship court and making Burbank a future stop on the pro tour.

“I’ve been here all my life, and for years there’s been a grumbling for something like this,” said Starleaf, a 1975 Burbank High graduate.

There is a grass-roots movement to build a tennis center by Burbank residents, Starleaf said. “I’m just leading the parade.”

The Burbank Parks and Recreation Department joined the march earlier this year when it unveiled a $3.8-million plan to redevelop McCambridge Park to include a championship court and two clay courts.

Dan LaBrado, deputy parks director, said his department long has overlooked tennis as a revenue-producing activity but now is going for the gusto. LaBrado said Starleaf and Xanthos vowed: If you build it, they will come.

LaBrado wants to lure the pros to McCambridge Park, and Starleaf plans to ask Virginia Slims Tour officials to switch their current tour stop from Manhattan Beach to Burbank if the city approves the project.

Approval--and funding for the project--rests with the Burbank City Council, which is tentatively scheduled to vote on the project in mid-August.

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Varvais returns to battle: Nick Varvais decided not to run and hide after he was shocked in the first round of boys’ 16 singles in the Southern California Tennis Assn. Junior sectional last month. Varvais, 14, was seeded second.

To help toughen himself for next month’s national junior championships, the Westlake High sophomore entered the pre-qualifying tournament for the Los Angeles Open in Studio City last week.

He was the youngest member of the 128-player field, but he gave Sung Hea Jung of South Korea a struggle in the second round. After winning by default in the first round, Varvais fell, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, to Jung, a collegiate player.

“(Jung) couldn’t speak English,” Varvais said. “But he kept asking me, ‘High school player?’ ”

The SCTA placed Varvais ninth in its most recent unofficial rankings, after his first-round, 6-3, 7-6 loss to Scott Kintz of San Diego in last month’s sectional tournament.

Varvais said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kintz played with reckless abandon while Varvais played defensively, waiting for Kintz’s shots to miss. But Kintz kept hitting winners.

Varvais salvaged some pride by reaching the consolation final.

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Racket talk: Bobby Rodriguez speaks little English, so he lets his forehand do most of the talking. And he made some noise last week in the L.A. Open pre-qualifying tournament before losing in the final.

Rodriguez, now living in Sherman Oaks after defecting from Cuba four months ago, lost to Otis Smith, 7-5, 6-1.

Along the way Rodriguez, 24, ousted noteworthy Valley players Steve Oliver of Woodland Hills (6-3, 6-1) and Al Martinez of Hidden Hills (6-4, 7-6).

“We’ve got sketchy information on him, because (his coaches in Cuba) are obviously not going to release any tournament information on him,” said Danny Johnson of Total Sports International, the agency representing Rodriguez.

“But he’s got a top-50 forehand. It’s a mean forehand.”

Martinez, a former No. 1 singles player at Pierce, agrees.

“He’s got a good forehand and he runs down every ball,” he said. “He’s in good shape. The first time I played him (in late May), I was up, 6-1, 3-0. But the guy’s a fierce competitor. He came back and picked up his level. I finally beat him in three sets. Last week, he just wanted it more than I did.”

Rodriguez is the second player to come to the Valley from Cuba, where professional opportunities are limited. Rita Maria Pichardo of Glendale was the No. 1 women’s player in Cuba when she defected last October. Johnson said Rodriguez is working toward a ranking by the Assn. of Tennis Professionals.