Star-filled show for tennis-starved

Local enthusiasts boast that Atlanta is the tennis capital of the country. But, aside from the occasional exhibition, the professional circuits don’t stop here.

Today will be one of the few exceptions. The Advanta World Team Tennis Smash Hits event, designed to raise money for Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, will bring Andy Roddick, Anna Kournikova and two of the sport’s legends —- Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova —- to Kennesaw State University’s Convocation Center.

Even at 61, John, a part-time Atlanta resident, is nearly as comfortable with a racket in his hand as he is crocodile rocking a piano. He will captain one team and his longtime friend King will captain the other for a day of singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Roddick, the No. 8 player in the ATP rankings, will take on local pro Donald Young in a singles match. Young is the 133rd-ranked player, but also the 2007 Wimbledon junior champion.

Roddick was at the Gwinnett Center last December for an exhibition against Robby Ginepri. But before that, the Williams sisters’ exhibition at Philips Arena in 2004 was the metro area’s most recent taste of pro tennis. The area ceased to be a stop on the major pro tennis circuit when it lost the Atlanta Tennis Challenge in 2002.

The Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association has more than 70,000 players, which, several local experts say, is the most of any metro area in the country. But long before the troubled economy forced one-day-a-week cutbacks at some City of Atlanta tennis facilities, pro events here had a hard time finding sponsors. Even the Stone Mountain Tennis Center, where Andre Agassi won Olympic gold in 1996, had to shut down last year because post-Olympic events didn’t generate enough crowds to make it viable.

That doesn’t mean there’s a lack of interest in the sport, metro area tennis fans say.

“I think the market wants it. I think people in Atlanta would love to have an [annual] event, but the city is just not set up for it,” said Tony Sapio, owner of Tennis Pros Atlanta and a coach of 12 championship ALTA teams. “Even when we hold a USTA [state] tournament, it’s held in Macon and Rome. It’s never held here in Atlanta. Why? Traffic. You cannot get around to the different venues.”

Aubrey Jackson is director of the weeklong Gwinnett Sports Commission Women’s 50K Classic tennis tournament, which also begins today at the Collins Hill Athletic Club in Lawrenceville. He said he has seen pro events come and fail, largely because they weren’t marketed and promoted properly.

“You’ve got to have the right timing and the right marketing, a combination of both,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he hopes he’ll be able to sweeten the pot each year, so that the tournament may one day draw marquee players and persuade the WTA to make it a tour stop.

“Each year, the goal is to get bigger —- $50,000 this year, $75,000 next year, $100,000 after that,” Jackson said. “And as the money goes up, you start getting higher-ranked players.”

And, maybe then, Atlanta just might return to the pro tennis map.

ADVANTA WTT SMASH HITS EXHIBITION

> When: Today, 1 p.m.

> Where: Kennesaw State University Convocation Center

> Featured participants: Andy Roddick, Anna Kournikova, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Elton John, Donald Young and Melanie Oudin

> Benefiting from proceeds: Elton John AIDS Foundation and Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund.

> Tickets: Reserved seats range from $70 to $110; general admission tickets are $39.50.