Linda’s Legacy tennis tournament will include area pros in action, a kids clinic, and national champ Tracy Austin [The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville]

Aug. 27--After the MPS Group Championships left Ponte Vedra Beach this year, a popular tournament for a cause hopes to tap into the tennis void left at the Beaches.

Linda's Legacy, A Tournament of Love is returning to Ponte Vedra Beach next month to raise money for lung cancer research. The event will have a new Northeast Florida Professional Tennis Association exhibition and a new location at Marsh Landing Country Club.

The four-day tourney, slated for Sept. 16-19, will also bring back two-time U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin as honorary chairwoman, and will include a U.S. Tennis Association Quick Start clinic for children ages 5 to 10 years old.

About 200 women are expected to play in the tournament, which will also for the first time feature an open bracket for highly ranked participants and an evening of play for working women.

"There's a lot going on," said event founder Michelle Paul of Ponte Vedra Beach. "This should be our best year yet."

Paul created the event in September 2007 in honor of her sister, Linda Paul-Skeeles of Atlantic Beach, who died of lung cancer in December 2005, four months after learning she had the disease. The sisters both had passions for tennis and Paul wanted to find a way to raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis. About 219,000 people had the disease diagnosed and about 160,000 died last year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Paul decided to find a way to help find a cure, and in 2007, joined the American Lung Association to hold the tournament at the ATP Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach.

By 2008, Paul had created the nonprofit Linda's Legacy Foundation and dedicated all funds raised to local organizations involved in lung cancer research and awareness. It wasn't a good year to start a nonprofit organization, however, because of the economic downturn. To make matters worse, "I'm a stockbroker, and the week of our tournament is when the financial markets collapsed," Paul said.

Last year, personal challenges led to the event being cancelled. Paul's father died and the event's executive director's sister also died, of colon cancer.

So this year, Paul decided to come back strong. An NFPTA Pro Challenge featuring competition between pros from Jacksonville-area clubs, had been held at the Amelia Island Bausch and Lomb professional championship. When that tournament moved to the MPS Group Championships, the pro challenge moved with it.

After the MPS tournament moved -- the second and final one was in Ponte Vedra in April -- the NFPTA event became part of Linda's Legacy. This year, it will be a "fun" doubles exhibition, said Matt Hancock, NFPTA president and director of tennis at Queen's Harbour.

The event will include Louis Ballantyne, director of tennis at the Florida Yacht Club; Darren Harper, director of tennis at Timuquana Country Club; Barry Curley, director of tennis at Marsh Landing Country Club; and Hancock. Austin will be chair umpire. The exhibition is scheduled for 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18.

During the pro tournaments, the pro challenge was a side tournament with the local pros "and it was very popular," Hancock said.

That's because local pros have many students; tennis is popular in Northeast Florida.

Amanda Becker, tennis coordinator for the USTA First Coast Region, said about 8,000 people in the region play in USTA leagues and about 500 kids ages 18 and under play on USTA leagues.

Tennis is the fastest-growing traditional sport in the country, up 43 percent last year, Becker said.

"When the economy crashed, people found it a relatively cheap sport to play," she said. It's an individual as opposed to a team sport and people can play it through their lives.

The USTA has identified Jacksonville as a hot spot for the Quick Start program, which introduces the sport to children, Becker said.

At Linda's Legacy, Quick Start will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 18 and will be led by Austin. The $40 per player cost includes a gift bag, boxed lunches, a picture with Austin and an autographed tennis ball. Sign-up information for the clinic and the tournament is available online at lindaslegacyfoundation.org.

The event will also feature a player party at the Marsh Landing clubhouse and a player luncheon. For the first time, the event has a title sponsor, Five Star Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine of Ponte Vedra Beach.

Larry Feldman, a physical therapist and one of the owners, said the company has committed to the tournament for three years because they believe in the cause, and because all the funds raised will go to local efforts to fight lung cancer.

"Proceeds will always stay here in Northeast Florida," Paul said. "This year, they'll be earmarked for the Baptist Medical Center Cancer Institute. ..."

Maggie FitzRoy can also be reached at (904) 249-4947, ext. 6320.

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