LORI McNeil is looking forward to spearheading another tennis fundraiser in her name on the island, which she believes will be bigger and better than last year's inaugural event.

The celebrities who attended last September have signed up to return for the second Lori McNeil / Elbow Beach Celebrity Classic.

And there will be more stars too, including two former Wimbledon finalists, MaliVai Washington and Zina Garrison, and former basketball star John Lucas, now coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, all of whom have already expressed a desire to be part of the event.

McNeil, who now plays only doubles on the WTA Tour, still travels the world as coach of South African player Amanda Coetzer and using her connections she has also been working on bringing two of the biggest names in women's tennis - Serena Williams and Anna Kournikova - to Bermuda.

Both players had expressed an interest in coming, but the relentless demands on top professional players, especially contractural obligations, mean it is unlikely that either will be able to make it.

"I spoke with Serena and she said she was interested," said McNeil this week. "But now she has entered a tournament in Tokyo scheduled for the same week.

"I didn't actually speak to Anna, but Serena spoke to her about it. Serena said Anna would probably have to play in Tokyo too as she is sponsored by Yonnex and part of the deal is that she has to play in Japan a couple of times a year."

However, another tennis star who has become a well-known face in Bermuda is interested in attending. American James Blake, who played in the XL Capital Bermuda Open in each of the past three years, has expressed an interest.

Blake's career has taken off somewhat since his appearance at Coral Beach last year, since when he has earned a place in the US Davis Cup team and has shown good form in ATP tournaments.

"The Classic is five months away and that is a long time for an athlete with a busy schedule," said McNeil. "But everyone's already interested and looking forward to it."

Last year's event came just days after September 11, which caused four of the recruited celebrities to back out at the last minute.

The business repercussions of the terrorism attacks in the US dealt another blow to the Classic as some sponsors had to pay out less than they had originally promised. Nevertheless a five-figure sum was raised to go towards the development of Bermuda's up-and-coming tennis players.

McNeil said that this year she was looking forward to seeing the Classic reach its full potential, hopefully unhindered by any similar quirk of fate.

Co-organiser of the Classic, David Lambert, said: "We are very pleased that such busy, well-known people are lending their time to come to this event which will raise money for the development of our junior players."

He said tennis development was based on a pyramid structure, with the schools programme at the base, then grass roots programmes, local tournaments, the Caribbean Junior Championships and at the pinnacle, the Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams.

"Money is needed to keep this development healthy and thriving," said Lambert. "We need to keep our juniors active and it is also important to for us to get as many players as possible on scholarships. That is why the Classic goes hand in hand with the BLTA dvelopment programme."

Money raised will go into the newly formed charity Bermuda Tennis Development Foundation. More details about the

Coaching Coetzer and occasionally playing doubles with her has allowed McNeil, herself a fomer Wimbledon semi-finalist, to remain heavily involved with world-class women's tennis - and she's enjoying it.

"I enjoy coaching a lot and I sill enjoy the game of tennis," said McNeil. "I've been playing this game for 20 years and I'm still learning something new every day.

"When you are coaching someone, you are in a partnership. Amanda's got a very complete game and she's very professional and easy to work with. It's easier than say, having to work with a younger player, who maybe needs to implement something into their game or get more disciplined."

McNeil and Coetzer finished last year as the eighth best-ranked women's doubles partnership in the world, winning titles in Oklahoma and Bahia and reaching another final at Strasbourg.

And the pair started this year well by reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne in January, when Coetzer also reached the fourth round in singles before going down to Martina Hingis.

"Amanda's having a pretty good year, but she's had some really tough draws," said McNeil. "At the Australian, she played Hingis, and at Indian Wells, and in Miami she went out to Venus Williams."

Coetzer, who attended last year's Classic will be back here next year, as will Robin Givens, Laila Ali, Johnny McLean, Robin Givens and David Dinkins.