SHE was a professional tennis player from 1988 to 1999 and captured 20 WTA Tour doubles titles and one ITF singles crown during her career.

And while Katrina Adams made the sport her life's work (she now commentates for the Tennis Channel among many other things) the American has some advice for Bermuda's aspiring young players. And that is: just because you may not become a world-travelling pro, don't let that get in the way of making the sport work for you.

Specifically, take advantage of the sport in order to get a scholarship to a North American university.

After all that is what she initially did before trying, and succeeding, on the pro circuit where she came up against the likes of Chris Evert at Wimbledon.

Adams, who reached a career-high world ranking of number eight in the doubles and 67 in singles, will arrive in Bermuda next week along with other stars to help raise money for Bermuda's young players.

She will be part of the Bermuda Tennis Development Foundation's third Elbow Beach Celebrity Tennis Classic running from Wednesday to Saturday.

The BTDF chairman, David Lambert said the event is a major fundraiser for Bermuda's top junior players, and this year's event will assist the juniors in participating in the ITF Summer Circuit, an important component in the development of future stars. Besides Adams other celebrities who will be coming include Chanda Rubin, James Avery, former Mayor of New York David Dinkins, Hana Mandlikova and Wendy Turnbull.

Adams was born and raised in Chicago and started playing tennis at the age of six in the public parks and the recreation programme sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Boys Club.

She then earned an athletic scholarship to Northwestern University, where she studied communications and became the 1986 ITCA Rookie of the Year and 1987 NCAA doubles champion en route to garnering two-time NCAA All-America honours. After two years in college she decided to go pro.

She said: "Tennis is such an opportunity. I run a non-profit programme in Harlem and our ultimate goal is to get the kids to a certain level to have an opportunity to go to college on a tennis scholarship. And you do not have to go to a Division One school. If you are an average player, there are always colleges looking for a tennis player. I think it is one of the best opportunities this sport offers. It is a sport for life ? not everyone is going to be a professional player and it is important for kids to understand that. Too many kids are dreaming about being a professional. At a certain stage they have to understand that they may not be a pro player but they can be the best they can be. Tennis can create a lot of opportunities for them."

Adams was one of the very few African American players on the tour when she started out. "It was a struggle," she said. "But I had determination and an inner will. I come from a middle class family ? both my parents are public school teachers. I played the sport because I wanted to. My parents didn't know much about the sport and I didn't until I started playing it. There was a summer programme offered by Boys Club we belonged to ? every summer they had a different activity and that summer was tennis. I was fortunate to have a coach there who thought I had potential and wanted to continue coaching me. Everything grew from there."

And she has seen tennis change over the years ? from a country club sport to one that is far more accessible.

"The image of tennis is diminishing somewhat in general areas. In the under privileged areas it is still perceived as a country club sport but it is more accessible in the public parks ? there are more free programmes for the kids. And it is more of an educational thing for the parents in that they can get their child into the sport without spending a fortune.

"There are so many more public facilities refurbished in the last few years and more programmes. The USTA has an after-school programme and are trying to take tennis into the schools ? they are trying to introduce it to as many people as possible ? people who would not otherwise have the opportunity."

Lambert said: "The BTDF is a registered charity and all we do is try and raise funds for juniors in Bermuda. We are here to support the juniors by raising money to assist them to get overseas exposure. We want to assist them in travelling overseas to compete and then hopefully get noticed by college coaches."

And Lambert said he believes that this third Celebrity Classic will raise more money than the first two. He said: "In 2001 we raised $10,000 and then in 2002 we raised $20,000 and this year we hope to raise more than those two put together."