Kourni- Clona, anyone?

Lindsay Davenport, we knew about. John McEnroe and Martina

Navratilova? That’s two more sellouts at Palisades Tennis Club.

But Russian teen phenom Maria Sharapova? There’s the golden nugget

promoters are seeking. There’s no high-price tag for Sharapova [not

yet, anyway], and after Wednesday’s World Team Tennis draft to fill

roster spots on the league’s 10 teams [two men and two women on each

team], it appears the league’s newest franchise, the Newport Beach

Breakers, struck gold.

While Davenport [a Palisades Club member] is the ideal marquee

player for the Breakers, paying for the rights to have McEnroe and

Navratilova visit Newport Beach in July is a huge boost for the

franchise. Selecting teen heartthrob Sharapova, however, could be the

steal of the draft. At least at the turnstiles.

“She’s got the Anna Kournikova-look,” Breakers General Manager

Lisa Fortman said, referring to the women’s tour’s first Russian

player to hit Madison Avenue, yet Sharapova comes with credentials of

maybe actually winning a tournament in her career.

“My goal is to win a Grand Slam and to be No. 1,” she has said, a

5-foot-10 blond who is interested in fashion, and, among other

things, sells her own line of wallpapers and screensavers on her Web

site.

“I think it’s going to be a big party,” Palisades Club owner Ken

Stuart said, referring to the Breakers’ lineup with Sharapova, who is

expected to draw a large male audience.

“I respect Anna (Kournikova). But I don’t pay attention to her or

model myself after anyone. I just do my own thing,” Sharapova told

reporters last year.

Further, for the Breakers to pay an undisclosed amount for the

rights to host McEnroe (of the New York Sportimes) and Navratilova

(of the Philadelphia Freedoms) is a huge bonus for local tennis fans

and an investment in the franchise from the league. Billie Jean King

is the league’s director and co-founder. “Billie’s no small time.

She’s going to take care of her own team,” Fortman said.

For local residents, getting a chance to see Sharapova and the

16-year-old’s development is the hottest thing to hit tennis in this

area in several years.