In Area Tennis, Advantage Diversity

The Thai organization was created in 2002 over dinner among four longtime tennis players. Although they were giddy about Srichaphan's success, they lamented that other players from Thailand and other Asian countries -- including Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, now ranked 125th in the world -- had no sponsors and little money to travel to tournaments, recalled George Duangmanee, one of the group's founders.

"We just decided this is not right. We should be able to do something in a more organized way," said Duangmanee, who played for Thailand's national junior tennis team and the University of South Alabama. They solicited $10 donations to buy a plane ticket for Udomchoke, and the TTOA was born.

Soon, the organization decided to host a women's tournament. Needing a sponsor, they approached the maker of one of Thailand's most recognized products: Singha beer. The company accepted, with one condition, Duangmanee recalled: that the TTOA also host an event to showcase the beer and Thai culture.

"Suddenly now we become Asian festival organizers, which we had no idea how to do a couple of years ago," Duangmanee said. The first tournament and festival were in Ashburn in 2004. About 15,000 people attended this year's event, held last month in Reston.

In 2005, the TTOA persuaded Legg Mason organizers to add the women's tournament to its competition, which previously featured only men. It became the Legg Mason Women's Pro Circuit tournament. Now the group offers tennis clinics and youth scholarships and has spawned chapters in Los Angeles, Miami and New York.

"We have so much passion about it," said T. Sangkhavasi, 28, of Arlington.

It helps that they have a hero. Srichaphan, ranked 43rd in the world, is the top male Asian player and a superstar in his homeland.

"He's like Michael Jordan plus Tiger Woods plus all the big names combined," said Sangkhavasi, a TTOA founder.

Last week, about 30 people in red T-shirts watched Srichaphan play Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark. The group included Thai Embassy officials, Thai tennis enthusiasts and several non-Thais.

Most attended through a TTOA package deal that included discounted tickets and a free T-shirt but demanded certain behavior. According to the e-mail invitation, participants were to wear the T-shirt and "cheer loudly." Srichaphan's aces should be followed by three "very loud" cheers of "Para-dorn, boom boom."

"We try not to be obnoxious," said McLean resident Yoonhee Mun, smiling slyly and waving a yellow Singha fan. A native of Korea, she has played with Korean and Japanese groups but said the Thais -- and Srichaphan -- have her hooked.

A few days earlier, Chris Tran roamed nearby courts during a children's clinic he organized at the tournament.

"Rotate!" shouted Tran, founder of the Vietnamese-American Junior Tennis Association.

Tran, 44, organized the group in 1999 after seeing that his daughter, Christina, was usually the lone Vietnamese player at junior tournaments. He approached Vietnamese parents at the Annandale Sport and Health Club, where he taught tennis, and pitched the idea.

Now about 125 members practice at two sites; the group expanded to Regency Sport and Health Club in McLean last year. To keep it accessible, Tran charges most players about $10 an hour. Now, he said, Vietnamese youth players are common at junior tournaments.

The pro circuit is a different story. "It takes a lot of money and time to make you turn into a pro," Tran said. Many immigrant parents, he said, stress academics over sports, even if their children are excellent athletes.

Among the racket-toting youths at the clinic were Fairfax sisters Naomi Dan, 16, and Lauren Dan, 13, who joined the group when they were "about this high," Tran said, his hand at waist level.

"We were looking for a coach [and group] where we would have friends who were the same and we would get along with them," said Naomi, a member of W.T. Woodson High School's tennis team.

But do tennis groups centered on national identity encourage segregation?

Organizers and USTA officials say they do not think so. Hai Tran, who coaches tennis at Corpus Christi School in Falls Church, said tapping into existing community networks, often based on ethnic identity, is just a first step. "I first played with the Vietnamese Tennis Association," he said, referring to an adult group that is no longer active. "But then I branched out. I played on the mixed leagues . . . I coach a very mixed team."

Chris Tran said players are still a bit too separated. But he sees progress in his group. Today, only about half are of Vietnamese descent, down from about 90 percent at the beginning. On Friday, he hosted a "diversity day" at the tournament, offering free tickets to low-income children of all ethnicities.

He said he is considering changing his group's name to the Virginia Junior Tennis Association, though no one has asked him to.

"People don't really mind that it's called the Vietnamese Tennis Association. It's just tennis," Naomi said. And when it is not just tennis -- when it is time for, say, chowing down at a holiday party -- blending works just fine, the Dan sisters said.

"It's usually all Vietnamese food," Lauren said. "And pizza."