Paris—When Lauren Fishbein, a 12-year-old "Jersey girl," steps on Court 16 at Roland Garroson Thursday to play Niki Chia of Singapore, it's likely that her talent for tennis will bepresumed for landing her there. But it's really due to autism.

A family friend of hers works at a school for autistic children and asked Fishbein and her friends if they'd like to volunteer to help guide the kids through the school day. That meant participating in activities and lessons with them and helping them "get back in neutral" if they get excited.

Fishbein drew on that positive experience to craft a 300-word essay that won her a chance to compete at a tournament against other 12-and-under girls in the USTA Eastern area. She won, and that gave her a berth in a two-day international exhibition, Longines Future Tennis Aces Tournament. The event features eight boys and eight girls; Fishbein is the only American competing. And the prize for the girls' and boys' winner consists of financing for tennis gear through the player's 16th birthday and a mixed doubles match with French Open champions Gustavo Kuerten and Mary Pierce. That match will be played on Saturday, prior to the women's singles championship.

"I'm still a little bit shocked," Fishbein said Wednesday evening at Le Grand Hotel-Intercontinental, where the draw ceremony was held. "It's nerve-racking!" Fishbein, on her first trip to Paris, wore jeans and a printed purple T-shirt with writing that included the words, "Jersey girl," on it. "My mother bought it for me," she said with a blush.

Longines, the official timekeeper of Roland Garros, is hosting all players and their parents for the six-day affair. Plans include meeting Kuerten and Pierce, a gala dinner at Musee Rodin, tickets to the pro matches, a press conference, and more. Not unlike like an experience the top contenders for Roland Garros might receive.

And like the pros, Fishbein is here with her coach, Anatolie Teterin. He has worked with pro players, but that's not how they got connected—he's friends of her parents, who hailfrom Ukraine. As she puts it, "I wasn't even born and they had my coach picked out!"

But this isn't a Hingis or Williams tennis-destiny story—Fishbein came to tennis unexpectedly six years ago. She said a friend of hers had extra court time after a lesson so Fishbein's mother encouraged her to go on court and try tennis. It came naturally, she said, and she had a blast.

Fishbein's first language was Russian and she's a girl of many interests and, like the other kids at the draw party, is quick to laugh and enjoy the moment. She's obsessed with computers—and innocently brags that she can change her teacher's password by hacking the school's system.

Meeting Guga will be a thrill for Fishbein, who counts him as a favorite, but tennis isn't all she's thinking about on this first trip to Paris: "Shopping!"