ITF To Honor All England Lawn Tennis Club

Written by: Staff on 4th June 2013

ITF To Honor All England Lawn Tennis Club |

Normally a player or administrator is honored with the ITF’s highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier Award at tonight’s World Champions Dinner held in the Bois de Boulogne’s Pavillon d’Armenonville but tonight the All England Lawn Tennis Club gets top billing.

Wimbledon chairman Philip Brook will collect the award that last year went to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and in previous years has been presented to Guy Forget, Gustavo Kuerten, Martina Navratilova, Neale Fraser, John McEnroe and Margaret Court. The only other non-individual to receive the award was long time ITF sponsor NEC in 2000.

The Philippe Chatrier Award is presented to someone…or something, who or that has given long and outstanding service to the game. Stefan Edberg was the first person to be honored in 1996. President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “As a sport, tennis is blessed to have an organization like the All England Lawn Tennis Club, always generous and never complacent, promoting our sport around the world while continuing to set very high standards for themselves and for those privileged to compete at Wimbledon.”

According to an ITF statement: “The All England Club is being honored in recognition of its contribution to tennis ever since it opened its gates for its first tennis championship in 1877. As organizer of the oldest of the four Grand Slam tournaments, it takes its role as a guardian of the game seriously, but has never been afraid to push boundaries to ensure that Wimbledon remains at the forefront of tennis in every aspect.”

The fact Wimbledon also staged last year’s Olympic tennis competition, and ensured the courts were superbly playable again just a month after the end of the annual Championships, clearly also played a major part in deciding where the 2013 Chatrier award would go.

The ITF’s statement continued: “Wimbledon’s backing of open tennis was a pivotal moment in the history of the sport. The Club’s decision to hold a special professional tournament on Centre Court in 1967 and follow it with an open Championships in 1968 triggered tennis’s move from amateur to professional status.

“Treading a well-judged line between tradition and innovation, the AELTC has embraced both technology and new construction. Its partnership with the BBC is the longest-running sports rights agreement in world sport, and has been finding inventive new ways to present tennis to a television audience since 1937.

“Extensive building work at Wimbledon’s Church Road site over the last 20 years has created new player facilities, three new show courts, and a revolutionary roof over Centre Court. Future upgrades are planned to the benefit of players, visitors and the worldwide television and internet audiences alike.

The AELTC also looks out to the wider world and understands its role in inspiring future generations to take up the sport. In 1985, Wimbledon made the first of what would become an annual donation to help the ITF’s efforts to develop tennis around the world. The other majors followed, the Grand Slam Development Fund was established in 1986, and more than $83 million has been raised since.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: All England Lawn Tennis Club, Gustavo Kuerten, Guy Forget, Itf, John Mcenroe, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Neale Fraser, Philippe Chatrier Award, World Champions Dinner