ITF’s World Tennis Day Deemed A Success

Written by: Staff on 6th March 2013

ITF’s World Tennis Day Deemed A Success

epa03609848 Serena Williams of the US hits a return shot to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden New York, New York, USA, 04 March 2013. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

The first World Tennis Day on Monday, a joint venture between the International Tennis Federation and Jerry Solomon’s StarGames, with the intention of promoting tennis participation around the world, was greeted as a huge success.

Events took place around the globe as part of the ITF’s Centenary celebrations with the two headline events taking place at New York’s Madison Square Garden and at the AsiaWorld-Arena in Hong Kong with the BNP Paribas Showdown exhibitions featuring such luminaries as Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki.

Azarenka was able to call on her constant companion of late, Redfoo of pop group LMFAO, to join the New York action before Nadal teamed with actor Ben Stiller and Del Potro joined forces with a schoolgirl from the stands.

However, the day was not all about celebrity. In Great Britain, the 15,000th school to participate in the British Aegon Schools program, the Britannia Village Primary School in Newham, East London, was visited by some of the leading players from the Lawn Tennis Association’s National Training Centre in Roehampton .

Earlier in the day the Australian Government and Tennis Australia announced they have jointly funded a pilot program that aims to promote community tennis clubs on Australia Day.

Elsewhere in the southern hemisphere students at South Africa’s Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University took to the shore to take part in Beach Tennis. There were also events in Malaysia, Burundi and Turkey, where wheelchair tennis players took part in a tree planting ceremony at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup European Qualification event in Antalya.

Topics: Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, Itf, Ivan Lendl, Jerry Solomon, John Mcenroe, Juan Martin Del Potro, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Sports, Stargames, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, World Tennis Day