UK Ball Kids Enjoy Trip of a Lifetime at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Dubai, UAE, February 21st, 2007: Two lucky ball kids from the UK won the trip of a life time to be part of the Dubai Tennis Championships as part of an initiative sponsored by Dubai Duty Free.

Alex Leslie, aged 14 and Anya Lofinmakin-Dutta, aged 12, both from London, UK, are spending their first trip to Dubai as champions of the Will to Win Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix, a tournament which involved over 300 young tennis players competing at five tennis centres around London in June 2006 for the opportunity to come to Dubai.

“The tournament was very difficult,” said Alex, winner of the boys’ tournament. “We’ve really enjoyed being in Dubai and training with the ball kids here. I hope to be a professional tennis player one day.”

Anya, winner of the girls’ tournament, said, “The whole trip has been fantastic, I was really looking forward to coming and just being here at the championships. My favourite player here is [Justine] Henin.”

Will to Win has been developing public tennis in London since it was started ten years ago by founder Steve Riley, who has been working on the project in Dubai with Clark Francis and the UAE Tennis Federation since last year, providing kids with opportunity to learn about international tennis and being a ball kid at a top event. The programme also aims to develop confidence and tennis skills over a five-day programme whilst learning about the country and its culture.

Steve Riley said: “Next year we hope to increase the tournament to 20 venues with over 1,000 children under the age of 12, to get the best players from the community. It’s all about creating tennis opportunities for players from every background, not just the privileged kids.”

For further information: John Rynehart, Promoseven Sports Marketing,
(T) +9714 3210008; (M) +971 50 55 96795; john.rynehart@promoseven.com