British No. 2, Heather Watson and tennis legend Tim Henman were in Birmingham today to announce an exciting one-off tennis match that will take place to mark the opening of the new Centre Court at the UK’s most prestigious all-female tennis tournament, the Aegon Classic on Sunday 9 June.
Hanging out the kit in anticipation, Heather and Tim revealed that they will play a unique doubles match against Greg Rusedski and his mystery partner to celebrate the opening of the new Centre Court at the Edgbaston Priory Club where the tournament is held in June.
The exhibition match will be the first to be played on the brand new sunken centre court at Edgbaston Priory Club before the Aegon Classic gets into full swing.
Heather, who has also been confirmed to compete in the tournament this year, said: “It’s fantastic to be competing on home turf at this year’s Aegon Classic but now I’m also really excited to play with Tim – it’ll be good fun and a great chance for me to get a feel of the new court. I am yet to find out who Greg’s doubles partner will be but I’m ready for the challenge.”
On playing at the event, Tim Henman said: “I’ve heard great things about the new centre court, so I’m really honoured to be playing at the Grand Opening. Though Greg, Heather and I will be amongst the first to play on the new court, it’s the matches that will follow that I’m most excited about. The Aegon Classic attracts some of the world’s top female tennis players, including Heather of course, and I can’t wait to see who will be battling it out on centre court for this year’s title.”
The new centre court is part of a £5 million investment by the LTA into the Edgbaston Priory Club to provide a world class tournament venue for the players. The new facilities also include a six court indoor tennis centre and four new outside grass courts.
Lawrence Robertson, Commercial Director at the LTA said; “We're delighted to be able to mark the opening of the new Centre Court at The Edgbaston Priory Club by welcoming three of Britain's great champions. Both Tim and Greg have served British Tennis so well over the years and we're delighted that our newest champion, Heather, is joining them to mark this historic moment in the Tournament's long history. It should prove to be a great day."
Offering a chance to see first rate tennis, the Aegon Classic is one the of the UK’s major warm-up tournaments ahead of The Championships, Wimbledon. The prestigious tournament is returning to Birmingham’s Edgbaston Priory Club from the 9th to the 16th June.
2013 is the first year that the Aegon Classic will be partnering with local children’s cancer charity, Help Harry Help Others (HHHO). After the announcement, Tim and Heather joined Adam Rickitt, CEO at HHHO, and Tilly Sweet, a young girl helped by the charity, for a game of mixed doubles in Brindley Place.
Tickets for the centre court grand opening are now on sale priced from £5 for children aged 16 and under and £15 for adults at www.aegonclassic.co.uk/tickets, along with tickets to the rest of the tournament including Ladies Day on Thursday 13th June.