| |
|
|
|
The Tennis Classic 2002, held at the Birmingham NIA on the 14th of December, marked an important milestone for the Cliff Richard Tennis Foundation
|
Although it seems like only yesterday that Cliff and Sue Barker organised the first 'Mixed Doubles' event at the Brighton Centre in 1983, this year Cliff took to the stage to annouce our 20th pro-celebrity tennis event! Quite an acheivement and an important anniversay, so the Tennis Classic 2002 was certain to be a very special occassion.
|
|
|
Over the years the event has become hugely popular and an essential diary date for thousands of loyal fans. So to celebrate our 20th night of exciting tennis action, comedy, music and entertainment, we arranged an all-star cast of celebrities and top tennis players
 |
Joining Tennis Foundation regular Mike Read as co-presenter for the evening was Claire Sweeney. The multi-talented Claire is an accomplished actress and singer and doubled as both presenter and performer, delighting the crowd with some stunning vocal performances. |
 |
Central to our evening of course, is the tennis action and this year we lined up teams consiting some of the Britians finest tennis players.
|
| Captain of the challeging team was TV, stage and screen star Rudy Walker (Patrick from Eastenders) Off-screen Rudy is a keen tennis player and was looking forward to putting his skills to the test against Captan Cliff. |
|
 |
Joining Rudy's team were three former Britsh Number 1 players: The Tennis world's golden boy in the 70s and 80s John Lloyd; player turned commentator Andrew Castle; and tennis legend Virginia Wade. Virginia was ranked the number 1 player in Great Britain for 10 consecutive years was the last British tennis player to win at Wimbledon in 1977.
|
As many of you will know, Captain Cliff has had the monopoly on the winning trophy at our Tennis Event for a few years now. This year, with such a formidable team arrayed, we felt sure that he would might have to concede his champions crown! In the face of such stiff opppostion however, Sir Cliff had some big hitters of his own.
Annabel Croft was the youngest Briton to play at Wimbledon for nearly 100 years and was Britain's Number One women's player by the age of 21.
|
Also joining Cliff's team were Peter Flemming and Roger Taylor. Peter had a hugely successful career in tennis, with singles wins over Borg, McEnroe and Nastase. While Roger is another former British Number One and is now the current Davis Cup Captain. |
The Tennis action was first and furious, spread over a series of quick-fire rounds. After overcomming some initial difficulties with his serve,Rudy Rudy led his team in a valliant challenge, and for a while it looked at as if they might just do it.
The tennis action was interspersed with the usual mix of favourites that have become an integral part of the show, including the raffle and lucky brochure prize draw. This year there was even a special prize for one lucky winner - the opportunity to come down on court and double with Cliff in his last match of the evening.
|
In Association with
Intelligent Finance
'All that Jazz'
Claire Sweeney
shows off her
singing talents
Co-presenter
Mike Read
Tennis Legend
Virginia Wade
|
