The Cliff Richard Tennis Classic, held at the Birmingam NIA on the 14th of December 2002, marked a major milestone for the Cliff Richard Tennis Foundation.

Although it seems like only yesterday that Cliff and Sue Barker held the first 'Mixed Doubles' event at the Brighton Centre in 1983, this year saw Sir Cliff taking to the stage to announce our 20th pro-celebrity tennis tournament! The Cliff Richard Tennis Classic 2002 was 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 array of all-star talent.

Joining Tennis Foundation regular Mike Read as co-presenter for the evening was Claire Sweeney. The multi-talented Claire who won the nation's heart in Celebrity Big Brother, came on stage to anounce the teams for the evening

This year the emphasis was definitiely on the Tennis and we put together teams that

This year we were joined by Rudy Walker (Patrick from Eastenders) Apart from his regular stint in the TV soap, Rudy is also a star of the big screen recently appearing in the film Ali G In Da House. Some of you may even remember him starring as Bill Reynolds in the 1970s sit-com Love Thy Neighbour. Off-screen Rudy is a keen tennis player and was l

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, determined to find someone who could beat him, we recruited some top-class tennis talent. 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 and GMTV presenter 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. With such a formidable team arrayed victory seemed assured!

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.