Cayman welcomes tennis legends

Cayman’s tennis courts will be graced by some of the biggest names in the game come November as the KPMG Legends Tennis Tournament returns to The Courts at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.

Over the years the event has become a much anticipated fixture on the Cayman sporting and social calendar, bringing names like John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander to the Island. This year’s event will boast a no less stellar cast, but with a slight difference. The headlining players for the event will be Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati, two of the top female players of recent years. They will take part in a mixed doubles event that will also feature a number of other top names including Mark Philippoussis, who will partner with Hingis, Stephen Huss who will partner with Capriati and Chanda Rubin who will play with doubles legend Murphy Jensen.

A new feature of the event will be the participation of local teaching pros and top amateur players who will have the opportunity to take on the legends in the mixed doubles event.

The event will also feature a four player men’s singles event, which will feature Wayne Ferreira, Jimmy Arias, Thomas Blake and local wildcard Panav Jha.

Dinner with Tony Blair

Apart from the top class talent that will be on display on the tennis courts, the event will also feature an opening gala dinner at Blue by Eric Ripert, featuring keynote speaker Tony Blair. This will be the first visit to Cayman for Mr. Blair, who served as prime minister from 1997 to 2007.

According to Mike Ryan of The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, the presence of Mr. Blair underpins the crossover between sports tourism and the finance sector, with a great world leader and speaker coming to Cayman as part of the event.

The gala dinner will take place on 16 November, with very limited tickets available as part of the Pro-Am package, which provides unique access to VIP viewing of the matches as well as interaction opportunities with the players and Mr. Blair.

Junior participation

This year’s event has a distinct development focus as it looks to build the popularity of the game among local junior players. The event will provide ample opportunities for junior players to get involved as well, with the opening game on each evening of play featuring top local juniors. There will also be free junior viewing matches on Thursday, 17 November, and Friday, 18 November, with over 2,000 tickets available for schools. The matches will start at 1pm and will be followed by school coaching workshops aimed to inspire young players to take their game to the next level.

Ticket sales

According to the organiser, the tickets for the event are almost sold out, but there are still limited tickets available for those eager to attend one of the premier sporting events on the Cayman Islands sporting calendar.

Tickets for the quarter final matches on Thursday evening start at $5, with tickets to the semi finals and finals starting at $25.

Main sponsors are KPMG, The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, the Tennis Federation of the Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, with gold sponsors Cayman Financial Review, Taittinger Champagne, Maples, The Security Centre, Balaclava Jewellers, Cayman Airways and Butterfield.