By Pam Creech
Contributing Writer
An Olympic gold medalist will headline the Landfall Foundation’s upcoming Legends of Tennis Tournament Sept. 19 and 20.
Lindsay Davenport, an American tennis star, will headline the celebrity tournament at the Country Club of Landfall. Davenport’s accomplishments include three Grand Slam Championships in singles, two Grand Slam Championships in doubles and an Olympic gold medal. She holds 55 Women’s Tennis Association tour titles in singles and 38 in doubles.
Davenport will be joined by Rennae Stubbs of Australia, who holds four Grand Slam doubles titles and more than 60 WTA doubles tour titles; and Mikael Pernfors of Sweden, who won NCAA singles championships in 1984 and 1985. Stubbs and Pernfors participated in the 2013 tournament, along with Americans Jimmy Arias and Charlie Owens. Arias has won five ATP singles titles and serves as a commentator for ESPN International and the Tennis Channel. Owens was ranked in top 100 five different times and was recently inducted in the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame.
The tournament will begin Friday, Sept. 19 at 5:30 p.m. with singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches that will continue until 8:30 p.m. A Meet the Players social will close the opening night.
One of Saturday’s opening events will be a kids clinic at 9:30 a.m.
“[It] is sponsored by the Currie-Gardner family that will allow some of the Landfall Foundation Grand Recipients to play tennis for an hour,” said Cindy Worden, event chair. A sponsor clinic will also begin at 9:30 a.m.
The Legends of Tennis final matches will take place from noon until 4 p.m. Saturday.
The tournament will close with a Grand Slam Party at the Country Club of Landfall at 6:30 p.m. and a silent auction at the Landfall Clubhouse.
Proceeds will fund the Landfall Foundation and the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawk Club.
The Landfall Foundation, comprised of Landfall residents, supports local nonprofit organizations that promote education, art, health and welfare throughout the Wilmington region. During the last 18 years, Landfall Foundation has donated more than $2.7 million through grants.
The Seahawk Club supports 19 varsity sports and provides scholarships for more than 325 UNCW student athletes. Proceeds from the Legends of Landfall tournament will provide men’s and women’s tennis scholarships.
“The Seahawk Club received $2,800 from [the 2013] fundraiser,” stated Bethany Thurston, the club’s development coordinator.
For more information, visit
www.landfalllegends.com
