Nassau, Bahamas - Bahamian tennis star
Mark Knowles is pleased to announce
the annual
Mark Knowles Celebrity Tennis Invitational will be held on
1-4 December 2011 at the Atlantis Resort & Casino by Presenting
Sponsor, MDC-Partners, and organized by the Mark Knowles Management
Group (MKMG).
This year’s featured players
are
Andy Roddick,
Xavier Malisse, and
Sabine Lisicki.
The
Exhibition is open to the public and will be held at the Atlantis Tennis Center on Paradise Island at
3pm on Saturday, December 3rd.
The organizers plan to hold a Pro/Am
doubles tournament for Platinum sponsors, a Pro Exhibition and an opportunity
for top Bahamian junior tennis players to interact with the visiting
professionals.
The Mark Knowles Celebrity Invitational
was established in 2001, its mission to raise funds supporting a range
of local children’s charities on the islands. Past beneficiaries have
included The Sassoon Pediatric Heart Foundation, The Cancer Society,
The Association of the Physically Disabled, The Children’s Emergency
Hospital, The Boy Scouts of Bahamas, The Special Olympics and scholarships
for promising junior tennis players.
Through the generous support of sponsors,
fellow tennis players and of course, the fans, proceeds have saved lives
and provided important opportunities for a number of individuals.
2010 marked the tenth anniversary of the event and pushed total contributions
to over $650,000. Proceeds enabled Knowles to endow a local hospital
with its first children’s heart defibrillator – in the past, child
cardiac arrest patients had to rely on the usage of an adult defibrillator.
Previous projects have included emergency heart surgery for a baby girl,
12 days in age; the remodeling of cancer recovery rooms; and funding
for a Special Olympics tennis player, who recently won a medal at the
World Games.
Andy Roddick
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A testament to Knowles’ popularity
with his peers on tour is seen through the quality of player participants
who’ve taken part throughout the past decade. Andy Murray overcame
heavy snowstorms last year to attend, giving the banner-year event a
current ATP star – and his efforts were very much appreciated by all
involved. Prior guests have included Andre Agassi, Bob and Mike Bryan,
Jennifer Capriati, Jim Courier and Fred Stolle.
Knowles’ dedication to philanthropy,
his generosity and effort is also discerned by the appreciation of aid
recipients – donations to The Bahamas Cancer Caring Centre have been
so considerable that the facility honored his work by creating, “The
Mark Knowles Room.”
This event has had a great run in its
first ten years, and promises to be a fixture for many more during the
player-charity-season of the tennis calendar. While his professional
tennis career will eventually close, Mark’s unconditional support
for children in need and passion to promote his sport in his native
Bahamas will never cease.
MDC-Partners return as the Presenting
Sponsor for the second consecutive year with their slogan “Where Great
Talent Lives” being most appropriate.
They join the prestigious list of sponsors,
many of whom have been supporting the event since its inception, including
Atlantis Resort & Casino; The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism; Pictet
Bank & Trust; Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Private Bank & Trust;
American Airlines; Odyssey Aviation; Everkey Global Fund; Templeton
Global Advisors; H3O; Everkey Global Fund; H.G.Christie; The;
The Ministry of Youth Sports & Culture. Serenity Point, Abaco; The
Balmoral; The Bank of the Bahamas
There are a few sponsorship opportunities
still available and interested parties should contact Vicky Andrews
at
vickyk@batelnet.bs or cell: 242-357-9670.
Sabine Lisicki
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Xavier Malisse Photo: MarkDaCunha.com
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