Andy Murray
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Pending
wild, wacky weather back in the United Kingdom, the 10th annual Mark
Knowles Celebrity Tennis Invitational will host one of tennis’ biggest
stars in recent years.
World number four Andy Murray
is scheduled to play in Saturday’s 3 p.m. exhibition event at the
Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, but will have to defeat someone other
than Rafael Nadal to get to The Bahamas – he’ll be battling unfavorable
weather conditions which have caused travel delays throughout the United
Kingdom the past few days.
But Knowles and event organizers
are optimistic that everything will work out and are thrilled to have
someone of Murray’s caliber play in this year’s event, especially
as it’s a banner year for such a renowned charitable cause in The
Bahamas.
“We are extremely excited
to have someone of Andy Murray’s quality coming to our shores. This
is a very special year, as it is our 10th anniversary,” said Knowles.
“Andy is a player that I
respect greatly and he possesses one of the best tennis minds that I
have seen in the game for quite some time. He is a remarkable player
and a true champion and we cannot wait for the people of the Bahamas
to see him play in our beautiful country.”
Murray is coming off a year
where he achieved a career-high ranking of number two, becoming the
first player other than Nadal or Roger Federer to hold the number two
spot in nearly four years. He reached the Australian Open final and
Wimbledon semifinals and earned titles at two Masters Series events,
Toronto and Shanghai.
This past weekend, he went
toe-to-toe with Nadal in a semifinal match at the World Tour Finals
for over three hours, in perhaps the best match of the season, before
going down in a sudden-death tiebreak. He’s excited to be starting
his off-season by participating in Knowles’ event for the first time.
“I’m really looking forward
to playing in the exhibition out here and quite a few local charities
benefit, which is one of the main reasons I’m here,” stated Murray.
“The event should be good fun and I’m planning on hitting with a
few of the local juniors.”
Winners of the 2009 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles crown,
Mark Knowles and Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Getty Images)
The event will also host some
familiar faces, including Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who partnered Mark to
a win in mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2009. Groenefeld played in the
event last year and is looking forward to partaking again.
"I am so happy to be returning
to the Bahamas,” Groenefeld said. “It is a fun event and I enjoyed
my time in the Bahamas so much last year that I couldn't wait to come
back. It is so cold in Germany right now as well."
Like Groenefeld, Murray is
delighted to change climates this weekend. “It’s also fair to say
it’s a lot warmer than the UK at the moment.” said Murray. “It’s
worked out a pretty good time to escape to the sunny Bahamas!”
Aware that Knowles was one
of the first players on Tour to start a charity event, Murray understands
how much effort Knowles and his family have put into making this an
annual cause.
"I know he's put a huge
amount of work into it over the years, so I'm just pleased that I can
help out," said Murray.
Also featured in this year’s
lineup is Don Johnson, a former #1 doubles standout and Wimbledon champion
in both men’s and mixed doubles. World Tour Finals doubles qualifier
Oliver Marach is making his first appearance and will be a worthy opponent
in the pro-am competition.
Past Wimbledon semifinalist
Xavier Malisse, 2008 event participant Sabine Lisicki and a crop of
experienced American players, including Bobby Reynolds, Amer Delic,
Jesse Levine and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, are among the other professionals
playing in the event.
About the Mark Knowles Celebrity
Tennis Invitational:
The Mark Knowles Celebrity
Tennis Invitational is a charity event hosted by
tennis professional Mark Knowles. It was first
held in 2001 and is hosted annually in December at the National Tennis
Centre in Nassau (New Providence), Bahamas. The purpose of the event
is to raise money for various local charities. Previous event participants
include Andre Agassi, James Blake, Bob and Mike Bryan, Jennifer Capriati,
Jim Courier and Fred Stolle. Visit:
www.knowlzee.com
for more information.
To find out more
about our participating players, please visit their official websites
below:
Andy Murray:
www.andymurray.com
Amer Delic:
www.amerdelic.com
Anna-Lena Groenefeld:
www.annalenagroenefeld.com
Mark Knowles:
www.knowlzee.com
Sabine Lisicki:
www.sabinelisicki.com
Oliver Marach:
www.olivermarach.com
Bethanie-Mattek Sands:
www.bmattek.com
