Professional tennis players seem to do a lot more charity work compared to other sports. Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova played at a charity event recent, but they couldn’t believe it when Elton John hit an amazing lob with easy.
So cool, calm and collected!
There are so many players signing some great sponsorship deals lately and Agnieszka Radwanska has now joined the crowd. Radwanska who is now the world number 12 signed a sponsorship deal with Longines the Swiss watch manufacturer.
“It’s a privilege to be a Longines Ambassador of Elegance,” said Radwanska, who has joined legendary tennis couple, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, in the family of Longines partners.
Sponsorship deals like this really make me wonder who is running companies like Longines and deciding that providing tennis players with sponsorships is really going to help them sell more watches. I can see that providing one of the top 5 players in the world with sponsorships might be a good idea, but only if you can get this is some advertising campaigns in return, thus providing a top quality brand image. However, im sure Radwanska by herself wont help Longines to sell any more of their world famous watches!
After a great Wimbledon exhibition match Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are schedule to now compete in another exhibition match on Saturday the 6th of June at Roland Garros. The famous couple will be playing on Court 7 at 11am. If you are heading to Roland Garros make sure you dont miss this match!
The match is being sponsored by Longines, and is in honour of the tenth anniversary of the couple’s 1999 singles championship wins. That year would prove to be Agassi’s one and only Roland Garros success, while it was Graf’s sixth and final triumph.
Agassi and Graf will also play with ten young players from around the world, followed by a special gala and auction benefiting the Andre Agassi Foundation and Children for Tomorrow.
Yesterday afternoon I sat down to watch the Wimbledon Centre Court showcase in which they unveiled the new retractable roof.
The sliding, canvassed roof barely had time to shut Sunday for the All England Club’s grand opening — or closing — of the new structure before the rain starting pouring down over south London. In the same kind of weather that has forced so many rain delays in the past, the Centre Court then hosted a televised tennis spectacle in perfect conditions.
“It’s a real treat to be able to play in these conditions inside, when it’s been so miserable, cold, windy and wet outside,” said Tim Henman, who teamed with Kim Clijsters to play married couple Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in doubles and singles matches.
It now seems as though no fans will ever have to head home again if they hold a Centre Court ticket. The 15,000 spectators and invited guests had a great opportunity to feel first hand how the atmosphere will feel during the Wimbledon main event. 
“The conditions were really good,” Clijsters said. “And I love the sound. Wimbledon already had that, where you feel like when [the crowd is] really into the match, the sound really comes down to the players. And now even more so with the roof. For the players, it just feels like they’re right there next to you.”
Agassi also said the closed surrounding will take the atmosphere to a new level.
“The sound was magnificent,” he said. “I think when you get two people out there who can really play, and move and hit the ball, I think you’re going to feel a level of titanic battle that you haven’t seen yet. … That’s an environment that lends itself to some spectacular tennis.”
The roof is perhaps the biggest change to come to the 87-year-old tennis cathedral, and marks a remarkable break with tradition by the famously conventional All England Club.
The roof takes about 10 minutes to close, and the Centre Court’s ventilation system then needs about 30 minutes to get moisture out of the air and create the right conditions. During short rain showers, organizers still plan on using the traditional covers on the court to create shorter breaks. Once the roof is up, it will not open up until a match is over.
After finally getting the roof completed, Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Club, said he wouldn’t be surprised to see perfect weather at this year’s tournament. But that’s just fine with him.
