Tsitsipas, Bouchard, Azarenka and Tiafoe headline Tennis With The Stars
The fifth edition of the Tennis with the Stars presented by the BNP Paribas Open will take place on Tuesday, March 5, at The Rancho Las Palmas Country Club at Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa. This charity event supports the local non-profit Desert Arc and national non-profit ACEing Autism, and some high-quality players were there in the last three years to support the organization and help in raising the money. Garbine Muguruza, Richard Gasquet, Eugenie Bouchard, Kei Nishikori, Sloane Stephens, Taylor Fritz, Steve Johnson, Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko have all participated since 2016 and the organizers have secured four big names for 2019 edition as well.
Back in October, the organizers had announced Frances Taifoe as the first confirmed star that will play at the event, making his third straight appearance at the Rancho Las Palmas Country Club. Frances is currently ranked 34th and he made the best possible start of the season in Melbourne, toppling Kevin Anderson and Grigor Dimitrov en route to the first Grand Slam quarter-final where he lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. Just like Frances, a former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard makes her third participation at the Tennis With The Stars, finding the form and results again in the late 2018 and competing with passion and desire in the opening few tournaments of the new season before big challenges at Indian Wells and Miami.
A former world no. 1 and the two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka joins the field too after a solid run in Acapulco that ended in the quarter-final following a tight clash with Sofia Kenin. The Tennis with the Stars Exhibition on Stadium Court will take place between 5:30 and 6:30 pm and the biggest name in terms of the ranking is undoubtedly Stefanos Tsitsipas, the raising Greek who has a chance to crack the top-10 for the first time this week in Dubai. The 20-year-old was the Australian Open semi-finalist and also the winner of the ATP 250 event in Marseille, winning 14 matches so far in 2019 and carving his way towards the very top of the standings. The action will kick off at 1:30 pm with Tennis Clinic taught by Cliff Drysdale Tennis Pros and the crowd has a chance to watch four amazing players for the entry-level price of $40.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2NCalkc
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