A lucky junior member of Doncaster Lawn Tennis Club performed the coin toss and post-match interview at the ladies semi-final of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham over the weekend. Lilia Monks, 11, won a British Tennis Team Membership competition to start the match between Czech players Lucie Safarova & Petra Kvitova.
Lilia accompanied the players onto the court via the players tunnel at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham before performing the coin toss which was won by former world number 2 and twice Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova. Lilia, who has not attended the tournament before, brought the Doncaster Lawn Tennis Club mascot ‘Bendy Man’ onto the Ann Jones court for the occasion.
Following the coin toss Lilia took her seat in the crowd to watch the action alongside her parents. She didn’t have time to get too comfortable, however, as Safarova was forced to retire after the first set due to injury. After a mad dash back down the players tunnel, Lilia had the opportunity to interview Kvitova on court. Having learnt of Kvitova’s favourite player growing up - Martina Navratilova – Lilia had her tennis ball signed by the player.
Of Lilia’s experience, her dad David said: ‘We thought Lilia would be exhausted after all of the excitement and sleep in the car on the way home but she was wide awake and chatting all the way back to Doncaster. When she went to her tennis lesson at Doncaster Lawn Tennis Club the next day she was like a star – everybody was asking her about the Classic!’.
Lilia started playing tennis when she was 6 years old and has 2 or 3 lessons a week as well as hitting regularly with her father and representing the clubs under 12’s team.
‘Kvitova is Lilia’s favourite female player so it was an incredible opportunity for her’ explained David.
Lilia won the once in a lifetime opportunity as a result of becoming a British Tennis Junior Team member. The prize draw is just one of the money can’t buy experiences BTM British Team members are in with the chance of winning, along with other amazing benefits, such as priority tickets to major events. Anyone that joins as a BTM Team Member this month will be entered into a prize draw to win a trip to New York for the US Open in August!
Petra Kvitova went on to win the Maud Watson trophy in Sunday’s Aegon Classic final against Australian, Ashleigh Barty. Kvitova accepted a wildcard into the WTA Premier event after a difficult year which saw her undergo surgery on her left hand after it was injured during a robbery at her home in the Czech Republic.
‘Overall I’m very happy. I didn’t expect this in my second tournament after my comeback. It’s kind of a fairytale’ Kvitova said of her win.
Kvitova will hope to continue her good run on grass as the Championships, Wimbledon begins on Monday 3rd June.
For more information about British Tennis Team membership and the work of British Tennis in the grass season visit www.lta.org.uk
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Suzzi Garnett – Regional Tennis Services Assistant – [email protected] – 0208 487 7040
• The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) mission is to get more people playing tennis more often, and its role is to develop, promote and govern tennis in Britain.
• The Aegon Classic is a WTA Premier event run by the LTA and held on the grass courts at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham ahead of Wimbledon.
• British Tennis Team membership, launched in May 2017 to bring fans closer to the game with exclusive competitions and benefits such a priority tickets.
• British Tennis Team membership is priced from £20 a year for adults and £10 a year for juniors
• All profits from the British Tennis Team membership are reinvested in grassroots tennis, with members able to vote where the profit is invested
• The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 will run from Monday 3rd July until Sunday 16th July 2017 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
• For more information on the LTA and the work of British Tennis visit www.lta.org.uk.