Five hundred children grasping the basics of tennis

Women’s tennis stars Sabine Lisicki of Germany and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic joined 500 children for a fun-filled morning of tennis at the annual Kids Day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships yesterday. It was hosted and run by the Clark Francis Tennis Academy. Children from nine schools around the UAE and the tournament’s 180 ball kids took part in the tennis drills and activities alongside the WTA tour players on centre court at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. “It’s great to see so many kids smiling, and they are having so much fun,” said Lisicki. “I really love it.” For many years the championships have been committed to grass-roots tennis and have an ongoing programme of competitions and clinics for schools and tennis academies which provide children with an introduction to the game while also providing the opportunity to meet with and learn from the competing tennis stars.