Many of Tennis Europe’s member nations were united last week in celebrating the second annual Special Olympics European Tennis Day, which aims to increase tennis-playing opportunities for players with intellectual disabilities. The day, which was endorsed and supported by Tennis Europe, saw Special Olympics (SO) initiate tennis activities in several new territories, and no doubt attracted many new players to the game.
Bulgaria
Special Olympics athletes and their families were joined by Bulgarian Davis Cup team members and some of the country’s best junior talents at the National Tennis Centre in Sofia at a special event to celebrate five years of SO activities in Bulgaria. Also on hand were federation staff, volunteers from SO Bulgaria, the National Sport Academy, Municipal Special Vocational Education Center, Maria’s World Foundation, Association of Families with Autistic Children and the Institute for Social Activities and Practices, several national television channels and other media.
Hungary
Following the successful visit of Martina Hingis in February, another Special Olympics event was held in Budapest, where local players got the chance to play alongside former professional players and other celebrities from the worlds of sports, music and TV.
Moldova
Supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Moldovan Tennis Federation organised a whole day of celebrations with the theme of ‘tennis for all’. Professional players, including Moldovan #1 Radu Albot and members of the national Davis and Fed Cup teams were joined by Special Olympics athletes and members of the national ‘Invasport’ wheelchair tennis team for an action-packed day that proved that are no limitations to enjoying tennis. The Special Olympics players were treated to master classes with the pros before going on to enjoy a wide variety of other activities.
Poland
A special exhibition took place on March 7th before the doubles tie of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas match against Lithuania. Special Olympics tennis players had the opportunity to meet with the Polish national team players, including Lukas Kubot and Marcin Matkowski, both of whom are official ambassadors for the Special Olympics. Five regional tournaments are scheduled to be held in Poland, which has more than 200 SO players, throughout the rest of the year.
Russia
A Special Olympics tournament was held in Moscow on March 7th, featuring some of the biggest names in Russian tennis including Grand Slam winners Anastasia Myskina and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Serbia
Novak Djokovic became the latest big star to express his support for the Special Olympics when he took out from his busy schedule to meet with SO athletes in Belgrade. The world #1 teamed up with Olympic Volleyball gold medallist Vladimir ‘Vanja’ Grbic and expressed his hopes to attend the World Summer Games in Los Angeles later this year, where over 110 Serbian delegates will be amongst the 7,000+ Special Olympics athletes and coaches expected to be taking part.
Ukraine
Special Olympics Ukraine used the European Tennis Day to launch their first ever tennis activity. Six SO athletes teamed up with junior players of the Ukraine Tennis Federation and sports school no.7 in Kiev for the event, where former Ukrainian champion Oleh Slovcov gave a master class for the athletes, some of whom were taking part in the sport for the first time.
Monaco
The organisers of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters have confirmed that a special exhibition doubles match featuring Marin Cilic, Goran Ivanisevic and Special Olympics athletes will be held on 11th April on the courts of the Monte Carlo Country Club, just ahead of the famous ATP event.
Tennis Europe President Jacques Dupré expressed his satisfaction with the number of nations taking up the opportunity to hold events, commenting; “It was an honour for us to support the Special Olympics European Tennis Day once again, and we were delighted to see such a high level of participation and commitment from our member nations. We are proud that tennis is an inclusive sport, and we will continue to work with Special Olympics to ensure a continued growth in playing opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities in Europe.”
You can see a Facebook gallery of photos from the Special Olympics European Tennis Day here.