The following excerpt is from http://www.tennisnews.gr:
Less than twenty-four hours remain for the start of the professional tennis tournament of the ITF series of 125.000 dollars, under the name "VOGUE Athens Open 2008", which will be held from 6 to 14/9 at the premises of the Athens Tennis Club. The matches of the qualifying phase will be held on the weekend, while on Monday (8/9) the matches of the main board will begin. The singles and doubles finals are scheduled for Sunday, September 14th.
For the first time after the Athens Olympic tennis tournament in 2004, Lena Daniilidou (No. 83 in the world rankings) will compete in Greece, while the following athletes from the Greek side will take part in the tournament, who will compete with a "Wild Card". (free participation card) on the main board: Anna Gerasimou (No. 230), Stamatia Fafaliou (No. 585), Irini Georgatou (No. 622) and Despina Papamichael (No. 1022).
Aphrodite Latinopoulou, Simona Syleouni, Eva Roussi, Asimina Kaplani will compete in the qualifiers.
Today in the Athens Tennis Club, the publisher of the magazine "VOGUE", Antonis Lymperis, the president of the Hellenic Tennis Federation, Spyros Zannias, the president of O.A. Athens, Pavlos Apostolidis, and the general manager of the tournament, Alexis Zitridis, gave a press conference with a joint request for the arrival of the people at the "VOGUE Athens Open 2008" and the development of the sport and its promotion in Greece by the Greek media.
The publisher of "VOGUE" magazine, Antonis Lymperis, was the first to speak, emphasizing, among other things: "Women now take turns. This is a big and strong tournament and I am happy for the participation of great athletes, who are in the top 100 of the world rankings, such as the French Severin Bremon, who has made it to the US Open, and the Romanian Sorana Kirstea, who will also be the No. 1 of the tournament. We hope that the people will come and see up close the strong names of tennis ", said among others Mr. Lymperis, who asked the representatives of the press for a greater promotion of the sport.
For his part, the president of the Hellenic Tennis Federation, Spyros Zannias, said, among other things: "It is a good opportunity for Greek tennis to emerge. It is a culture when there are organizers of this quality. Tennis is one of the first sports that embraced women and, where there is a woman, there is a culture. These championships create ethos and culture. We are waiting for the people to respond ".
Then, the president of O.A. took the floor. Athens, Pavlos Apostolidis, who stated among other things: "I am happy that for the second time the club will open its doors to the world that loves tennis. The level is now better than that of the Status Athens Open. The venues will be better and the stadiums are ready. "I hope one day we can make tennis attract thousands of spectators."
Finally, the general manager of the tournament, Alexis Zitridis, said, among other things: "Our effort continues. We hope people come and see high quality tennis. "We are ready and we promise a strong tournament."
Less than twenty-four hours remain for the start of the professional tennis tournament of the ITF series of 125.000 dollars, under the name "VOGUE Athens Open 2008", which will be held from 6 to 14/9 at the premises of the Athens Tennis Club. The matches of the qualifying phase will be held on the weekend, while on Monday (8/9) the matches of the main board will begin. The singles and doubles finals are scheduled for Sunday, September 14th.
For the first time after the Athens Olympic tennis tournament in 2004, Lena Daniilidou (No. 83 in the world rankings) will compete in Greece, while the following athletes from the Greek side will take part in the tournament, who will compete with a "Wild Card". (free participation card) on the main board: Anna Gerasimou (No. 230), Stamatia Fafaliou (No. 585), Irini Georgatou (No. 622) and Despina Papamichael (No. 1022).
Aphrodite Latinopoulou, Simona Syleouni, Eva Roussi, Asimina Kaplani will compete in the qualifiers.
Today in the Athens Tennis Club, the publisher of the magazine "VOGUE", Antonis Lymperis, the president of the Hellenic Tennis Federation, Spyros Zannias, the president of O.A. Athens, Pavlos Apostolidis, and the general manager of the tournament, Alexis Zitridis, gave a press conference with a joint request for the arrival of the people at the "VOGUE Athens Open 2008" and the development of the sport and its promotion in Greece by the Greek media.
The publisher of "VOGUE" magazine, Antonis Lymperis, was the first to speak, emphasizing, among other things: "Women now take turns. This is a big and strong tournament and I am happy for the participation of great athletes, who are in the top 100 of the world rankings, such as the French Severin Bremon, who has made it to the US Open, and the Romanian Sorana Kirstea, who will also be the No. 1 of the tournament. We hope that the people will come and see up close the strong names of tennis ", said among others Mr. Lymperis, who asked the representatives of the press for a greater promotion of the sport.
For his part, the president of the Hellenic Tennis Federation, Spyros Zannias, said, among other things: "It is a good opportunity for Greek tennis to emerge. It is a culture when there are organizers of this quality. Tennis is one of the first sports that embraced women and, where there is a woman, there is a culture. These championships create ethos and culture. We are waiting for the people to respond ".
Then, the president of O.A. took the floor. Athens, Pavlos Apostolidis, who stated among other things: "I am happy that for the second time the club will open its doors to the world that loves tennis. The level is now better than that of the Status Athens Open. The venues will be better and the stadiums are ready. "I hope one day we can make tennis attract thousands of spectators."
Finally, the general manager of the tournament, Alexis Zitridis, said, among other things: "Our effort continues. We hope people come and see high quality tennis. "We are ready and we promise a strong tournament."
