Matalan serves up tennis partnership

Northern Vision, organisers of the newly launched Manchester Masters Tennis Tournament, has announced that retail giants Matalan have agreed to become presenting sponsors.

As part of the agreement Matalan will become one of the main presenting sponsors to all three of Northern Vision's UK based tournaments held in Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Northern Vision's ultimate aim is to bring world class tennis players to the north of England and make the game accessible to as wide an audience as possible.

In doing so, both Northern Vision and Matalan hope to engage as many young people as possible with an estimated 35,000 children already being exposed to the sport since the event in Liverpool began in 2002.

Each of the three tournaments will have its own designated 'kids zone' where around 1,000 children per day will be able to experience a range of different activities all geared around getting them to pick up a racquet.

Lee Pinnington, Head of Marketing at Matalan said:

"We want to play our part in raising awareness about the tournaments in the local communities around our stores and in doing so, getting as many youngsters as we can actively involved in taking up the game of tennis ".

"Northern Vision has demonstrated their capabilities in organising and delivering first class events in the past which is why we had little hesitation when we were asked to come on board."

Anders Borg, Director of Northern Vision, said:

"I am thrilled to be able to announce our partnership with Matalan. It's a well run organisation with an outstanding reputation and sizable, loyal customer base. I am confident with their support and direction we will be able to continue to build a strong platform for all three UK tournaments."

The tournament, which is a grass event, will take place from 23^rd to 26^th June during the first week of the Wimbledon Championships at The Northern Lawn Tennis Club in Didsbury.

Players already announced for the tournament include two former Wimbledon champions, Martina Hingis and Richard Krajicek. Hingis recently revealed that she will play at this year's Wimbledon Championships in the legends doubles competition, which is a real coup for the event.

Tickets for The Manchester Masters Tennis Tournament, which takes place from Wednesday 23^rd June - Saturday 26^th June 2010, are now on sale. Tickets are available from www.manchestertennis.co.ukor from Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.co.uk.