London, 11th May 2015: IMG, the global leader in sports, fashion and media, today announced that 2014 Australian Open Champion and current World No.9 Stan Wawrinka, World No.15 Gaël Monfils and rising star Borna Ćorić will play at the BNP Paribas Tennis Classic at The Hurlingham Club, London from 23rd – 26th June. The event will bring together first class tennis and hospitality as the perfect warm-up for Wimbledon. Hospitality tickets are on sale now.
Both Wawrinka and Monfils are sure to spark the interest of the crowd, having both enjoyed recent successes: Wawrinka has had a great start to 2015 winning the title at the Rotterdam Open, while Monfils knocked out Roger Federer in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters last month. With five singles titles to his name, Monfils is one of the most exciting players to emerge at the tournament and is likely to be high on spectators’ lists of ones to watch. It will be Monfils first time at The Hurlingham Club while Grand Slam winner Wawrinka, who has played at the prestigious venue before, is looking forward to his return: “I’m really pleased to be playing in the BNP Paribas Tennis Classic again because it gives us players the crucial final opportunity to practice before Wimbledon.”
Joining them for his first time at The Hurlingham Club will be Ćorić. Awarded the title of ‘ATP Star of Tomorrow’ at the end of 2014, the 18 year-old Croatian who has defeated both Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray within the last six months, at the 2014 Swiss Indoors and 2015 Dubai Tennis Championships respectively.
They will join the impressive line-up of the world’s top players already confirmed for the tournament which includes World No.6 Kei Nishikori, World No.5 Tomáš Berdych, World No.10 and current US Open Champion, Marin Cilic and World No.11 Grigor Dimitrov.
Joining the ATP players will be a number of world-class tennis legends. The current line-up includes 2001 Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanisevic, former British No.1 and US Open Finalist Greg Rusedski, former Canadian Open Champion Mikael Pernfors, former Wimbledon semi-finalist Xavier Malisse and Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist, as well as crowd pleaser Mansour Bahrami and Andrew Castle.
Owned and managed by IMG, the BNP Paribas Tennis Classic takes place at the height of the summer tennis season and is one of the most intimate tennis events in the social calendar. Set in the tranquil 42-acre grounds of The Hurlingham Club, the event showcases some of the current stars of today, playing in a series of singles exhibition matches as they finalise their preparations ahead of Wimbledon, as well as a number of tennis legends. Previous players include Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal as well as legends Tim Henman, Mark Philippoussis and Pat Cash.
The tournament brings together a combination of timeless elegance and quintessentially English traditions, giving spectators the opportunity to combine unforgettable tennis with first-rate hospitality experiences whilst escaping the crowds in one of London’s most intimate and breath-taking settings.