MORE than 450 tennis enthusiasts and industry leaders gathered at Cipriani, 42nd Street in New York City for The Legends Ball presented by BNP Paribas, a social event hosted by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum that celebrates tennis and honours some of the sport’s greatest champions and contributors.

The event honoured the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 — former world number one Martina Hingis, Australian tennis great Thelma Coyne Long and dedicated tennis industry leaders Cliff Drysdale, Charlie Pasarell and Ion Tiriac, who were all enshrined in July.

In addition, The Legends Ball featured the presentation of the Eugene L Scott Award to Rod Laver and the Joseph F Cullman Award to ESPN, both honoured for their remarkable commitment to tennis.

Tennis Jamaica’s long-time and keen supporters Phillip and Christine Gore attended the event where they celebrated the sport with Australian legend Rod Laver, winner of 11 Grand Slam singles titles. Laver is the only player in tennis history to have twice won the calendar year Grand Slam, which he did in 1962 and 1969.

Phillip Gore is also a member of the Board of Directors of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Gores supported the auction at the event by donating Wimbledon tickets and a vacation stay at the Tryall Club. The proceeds of the items auctioned will be split between Tennis Jamaica’s various programmes, including the national schools’ coaching programme and the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

One of the many highlights on the night was an awe-inspiring gathering of 19 Hall of Fame tennis legends on stage. Hall of Famers in attendance were: Stan Smith, Jan Kodes, Dick Savitt, Cliff Drysdale, Charlie Pasarell, Pam Shriver, Owen Davidson, Donald Dell, Butch Buchholz, Russ Adams, Vic Seixas, Monica Seles, Bud Collins, Michael Chang, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Rod Laver, Chris Evert, and Peachy Kellmeyer.

In its first year under the present sponsorship of BNP Paribas, the 2013 edition of The Legends Ball was a great success and raised more than $330,000 in net proceeds to support the Hall of Fame’s mission. Hosted annually since 1980, The Legends Ball serves as an important fund-raiser for the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, a non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving the history of tennis and to inspire its future.