Raeburn Place to host John McEnroe in Champions of Tennis event

THE first venue to hold a full rugby international between Scotland and England will have a new chapter added to its history after it was announced yesterday that Raeburn Place in Edinburgh will host the inaugural Champions of Tennis event next year.

Champions of Tennis is part of the ATP Champions Tour, which sees retired former world No 1s and Grand Slam winners such as John McEnroe, Goran Ivanisevic and Yevgeny Kafelnikov play at venues across the world, but this will be the first time the tour has come to Scotland and the first time a rugby club has been its host.

The event takes place from 20-23 June next year. It will be played on an indoor hardcourt. Organisers plan to have a day and a night session on the Thursday and Friday, followed by a single day session on Saturday and on Sunday. The capacity of the arena will be 2,500, and the organisers are hoping to attract up to 17,500 spectators in total.

Raeburn Place, home of Edinburgh Academicals, has never hosted a tennis match but, in 1871, was the setting for the first rugby clash between Scotland and England. It was also the venue for the first Scotland women’s rugby international in 1993.

Viki Mendelssohn, Tournament Director of Champions of Tennis, said: “Raeburn Place will be a fantastic location for Champions of Tennis and will contribute a great deal to the economy during the event. I am sure many of the local businesses will prosper and, indeed, Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole are going reap the benefits of this event.”

Hosting the event is a huge fillip to Edinburgh Accies, who are the second-oldest rugby club in the world, and club president Euan MacFee said: “Champions of Tennis is exactly the type of event we wish to attract and show that we can host sports apart from rugby. To have an event of a global nature at Raeburn Place is an honour. [It] could not be coming at a better time in terms of tennis being in the spotlight and we are very excited to be part of the first ATP event to be held in Scotland.”

Jan Felgate, CEO of the ATP Champions Tour, added: “The ATP Champions Tour visits cities all over the world and our events are held in many different stadiums and arenas, but this is the first time we will have been hosted at a rugby club. The players will very much look forward to it and I’m sure it will make for a fantastic atmosphere.”

The ATP Champions Tour has the potential to bring back nostalgic memories for tennis fans, as McEnroe and Bjorn Borg have clashed in the past few years. Andy Murray’s coach, Ivan Lendl, also plays on the circuit, while more recent Grand Slam champions such as Pete Sampras and Marat Safin have taken part.

Meanwhile, current French Open champion Rafael Nadal has announced that he will not be taking part in this year’s ATP World Tour Finals in London because of continuing problems with his left knee.