DDF hosts 10th WTA pre-Wimbledon party

By Doug Newhouse |

The stars were all out last Saturday night when the worlds of tennis, celebrity and fashion all joined together to celebrate the 10th annual WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party with their hosts, Dubai Duty Free at the Roof Gardens in Kensington, London.

 

Stargazers were certainly not disappointed as a galaxy of their tennis heroes, plus personalities and celebrities from fashion, entertainment and sport mingled with each other at the ultra-exclusive party held by the Women’s Tennis Association.

 

The ‘Who’s Who’ of the famous included world number one tennis player Serena Williams, followed by tennis friends and rivals Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Petra Kvitova, Eugenie Bouchard, Simona Halep and England’s own Heather Watson and Laura Robson.

 

These famous faces were joined by well-known personalities from the worlds of sport, entertainment and fashion, including Sir Richard Branson, Sam Branson and Holly Branson, Natalie Pinkham, Ade Adepitan, Charlie Webster and Perri Shakes-Drayton.

 

The equally important Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association said: “We are delighted to celebrate our 10th WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party presented by Dubai Duty Free in the beautiful surroundings of The Roof Gardens.

 

(Clockwise): Maria Sharapova; Serena Williams; (then from right to left) Tournament Director, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Salah Tahlak, Ana Ivanoic and Jasmin Micoyco (DDF); and finally Simona Halep and Salah Tahlak again.

 

“Dubai Duty Free have been a loyal and supportive partner over many years and continue to take this wonderful event to new heights. It is a great opportunity for us to bring our players together to showcase all of the incredible and inspiring work they do both on and off the court.”

 

Sir Richard Branson, a WTA Global Advisory Council Member, co-hosted the exclusive event on behalf of Virgin and added: “What an amazing night. It is inspiring to be surrounded by so many incredible female athletes just before they hit SW19.

 

“I have been a great supporter of the WTA for many years and we’ve even successfully battled for equal prize money! So it’s great just to simply celebrate these wonderful women who excel at my favourite sport.”

 

Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free.

ADVANTAGE MCLOUGHLIN…

Colm McLoughlin, Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice-Chairman added: “The WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party has rapidly become one of the most glamorous events in the Dubai Duty Free social calendar.

 

“It provides us with an excellent opportunity to celebrate and promote our close association with the sport and renew friendships and acquaintances with many of the players and tennis professionals we will be welcoming back for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February.”

 

In true style, many of the famous arrived in four-wheel luxury courtesy of a fleet of Jaguar XE cars, before indulging their admirers in the new fan zone with photographs and autographs. All then took the opportunity to stroll down the ‘bio-reactive purple carpet’ – created by Jaguar – with its motion sensor technology designed to capture and visualise real-time energy from the exclusive event.

 

 

 

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