600 children join Kids Day at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

More than 600 children spanning 13 schools from Dubai and the Northern Emirates took to the courts at Dubai Tennis Stadium on Monday for the JP Morgan Kids’ Day, a much-loved annual fixture of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The children attended a dedicated tennis clinic hosted by the CF Tennis Academy and got to hit balls with women’s World No.23 Emma Navarro and WTA doubles partners Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez, the third seeds for this week’s 24th edition of the WTA event in Dubai.

Navarro, who won her first WTA title at the Hobart International earlier this year, took time out from preparing for her second-round match with No.8 seed Maria Sakkari, on Tuesday, to share the court with the children.

Doubles duo Melichar-Martinez and Perez witnessed were impressed by the performance of the ball kids.

“The ball kids were all super in sync and it took me back to my childhood. I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to be a ball kid, but I remember watching them and thinking I would love to do that” said Melichar-Martinez, who has won 12 doubles titles on the WTA Tour.

“Growing up we always have our tennis idols and the closer you get to your idols, the more you want to be like them. I hope I’ve been able to motivate some of the youngsters today to go and accomplish their dreams and do whatever they want to do,” added Perez.

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