Pre Wimbledon Experience

The IC of Spain, together with the IC of Argentina had the honour to be the guests of the IC of Great Britain for the traditional Pre- Wimbledon experience, and to share the special  days of tennis and friendship that the IC of GB prepare carefully each year for their international guests, during the days 16-22 June, 2009.

The IC of Spain was represented by: Antonio Durall, Alberto Esplugas, Montse Boter, Salvador Balil, Sergi Terraza, Carlos Homedes, Javier Moreno, Francois Lehner and Juan Mª Tintoré as captain. 

The first tennis date was at Birmigham on the grass courts of Edgebaston Priory, where a total of 22 doubles matches were played.  The IC of Spain was the winner of the day with 12 winning points, IC GB with 7 and IC Argentina with 3. 

A cultural visit to the William Shaekspeare´s birthplace, Stratford upon Avon , followed, resulting in a very popular and enjoyable  tour.  The next tennis date was at St. George´s Hill Lawn Tennis Club, Weybridge, where a total of 16 doubles were played, in which the IC of GB presented a stronger team , winning this day with 10 victories for IC GB, 5 for IC Spain and 1 for Argentina. 

All the guests had to where their smoking to assist to the traditional IC GB ball, previous to the Wimbledon opening.  On the speech, the President of the IC GB, Mr. Barry Weatherill,mentioned how much the 2009 Wimbledon Championship will miss the winner of the 2008 edition, Rafael Nadal and wished him a prompt recovery. 
The last tennis date was at the Hurlingham Garden Party, again on grass courts.  Again some doubles were played, this time mixing up the participants of the different IC´s. 

On the final day an all day visit to the All England Tennis Club was organized , including  a lunch at the Members Enclosure and  assisting to the opening match of the 2009 Tournament.
The organization was extremely successful thanks to the great teamwork of Philip Siver, Mike Carroll, Henk Nijeboer, Brian Hatton, David Waite and Karen Whishaw.