Serena coming to NZ
The ASB Classic tennis tournament has secured its biggest ever signing with ‘‘sporting royalty’’ Serena Williams coming to play.
The signing of the world No 2 women’s tennis star for the Auckland tournament in January was confirmed on Wednesday.
Tournament director Karl Budge had been trying to sign up Williams in recent years and while she had made plenty of right noises about coming to Auckland, she never got as far as putting pen to paper - until now.
In 2015, Serena was asked if she’d like to play in Auckland and she said she ‘‘hoped’’ she would one day.
Budge brimmed with praise as he announced the signing of the tennis star who had only just this month slipped to world No 2 after a world record-equalling 186-week stint as world’s top women’s player.
‘‘I dare suggest this is our biggest yet. Four times this person has been named best sportsperson on the planet by the Associated Press. Four times,’’ Budge said.
‘‘Absolute sporting royalty. Great athletes don’t come into our sports all the time. It’s those true legends that I guess really define what the benchmark is of our sports. Their legacy often usually known by just one name; Tiger, Jonah, Messi. There’s been a few and this person sits well among that list.’’