The 27-year-old Estonian Kaia Kanepi added her name to the roll of honour at the BNP Paribas Fortis Brussels Open on Saturday 25 May 2013, following in the footsteps of Caroline Wozniacki in 2011 and Agnieszka Radwanska last year. The Astrid Bowl in Charleroi ushered in a new tennis week, while Roland Garros opened its doors in Paris. Enough reason to take stock of the committed engagement of BNP Paribas Fortis with tennis – a long-lasting relationship that for the BNP Paribas group goes back to 1973; perhaps one of the longest relationships in the history of sport.
That engagement, underscored by the slogan ‘We Are Tennis’, is demonstrated by the backing that both the BNP Paribas group and BNP Paribas Fortis give to many types of events: professional tennis, junior and amateur tournaments, international championships, local initiatives. Tennis is played by broad sections of the population and is also one of the few sports for all age groups.
Since 2009, BNP Paribas Fortis has had a close working relationship with the two arms of the Royal Belgian Tennis Association: the Vlaamse Tennisvereniging (VTV) and the Association Francophone de Tennis (AFT). In the professional tennis arena, BNP Paribas Fortis last year became team sponsor of the Belgian national teams competing in the Fed Cup and the Davis Cup. And this year the bank sponsored for the third time the ladies tournament BNP Paribas Fortis Brussels Open.
The bank also supports the international junior championships Astrid Bowl Charleroi with BNP Paribas Fortis, which began on 25 May.
It furthermore acts as sponsor of amateur competitions such as the BNP Paribas Family Trophy, the interclub junior and senior championships, and the VTV Tenniscriterium.
BNP Paribas Fortis is also a partner in two major wheelchair tournaments, the Ath Open International and the Belgian Open in Géronsart (near Namur).
The Astrid Bowl Charleroi, the IFT $10,000 KTC Eupen, the Iris Cup in Anderlecht, the Flanders Ladies Trophy and the seven tournaments of the Rising Stars Tennis Tour along the Belgian coast – Damme (Sijsele), Duinbergen, Knokke, De Haan, Ostend, Middelkerke and Koksijde – are other with BNP Paribas Fortis competitions that aim to encourage young talent.
By the same token, the bank is a backer of Hope & Spirit, a foundation that guides and financially supports young people in their efforts to combine their studies with their passion for tennis.
BNP Paribas Fortis also supports the Iris Open 9 in Ganshoren, the Havré Fair-Play Trophy and the Open 9 in Huy.
By its sponsorship of tennis, BNP Paribas Fortis demonstrates its commitment to sport and to society, and that a sound and enduring relationship with partners and also with customers and staff is one of its essential values.
www.wearetennis.be (French) – www.wearetennis.be (Dutch)
About the Astrid Bowl Charleroi – This international grade-one event (the highest tennis category apart from the grand slams) takes place from 25 May to 1 June and is reserved for the world’s best junior players (no older than 18 years). Some 180 players of both sexes take part each year. More than 40 countries are represented and over the past 49 years some 8000 players have become acquainted with the Astrid courts at Loverval – including some of the biggest names in tennis, from Navratilova to Federer, from Kim Clijsters to Justine Henin.
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