The event was co-hosted by international superstars, Martina
Hingis and Edwin Moses and the aim was to support the Match Development
Foundation based at the Anthony Harris Tennis Academy in Bantry Bay.
Guests were greeted at the gate by the cheerful kids who form part of the academy supported by the Match Development Foundation and welcomed into the yards of Enigma. The house itself is flanked by beautiful mountains and guests could be forgiven if they thought they were magically transported to the Alps in Switzerland. Guests included a host of well known sports personalities such as ex springbok captain Jean de Villiers, businessmen and celebrities.
Guests were greeted at the gate by the cheerful kids who form part of the academy supported by the Match Development Foundation and welcomed into the yards of Enigma. The house itself is flanked by beautiful mountains and guests could be forgiven if they thought they were magically transported to the Alps in Switzerland. Guests included a host of well known sports personalities such as ex springbok captain Jean de Villiers, businessmen and celebrities.
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| Anthula Markovitz-Match Development Foundation |
The hosts welcomed the guests and invited everyone into their opulent home, just in time for an incredible sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. The house itself, worth over 300 Million Rand is indescribable, with its amazing balcony, gardens and swimming pool. It is not surprising that Top Billing was also there to cover the evening.
As night fell, guests could walk down the gardens, look up
and see a million bright stars in the cloudless sky, but the real stars were in
Enigma.
Swiss tennis champion, Martina Hingis winner of 25 Grand
Slam titles was one of the guest hosts and took time to meet everyone who
attended the function. Edwin Moses was more reserved but just as gracious. If
you are in this man’s presence, its easy to see why he was a multiple Olympic Champion.
He dominated the 400m hurdles for more than a decade and holds the amazing
record of winning 107 consecutive final between 1977 and 1987. |
| Martina Hingis |
The guests were entertained with live music, dancing and incredible catering, but no one forgot the real reason why people were there. Guests attended to support the Match Development Foundation, in making a tennis champion and therefore piled into a room for a once in a lifetime auction. Up for grabs was the chance to play a game of tennis against Martina Hingis, Martina’s racquet from the US open, tickets to the Men’s French Open Final with Mary Pierce, Double tickets to the Laureus Awards with Edwin Moses as a host, a host of travel vouchers and paintings.
Most of these items cannot be purchased in the “real” world. They are only attainable on evenings like these, where the hosts and sports people have gone out of their way to make them available. The great news is that over R1 million was raised in 45 minutes, and this will be put towards the further development of players at the Anthony Harris Tennis Academy.
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| Mary Pierce |
We will be writing about this academy a lot in the future, together with the Match Development Foundation which was started by an incredible woman, Anthula Markovitz as we believe they are doing some amazing work.
It is sad that evenings like these must end. We were lucky enough to be in the presence of these great champions the next day, when they appeared at the tennis academy to interact with the players. We will give you the details soon about that experience, but for now want to thank the hosts and Match Development Foundation for an unforgettable evening.
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| Edwin Moses |
