Famed Wimbledon winner, Stan Smith, spoke to the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce members at its breakfast meeting last week. He was named as the Best Player in the World in 1971 and won at Wimbledon in 1972. He is in the International Tennis Hall of Fame and has played in each of the four Grand Slams; The French Open, Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon. Smith is a good friend of the Peachtree City Tennis Center director, Virgil Christian. Christian was a tennis coach at Penn State.

Smith complimented the local tennis center for its many awards, including the Georgia Junior Club of the Year and USTA Facility of the Year.

"Tennis is a lifetime sport," said Smith. "My mother-in-law did not take up Tennis until she was 70 years old. She finally gave up the game last year at the age of 93." Two of Smith's daughters will be playing this summer in the USTA Women's Challenger Tennis Tournament at the Peachtree City Tennis Center. Discussing the level of competition coming to the tournament, Smith said "Of all the girls playing in the tournament, at least three or four of them will one day be in the top 20 tennis players in the world."

The tournament will benefit the David Harris, Jr. Foundation. David Harris, Jr., a Peachtree City resident, died of Leukemia in May, 1995 at the age of nine. Fifty percent of the advance ticket sales and 100 percent of the tickets sold at the gate will go directly to the Foundation, which provides direct support for children with Leukemia and other types of cancer.

The tournament will begin July 19. For ticket information, call the Peachtree City Tennis center at (770) 486-9474.

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