The 9th. Donald, you go way back to the tournaments infancy. How has this thing taken off . Its amazing. Well, we started the tournament in 1969 at the public parks there at 16th and kennedy. Johnny harris and i were cochairman. We ran the tournament for three years. And it started to catch on a little, we got some traction. So we thought it would be different and we gave the tournament and the sanction of the week to the Washington Tennis Foundation which was just starting up as a foundation for tennis for kids. And our concept was very simple. We thought if we could get a lot of interested tennis fans washington is a very good tennis town. Historically. And the profits from the tournament and all of the surrounding benefits to go back to junior tennis in the community and we have done that. And i think the wtf and alanny have done a terrific job. Like the tournament its grown and grown. I have been lucky enough to go over there to southeast and see the amazing really incredible work youre doing with young lives over there. Its the 60th year, right . Its the 60th year. Talk about the lives you have touched over the decades. Thousands and thousands of lives. We start very young with the kids, 4 and 5 years old and we stay with them until theyre seniors in high school. Its a combination of tennis and academics. All the great lessons you learn on the court of discipline and focus and concentration, we then ensure they translate into the classroom to have success in the classroom as well. When i got the tour, i mean, classrooms, computer labs, a big part of this, because this is what happens when particularly in the summer. Theres so much time on their hands, this is after school and summer. You ramp up over summer as well. Its very important. After school hours, people feel like the weekend and evening hours are truly the most dangerous, but after school is most dangerous for the kids. Thats when the gangs and all the trouble happens as well as in the summertime. Our program goes deep into august. We only give them literally a week off before school because again criminal activity spikes in august as well when most programs are not out there for the kids. I have seen the kids light up and the parents too. Its really a savior them. They depend on the programs there. Lets go back to the tournament. We are ramping up for august 1. The actual tournament is that sunday night. But candy, talk about cities involvement in this. Youre in your third year. You started when the wage came on board with the tournament. Yes, so we started sponsorship in 2012. We started with the womens tournament and the thought is theres a lot of women who are clients, it would great to be part of a womens tennis tournament. The opportunity arose here in d. C. Which is also an important Business Market for us. So we got involved and simultaneously we needed we knew the opportunity was there to support this world class tennis tournament and we did the sponsorship in 2012. Its fabulous and i think you know, we have been really pleased with how the tournaments been run. I think the extra sort of initiative was wtef because its so unique. There arent others who have wtef connected to it. So it was that involvement and that addition i think really elevated our interest in the sponsorship. So its important from a tennis perspective, but its also really important because it was a Community Link and to the sponsorship of helping underserved youth. We know were so tapped into tennis and the history of it. This is truly a world class event. We have seen the commercials running for weeks now. Andy murray is coming. You have people from all over the world. Its well over 182 countries on television internationally, 60 hours of Live Programming domestically in washington and throughout the country. Well do the first ball of the men and the women to the last ball hit with the tennis challenge. So were excited about that. And were going to have the finals live on channel 7 simultaneously. We have never done that before, so its going to be a mammoth occasion. We have murray who is well known and we have curry the number five player in the world. The russian who won the semis last year. And richard gas man is playing. And the one who loves playing on this particular court here. Hell play. But the real surprise, jim, for me, has been the women. Because the women came out of nowhere. The woman who is here is seeded number one. You have the russian player, eighth in the world. Well have Jean Bouchard on fire. She was a semifinalist last year. Sloan stevens a very good player was seeded one last year. Shell be seeded eighth this year. So you can see how tough the field has become. Shes very popular, a big draw too. Thats great. We have to take a quick break and come back. Well put up some web addresses if youd like to learn about the tournament or wtef. You exercise. You choose the salad. Occasionally. But staying well physically, financially, emotionally its hard on your own. So cignas got your back and your knees, 24 7. Cignas there to answer your questions. Or when you need some coaching. In sickness and in health, cignas there, helping you to get well and stay well. Thats having a partner, whos with you all the way. Cigna. Welcome back to viewpoint. Again, we are talking tennis with our friends from wtef. Elani, talk about the transformation in young lives. You start them early. When i started the tour back in february, you talked about how you go to College Campuses every year and theyre not juniors or seniors. How young are they . Right. We start kids fourth, fifth sixth grade going on the college tours. But they dont know its a college tour. Theyre going to play tennis. We take them to the tennis tournament and theyre interacting with other programs and playing matches so they think theyre going to have fun and play tennis matches but were taking them to see the colleges. They stay in the dorms. They got back from chicago where they stayed at Roosevelt University and they had a wonderful speech from the provost there. So we are getting kids very focused, very young, you know, on thinking about college and what theyre going to do. We have a we have dr. Johnson and dr. Williams who leads the reading program. You asked me about the transformation in the kids. We were talking about one girl who is in our program. And this summer she told dr. Dawson she didnt need any help in math. She was working on her review and this is a girl that came in the program shes in the seventh grade. She came in at a third grade math level and in one year dr. Johnson has gotten her to the her to grade level and this summer she is doing a review. She said i dont need any help. I mean, the staff we have is really tremendous. And the dedication the dedication out there. Theyre truly committed. Because a lot of times its an extended family. A lot of mentors you have there because its a oneparent house. Sometimes the parents working and dont have the time to help them in the afternoon or stay with them as you guys do. Donald, talk a little bit if we can Bigger Picture and share your wisdom. We talked about the women and we have got the william sisters of course, and sloan and strong bench strength the williams have dominated for 10 or 12 years in all world tennis really. What do we need to get young women up there with the eastern europeans . The spaniards and the south americans and the russians . The question is always asked whats wrong, or whats the problem with american tennis for men, and the answer is very simple. The world globally of tennis has caught up with america, australia and england. Who would have thought 50 years ago youd say the number one player in the world is da joko vick from serbia. We have paul and fritz who were in the finals of the french open on clay. The player who drew up in washington is a good player and we have reilly opalko who beat fritz in the semis and beat the number one british player in the semis. So we have four or five world class young kids, 17 and 18, who would rank in the top sixth or seventh in the world. One or two or three of those they stay healthy and committed. Theres all it takes. A couple of names. Theyll break through. Theyre just too good. It is exciting. It is exciting. You know, we talked about women coming on board with the city. I tell people its a bit like a miniu. S. Open because you transform that place into this festival. Even if youre not a tennis fan there are so many Different Things to do. Great cafes. Great place to get wine and beer and souvenirs and people have a blast because theres the proximity to the players. You can see them practice. Yes. Talk about what people see when they buy a ticket and go out there. They come in the door and theres lots of noise to begin with. And lots of booths along the way and then as you said, jim, great food. I mean, some great food out there. If you want the crab cakes, i think theres lobster rolls and wine and beer. The other thing well have is called speed surf. It is something that will benefit wtef. Come by the city booth and if as a player if you can serve above a certain designated speed then well donate money to wtef. Were doing that with the players, so players that hit a certain designated serve speed then theres going to be money thats donated. So its a great opportunity so you get to you know, practice in a booth for a little bit and practice your serve. But also its going to benefit wtef. So encourage these lots of fun activities and things to get out. Its really a community event. Really a family event. It is a family event. Yeah. Im coming. Look out. I think bryant brothers are they slated to play . Theyre coming to play. Dwayne bryant will be the host. As he does. Hes terrific. Come out during the day so theres all the courts around, so you can see the women play. And then you know theres just lots of things going on. Youre not going im going into center court. Theres matches all day so thats whats really fun. You can come and see some of these up and coming players and others yeah. Who are all playing. I think what candy pointed out which is important is the proximity. Nowhere in the world can you get this close to the players. You talked about the u. S. Open but you cant get that close to the players. You can get autographs, watching them practice. You are right there. No other tournament in the u. S. Can you get that close and be that intimate and the players are so theyre really wonderful with the fans. I think they love and the fans love them. She made a very, very important point because you have a different atmosphere. Much more right. You can take a selfie shot with a player. Photos all the time. So its so that never happens at the major tournaments. Because theyre sent out with security. You cant get near them. Or other sports. Thats true. And youre watching in the nose bleeds. Every seat is a good seat. 7,800. We didnt try to make it 10,000. 7,800 seats. Got to take another quick break. If you want to learn more about tickets or how to donate to wtef, here is the address on your screen. Well be right back on viewpoint so stick around. Oh my gosh, its the guy from last night. What . can i jump on your wifi . Yeah, you can try it. Hey i had a really good time last night. Yeah, me too. The only thing is that. The only thing is what . Whats the only thing . Oh my gosh hes married. Hes a kleptomaniac. Hes a pyromaniac. Hes a total maniac. Hey hey go back to your wife you sociopath leave slow internet behind. The 100 Fiber Optics Network is here. Get out of the past. Get fios. Now 79. 99 a month. Go online or call now. Call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities at 800. 974. 6006 tty v welcome back to viewpoint. Were talking about the city open. It kicks off august 1st. Donald, this is a world class event. Tell people the importance of this in the year round calendar for professional tennis. You have to understand that the players are play on a global circuit and theyre getting points and prize money every week. And then the final eight play for the championship. Many of the endorsements lets take a player like murray who is awfully good, if hes ranked in the top five versus the top 15 he has endorsement benefits and bonuses in the contracts. The women are all the same. So the points become almost as important as the money. In tennis were the only 500 series event in america. What does that mean . That means you get 500 points if you win the tournament. Were double the points of all the 250s. Theres 11 there are 11 500 series in the world and were in the top 20 tournaments in the World Circuit for players. And because of our location and the prize money we put up, and the history, were probably ranked about 12 or 13 if you took a poll of the players. Were in the top 15 in the world so its really changed. And whats so important now is that being a combined event, theres only four of them in america other than the u. S. Open. So when you come out there youre going to see a smorgasbord of different kinds of tennis. Somebody pointed out earlier about three years ago we set up the courts where we have a path and some seats to watch them practice. That became so popular that the usca has copied that. They have put in a whole new practice area where you can watch the players practice. And that was something our people came up with three years ago. And what a stored past. We have seen the names up there. Roddick lendl who knows what the name will be there. Could be murray, but theres a lot of depth on the mens and womens side. Yeah. Someone like john isner loves to play. Hell take a shot at murray. That helps ranking if he were to win. Ishikori has never played very well here. He played very well last at the open. Got to the finals. And so we have the u. S. Open finalist. Its just the feel this field this year, the entry, is the strongest i have ever seen since we started the tournament. Its a great warmup to the u. S. Open because its a little hotter here in august. You played pro, you played for stanford. Talk about mentors in your life and what youre trying to i guess replicate that in your program with mentorship and having people really take people under their wings. Oh, i appreciate the opportunity. So its very interesting the tournament is very interesting. You talk about mentors and coaches and how it all comes full circle. Our Vice President of programs who is my coach on the pro tournament i grew up in washington, d. C. Through my relationship with him i started to volunteer at the organization and its why im president of the organization now. What i find amazing is i grew up in washington, d. C. And so this tournament was a very big part of my life. I was a ball girl you know, its the true honor to be working with donald on this tournament and to see the growth and the explosion in this event. I know the impact it had on me as a child. What it is doing for our children and the program. To have access to this tournament, to come and watch you know the pros every day, to actually work it. We have them working at the tournament too. They get wonderful opportunities through city who set up, you know, the city kids day. It is incredible what city has done for our children over these four years. They have really come on and supported the organization at the tournament and the time of this incredible growth as you know we wouldnt be where we are today without donald and the tournament and without city support. They came in, the year we opened the center. Without their Additional Support and with it the programs that theyre putting together we wouldnt be where we are at today. I like to tell a quick story. We have one of the girls in our program and when she hit high school, you know, she she didnt come back in her tenth grade. And vina garrison who is one of the folks that works with our kids and in our program, she went out and got her. I want you to come and watch the matches with me. So she was watching the womens matches and she just is watching the focus and the dedication of these players. She said, what have i been doing . That september she was back in the program and got a full scholarship, tennis scholarship to college, you know, and is finishing up college now. So so many benefits. Yes. Really they touch people and get people involved in this. It seems like a perfect fit for any organization to get involved with. Because you see the results. You see the results. Thats why im on the wtef board. I came in because of city and the sponsorship. You see the kids at the center, you cant help but want to be involved. I mean, youre immediately like what can i do, how can i be supportive . Both being on the board and then for city, we wanted to look at some additional opportunities around the tournament. So one of them is the city kids opportunity that elani mentioned. Were able to bring in some of the players and they can talk about their experiences, the challenges they face, what its like being successful what it means being a pro tennis player and having that conversation with the kids. Then we talk about financial savings. So theres a learning part to it. An opportunity, because if you are successful if you are, you know, making some money on the tournaments, what do you do with that money . Right. How do you learn to save . And so we have you know, a dialogue around financial savings. So its a nice opportunity to mix fun, with, you know, a little bit of an education. Well take another quick break. Then well pick it up on the other side. Well be right back on viewpoint. As we go to break, here are the web addresses again. Welcome back. Talk a little bit about the wtef hall of fame. Again, city came to us, this is the 60th year, you should have a hall of fame. So candy, id love for you to announce the inductees. We have three folks inducted in. Nina garrison. William h. G. Fitzgerald whose name is on the tennis of course. The tennis tournament. On the courts. Congressman norm dax, a big tennis player. A tough competitor out there. I played him on the other side of the net. You want to be on his side. Donald talk about the uniqueness of this tournament. Well, there are two things that jump out. One is were the oldest location in american in the pro tennis game. Being at 16th and kennedy for 47 years, even the u. S. Open moved from west side to flushing meadows. So were the oldest site in american tennis. Number one. Number two, i believe were the only pro tournament in the world that is owned by a charity. The wtef. Which is the way i hoped for and designed it. I never thought it would grow the way its grown. But when you really think about it, if youre going to donate money as a sponsor its nice to give it to the Baltimore Orioles or something. And legg mason said they wanted to benefit from a charity. And i want to ask you, life long tennis icon that you are, if a kid is out there and wondering, hey, should i play football or basketball, baseball with my friends or tennis how do you convince th