The charity tennis match between the top two players in the world, RAFAEL NADAL and NOVAK DJOKOVIC, "will be postponed due to an injury" to the Spanish star. The game was to take place in Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium on July 14. The match "had raised so much expectation" that the foundations in charge will look to reschedule the encounter. The "most feasible date" should be June '13, when Madrid will have finished its season. Close to 40,000 tickets had been sold, which was "a real milestone for a game of tennis." Individuals who had bought tickets "will not have problems" getting their money back (AS,7/5). ... MUHAMMAD ALI and Nobel Peace Prize laureate AUNG SAN SUU KYI "are among the candidates that have been considered by London 2012 to play a part in the opening ceremony of the Games and the final stages of the Olympic flame’s journey into the stadium." Ali lit the cauldron at the '96 Atlanta Games, and while it is "unlikely that either he or Suu Kyi will have the honour of lighting the cauldron, that international figures of their stature have been considered demonstrates" that London Games Creative Dir DANNY BOYLE is "casting the net far wider than previously thought." Plans for the lighting of the cauldron "have not been finalised, but planning for who and how the cauldron will be lit is at an advanced stage" (London TELEGRAPH, 7/4). ... ALI will also attend a "London gala benefit in his honor" two
days before the London Olympics. The July 25 event will "honor Ali's
humanitarian work and status as a role model on civil rights, humanity
and in opposing war.'' The Victoria & Albert Museum will host the
A-list dinner with ANGELINA JOLIE and BRAD PITT expected to attend (BOXINGSCENE.com, 7/5). ... Former ManU player DENIS LAW officially opened a new exhibition at the Manchester United Museum "to mark 50 years since he signed for the Reds." "The King of the Stretford End" cut the ribbon and signed autographs at a ceremony on Thursday alongside ManU CEO DAVID GILL (Manchester United). ... The "embattled" President of Poland's Football Association GRZEGORZ LATO announced he will stand for re-election for the post "in delegate elections" on Oct. 26 (PR DLA ZAGRANICY, 7/5). ... Sochi hosted the third international “AquaJazz” Festival as part of the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad. Jazz musicians from Russia and the USA performed for Sochi residents and guests on July 4 and 5. The “AquaJazz” Festival attracted a number of acts including: American jazz vocalists, ALLAN HARRIS and KATHY JENKINS; well renowned American saxophonist BILL EVANS and his group Soulgrass; Sochi Big Band; the Moscow Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of IGOR BUTMAN; SERGEI KORENEV Project; the power-jazz trio of drummer OLEG BUTMAN; pianist NIKOLAI LEVINOVSKY and trumpeter ALEXANDER BERENSON; and saxophonists DMITRY MOSPAN and KONSTANTIN SAFYANOV. All concerts were held in the “Riviera” park and the “Festival” cinema hall (Sochi2014). ... A host of celebrities "took pole position to raise money" for Great Ormond Street Hospital. F1 Boss BERNIE ECCLESTONE's daughter TAMARA organized the "star-studded" event. Other famous guests included: Great Ormond Street Hospital patrons VERNON KAY and his wife TESS DALY, singer BEVERLEY KNIGHT and TV reality star MARK WRIGHT (PA, 7/5).
