Top female boxer Laila Ali will join former tennis players, politicians and even an ex-NFL star in the Elbow Beach Celebrity Tennis Classic at the end of next month to raise money for the junior programme.

Classic organiser David Lambert yesterday unveiled the names of those who will be taking part in the event which runs from September 27-30 at both Elbow Beach and the WER Joell Tennis Stadium.

Appearing alongside Muhammad Ali?s daughter will be former mayor of New York David Dinkins, four-time Grand Slam champion Hana Mandlikova, former top doubles specialists Wendy Turnbull and Katrina Adams as well as one-time Chicago Bear Curtis Conway.

The last Celebrity Classic in 2002 raised $20,000 for the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association?s junior programme and was used to send some of the Island?s best young talents to overseas tournaments.

A combination of Hurricane Fabian and Lambert?s busy schedule led to a four-year hiatus ? but the former head of the BLTA said he was confident the Classic would raise even more money this time around.

?I don?t want to name a figure, but with the way things are going I?m fairly certain that we can do even better,? he said.

?The idea was borne out of my experiences at the BLTA where I came across lots of sub-committees filled with very bright and committed people who would come up with all these great ideas about how we could improve tennis in Bermuda.

?But then when we?d come up with a list of things we wanted to do, we?d all look at each other and say ?how on earth are we going to fund all this?? and nobody would really know.

?The money we raise from this year?s Celebrity Classic will be put towards sending our juniors to ITF Junior Ranking Tournaments which are so important to the overall development of our young players.?

The event has already attracted significant interest from the corporate world, although the Friday afternoon at the Tennis Stadium will be given over to almost 1,000 school children who will be involved in coaching clinics and doubles games with the celebrity visitors.

For more information on the schedule of events and the celebrities attending go to www.btdf.bm.