Contacts:

For Immediate Release

LINDSAY DAVENPORT JOINS ALL-STAR LINE UP FOR SHRIVER’S CHARITY TENNIS CHALLENGE; TEAMS WITH BRYAN BROTHERS AND NAVRATILOVA FOR MIXED DOUBLES SHOWCASE

Tournament Chairman and Founder, Pam Shriver, announced that former world No. 1 ranked Lindsay Davenport will join the current world’s No. 1 ranked doubles team, brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, tennis legend Martina Navratilova, 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Mardy Fish and 2005 US Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri at the 2006 Mercantile Tennis Challenge presented by The Baltimore Sun.

The Tennis Challenge will be held at Baltimore’s 1st Mariner Arena on December 6, 2006. The format will include a singles match between Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri, who will then join forces in a men’s doubles match against the No. 1 ranked Bryan Brothers. Bob Bryan will also team with Martina Navratilova in a star-studded mixed doubles match against former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and Mike Bryan in the final match of the evening. The pairing of Bob Bryan and Martina Navratilova will be a championship reunion of the team that captured the 2006 US Open mixed doubles title, Navratilova’s final match of her professional career and her 59th Grand Slam crown, before announcing her retirement at the conclusion of the tournament.

“We are thrilled to be adding a player of Lindsay’s talent to this year’s line up of tennis all-stars,” said Shriver. “Lindsay is such a class act on and off the court. Having her play together with Martina, the Bryans and rising young American stars, Robby Ginepri and Mardy Fish, will be one of the most exciting and entertaining evenings of tennis we have showcased for our Baltimore fans.”

-More-

8743R Mylander Lane, Baltimore, Maryland 21286 410.296.2929 Fax 410 296-2121

info@tennischallenge.org www.tenischallenge.org

Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam singles champion (1998 US Open, 1999 Wimbledon, and 2000 Australian Open) ended the years 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2005 with the world’s No. 1 ranking. She has amassed 51 career WTA Tour singles titles and 35 career doubles titles, including the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal, and has the unique distinction of being one of only a handful of players to reach the No. 1 world ranking in both singles and doubles. Lindsay also has finished in the Top 20 in singles for 13 straight years and ranks No. 2 in career prize money with over $21 million in earnings.

The Mercantile Tennis Challenge presented by the Baltimore Sun is played to benefit the Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF), a publicly endowed nonprofit organization that donates proceeds to area children’s charities through the Tennis Challenge Fund at the BCF. This year marks the 21st annual Charity Tennis Challenge, one of the region’s premier charitable sporting events, thanks to the continued support of Mercantile Bankshares Corporation, The Baltimore Sun, Northrop Grumman, the Baltimore Orioles and many other loyal sponsors and contributors. Since the event’s inception in 1986, the event has attracted more than 100,000 spectators and last year, surpassed the $4 million mark in charitable funds raised for various children’s causes.

Mercantile Bankshares Corporation, with more than $17 billion in assets, is a regional multibank holding company with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. It is comprised of Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Company, 10 community banks and a mortgage banking company. Its 11 banks serve communities in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, the Delmarva Peninsula and southern Pennsylvania from a network of more than 240 offices and 250 ATMs. The Investment & Wealth Management division has assets under administration in excess of $41 billion, with management responsibility for more than $20 billion of these assets.

Tickets for the 2006 Mercantile Tennis Challenge presented by The Baltimore Sun are now on sale and range in price from $20-$100. Tickets can be purchased at the 1st Mariner Arena Box Office, all TicketMaster outlets, via TicketMaster PhoneCharge at 410-547-SEAT (7328) or online at www.tennischallenge.org. Additional ticket and sponsorship information can be obtained by calling the Tournament Office at 410/296-2929 or also via www.tennischallenge.org.

###