For Immediate Release

Contacts:

Edie Brown
Media Contact (410) 627-9600
Heather Shaffer/Courtney Butler
1st Mariner Arena (410) 347-2090
Gengy Vaikness/Marc Kantrowitz
Charity Tennis Challenge (410) 296-2929

SCOVILLE JENKINS vs. PHILLIP SIMMONDS;
TOP AMERICAN PROSPECTS TO HEADLINE SHRIVER’S 19TH ANNUAL
CHARITY TENNIS CHALLENGE FUTURE LEGENDS MATCH

Baltimore, October 26 – Tournament Chairman and Founder, Pam Shriver announced that young American hopefuls, Scoville Jenkins and Phillip Simmonds, will join the cast of tennis stars at the 2004 Mercantile Tennis Challenge presented by The Baltimore Sun. Both talented young stars will headline the Northrop Grumman Future Legends Match on December 17, 2004 at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

“We are very excited to feature two of America’s future rising stars,” said Shriver. “Many tennis greats such as Andy Roddick, Venus and Serena Williams and even one of this year’s Feature Match stars, Maria Sharapova, have used the Event as a springboard to greater success. We are delighted that we can provide them the opportunity to gain an invaluable match play experience in front of large crowds on their road to future stardom.”

Having just turned 18, Scoville Jenkins is one of the hottest prospects in tennis. This year was one for the record books in the life of the young Atlanta native. He captured the Boys’ 18’s Singles title at the USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the most prestigious U.S. title in Junior tennis. In winning the event, he became the first African-American to win the championship in its
89-year-history. That victory also earned Jenkins a wild card entry into the US Open where he lost to former champion Andy Roddick in the opening round. Ebony magazine recently named Scoville as one of its 50 Most Intriguing Blacks of 2004.

Seventeen-year-old Phillip Simmonds of Reston, Virginia started the year off by reaching the finals in the first two tournaments in which he competed, including sweeping the singles and doubles titles at the prestigious 26th International Casablanca Junior Cup, the first of five Grade A events held this year on the ITF calendar, where his ITF world ranking skyrocketed to a career high No. 2 in the world.
Simmonds has also shown brilliance in doubles, holding the No. 1 ITF Doubles ranking in 2002 and 2003 and also was part of the first U.S. team (with Scott Oudsema) to capture the Australian Open Junior Doubles title in 2003.

-More-

Jenkins and Simmonds join Feature Match stars Lindsay Davenport, currently the world’s No. 1 player, and Maria Sharapova, the reigning Wimbledon Champion. The Tennis Challenge also will feature Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens players teaming up with the tennis pros in the Orioles Challenge match Grand Finale.

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. Since the event’s inception in 1986, over $3.4 million has been distributed through the BCF Tennis Challenge Fund to child-related causes.

Mercantile Bankshares Corporation, with $14.3 billion in assets, is a regional multibank holding company with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. It is comprised of Mercantile Bank & Trust, 12 community banks and a mortgage banking company. Its 13 banks serve communities in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, the Delmarva Peninsula and southern Pennsylvania. The largest bank, Mercantile Bank & Trust, represents approximately one-third of total assets and operates 26 offices in Maryland and one commercial office in southern Pennsylvania. The largest bank also provides investment and wealth management services, with $46.5 billion in assets under administration, of which $21.4 billion are discretionary assets under management.

Tickets for the 2004 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

(410) 347-2010, all TICKETMASTER locations or charged by phone, (410) 547-SEAT. Additional ticket and sponsorship information can be obtained by calling the Tournament Office at (410) 296-2929 or via www.tennischallenge.org.

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