American broadcaster Mary Carillo will be presented with the ITF’s highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier Award, at the 2015 ITF World Champions Dinner on Tuesday 2 June in Paris at the Pavillon Cambon Capucines.
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The World Champions Dinner will celebrate the achievements of the 2014 ITF World Champions. This year’s recipients are singles champions Novak Djokovic (SRB) and Serena Williams (USA); doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan (USA), and Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci (ITA); junior champions Andrey Rublev (RUS) and Catherine “Cici” Bellis (USA); and wheelchair champions Shingo Kunieda (JPN) and Yui Kamiji (JPN).
Former British Davis Cup player and current television broadcaster Andrew Castle hosts the evening, with ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti presenting the awards to the World Champions, and the distinctive trophies once again being designed by internationally-recognised sculptor Laurence Broderick.
Carillo receives the Philippe Chatrier Award in recognition of her career as a sports broadcaster of distinction, and as a pioneer not just for women in her profession, but for a new style of broadcasting.
Carillo’s career as a tennis player was cut short after three years due to knee injuries, but she did capture the 1977 Roland Garros mixed doubles title with childhood friend John McEnroe. In 1980, she became a tennis analyst for USA Network, since when she has covered the sport for nearly every US broadcaster including PBS, MSG, ESPN, CBS Sports, HBO, Turner Sports, NBC and The Tennis Channel, for whom she is broadcasting in Paris.
Carillo has built a reputation as a distinctive voice in tennis and someone who is candid, straight-talking and opinionated but who also loves the sport. Her unique style has been embraced by broadcasters and over the years she has branched out into other sports, covering 12 summer and winter Olympics, including nine for NBC. She has also won a Sports Emmy and two prestigious Peabody Awards for documentaries about Billie Jean King and women in sport.
Carillo has continued to give back to tennis, including serving as chairwoman of the USTA Foundation from 2009 to 2014.
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “Despite her many achievements on a wider stage, Mary Carillo remains a fearless and passionate commentator on tennis and her unique voice has done much to champion our sport and the other causes that are close to her heart. Her contributions to tennis over more than three decades make her a worthy recipient of the ITF’s highest honour.”
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