Pro Tennis Players Take A Break From US Open Practice To Visit Young Patients At New York Hospital Queens

Friday, August 24, 2012

PHOTO RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Cynthia Bacon (718) 670-2515
crm9002@nyp.org

Jackie Shutack (718) 670-1579
Jackie.Shutack@gmail.com

Flushing, N.Y., August 24, 2012 -- Three tennis players preparing for the United States Tennis Open Championships visited children in the Pediatrics Unit at New York Hospital Queens yesterday. 2010 US Open Women’s Doubles champs Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova joined fellow professional player Jack Sock.  The trio greeted children at the bedside and handed out gifts and words of encouragement to the patients.  The players intrigued the children with their descriptions of life as professional athletes.

Ms. King and Ms. Shvedova won the 2010 US Open Women’s Doubles championship; in 2011, they placed second. King, 23, an American player from California, has been a pro since 2006. Shvedova, 24, is from Kazakhstan, and has been a pro since 2005. In this year’s US Open Women’s Singles Tournament, the women are scheduled to play each other in the first round.

Mr. Sock, 19, grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He has been playing professional tennis since 2011. This year, he will play in the Men’s Singles Tournament.

For more information about New York Hospital Queens, visit www.nyhq.org. To learn more about The US Open, go to www.usopen.org.

New York Hospital Queens is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and an affiliate of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

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Summer Daniels (left), 18, of Queens, receives an autographed photo and gift bag from professional tennis players Vania King (second from right) and Yaroslava Shvedova (far right).

Professional tennis players Jack Sock (far left), Vania King (second from left), and Yaroslava Shvedova (far right) deliver gifts to Gavin McCormack (front, center), 1 year old, and his father (second from right), both of Woodside Queens.