Elegant dinner in the Musée RodinLongines: Gustavo Kuerten receives award at a charity dinner
After the exhibition match that rounded up the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament, Longines organised a charity dinner on the Saturday evening to raise funds for the charity organisations run by its two ambassadors of elegance Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf. The Indian actress and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and the two winners of the French Open at Roland Garros in 2000 – Mary Pierce and Gustavo Kuerten – were also among the many guests at this elegant dinner held in the Musée Rodin. During the evening the famous Swiss watchmaker presented the Longines Prize for Elegance to Gustavo Kuerten in recognition of his work with disadvantaged children, notably through his foundation, the Instituto Guga Kuerten.
The Swiss watchmaker Longines chose a location full of tradition and elegance, namely the Musée Rodin, to host the charity dinner to raise funds for the foundations run by two of its ambassadors of elegance, Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf. Longines’ aim was to bring together a host of A-list guests to create awareness of the two foundations set up by the legendary tennis couple – the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education and Children for Tomorrow. 400 guests from all around the world, including many celebrities, sportsmen and women, not forgetting the press, were present! Some famous faces included Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mary Pierce, Basile Boli, Mansour Bahrami, Victoria Abril, Elodie Frégé, Patricia Kaas or Tatiana Golovin.
Unforgettable evening
During this unforgettable evening, the Master of Ceremonies Nelson Monfort asked Gustavo Kuerten to come up to the podium. The 3-time winner of Roland-Garros was presented with the Longines Prize for Elegance by the Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as a tribute to the elegance of heart shown by his commitment to helping disadvantaged children through his Instituto Guga Kuerten. Apart from his own charity work, Gustavo is also involved in other projects. Impressed by Andre Agassi’s charity work, he sponsors five children that attend the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a private school that offers disadvantaged children from Las Vegas a good education from kindergarten up to year 12 which prepares them for high school. After the prize had been presented Florence Ollivier-Lamarque, General Director of Swatch Group France, and Walter von Känel, President of Longines, handed Gustavo a cheque for $ 100,000 for the Instituto Guga Kuerten.
Walter von Känel, President of Longines, smiled as he looked around at the other diners and said: “Longines’ slogan Elegance is an attitude has been really well exemplified tonight! Both the foundations run by our two ambassadors of elegance – the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education and Children for Tomorrow – and Gustavo Kuerten’s commitment are a necessary reminder that we should all find a bit of time for others who are less fortunate than ourselves. As a watchmaker since 1832, Longines is proud to be able to underline this message.”