Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward dominated on a different kind of court this week while raising money for a good cause.
This week, the Ardene Bullard OF LOVE Tennis Tournament is taking place in Salt Lake City, spotlighting the sport in the state of Utah, in addition to raising money for Type 1 diabetes research. This year’s tournament features a competitor of high repute for basketball fans, namely Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward.
Hayward has worked hard to become a Top 20 player in the NBA, but he also happens to be a former prep tennis star. Eric Esterline, his coach at Brownsburg High in Indiana once remarked, “In my opinion, he is one of the best tennis players to come out of the westside and central Indiana in a long time.”
So, after being invited to participate in the OF LOVE tournament in the past, the tennis prodigy turned Jazz star finally found himself in Utah during tourney time and jumped at the chance to make a return to the tennis court.
“I had the opportunity to play,” said Hayward, “and I knew it was for a good cause, so I decided to come out and see what I had.”
While Hayward admitted to being rusty after not having played in recent years, he was dominant in his first match of the tournament, winning 6-0, 6-1. Round 2 was more of a struggle, as Hayward dropped the opening set, 4-6. However, he did a complete 180 in ensuing sets, winning 6-1 and 6-0 to capture the match.
Hayward’s Jazz teammates Alec Burks and Dante Exum were both on hand to witness the win–
One more picture of Hayward and teammates after the match. pic.twitter.com/Ons47U25Qu
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) August 4, 2016
With the victory, Hayward advanced to Thursday’s semi-finals. Should he win again, he’ll play in the tourney final on Saturday (August 6).
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Now in its seventh year, the Ardene Bullard OF LOVE Tournament will direct all proceeds to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation JDRF, Utah/Idaho Chapter, the University of Utah’s Diabetic Research Center and the Utah tennis foundation.