BOMBSHELL!: Radwanska sponsoring 1st International Tennis Championships for Priests

September 02, 2012 11:00 pm • By RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star

When Father Brian Connor and Father Tom MacLean decide to take a tennis road trip together, they don’t mess around.

Three years ago, they added a stop to watch Wimbledon at the beginning of a trip to Rome. On Sunday, the Lincoln Catholic priests left for an 11-day excursion to Poland, which will climax by the duo playing in the First International Tennis Championships for Priests on Sept. 10-12 in Krakow.

Connor, who serves North American Martyrs Catholic Church, and MacLean, a prison chaplain at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, will be among 79 priests from around the world playing in the clay-court event. MacLean is in the under-50 division and Connor is in the over-50 category.

Connor had a friend in the seminary from Poland, and six months ago, they hooked up via Facebook. He told Connor about the tournament, and immediately the two local avid tennis players were interested.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said MacLean, who grew up in Southern California and began playing tennis there. “This was too good to pass up.”

(...)

One of the co-sponsors of the tournament is Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, the Wimbledon women’s singles finalist. She’s the No. 2 seed at the U.S. Open and is still alive in the Grand Slam event, so a visit to the Catholic priest tournament seems unlikely

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