Roger Draper, the chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), is to contact his opposite number at MCC, Keith Bradshaw, next week, with a view to staging a tournament for the leading women players at Lord’s from 2008.An operations manager has examined the grass in front of the Grandstand, which is not affected by the famous slope on the ground, and at the Nursery End.Draper is attracted to Lord’s as a sports venue that is in the process of undergoing considerable change under Bradshaw. “Keith and I have similar thoughts in terms of how sport can grow and Lord’s has a lot going for it. I would hope we can run exhibition events from 2008 and a tournament for the top women preWimbledon,” he said.“Lots of players want to be in and around London at that time and there are very few locations with the infrastructure for world-class events.
