Alvalade tennis star supporting Champs Academy with the auction of his top-100 ATP racket

In an effort to raise funds for the Champs Academy, a charity which works with around 150 youths from the age of 6 to 18, Gastão Elias will auction off the racket which he used to earn a place in the ATP World top-100.

"It was one of those ideas that just comes out of nowhere. I asked Gastão to work with us by donating something with has a historic meaning for Portuguese tennis. Only five rackets have broken into the male top-100 in Portugal, so it means a lot. Gastão accepted straight away", affirmed the auction organiser Pedro Carvalho.

Bids can be made through the website www.esolidar.com.

Passing the 600€ mark is one of the organisation's objectives, affirmed Carvalho: "Right now the highest bid is at 350€. In our last auction, just before the Millennium Estoril Open, we raised around 600€ with a signed shirt from the Davis Cup team. We would like to beat that this time."