Golazo - Best of Belgium

Taking part in a world record

No less than 35681 spectators showed up to see a tennis game between Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams on July 8th in the King Boudouin Stadium in Brussels. A world record! The game was part of the BNP Paribas Best of Belgium show that brought together the best of Belgian tennis players and Belgian music. (Justine Henin was supposed to play but she got injured, so Serena helped out.) To protect the ladies against the ever present threat of rain in Belgium we were asked to design a roof 10 meters above the tennis ground with uninterrupted sight lines from the stands. This means that towers or columns were out of the question. Therefore we designed a huge canvas (1500 m2) that consisted of 3 parts, each weighing more the 500 kg. The canvas was fixed to the roof of the stadium by means of steel cables and held down with some contra weights. It could stand winds up to 8 Beaufort. And yes, Clijsters won.