One of the Island's greatest all-time tennis players and ambassadors is now among the front runners to be enshrined in Bermuda's Sports Hall of Fame during tomorrow night's induction ceremony at Fairmont Southampton Princess.Late Wimbledon and French Open semi-finalist Heather Nicholls Brewer Segal - who died last year at the age of 74 following a bout with cancer - tops a star studded list of 23 nominees all vying for the ten spots to go up for grabs at tomorrow night's gala black tie event.

During an awe-inspiring international tennis career, Segal reached the women's singles semi-finals at Wimbledon in 1953, 1955 and 1957 and was also a semi-finalist at the 1955 and 1958 French Open Championships, a phenonmenal achievement unparalleled to date by a Bermudian. In all, Segal played a total of 80 matches at Wimbledon where she also appeared in the quarter-finals on a combined eight ocassions in the women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles. For added measure, she also captured the Northern Ireland Tennis Championship and Spanish Championships in Barcelona in 1954, Swiss International Championship in Gstaad in 1956 as well as winning two major titles in Belgium in 1957 and two national titles in South Africa in 1957 and 1962.

In 1954 Segal soared to number 12 in the women's world tennis rankings and was also bestowed Bermuda 'Amateur Sportsman of the Year' honours the same year after a remarkable season competing on the international stage

"No Bermudian has ever reached such incredible heights in the field of first-class international tennis and it is highly unlikely that any Bermudian will approach the standard of tennis achieved by Heather in the foreseeable future," commented former Premier and Hall of Fame director David Saul. After remarrying South African Davis Cup player Abe Segal in 1957, the Bermudian tennis legend moved to Spain and lived there until the time of her death. Meanwhile, others in the reckoning to be inducted in the Hall of Fame this year are former top runners Stanley Burgess and Ray Swan, footballer Glen (Gappa) Wade, long-serving football admininistrator Joe Ferreira, pioneering men's tennis player WER Joell as well as cricketers Lloyd James, Alex (Cocky) Steede and Eldon Raynor.