Pete Sampras To Compete In Del Mar Development Champions Cup In Los Cabos, Mexico
InsideOut Sports & Entertainment | February 4, 2009
Pete Sampras To Compete In Del Mar Development Champions Cup In Los Cabos, Mexico
14-Time Major Singles Champion To Play Professionally In Mexico For The First Time March 18-22
NEW YORK, February 4, 2009 - InsideOut Sports & Entertainment today announced that Pete Sampras will join the six-player field at the Del Mar Development Champions Cup to be held March 18-22 at the Palmilla Tennis Club in Los Cabos, Mexico. The Del Mar Development Champions Cup is a first-year event on the 2009 Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players age 30 and over.
Sampras will be playing in Mexico for the first time in his professional career and will join two of his biggest rivals in Los Cabos – Jim Courier, whom he beat to win his first Wimbledon title in 1993 and Patrick Rafter, whom he beat to win his seventh and final Wimbledon title in 2000. The final three competitors in the field will be announced at a later date. Sampras will open his 2009 Outback Champions Series season next week at the Champions Cup Boston Feb. 13-15 at the Agganis Arena on the campus of Boston University.
Sampras, 37, established himself as arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, winning a men’s record 14 major singles titles - seven Wimbledon titles (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000), five US Open titles (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002) and two Australian Open titles (1994, 1999). He won 64 career ATP singles titles and was ranked No. 1 in the world for a record 286 weeks, including a record six-year stretch as year-end No. 1 from 1993 to 1998. In addition, Sampras helped the United States to Davis Cup titles in 1992 and in 1995. Since joining the Outback Champions Series in 2007, Sampras has won titles in Boston, Charlotte and Athens, Greece.
The Del Mar Development Champions Cup is the third of eight events on the 2009 Outback Champions Series and will be contested on an outdoor hard court. The tournament will feature a field of six champion players competing in a single knock-out format event, vying for $150,000 in prize money and ranking points that determine the year-end No. 1 ranked player in the Stanford Champions Rankings on the Outback Champions Series.
The tournament will kick off on Wednesday, March 18 with a special "Mexico Day," featuring a children's clinic and an exhibition doubles match. Quarterfinal play will be contested on Thursday, March 19 while the semifinals will be played on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. The final and third-place playoff will take place Sunday, March 22. Ticket, travel and tournament information can be found by visiting www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com.
The 2009 Outback Champions Series will kick off Feb. 13-15 in Boston, Mass., at the Champions Cup Boston. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will host the Rio Champions Cup - the second event of the 2009 series - March 12-15. Following the Del Mar Development Champions Cup, Outback Champions Series events will be staged in Grand Cayman (April 24-26), Newport, R.I. (August 20-23), Charlotte, N.C. (Sept. 25-27), Surprise, Ariz. (Oct. 9-11), and Dubai, U.A.E. (Nov. 19-22).
Founded in 2005, the Outback Champions Series features some of the biggest names in tennis over the last 25 years, including 14-time major tournament champion Pete Sampras, four-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe, two-time French and Australian Open champion Jim Courier and others. To be eligible to compete on the Outback Champions Series, players must have reached at least a major singles final, been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a championship Davis Cup team. The year-end No. 1 ranked player on the Series will receive a $100,000 bonus courtesy of Stanford Financial Group, the official rankings sponsor of the Outback Champions Series.
InsideOut Sports + Entertainment is a New York City-based independent producer of proprietary events and promotions founded in 2004 by former world No. 1 and Hall of Fame tennis player Jim Courier and former SFX and Clear Channel executive Jon Venison. In 2005, InsideOut launched its signature property, the Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. In addition, InsideOut produces many other successful events including "Legendary Night" exhibitions, charity events and tennis fantasy camps such as the annual "Ultimate Fantasy Camp". Through 2008, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment events have raised over $4 million for charity. For more information, please log on to www.InsideOutSE.com or www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com.