John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Ivan Lendl visit Chicago to showcase their skills in the PowerShares Challenge!
(Photo Courtesy of www.powersharesseries.com)
While
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are busy battling it out
for year-end No. 1 recognition on the ATP Tour (current World No. 1
Federer claims his 300th week as South African Airways ATP
Rankings this week, while Djokovic holds the inside track to regain the
top ranking for 2012), tennis legends John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Jim
Courier and Ivan Lendl will renew acquaintances and rivalries at the
PowerShares Challenge at the United Center on Wednesday, October 17th.
Last
year, Gladiator Director/Founder Steve Hess attended the event and
enjoyed some decidedly red carpet treatment through a sponsorship
connection.
This Wednesday, I will be covering the PowerShares Challenge as a correspondent for Gladiator Tennis (www.gladiatortennis.com).
As a professional freelance writer and 2011 Gladiator Sportsmanship of
the Year Award winner, I am eager to relay to all of you an inside look
at this year’s highly anticipated matches. More importantly, I attended
the PowerShares matches last year as a fan and encourage everybody to
check this year’s PowerShares Challenge out. The unique format truly
offers an up-close look at some of the sport’s greatest athletes.
The
PowerShares Challenge event at the UC on Wednesday is part of the
PowerShares Series Tour that will visit 12 U.S. Cities during its
seven-week season. Other Grand Slam champions slated to compete in the
PowerShares Series Tour include Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Pat Rafter
and Mats Wilander along with Hinsdale native and Davis Cup champion Todd Martin.
All
told, the athletes will be competing for a prize pool of $1 million to
be shared among the top three finishers at the end of PowerShares Series
Tour season. The format for each PowerShares Series tournament will
feature four legendary players competing for ranking points via a pair
of two, 1-set semifinals followed by a 1-set championship match.
Last year at the United Center,
Courier edged Agassi 8-7 (3) in the final of PowerShares QQQ Challenge
(October 20, 2011). In the semifinals, Courier defeated Martin 6-3 and
Agassi prevailed over McEnroe 6-4. In addition to watching some of the
game’s all-time greats play at an exemplary level of tennis, fans were
treated to plenty of banter from the players between each other, as well
as the audience, umpire and ball kids.
On
Wednesday, the competition at the UC promises to be better than ever
with new additions 2011 champion Sampras and Lendl (replacing Jimmy
Connors who has a hip injury) in the fold along with the return of
charismatic players Courier and McEnroe.
“We are thrilled to be coming back to Chicago,”
Jim Courier said. “Finishing behind Pete in the PowerShares Series
standings last year gives me something to work towards this season, and I
look forward to the challenge versus an incredibly talented field.”
The PowerShares Series Tour kicked off in Surprise, Arizona
on October 13 as Courier rallied for an 8-7 (1) victory over McEnroe in
the final. In the semifinals, Courier bested Martin 7-6 (5) while
McEnroe was in fine form with a 6-2 win against Michael Chang.
After
one stop on tour in the books and the highly anticipated Chicago event
(Wednesday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m.) on deck, Courier holds the early
lead in the PowerShares Series 2012 standing with 400 points followed by
McEnroe (200 points) along with Martin and Change (100 points apiece).
Ticket Information for Wednesday’s matches:
*For complete tour and ticket information, please visit www.PowerSharesSeries.com.
*Also visit unitedcenter.com or call the United Center (312) 455-4500 for ticket information about Wednesday’s PowerSharesSeries Challenge.
-Marty Farmer, correspondent for Gladiator Tennis
