Samprasfanz

The retired tennis star will play local Martin in a March 6 exhibition.

Tennis great Pete Sampras has added Jacksonville to the list of stops on what has become a worldwide exhibition tour.

Sampras is scheduled to play Ponte Vedra Beach resident Todd Martin in a Serving Up Aces exhibition match on Thursday, March 6, at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

“It’s exciting for me,” the 37-year-old Martin said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “It’s not often I get to work close to home. It’ll be especially nice to be a part of a big tennis event in Jacksonville. Wherever Pete goes, it’s a pretty big event.”

Sampras, who holds the record for career Grand Slam titles (14), has an 18-4 ATP Tour career head-to-head advantage against Martin, who won eight singles championships before retiring in 2004. However, before Sampras’ retirement in 2002, Martin won two of his last three meetings with the Hall of Famer, including a four-set victory in the 2001 Australian Open round of 16.

“Pete and Todd are both great former champions,” said Mark Young, ATP Americas CEO. “We’re fortunate that Todd is a resident here on the First Coast, and it will be exciting to see Todd play right here in his community against a great former champion like Pete Sampras.”

Sampras, 36, played a three-match exhibition series against World No. 1 Roger Federer at the end of last year. Sampras has another exhibition against Federer scheduled for March 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Tickets for the Jacksonville event, which is being organized by Prism Sports, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 25. They will be available at the Arena box office, Ticketmaster outlets, online at
www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (904) 353-3309.

Source: Times Union