Posted on: September 26th, 2007
Sampras Victorious In Opener At The Championships At The Palisades
- petepageCHARLOTTE, N.C.
Sept 26, 2007 – Pete Sampras returned to action on the Outback Champions Series tennis circuit Wednesday, defeating Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors 6-0, 6-2 in the opening night of play at The Championships at The Palisades at the Tim Wilkison Signature Tennis and Sports Complex. The Championships at The Palisades is the fifth of seven events on the three-year-old Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events around the world for champion tennis players over the age of 30.
Sampras, 36, had little trouble with the 44-year-old Pernfors, the French Open runner-up in 1986, winning the first set in 22 minutes with a flurry of aces and forehand winners. Pernfors finally got on the scoreboard when he won the first game of the second set, but subsequently lost six of the last seven games of the match.
“It doesn’t really matter how well I play, he’s just that much better,” said Pernfors of Sampras. “He’s got so much pace on the ball. He’s just that much better of a tennis player than I am. I am just hoping to hit the ball and not look like an idiot.”
Sampras ended his five-year hiatus from competitive tournament tennis in May when he debuted on the Outback Champions Series at the Champions Cup Boston. Sampras went undefeated in Boston, winning all three of his round robin matches before defeating Todd Martin in the championship match. Sampras then won the Champions Cup Athens also in May, again winning his three round-robin matches before beating Martin in the final.
Despite being undefeated in his two Outback Champions Series events, Sampras still trails Martin by 400 points in the latest Stanford Champions Rankings. In addition to his runner-up finishes in Boston and Athens, Martin won the title at the Gibson Guitar Champions Cup in Newport, R.I., in August to move ahead of Sampras in the rankings with 2000 points. Sampras, and his 1600 points, is in second place, just ahead of John McEnroe, who is in third place with 1400 points.
Wayne Ferreira, ranked No. 4 in the Stanford Champions Rankings with 1250 points, won the opening match of Wednesday’s night session, defeating Anders Jarryd of Sweden 6-2, 6-4. Ferreira, who won the opening event on the 2007 Outback Champions Series in Naples, Fla., in March, will next face Sampras on Friday evening in one of the event’s most highly-anticipated match-ups. In their 13 career meetings on the ATP Tour, Ferreira defeated Sampras six times. The two also met earlier this year at the Champions Cup Athens, with Sampras winning a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (1) round-robin match victory.
Against Jarryd, Ferreira played aggressive from the baseline, controlling most of the points, while Jarryd used crafty slices and drop shots in an attempt to get the South African out of his rhythm.
“Wayne was much better than I was tonight and I never had a chance to break him,” said Jarryd. “There are so many great champions out here, you really have to play well.”
Said Ferreira, “I feel good. I’m in good shape and I’m working out a lot. I really enjoyed the last year in these tournaments with these guys. We get along very well, but it’s tough tennis in these tournaments.”
The Championships at The Palisades is the fifth of seven events on the 2007 Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events around the world featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. The event features an eight-man round robin format with the winner of each four-player division meeting in the title match and the second-place finishers from each division playing in the third-place match. An undefeated winner of the event will take home $50,000 as well as Stanford Champions Ranking points that will determine the year-end champion. To be eligible to compete in the Outback Champions Series, players must have reached at least a Grand Slam singles final, been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a championship Davis Cup team. Each event also has the right to choose a “wild card” entrant. Founded in 2005, the Outback Champions Series features seven events where champion tennis players continue to exercise their competitive instincts in tournament formats that feature prize money and Champions Series ranking points that determine a year-end No. 1 player.
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 2006, InsideOut launched its signature property, the Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events held nationally and internationally featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. In addition, InsideOut produces many other successful events including one-night "Legendary Night" exhibitions as well as charity events and tennis fantasy camps, including the annual Ultimate Fantasy Camp. For more information, please log on to www.InsideOutlive.com or www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com.
Recent Headlines
April 01, 2012
November 20, 2011
October 29, 2011
October 01, 2011
July 13, 2011
- "Li Na and Friends" to square off with Sampras and others at two-day tennis event in Wuhan - petepage
June 18, 2011
May 04, 2011
Back to News