February 24, 2010
Pete Sampras to play in Atlantic City event
By Andrew Zuckerman
Since the announcement of the Caesars Tennis Classic in Atlantic City, organizers promised more big names were going to be added to the lineup.
They weren't lying.
Pete Sampras and James Blake were announced Tuesday as the final two participants for the April 10 exhibition at Boardwalk Hall and will face each other in a best-of-three-set match. Sampras and Blake, both from the United States, join Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and host Venus Williams as part of the Classic.
"This is fabulous when you look at all our greats we're going to have," said Joe Domenico, Caesars Atlantic City senior vice president and general manager, in a phone interview Tuesday. "It's going to be an event that is going to have a wide range of appeal."
Sampras, 38, won 14 Grand Slam titles, including seven at Wimbledon and five at the U.S. Open, before retiring in 2003. He is one of tennis' all-time greatest players and holds the record for most weeks (286) spent as the top-ranked player on the ATP Tour. Lendl (270) is second. Sampras also held the record for most Grand Slam singles titles before Roger Federer won his 15th last year.
Blake, a Yonkers, N.Y., native, is currently ranked 50th, and has never won a Grand Slam. But the 30-year-old was part of the winning 2007 Davis Cup team and is arguably the second most popular active American men's tennis player, behind Roddick.
"For all these guys, the idea of coming to play at Atlantic City and at Caesars is attractive," said Jerry Solomon, president of StarGames, the sports marketing company promoting the event, in a phone interview Tuesday. "They like seeing some different things. The event has a lot of things going for it just because it has Caesars and an interesting venue."
Lendl and Wilander will play a one-set match, followed by Roddick and Safin in a best-of-three-set match and capped with Sampras versus Blake. There will be no ad-scoring in each match, meaning if a game is tied at deuce, it will be next-point-wins. In the best-of-three set matches, the third set, if necessary, only will be a super tiebreaker --- the winner is the first to 10 points, and he must win by two.
"We looked at a lot of different combinations," Solomon said. "We just thought that Andy and Marat was a good rematch of them playing in the past and being U.S. Open champs. Pete and James have played a couple times together."
Since retiring, Sampras has been involved in several of these type of exhibitions each year. He recently played one earlier this month at the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., against eventual champion Fernando Verdasco.
Sampras also has recently started playing poker and has entered in several Texas Hold'em tournaments. Poker was not a factor in getting Sampras to come to Atlantic City, Solomon said, but it's possible that a charity tournament with the players could be held.
Neither Sampras, nor Blake was available for comment.
On April 10 and 11, Caesars will host Tennis Village in the Palladium Ballroom, which will feature all the players as part of clinics, games and events. Organizers are hoping the Classic is successful enough to make it an annual event.
"We've talked about we need to create a destination," Domenico said. "And creating a destination you have to have varied forms of entertainment outside of gaming. This is a prime example."
Tickets for the Classic are currently on sale through Ticketmaster.com and the Boardwalk Hall box office. They cost $25, $50, $75, $125 and $175.
A Boardwalk Hall spokeswoman would not discuss how many tickets have been sold, per policy, instead referring to the promoters. Solomon said ticket sales so far have been "surprisingly good," but didn't have an exact number.
"According to everything we've seen, tickets have moved extremely well," Domenico said. "This goes with the overall strategy of Caesars and Harrah's bringing entertainment back to Boardwalk Hall. Our plan is falling right into place and with this event in particular."