October 19, 201
Sampras wins Staples Champions Cup in Boston
BOSTON, MA --- Pete Sampras continued his impressive play in the early stages of the 2012 PowerShares Series by using his powerful serve to win the Staples Champions Cup at the TD Garden Friday night, with a 6-1 triumph over John McEnroe in the championship match.
It was Sampras' second straight victory in his third appearance of the season, as the 14-time Grand Slam champ earned 400 points and took over the number one spot in the 2012 rankings. Due to a delay at the start of the tournament, the championship match was shortened to a six-game set. "I loved going up against John again tonight, and now that I've played three events in a row, my game is really getting strong," said Sampras. "It's great to win again and take back the number one ranking."
In the evening's first semifinal, McEnroe jumped out to a quick start and was in complete control of a 6-2 victory over his rival Ivan Lendl. Showing no signs of injuries that may have plagued him in the past several years, McEnroe revenged a loss that he suffered to Lendl Thursday night, and has now taken two of their three meetings this season.
In the second semifinal, Sampras continued to frustrate Jim Courier with his dominating serve to capture a 6-3 victory. The win improved Sampras' record to 3-0 against Courier on the 2012 Tour. Lendl and Courier each earned 100 points, and McEnroe gained 200 to now sit alone in second overall with 900 points.
The 2012 PowerShares Series will take a short break before resuming on Friday night, November 2 in Philadelphia, when newcomer Patrick Rafter joins McEnroe, Sampras and Courier in the Champions Shootout at the Wells Fargo Center, with the action starting at 7:30 pm.
| TONIGHT'S SCORES |
||
| Semifinal 1 |
McEnroe def. Lendl |
6-2 |
| Semifinal 2 |
Sampras def. Courier |
6-3 |
| Final |
Sampras def. McEnroe |
6-1 |
| UPDATED 2012 POWERSHARES SERIES RANKINGS |
||
| 1. |
Sampras |
1000 |
| 2. |
McEnroe |
900 |
| 3. |
Courier |
700 |
| 4. |
Lendl |
400 |
| 5. |
Chang |
100 |
| Martin |
100 |
|
October 20, 2012
Pete Sampras, Jim Courier visit Boston school
By Andrew Doerfler
Before heading to the TD Garden for the Staples Champions Cup, tennis stars Pete Sampras and Jim Courier stopped by Mario Umana Middle School in East Boston Friday to offer some advice and instruction to young tennis players.
The former number-one ranked players discussed their victories and answered questions about practicing. The event was organized by Tenacity, a nonprofit that promotes both literacy and tennis education to area children, and was sponsored by Staples, which also donated $3,000 to Tenacity. Sampras and Courier were scheduled to go head-to-head during the semifinal round Friday night, which also featured John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl.
Oct 24, 2012
In Boston, Sampras beats McEnroe, McEnroe beats racquet
By Paul Crocetti
The TD Garden last week played host to four of the all-time tennis greats of the open era --- Jim Courier, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras --- as part of the PowerShares Series tour.
While Sampras took it to McEnroe in the championship match, it wasn't before Johnny Mac took it to his racquet several times.
Yes, McEnroe still has the fire. I think some of it is an act, but probably only about 5 percent. He looks legitimately unhappy with himself after every missed shot. On one occasion, quite early in his semifinal match against Lendl, McEnroe smacked the ball into the back of the loge behind the court --- an impressive display of anger.
But even though it's not pretty or graceful, McEnroe's still got game. He beat Lendl pretty handily. Lendl still has some power in his serve, but he was having a hard time placing it on Friday night. I was also a little surprised that Lendl didn't move better, given that he's got to be in some kind of shape to coach Andy Murray.
In the other semifinal, Sampras beat Courier in his typical fashion --- hard, effective serving and volleying. In fact, Sampras was the only player of the four to consistently serve and volley.
McEnroe has won his share of matches on the legends tour, but Sampras was too much for him Friday night. Sampras had McEnroe yelling at himself and slamming his racquet for most of the quick match. But even though it was a romp, it's still quite entertaining to see those guys go at it.
A funny thing happened on the way to the matches. There was a two-hour delay before play started because, well, there was no court. The word on the street was that the truck driver who was driving the court to the event just never made it. And I haven't heard yet what happened. But the backup court worked fine, and the crowd was treated to Courier, McEnroe and Sampras doing on-court interviews during the delay.
Discussion during the chatter before the matches turned to a subject close to home --- the fact that the Boston area does not have one professional men's or women's tournament. Of course, there was the tournament at Longwood. And now the closest pro tournament is in Newport, R.I. But it's a crime that Boston doesn't have one. Someone do something about this!