18 January 2013
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Mardy Fish and Bryan Brothers
To Play Los Angeles Tennis Challenge
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras, former World Top 10 player Mardy Fish and the most successful doubles duo of all time the Bryan Brothers will take part in the inaugural Los Angeles Tennis Challenge at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on Monday, March 4.
The event is being co-hosted by Fish and former ATP World Tour player and Tennis Channel broadcaster Justin Gimelstob. The star-studded night of exciting exhibition matches falls just days before the start of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Calif.
"I am very excited about playing professional tennis in Los Angeles for the first time on March 4 at the LA Tennis Challenge," Djokovic said. "To be playing against my good friend Mardy Fish, and partnering with my childhood tennis Idol, Pete Sampras, against the No. 1 doubles team in the world will be an amazing experience. In addition, to be able to help raise valuable funds for so many wonderful charities in the process will certainly make being at the newly refurbished Pauley Pavilion, the place to be Monday night, March 4th!"
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Justin Gimelstob Children's Fund, the Mardy Fish Children's Foundation, the Novak Djokovic Foundation, Call to Cure and the Southern California Tennis Association's community tennis initiatives.
"It's going to be an unforgettable night of tennis starring some of the biggest names in the game," said Gimelstob, a former UCLA All-American in the mid-1990s. "We're proud to be bringing professional tennis back to Los Angeles and playing the matches indoors at historic and newly renovated Pauley Pavilion."
Three exhibition pro-set matches will take place beginning at 7 p.m. Djokovic will take on Los Angeles resident Fish in singles followed by a doubles match pitting Djokovic and his childhood idol Sampras against Southern California natives Bob and Mike Bryan. An opening singles match between two marquee players will be announced shortly.
The Bryan Brothers are very comfortable on the UCLA campus having won an all-time best six doubles titles at the Los Angeles Tennis Center and former home to the Farmers Classic.
"We are so thankful that a new professional tennis event will be in Los Angeles," Mike Bryan said. "Los Angeles is home to us and it is vital that competitive and entertaining tennis is accessible here. The LA Tennis Challenge will grow into the premiere tennis event in Los Angeles, and we are proud to support it."
Added Bob Bryan: "We will need to be sharp in order to beat two legends of the sport. Novak Djokovic and Pete Sampras are going to be a tough team, but we are looking forward to the challenge of playing two of the greatest players of all time."
Djokovic of Serbia is a winner of five Grand Slam titles and the current No. 1 player in the world. Sampras is considered the greatest American champion ever with 14 career Grand Slam singles titles, including seven Wimbledon crowns. Fish has six career ATP World Tour titles to his name and is an Olympic silver medalist. The Bryan twins won gold at the 2012 London Olympics and have won an all-time record 83 ATP World Tour doubles titles.