November 20, 2008
Sampras and McEnroe to meet in London seniors event next month
LONDON --- Pete Sampras will return to London for the first time since Wimbledon in 2002 to face John McEnroe in a seniors tennis tour event next month.
Sampras and McEnroe were drawn into the same round-robin group for the BlackRock Masters Tennis event, held Dec. 2-7 at the Royal Albert Hall.
Sampras, winner of 14 Grand Slam titles, beat Andre Agassi in the 2002 U.S. Open final in his last official match. The seven-time Wimbledon champion hasn't been back to London since losing in the second round in 2002 to George Bastl.
Sampras made his debut on the BlackRock tour in June in Sao Paulo, Brazil, beating Marcelo Rios in the final.
"Today, or 10 years from now, if I'm on the tennis court, I'll still want to play well and win," Sampras said in a statement issued by London organizers Wednesday.
Sampras played at the Royal Albert Hall nearly 20 years ago in the doubles world championship.
"You could hear the glasses during the points with all the people drinking champagne, and everyone in their tuxedoes," he said. "They really live it up there, so I'm looking forward to it."
Also in Sampras' round-robin group are Britain's Jeremy Bates and France's Cedric Pioline. The other group has former Wimbledon champions Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic, and Greg Rusedski and Guy Forget.
McEnroe, a three-time Wimbledon winner, has been a regular on the seniors circuit and won a recent event in Luxembourg.
Sampras and McEnroe faced each other three times during their competitive careers, with Sampras winning all three. Their London match will be on Dec. 3.
"This is a message for Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Goran Ivanisevic and all of you other guys: I'm not coming to London to lose," McEnroe said.
Sampras beat Pioline in the 1993 U.S. Open final and 1997 Wimbledon final.
The winners of each group will meet in the final.