September 20, 2007
Courier and Sampras to play Miracle Match
By Tom Ratzloff
Tennis legends hit big for MUSC Children's Hospital
Twenty minutes before heading to the courts for a morning practice session last Saturday with his hitting partner John McEnroe, Jim Courier talked via telephone about his upcoming exhibition match versus Pete Sampras this Sunday at the North Charleston Coliseum.
"People are going to see good tennis," said Courier, 37, who retired from the ATP tour in 2000 with four grand slam titles. "It won't be hit and giggle; we lay it out there on the court."
Courier, 37, a former world No. 1 tennis player, will square off against his longtime ATP rival Pete Sampras, 36, who owns a record 14 grand slam championships. They will play a two-out-of-three-set match as well as celebrity doubles with College of Charleston head basketball coach Bobby Cremins and Gov. Mark Sanford.
The Sept. 23 event is the first of a five-stop nationwide tour called the Sampras vs. Courier Miracle Match Tour. The North Charleston event benefits The Miracle Match Foundation and MUSC Children's Hospital.
The Miracle Match Foundation is the brainchild of former tennis pro Bill Przybysz, who was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia in 1995. After recovering from a series of treatments that included a bone marrow transplant, the Grand Rapids, Mich. resident developed his idea of "miracle matches" so that others coping with similar challenges would have a network of support and assistance.
"John McEnroe is a friend of mine and he was instrumental in helping me establish the first Miracle Match," Przybysz said during a phone interview last week. "Our first event was in 1999 in Grand Rapids and I played in it. The featured match was John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg and people loved it. It was a fantastic event."
Since that debut, McEnroe has played in 15 Miracle Match exhibitions all over the country, said Przybysz, 42, who played professional tennis in the mid-1980s. Although McEnroe will not appear at this week's event because of scheduling conflicts, Przybysz will be in Charleston this week to visit Children's Hospital. However, he won't be playing tennis on Sunday.
"I've got to rest up from time to time, so I'm not playing in this event," said Przybysz, who works full-time for the Miracle Match Foundation. "But I hope to get back on the court at the other tour stops."
Courier said he met Przybysz one year ago through McEnroe and played his first Miracle Match event in Grand Rapids last February with McEnroe and retired women's pros Anna Kournikova and Jana Novotna.
"It was such a wonderful, feel-good event," Courier said. "I've gotten to know Bill since then and am so impressed with what he is doing and what kind of person he is."
Courier and Przybysz have partnered to promote the Miracle Match Foundation through InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, an independent event production company that Courier co-founded in 2004. All of the company's events, which include the Outback Champions Series and Legendary Night Series tennis exhibitions, have a strong charitable component. InsideOut has contributed more than $2.5 million to various worthy causes since its inception.
Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005, Courier has been active in many charitable ventures. He founded the Raymond James Courier's Kids inner-city youth tennis program in his hometown St. Petersburg, Fla. and is a board member for other tennis-related charities such as First Serve and the Gullikson Foundation.
Courier said life on the pro tennis circuit lends itself to becoming involved in charitable activities.
"There's a culture around tennis where if one player is having an event, we help each other," he said. "It's sort of quid pro quo and is a great way to get good things done. But tennis players don't deserve any extra praise than anybody else. You bring whatever talents you may have to the table, whether you're a billionaire like Warren Buffet or someone volunteering at a soup kitchen or reading to children at an after-school program. We should all do what we can to give back to our communities."
After retiring a few years ago, Sampras, 36, has started playing World Team Tennis and exhibitions this past year. Courier, for one, is glad to see his old rival back on the courts. They first played against each other as 10- and 11-year-olds in national juniors championships and battled each other for the world No. 1 spot in tennis for many years.
"Pete took a bit of a hiatus and it's great have him back," Courier said. "It's great for the game because he's a legend who people want to come out and see. Pete's achievements speak for themselves and, trust me, he's still got a great gamec People are going to see some good tennis."