September 15, 2008
Tennis pros raise money for Children's Hospital
By: Pat Lohmann
Tennis legend Pete Sampras faced rising star Sam Querrey in an exhibition match at The Pit on Friday.
The professional duo played the best of three sets --- with Sampras defeating Querrey 6-5, 6-3 --- and raised at least $15,000 for the UNM Children's Hospital, said Hazel Tull-Leach, the hospital's executive director.
"These guys raise their rackets for kids, for the children of New Mexico," Tull-Leach said. "They give them hope. UNM Children's Hospital is very fortunate to be a part of this."
UNMCH is the only children's hospital in the state, Tull-Leach said, and more than 49,000 children come from all over the Southwest for care.
ProLink, a sports media group, organized the event as part of its six-city tour with tennis superstars such as Andy Roddick, Venus and Serena Williams and Andre Agassi.
"I love to do things for kids," said Tim Stallard, president of ProLink.
On Sept. 11, ProLink and Andy Roddick raised money in Austin, Texas, for Children of Fallen Soldiers.
At a news conference before the match, Sampras told the patients of UNMCH to "never give up."
President David Schmidly met with the participating tennis players, including Murphy Jensen, to thank them for their support on behalf of everyone at UNMCH.
"There's nothing more important to parents than the health of their children," Schmidly said to the crowd of tennis fans, UNMCH employees and young patients.
Jensen, the 1993 French Open champion, said he was honored to judge the exhibition match.
"An event like this is a chance for us to see what we can give to life as opposed to seeing what we can get out of life," Jensen said.
After the news conference, Sampras and Querrey gave a tennis clinic to sponsors of the event and held a silent auction. All proceeds from the auction went, along with sponsor donations, to UNMCH.
Sampras retired from professional tennis after winning a record 14 Grand Slam tennis championships --- including seven Wimbledon wins and five U.S. Open championship wins --- but still plays for charity events. He visited children staying at the hospital and signed autographs.
Querrey, an up-and-coming professional tennis player, was narrowly defeated in the U.S. Open by Rafael Nadal. He is preparing to represent America in the prestigious Davis Cup, an international tennis tournament.