22 September 2008
Discounted tickets for the BlackRock Masters Tennis tournament,
starring Pete Sampras
BlackRock Masters Tennis
Royal Albert Hall
2-7 December 2008
The hugely popular BlackRock Masters Tennis tournament, now in its twelfth year, will once again be staged at the iconic venue of the Royal Albert Hall, London from the 2-7 December 2008.
The event draws over 30,000 spectators making it the most popular indoor tennis event in the UK. This year will see former World No.1 and 14-times Grand Slam Champion, Pete Sampras, making his debut and returning to London for the first time since his last appearance at Wimbledon in 2002. The chance to return and play at the Royal Albert Hall is something he couldn't resist, particularly after sampling the venue for the first time almost 20 years ago in the World Championship Doubles.
"I remember it being a great arena," he said. "You could hear the glasses during the points with all the people drinking champagne, and everyone in their tuxedos. They really live it up there, so I'm looking forward to it. I haven't been back to London since my last Wimbledon, which was a bit of a nightmare. I hear a lot of good things about the event in London and the stadium and the exposure it brings. So I'm excited and pretty pumped up about it. I hear the people there really support it and so I'm excited to go back and play a little tennis for them."
He will be joined by Stefan Edberg who will play competitive tennis for the first time in 12 years after signing up to play on the BlackRock Tour of Champions in 2008. Edberg, who won six Grand Slam titles including two Wimbledon crowns, had previously declined invitations to compete against his old rivals.
Tournament Chairman, Peter Worth says "We have been trying to persuade Stefan to join the Champions Tour for years --- he has a huge following and I am sure everyone will be delighted to see him," he said.
The singles event will also see the return of John McEnroe and Goran Ivanisevic, who have confirmed their attendance, with more players to be announced shortly.
Ivanisevic has vowed to take revenge against former rival Pete Sampras for 'destroying his life', should he be up against him in the single event. Ivanisevic finished as the runner-up to Sampras in the 1994 and 1998 Wimbledon finals, and lost to the American in the 1995 semi finals, before eventually winning the title as a wild card in 2001. The torture of those seven years from 1994-2001 has not been forgotten by Ivanisevic, and he cannot wait to meet Sampras at the Royal Albert Hall.
As well as the competitive singles event there will be more relaxed and highly entertaining doubles matches taking place each session. The doubles event features astonishing performances from crowd favourites Mansour Bahrami and Henri Leconte, together with a host of other legends including Pat Cash, Cedric Pioline and Peter McNamara.
There are two sessions a day from Tuesday 2 - Saturday 6 December, commencing at 1pm and 7.30pm and one session on Sunday 7 December, commencing at 1.30pm. Nursing Times Readers are entitled to a 20% discount on circle tickets to this event on all sessions Tuesday 2 - Friday 5 December. Make sure you secure your place now to watch the tennis legends in action.