April 17, 2007
Athens, Greece To Host Champions Series Tennis Event
NEW YORK, N.Y., --- InsideOut Sports & Entertainment today announced that the Olympic Tennis Centre in Athens, Greece will host a new International Champions Series tennis tournament, May 17-20 in the first-ever international event on the champions' tennis circuit co-founded by Hall of Famer Jim Courier.
The marquee player of the star-studded round-robin field will be 14-time Grand Slam champion and Greek-American Pete Sampras, who will make his first ever trip to Greece for the event. Also headlining the field will be former US Open and Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis, another standout player of Greek heritage who will be the first-ever current ATP singles player to play in an International Champions Series event. Other players in the field include Courier, former US Open and Australian Open finalist Todd Martin, 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, three-time French Open champion Mats Wilander and 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. The eighth and final player in the field will be announced at a later date.
The Champions Cup - Athens will be the first Champions Series event to be played outside of North America. There are six events on the US based 2007 Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events featuring the greatest names in tennis age 30-and-over. Greek American businessman Constantine S. Macricostas, Chairman of the U.S. based Photronics, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame Board of Directors and the man credited with bringing the event to Athens, will serve in the role of Tournament Chairman for the event.
"My family and I are pleased and proud to bring world class tennis back to Greece and to the outstanding Olympic tennis facility in Athens," said Macricostas. "With the encouragement and cooperation of the Greek government and InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, we are now in a position to host one of the finest tennis events in the world with many of the greatest Grand Slam champions and other top players to ever play the game. It will be an exciting tournament this year and for many years to come."
"This announcement is exciting on many different levels and marks a great day for InsideOut," said Jon Venison, co-founding partner of InsideOut Sports and Entertainment. "Establishing a foothold in the international market is a testament to the global appeal of these players and underscores the success of our Outback Champions Series in the USA. It's an honor for this tournament to be part of the legacy of the Greek Olympic venue and to help contribute to the continuation of high-profile sporting events being staged at the facilities constructed for the 2004 Games."
The 2007 Outback Champions Series kicked off March 7-11 in Naples, Fla., at The Oliver Group Champions Cup where Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Aaron Krickstein in the final. Other events on the 2007 Outback Champions Series include stops in Boston, Mass., Newport, R.I., Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas.
Athens will be the second Champions Series event for Sampras, who will make his series debut at the Champions Cup - Boston to be held at the Agganis Arena in Boston, May 2-6.
"Playing in this event in Greece is going to be very exciting for me and something that I am really looking forward to," said Sampras. "I've never had the opportunity to travel to Greece, but this event will give me the chance to see the country, meet the people and allow me to play in a tournament with a different kind of pride as a Greek-American playing in the land of my heritage."
All Champions Series events feature eight-man round-robin match formats with the winner of each four-player division meeting in the title match while second place finishers in each division meet in the third-place match. To be eligible to compete on the Champions Series, players must have reached at least a Grand Slam singles final, been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a championship Davis Cup team.
The Champions Cup - Athens will also mark the Champions Series debut for both Krajicek and Philippoussis.
"We are very proud of the quality of tennis and the competitive nature on the Outback Champions Series and now with a current ATP player like Mark Philippoussis playing in Athens, the bar will be further raised as we go international," said Courier. "With golfers like Fred Funk and Craig Stadler competing on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour in golf, it will be interesting to see Mark Philippoussis do the same in tennis on the ATP Tour and Champions Series circuits. This is going to be a fascinating event on a lot of levels."
Players participating in Champions Cup - Athens will receive Champions Series ranking points leading to an overall 2007 year end #1 player. In 2006, Courier finished the year as the Champions Series year-end points champion, with tournament victories in Naples and Charlotte and third place finishes in both Boston and Houston. John McEnroe finished in second place in the year-end points standings, led by a runner-up finish in Boston and a third-place finish in Naples. Martin finished in third place in the 2006 points standings, with the tournament triumph in Boston being his best result.