LINCOLN, Neb. — Andy Roddick made a triumphant return to the land of his birth Wednesday, defeating his former U.S. Davis Cup teammate and good friend James Blake 6-1 in the one-set championship match at the Champions Cup Presented by Woods Park Tennis, the third of 12 events on the 2015 PowerShares Series tennis circuit.
Roddick, who was born in Omaha, Nebraska and lived there for a short time, claimed his fourth career PowerShares Series title with the win at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. Roddick also won the title in Los Angeles last week in his 2015 Series debut.
“It’s great to be able to play tennis here,” said Roddick, a life-long Nebraska Cornhuskers fan. “I’ve come here so many times to watches games and visit family, but to do what I love here at this beautiful venue is really cool for me.”
During his playing days on the ATP Tour, Roddick was never shy of his allegiance to the University of Nebraska and its celebrated football team, often being seen wearing Nebraska hats or shirts. He talked Wednesday of playing all of his tennis matches in a Nebraska hat from age 8 to 12 – “That smelled fantastic at the end of it,” he quipped – and growing up, having Nebraska wall-papering in his bathroom.
When the 2015 PowerShares Series schedule was being planned, Roddick lobbied for Lincoln to be one of the sites.
“I definitely staked my claim to play back in Nebraska first. It was a priority for me,” Roddick said when the Series schedule was announced in December. “I’ve been to Lincoln many, many times. Never played tennis there, but I’ve been there for (Nebraska) football games a bunch.”
In the event’s semifinals earlier in the night, John McEnroe made his 2015 PowerShares Series debut and fell to Blake 7-6 (4), while Roddick defeated Jim Courier 6-3.
There was much anticipation surrounding McEnroe’s debut, with the PowerShares Series being played this year without linespeople and players calling their own lines with the Hawk-Eye line calling challenge system – with unlimited challenges – being used for disputed calls. Against Blake, McEnroe, known throughout his career for his arguments over line-calls, went 2-for-9 in Hawk-Eye challenges, while getting three calls wrong challenged by Blake.
“I think there are lot of line judges out there who are smiling,” quipped Blake in his post-match on-court interview of McEnroe’s line-calling efforts.
After three events on the 2015 PowerShares Series, Roddick moves to the No. 1 ranking with 800 points, overtaking Salt Lake City champion Philippoussis, who has 600 points. Blake moves to third place with 400 points followed by Courier with 300 points, Andre Agassi with 200 points and McEnroe with 100 points.
The PowerShares Series, the 12-city tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30, continues Thursday, April 2 in Chicago, Ill, at the Sears Center where McEnroe, Roddick, Courier and Blake will again compete. The Chicago matches will be broadcast LIVE on Fox Sports 1 at 7:30 pm ET. For full schedule, player and ticket information, go to www.PowerSharesSeries.com
The remaining PowerShares Series schedule with full fields are as follows:
Thursday, April 2: Chicago, Ill. (Sears Centre) “PowerShares QQQ Challenge” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake
Thursday, April 16: Austin, Texas (Cedar Park Center) “Champions Shootout” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake
Friday, April 17: Little Rock, Ark. (Jack Stephens Center at the UALR) “Champions Cup” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis
Saturday, April 18: Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum at SMU) “Champions Showdown” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis
Wednesday, April 22: Boston, Mass. (Agganis Arena at Boston University) “Champions Cup” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake
Thursday, April 23: Richmond, Va., (Siegel Center at VCU) “Champions Challenge” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake
Wednesday, April 29: Minneapolis, Minn. (Target Center) “Champions Shootout” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang, James Blake
Thursday, April 30: Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center at Xavier) “Champions Showdown” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang, James Blake
Saturday, May 2: Vancouver, Canada (Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at UBC) “Champions Showdown” featuring Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Michael Chang, Mark Philippoussis
In 2014, John McEnroe won the points title for the first time in the nine-year history of Champions Series tennis by winning events in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville and Charlotte. McEnroe was followed in the points standings by Blake in second place and Roddick in third place.
ABOUT INSIDEOUT SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT
InsideOut Sports + Entertainment is a Los Angeles-based producer of proprietary events and promotions founded in 2004 by former world No. 1 and Hall of Fame tennis player Jim Courier and former SFX and Clear Channel executive Jon Venison. In 2005, InsideOut launched its signature property, the Champions Series, a collection of tournaments featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. In addition, InsideOut produces many other successful events including “Legendary Night” exhibitions, The World Series of Volleyball and numerous corporate outings. Since inception, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment has have raised over $4 million for charity. In 2014, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment merged with Horizon Media, the largest privately held media services agency in the world. For more information, please log on to www.InsideOutSE.com or www.powersharesseries.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
ABOUT HORIZON MEDIA
Horizon Media, Inc. is the largest and fastest growing privately held media services agency in the world. The company was founded in 1989, is headquartered in New York, and has offices in Los Angeles, San Diego and Chicago. Horizon Media was named 2011 Independent Media Agency of the Year by Mediapost, 2010 U.S. Media Agency of the Year by Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek and Ad Age and as one of the world’s ten most innovative marketing and advertising companies by Fast Company in 2011. In 2012, Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder, was honored by Advertising Age as Industry Executive of the Year and he currently serves as Chairman of the 4A’s, the industry’s oldest and most prestigious trade association. The company’s mission is “To create the most meaningful brand connections within the lives of people everywhere.” Horizon Media has estimated billings of $4 .7 billion and approximately 1,000 employees. For more info, go towww.HorizonMedia.com
ABOUT INVESCO POWERSHARES
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC is Leading the Intelligent ETF Revolution® through its family of more than 140 domestic and international exchange-traded funds, providing advisors and investors access to an innovative array of focused investment opportunities. With franchise assets over $66.7 billion as of June 29, 2012, PowerShares ETFs trade on both U.S. stock exchanges. For more information, please visit us at invescopowershares.com or follow us on Twitter @PowerShares.
ABOUT POWERSHARES QQQ
PowerShares QQQ™, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on the NASDAQ-100 Index®, is one of the largest and most traded ETFs in the world. Under most circumstances, QQQ will consist of all of the stocks in the index which includes 100 of the largest domestic and international nonfinancial companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market based on market capitalization.
