Andy Roddick won his sixth title of the year on the PowerShares Series tennis circuit Saturday, breaking the single-season mark set by Pete Sampras in 2011, defeating John McEnroe 6-3 in the one-set final of the Champions Showdown at the Moody Coliseum at Southern Methodist University.
Roddick, 32, remains unbeaten in 2015 on the North American tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30, increasing his record to 12-0 for the year. After starting the season by winning in Los Angeles on March 25, Roddick has also won in Lincoln, Neb., Chicago, Austin, Texas, Little Rock, Ark., and Dallas. In 2011, Sampras won five PowerShares Series titles, winning in Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Seattle and Surprise, Ariz.
“I’ve always wanted to break one of Pete’s records but I’ve never really come close,” quipped Roddick of breaking the Sampras record in his post-match on-court interview after his win over McEnroe. “Beggars can’t be choosers so I will take it.”
Roddick, in fact, has lost only one match on the PowerShares Series since debuting last season, just 17 months after concluding his ATP World Tour career at the 2012 U.S. Open. In 2014, Roddick won two of the three PowerShares Series events he played – winning in Birmingham, Alabama and Denver, Colorado, but lost to James Blake 6-3 in the semifinals of Houston on February 21, 2014.
McEnroe, in fact, said he felt that if Roddick was still active on the ATP World Tour, he would be still be a top 15 player. His first serve has been clocked fairly consistently in the 130 mph range this season on the PowerShares Series. Currently there are three players in the top 15 of the ATP World Tour rankings who are, in fact, older than Roddick – (Roger Federer, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez, all of whom are 33 years old.)
Saturday’s win marked the second straight night where Roddick beat McEnroe in a final, also beating him 6-3 Friday night in Little Rock. Roddick also beat McEnroe 6-3 in the final of Chicago on April 2.
To reach the final Saturday night in the four-player event, Roddick defeated Mark Philippoussis 6-4, while McEnroe defeated Jim Courier 6-3.
McEnroe reached the final for the third time on the 2015 PowerShares Series, all his final-round losses coming to Roddick. Saturday’s final marked the 28th time that McEnroe had reached a PowerShares Series final since the circuit began in 2005. The 56-year-old McEnroe returned to Moody Coliseum to play Saturday after winning the World Championship Tennis (WCT) Finals there in 1979, defeating Jimmy Connors in the semifinals and Bjorn Borg in the final.
Roddick remains in the lead in the PowerShares Series points rankings – taking a player’s best four tournament results during the season – with 1600 points, followed by Philippoussis with 800 points and McEnroe with 700 points. Courier and James Blake are tied for fourth place with 500 points and Andre Agassi is in sixth place with 200 points.
The PowerShares Series, the 12-city tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30, continues Wednesday, April 22 in Boston at the Agganis Arena at Boston University. Roddick will go for his seventh straight title and will be joined by McEnroe, Courier and Blake.
For full schedule, player and ticket information, go to www.PowerSharesSeries.com
The remaining PowerShares Series schedule with full fields are as follows:
Wednesday, April 22: Boston, Mass. (Agganis Arena at Boston University) “Champions Cup”
John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier, Andy Roddick vs. James Blake
Thursday, April 23: Richmond, Va., (Siegel Center at VCU) “Champions Challenge”
Jim Courier vs. Andy Roddick, John McEnroe vs. James Blake
Wednesday, April 29: Minneapolis, Minn. (Target Center) “Champions Shootout”
John McEnroe vs. James Blake, Andy Roddick vs. Michael Chang
Thursday, April 30: Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center at Xavier) “Champions Showdown”
Andy Roddick vs. James Blake, John McEnroe vs. Michael Chang
Saturday, May 2: Vancouver, Canada (Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at UBC) “Champions Showdown”
Michael Chang vs. Mark Philippoussis, Pete Sampras vs. John McEnroe
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.
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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.
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