TORONTO – Mark Philippoussis defeated John McEnroe 7-5 Thursday in the one-set final at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre to win the RPIA Championships for the second year in a row and win his first Invesco Series QQQ title of the 2018 season.
The win was the 11th career Invesco Series QQQ title for Philippoussis, the 41-year-old former Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up. Last March in Toronto, Philippoussis won the title by defeating McEnroe by the same 7-5 score in the semifinals and Andy Roddick 7-6 (5) in the final. Thursday’s win for Philippoussis was his first Invesco Series title since his win in Toronto last year.
In 2016, Philippoussis lost only two matches while winning five events and winning the season-long points championship for the first time. He won titles in Memphis, Tulsa, Newport, R.I., Winston-Salem and New Haven with his only match losses coming against Roddick in Portland, Ore. and Los Angeles. Last year, Philippoussis finished in fifth place, 1000 points shy of Roddick’s 1800 point total.
After 40-year-old Tommy Haas swept the first two Invesco Series titles of 2018 in Charleston and Hawaii, Philippoussis moved himself into second-place in the Invesco Series rankings with 400 points for the victory, 300 points behind Haas. The 59-year-old McEnroe, who reached the final in Hawaii earlier this month, earned 200 ranking points to hold in third place with 400 ranking points.
En route to the final, Philippoussis beat James Blake 7-6 (5) in the first semifinal while McEnroe beat Jim Courier 6-2.
The Invesco Series QQQ continues on July 22 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. where Lleyton Hewitt will make is Invesco Series QQQ tour debut. The remaining schedule, with player fields, is as follows
2018 Invesco Series QQQ Schedule:
July 22: Newport, R.I. (International Tennis Hall of Fame) – Lleyton Hewitt, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas and James Blake
August 19: Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest University) – Players TBA
August 23, 24: New Haven, CT (Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale) – John McEnroe, Tommy Haas, James Blake and Todd Martin
October 4: St. Louis, MO (Chaifetz Arena) – Players TBA
October 6: Houston, TX (Tudor Fieldhouse) – Players TBA
October 19: Denver, CO (1stBank Center) – Players TBA
October 21: Los Angeles, CA (Sherwood Country Club) – Players TBA
2018 Invesco Series QQQ Results
May 17: Toronto, ON (Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre) F: Mark Philippoussis d. John McEnroe 7-5, SF: Mark Philippoussis d. James Blake 7-6 (5); John McEnroe d. Jim Courier 6-2.
April 7: Charleston, SC (Family Circle Tennis Center) F: Tommy Haas def. Andy Roddick 6-1; SF: Tommy Haas def. Michael Chang 6-2; Andy Roddick def. Mark Philippoussis 6-3
May 5, 6: Kohala Coast, HI (Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows) F: Tommy Haas def. John McEnroe 7-5 SF: Tommy Haas def. Mardy Fish 6-3, John McEnroe def.Jim Courier 6-3
Each Invesco Series QQQ event features special VIP experiences, including hit-with-the-pros opportunities and special back-stage access. All ticket, experience and event information can be found at www.InvescoSeries.com
In 2017, the year-long points championship was decided in the final match of the season when Andy Roddick defeated James Blake in the Los Angeles final at the Sherwood Country Club. Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and world No. 1, won four Invesco Series QQQ titles in all in 2017, winning in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Lincoln, Neb., and Los Angeles. Blake, the former world No. 4 and former U.S. Davis Cup star, won series titles in Charleston, S.C., Winston-Salem, N.C. and in Lynchburg, Va.
In 2016, Mark Philippoussis won the Series points title with 1600 points and tournament titles in Memphis, Tulsa, Newport, Winston-Salem and New Haven. Roddick finished in second place, also earning 1600 points but losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philippoussis 5-2, while winning titles in Charleston, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Orlando. Blake finished in third place with 1100 points and tournament titles in Chicago, Portland and Brooklyn.
In 2015, Roddick won the Series points title in his second year of competing on the series with 1,600 points. Roddick won a record eight events Los Angeles, Lincoln, Chicago, Austin, Little Rock, Dallas, Richmond and Minneapolis. Blake finished second in the points rankings with 1,200 points, winning events in Boston and Cincinnati. Philippoussis finished in third with 1,100 points, winning titles in Salt Lake City and Vancouver. The year before in 2014, McEnroe won the points title for the first time in the nine-year history of Invesco Series QQQ tennis by winning events in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville and Charlotte.
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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 Beach Volleyball and numerous corporate outings. Since inception, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment has 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 InvescoSeries.comor follow on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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