NEW YORK, September 16, 2009 – InsideOut Sports & Entertainment today announced that Aaron Krickstein, Jimmy Arias and Mikael Pernfors will round out the field of champions at the $150,000 Breezeplay Championships at The Palisades, to be held September 24-27 at The Palisades Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. Headlining the field at the sixth event on the 2009 Outback Champions Series event is Pete Sampras, the seven-time Wimbledon champion and holder of 14 major singles championships. Also in the field is two-time Charlotte champion Jim Courier, three-time Charlotte runner-up Todd Martin and 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.
Tickets for the event are now on sale and can be purchased at 877-332-TIXX. Ticket information – as well as the schedule of play – can also be found at www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com. The Breezeplay Championships at The Palisades will be played over four days with the winner earning $60,000.
Krickstein, 42, reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 and helped the United States to victory in the Davis Cup in 1990, with epic wins over Milan Srejber and Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia in the quarterfinals. Krickstein was a semifinalist at the U.S. Open in 1990 and the Australian Open in 1995 and won nine career ATP singles titles during his career. His best showings on the Outback Champions Series came in runner-up showings in Naples, Fla., in 2007 and Boston in 2008, losing to Wayne Ferreira and John McEnroe, respectively.
Arias, 45, turned pro at age 16 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 in April 1984. He enjoyed his best year in 1983 with four singles titles, including the U.S. Clay Court Championships and the Italian Open. That same year, at age 19, he reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Arias holds five career ATP titles, all in singles. His best showing on the Outback Champions Series came in April when he reached his first series final in Grand Cayman, losing to Courier in the final.
Pernfors, 46, is best known for his run to the singles final at the French Open in 1986, where he defeated Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker before losing to Ivan Lendl in the final. He won three ATP singles titles during his career, including the Canadian Open in 1993 where he came from 2-5 down in the third set to defeat Martin in the final. Pernfors helped Sweden to the Davis Cup final in 1986 and won back-to-back NCAA singles titles for the University of Georgia in 1984 and 1985. Pernfors is currently ranked No. 8 in the Outback Champions Series.
Sampras won the opening event on the 2009 Outback Champions Series, defeating McEnroe in the final of the Champions Cup Boston in February. McEnroe won the second event of the year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defeating Courier in the final. Sampras won his second title of the year at the Del Mar Development Champions Cup in Los Cabos, Mexico, defeating Patrick Rafter in the final. Courier won his first title of the 2009 season in April at the Cayman Islands, defeating Jimmy Arias in the final. Pat Cash successfully defended his title on the grass courts at the Hall of Fame Champions Cup in Newport, R.I. in August, defeating Courier in the final. Following Charlotte, the next event on the Outback Champions Series will be held in Surprise, Ariz., where Andre Agassi will make his debut Oct. 8-11.
Founded in 2005, the Outback Champions Series features some of the biggest names in tennis over the last 25 years, including Andre Agassi, Sampras, McEnroe, Courier and others. To be eligible to compete on the Outback Champions Series, players must have reached at least a major singles final, been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a championship Davis Cup team. The Outback Champions Series features seven events on its 2009 schedule with each event featuring $150,000 in prize money as well as Champions Series points that will determine the year-end Champions Rankings No. 1.
InsideOut Sports + Entertainment is a New York City-based independent 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 Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. In addition, InsideOut produces many other successful events including “Legendary Night” exhibitions, charity events, corporate outings and tennis fantasy camps such as the annual “Ultimate Fantasy Camp”. Through 2008, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment events have raised over $4 million for charity. For more information, please log on to www.InsideOutSE.com or www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com.