Salt Lake City

Philippoussis Beats Agassi To Win ’15 PowerShares Series Opener In Salt Lake

March 24, 2015 by Admin

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Mark Philippoussis defeated Andre Agassi 7-6 (4) in the one-set championship match Tuesday to win the Champions Shootout, the opening event on the 2015 PowerShares Series, at the Huntsman Center at the University of Utah.

“A match like this could go either way,” Agassi said following the final. “I had a lot some chances early on when you get down to a breaker with Mark you have to execute on the right points. He did that tonight, but it was lot of fun trying to chase down his shots.”

Philippoussis, the 2003 Wimbledon runner-up, was aided not only by his powerful serve – which earned him the nick-name of “Scud” – but in the fact that his booming shots broke the strings in all three of Andre Agassi’s racquets, forcing the eight-time major champion to finish the match using one of the Australian’s racquets.

The tournament win was third on the PowerShares Series for Philippoussis and the first since winning in Surprise, Arizona in 2010. Agassi was seeking his eighth career PowerShares Series title.

The one-night four-player tournament event marked the first pro tennis event to exclusively use Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling technology in lieu of linespeople.

In the semifinal matches earlier in the night, Philippoussis posted a 6-3 win over James Blake, who won the PowerShares Series event in Salt Lake City last year, when played at the Energy Solutions Arena. Agassi defeated Jim Courier 6-3 in the other semifinal.

The PowerShares Series continues Wednesday night in Los Angeles at the Galen Center at the University of Southern California where Philippoussis, Courier and Blake will join Andy Roddick in the field. Philippoussis is a late replacement in the Los Angeles field for Pete Sampras, who injured his calf muscle while playing in an event in Sweden over the weekend and was forced to withdraw from the event. For full schedule, player and ticket information, go to www.PowerSharesSeries.com

The remaining PowerShares Series schedule with full fields are as follows:

Wednesday, March 25: Los Angeles, Calif., (Galen Center at USC) “SoCal Honda Dealers Helpful Cup” featuring Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis, James Blake

Wednesday, April 1: Lincoln, Neb., (Pinnacle Bank Arena at Univ. of Nebraska) “Champions Cup Presented by Woods Park Tennis” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake

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.

Andre Agassi Looking Forward To Ground-Breaking, “Hawk-Eye Only” PowerShares Series Opener In Salt Lake City Tuesday

March 21, 2015 by Admin

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Andre Agassi has played a lot of tennis matches in his career, but he will not play in one anything like the one he will play at the Huntsman Center at the University of Utah on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.

In the opening night of the 12-city PowerShares Series champions tennis circuit for 2015 on Tuesday, Agassi, along with Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis and James Blake, will compete in the first-ever pro tennis event with line-calling made exclusively via electronics with the Hawk-Eye line-calling system.

“I expect it to be really interesting. Weird, I guess, would be one way to put it,” Agassi said of the upcoming, ground-breaking tennis event to local reporters in Salt Lake City. “I can absolutely tell you that when you’re playing with linesmen, you feel like you see every ball. You have this safety net of knowing that most likely they’re not going to miss a call. Then when you take those linesmen away, and you have to actually make every call. I can only imagine that suddenly the ball doesn’t look so obvious anymore. That’s the part I’m really curious about.”

The PowerShares Series, the North American tennis tour for champion tennis players over the age of 30, will now only employ a chair umpire for matches during its four-player nightly events and will have all line-calling responsibilities decided by the Hawk-Eye Officiating System. Players will be allowed unlimited challenges during the course of a match.

“Will I see the ball every bit as well as I feel like I do when there’s linesmen out there?” Agassi said. “The heats on me to make the actual call. It was never easy for me in practice. When I practice with sets of guys, I always was giving calls and given calls. I didn’t want to error in the side of something being in that I called out because that’s not realistic. I’d rather error on the side of giving a lot of points away so that I can overcome that challenge. I wonder if my instincts are going to be to just continue play even though something is out.”

Agassi will first get to try out this new style of line-calling and play against one of main rivals during this career Jim Courier in one of the semifinal matches Tuesday. James Blake and Mark Philippoussis will compete in the other semifinal. Each PowerShares Series tournament is a one-night event that features two one-set semifinal matches, followed by a one-set championship match.

Tickets and unique VIP fan experience packages on the PowerShares Series are now on sale. Tickets start at $30 and all ticket and VIP information is available at www.PowerSharesSeries.com.

Hawk-Eye is one of the leading vision processing companies in sports. First used as a broadcast tool to analyze decisions in Cricket, Hawk-Eye has since revolutionized sports broadcasting, officiating and coaching across a variety of sports including tennis, snooker and Gaelic Hurling. The Hawk-Eye technology was first used in professional tennis at the modern-day Miami Open in 2005 and first used at a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. Open. The technology is now an integral part of the ATP, WTA and ITF tennis tours, featured at over 60 events in the sport, including all four Grand Slam tournaments. Players have access to three incorrect challengers per set, plus an additional one in the event of a tie-breaker. The system is able to display the outcome of any bounce within five seconds of the ball landing, with the result being displayed to the players, chair umpire, fans and television viewer simultaneously. For more information on Hawk-Eye, go to http://www.hawkeyeinnovations.co.uk

The full 2015 PowerShares Series schedule with event match-ups are as follows:

Tuesday, March 24: Salt Lake City, Utah (Huntsman Center) “Champions Shootout”

James Blake vs. Mark Philippoussis, Andre Agassi vs. Jim Courier

Wednesday, March 25: Los Angeles, Calif., (Galen Center at USC) “SoCal Honda Dealers Helpful Cup”

Pete Sampras vs. Jim Courier, Andy Roddick vs. James Blake

Wednesday, April 1: Lincoln, Neb., (Pinnacle Bank Arena at Univ. of Nebraska) “Champions Cup Presented by Woods Park Tennis”

Andy Roddick vs. Jim Courier, James Blake vs. John McEnroe

Thursday, April 2: Chicago, Ill. (Sears Centre) “PowerShares QQQ Challenge”

John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier, Andy Roddick vs. James Blake

Thursday, April 16: Austin, Texas (Cedar Park Center) “Champions Shootout”

John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier, Andy Roddick vs. James Blake

Friday, April 17: Little Rock, Ark. (Jack Stephens Center at the UALR) “Champions Cup”

Andy Roddick vs. Jim Courier, John McEnroe vs. Mark Philippoussis

Saturday, April 18: Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum at SMU) “Champions Showdown”

John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier, Andy Roddick vs. Mark Philippoussis

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, 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.

Blake Fends Off McEnroe To Win PowerShares Series Title In Salt Lake City

February 26, 2014 by Admin

SALT LAKE CITY — James Blake fended off the furious effort of 55-year-old John McEnroe, claiming his first career title on the PowerShares Series with a 7-6 (7-5) victory in the one-set championship match at the Energy Solutions Arena.

The 34-year-old Blake is just six months removed from playing on the ATP World Tour, announcing his retirement at the 2013 U.S. Open last summer. All of his ATP ranking points have yet to drop off from the last year and he still holds a No. 208 world ranking, good enough for the No. 17 slot among Americans. McEnroe, by contrast, is competing in his 20th year of “champions” tennis after retiring from full-time play on the ATP World Tour in 1992, when Blake was just 13 years old.

“It was fun,” said Blake of winning his maiden title on the U.S. circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30. “John is still playing great. At 55 years old, it’s incredible how hard he hits the ball, how great his hands still are. I hope I am still moving like that in just a few years, let alone 20.”

Blake, the former world No. 4 and No. 2 singles player on the championship-winning 2007 U.S. Davis Cup team, led the four-time U.S. Open champion McEnroe by an early service break 2-0 but, after losing his serve in the fourth game, was then forced to hold serve twice to stay in the match at 4-5 and 5-6, trailing 0-15 in both games. In the decisive tie-breaker, Blake led by a mini-break from the start, but on his first match point at 6-4, he employed a serve-and-volley tactic for the first time in the match and McEnroe negotiated a perfect forehand top-spin lob over his head to get back on serve in the tie-breaker. On the next point, however, Blake issued McEnroe a taste of his own medicine himself hitting a forehand top-spin lob over the net-rushing left-hander to clinch the match.

Despite the loss, McEnroe played remarkable tennis to stay with the newly-retired Blake, 21 years his junior. While implementing his bread-and-butter serve-and-volley game that guided him to seven major singles titles starting in 1979 – the year Blake was born – McEnroe impressed with some amazing stab volleys against many rocket forehand drives from the youngster and with his court coverage from side to the side and in retrieving drop shots in the forecourt.

In the semifinals, Blake defeated U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier 7-5 – clinching the win with a forehand return-of-serve let-cord winner – while McEnroe registered a surprising 6-3 win over 42-year-old 14-time major champion Pete Sampras, who was making his 2014 PowerShares Series debut in Salt Lake City.

McEnroe, playing for the first time in competition since turning 55 on February 16, attributed some of his fine play against Sampras in the semifinals to the 4,200 feet of altitude of Salt Lake City.

“The altitude helped me,” he said on-court to the crowd after his win over Sampras. “It gave me a lot more stick on my serve. You don’t have to swing as hard (in altitude) so I don’t take big swings on my groundstrokes so it all seemed to work. The ball flies a lot so I felt like I was controlling it pretty well.”

With the tournament win, Blake earned 400 points in the PowerShares Series rankings to move into No. 3 with 800 points. McEnroe, who earned 200 points for his runner-up showing, still leads the rankings with 1400 points having won titles in Kansas City and Indianapolis. Courier, who won in Oklahoma City, ranks No. 2 with 1000 points. Andy Roddick, who won the title in Birmingham, ranks No. 4 with 500 points. Andre Agassi, who won in Houston last week, sits in fifth place with 400 points. Michael Chang, Ivan Lendl and Mark Philippoussis each have 300 points to rank in a three-way tie for sixth place, while Sampras ranks seventh with 100 points.

The PowerShares Series continues Wednesday, February 26 in Sacramento when Sampras, Blake, Courier and McEnroe again comprise the four-man field, Sampras playing Blake in one semifinal and McEnroe and Courier competing in the other semifinal. Good tickets for all PowerShares Series events are still available starting at $25 at www.PowerSharesSeries.com. VIP packages – including meet-and-greet and play-with-the-pros on-court opportunities – are also available here http://www.powersharesseries.com/vip-experiences/, by email to VIP@insideoutse.com, or by phone at 253.315.4299.

The remaining 2014 Power Shares Series schedule with field of players are as follows:

Wednesday, February 26, Sacramento, Sleep Train Arena – Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, James Blake

Thursday, February 27, Portland, Moda Center – Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, James Blake

Wednesday, March 12, Nashville, Bridgestone Arena – John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Pat Cash

Thursday, March 13, Charlotte, Time Warner Arena – John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Pat Cash

Friday, March 21, Surprise, Surprise Stadium – Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Todd Martin, Michael Chang

ABOUT INSIDEOUT SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT
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 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, charity events and corporate outings. Since inception, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment has have raised over $4 million for charity. For more information, please log on to www.InsideOutSE.com or www.powersharesseries.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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.

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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.