Local tennis fans will be able to watch four former players with a combined 27 Grand Slam titles compete in a one-night event in November.
Jim Courier, John McEnroe, Patrick Rafter, and Pete Sampras have all signed up to play at the Champions Shootout in the Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 2. The event is part of the PowerShares Series, a seven-week circuit featuring former players who have either been ranked No. 1 in the world or who have reached at least one Grand Slam final.
Courier, McEnroe, Rafter, and Sampras will compete in a pair of one-set semifinal matches. Then the two winners will play in an eight-game championship.
During a teleconference Wednesday afternoon, Courier said the Series gives him a chance to feel competitive again, but at 41 he also hopes to just have fun.
"We can have our cake and eat it on this tour," the winner of four Grand Slam tournaments said. "We're all unfortunately competitive beasts, and you can't turn that off. When we're out there, we're going to do what we do, but I think there is a much greater understanding and feeling toward these guys that I have at this stage."
In all, the PowerShares Series features nine players, with four competing at every tournament. At the end of the season, each player will take his five best results from the series for his final point total. The players with the three best point totals win money: $500,000 for the winner, $350,000 for second place, $150,000 for third place.
Last year, McEnroe finished fifth. He would like to improve on that, but he also knows entertaining the crowd is most important.
Freedoms fall. The Freedoms lost to Martina Hingis and the Sportimes, 23-16, in a World TeamTennis match Wednesday night in New York.
