Tennis greats for the Athens Cup > II

The Champions Cup Athens, the first international Champions Series tennis event organized by Jim Courier and InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, begun Thursday at the Athens Olympic Tennis Centre in Athens, Greece. 

The tournament, that concludes Sunday, features 14-time Grand Slam tournament champion and Greek-American Pete Sampras in his first-ever visit to Greece.

SPECIAL EVENTS > There are three events of great interest that take place at the same time as the tournament:

Sampras vs. Courier at the foot of the Acropolis > On Thursday, May 17, at 12:00 noon, there will be an exhibition match between Pete Sampras and Jim Courier at a specially modified area in front of the “Dionysus” restaurant with a view to the Acropolis. 

Tomorrow’s  tennis players meet the big “stars” > On Saturday, May 19, at 11:00 a.m., the Athens Champions’ Cup 2007 top stars will meet the Greek champions of the future. The first 100 children up to 18 years of age to arrive at the Olympic Tennis Centre bringing along their racquets will meet the eight athletes and play with them. Apart from the opportunity to live their dream even for a few minutes, the children will also receive a ticket each to watch the Saturday afternoon games for free. Those children who will not be amongst the first one hundred to arrive will be able to remain at the Tennis Centre and watch the exhibition matches from the stands. 

An exhibition entitled “In the Zone” > Throughout the duration of the Athens Cup, the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum will present an interesting exhibition entitled “In the Zone”. The exhibition will be set in one of the first floor rooms of the Olympic Tennis Centre and refers to the most important times of famous tennis champions, such as: Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams, Rod Laver, Chris Evert Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. The exhibition also hosts special tributes to Pete Sampras and Arantxa Sanchez–Vicario, who will this year enter the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

NEW PLAYERS > Australian of Greek origin Mark Philippoussis was forced to withdraw from Champions Cup Athens due to his continued knee problems. He is replaced in the draw by Swede Magnus Larsson. Mats Wilander also withdrew from the event due to the lingering back problems that also forced him to withdraw from the Champions Cup Boston. Wilander is replaced in the field by Anders Jarryd. Wayne Ferreira replaces Emilio Sanchez in the field. Sanchez is unable to play due to illness.

THE ATHENS CHAMPIONS’ CUP GAMES SCHEDULE > The eight athletes have been divided into two groups of four and will be playing a round-robin schedule. The winners from the each group will meet one another in the final, whereas the runner-ups from each group will vie for third place.

All scores and updates can be found at > www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com

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