Pete Sampras beats Jim Courier in Champions series opener

thor's hammer · 09-23-2011, 07:25 AM

Pete Sampras beat Jim Courier 8-6 in the finals Thursday night of the HSBC Tennis Cup, the opening event of the 2011 Champions Series.

Courier reached the finals with a 7-5 win over Jimmy Connors, who returned to competitive tennis for the first time in 11 years.

Sampras beat Michael Chang 6-4 in the semifinals.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...JpK_story.html

Anyone attend?

thor's hammer · 09-23-2011, 07:27 AM

Related articles...

Connors in town and ready to compete again

Tennis Legends: "We All Still Love To Compete"

The Champions series continues tonight in DC, and tomorrow night in Philly. Agassi replaces Connors.

http://www.championsseriestennis.com/category/events

Set Sampras · 09-23-2011, 08:06 AM

Sampras stilll owning Courier and Chang. Nothing new here to see.

thor's hammer · 09-23-2011, 08:19 AM

Sampras can own anyone on any senior tour anytime he likes. I think for a couple sets he might own just about anyone, anywhere, period!

On a fast court, anyway.

BTW, looks like Connors is replacing Chang. In Philly, at least...

On Saturday, Agassi, Sampras, Connors, and Courier will compete.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/130398443.html

Devilito · 09-23-2011, 08:28 AM

What's lame is they don't stream these matches live or show replays. The majority if your fan base is not going to be able to go to a live event. In 2011 there is no excuse to not have a large online presence. I’d rather be watching this than the ATP events going on atm.

VGP · 09-23-2011, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Set Sampras

Sampras stilll owning Courier and Chang. Nothing new here to see.

nothing new to see, but I'd watch it anyway any day.

thor's hammer · 09-23-2011, 09:16 AM

It would be great to get this stuff live over the net, or at least complete matches on youtube, but it takes some $$ to put a broadcast production together. Sure, someone can just put a camera on a tripod and stream/record, but that's typically not the quality we're used to for watching an entire tennis match.

Hopefully these matches will show up on The Tennis Channel at some point soon. That still won't make them available to everyone who might be interested, but it would significantly increase the number, at least in the US.

Maybe The Tennis Channel should think about offering "premium" content (including live matches as well as archived/on demand full matches) as a streaming service over the net for a modest subscription fee. I'm not stuck on TTC, but they already have the infrastructure largely in place, and with net delivery they could reach a worldwide audience.

VGP · 09-23-2011, 09:25 AM

FWIW - here's the Champions Series TV schedule:

Quote:

2011 Champions Series Telecasts

The Champions Series is proud to partner with Fox Sports Net (FSN) national group of regional sports networks, New England Sports Net (NESN) and Tennis Channel (TC) to bring 2011 Champions Series action to tennis fans all over the United States.

Starting November, 2011 FSN national and NESN will telecast a new 2011 Champions Series tournament weekly over a twelve week period. Tennis Channel will air the 2011 Champions Series starting December, 2011.

Check back here for updated listings of 2011 Champions Series telecasts on FSN, NESN and TC.

2010 Champions Series TV listings: (Times listed as Eastern Time unless noted by their Channel information)

BrooklynNY · 09-23-2011, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devilito

What's lame is they don't stream these matches live or show replays. The majority if your fan base is not going to be able to go to a live event. In 2011 there is no excuse to not have a large online presence. I’d rather be watching this than the ATP events going on atm.

I wholeheartedly agree. So far the best there is is people posting random pics on twitter. We should make an official Champions Series thread, or make this the official thread.

I'm thinking of getting tickets for a quick trip to Philly to see Pete play, it sucks that the MSG exo this year is going to be Federer/Roddick...like who really wants to go pay to see Roddick lose, maybe if he had won Wimby09, it would be intriguing, but everyone walking into he building knows Roddick has nothing for Fed

sportsfan1 · 09-23-2011, 11:49 AM

If Sampras can put up a good exhibition match against the likes of Federer, he will own Connors any day.

thor's hammer · 09-23-2011, 12:47 PM

I don't suspect Connors at this stage could hold his own against Sampras with his foot fully on the pedal, so I expect Pete will throttle down as necessary to keep things entertaining. I do suspect Connors still hits a great ball, and if he can move reasonably well it could still make for some very nice tennis. I would certainly pay to see it if it was coming to my area. As it is I'll look forward to seeing it on tv in a couple months. (Thanks VGP!)

If anyone does get to see any of the matches in person a report would be great.

Set Sampras · 09-23-2011, 04:12 PM

I think Pete definitely looks the best out of all the retired guys. Its amazing how far downhill Andre went after retiring. He looks awful anymore.

Devilito · 09-23-2011, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Set Sampras

I think Pete definitely looks the best out of all the retired guys. Its amazing how far downhill Andre went after retiring. He looks awful anymore.

Andre has a debilitating injury, Petros doesn't. Plus Andre played way more than Petros did so he’s a bit more burnt out. Petros has also had enough time since retirement to refresh himself mentally. Andre looks like he plays just for a bit of publicity, maybe plug his charity here and there, while Petros looks like he plays because he has fun and it's something for him to do. Motivation levels look totally different on court between the two. I almost get the impression Petros wishes he was still 25 and playing on tour and mixing it up with the top guys to see how he would do. Andre looks like he's glad to be retired

drakulie · 09-23-2011, 08:01 PM

I strung at the opener yesterday in Ft. Lauderdale.

While watching them warm up early in the day and testing out the court, all the guys could still hit a clean ball.

Was great fun being part of the opener.

big ted · 09-23-2011, 08:19 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIoLQw3DbrQ

i think connors would beat lendl now. its interesting how lendl was the fittest of them all on the regular tour but now he is the least. lendls weight during his prime was listed as 175lbs but i dont think that was his "normal" weight. in order for him to be that low he had to monitor every gram of food and do aerobics training.

Datacipher · 09-24-2011, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big ted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIoLQw3DbrQ

i think connors would beat lendl now. .

LOL. Well he can't beat Roddick now, but his footwork, preparation, balance, and backhand are still light years ahead of Andy!!

From the other side:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGaer...eature=related

dominikk1985 · 09-24-2011, 01:39 AM

Conners is 60 years old and on top of that has a replacement hip. How do you expect him to do against sampras?

I think it is pretty amazing that he still plays at all.

joe sch · 09-24-2011, 04:46 AM

Sure wish they would play with wood. Would really show off all these champions vintage skills and allow more allcourt tennis. Maybe even have them play some dubs since it would even add more of an entertainment factor and surely help out some of the older players like Connors.

joe sch · 09-24-2011, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big ted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIoLQw3DbrQ

i think connors would beat lendl now. its interesting how lendl was the fittest of them all on the regular tour but now he is the least. lendls weight during his prime was listed as 175lbs but i dont think that was his "normal" weight. in order for him to be that low he had to monitor every gram of food and do aerobics training.

Jimbo still has very fast, light, and quick feet and leans into his strokes like the good ole days. Ivans movement did not look so good. Just goes to show, movement and body conditioning are soo important for playing top level tennis.

sportsfan1 · 09-24-2011, 05:43 AM

Having never watched connors play (both live and on tv), I recently saw a youtube video of connors vs agassi us open quarter finals (I read somewhere he had a good slice backhand, but couldn't find it). I don't know if it was because of the video, but connors looked like he had a very 'push' sort of motion on the backhand, and did not put away short balls decisively (probably was looking at placement).

Here's a video below, I thought it would be ripped cross court instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjBGHuMDE1I&t=2m33s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjBGHuMDE1I&t=3m46s

09-23-2011, 07:25 AM	#1
thor's hammer Rookie Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 259	Pete Sampras beats Jim Courier in Champions series opener Pete Sampras beat Jim Courier 8-6 in the finals Thursday night of the HSBC Tennis Cup, the opening event of the 2011 Champions Series. Courier reached the finals with a 7-5 win over Jimmy Connors, who returned to competitive tennis for the first time in 11 years. Sampras beat Michael Chang 6-4 in the semifinals. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...JpK_story.html Anyone attend? __________________ "I made a decision about how I wanted to play the game. I would rather lose hitting the ball hard than win holding back." ...Rod Laver

09-23-2011, 07:27 AM	#2
thor's hammer Rookie Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 259	Related articles... Connors in town and ready to compete again Tennis Legends: "We All Still Love To Compete" The Champions series continues tonight in DC, and tomorrow night in Philly. Agassi replaces Connors. http://www.championsseriestennis.com/category/events __________________ "I made a decision about how I wanted to play the game. I would rather lose hitting the ball hard than win holding back." ...Rod Laver Last edited by thor's hammer : 09-23-2011 at 07:45 AM. Reason: Info update

09-23-2011, 08:19 AM	#4
thor's hammer Rookie Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 259	Sampras can own anyone on any senior tour anytime he likes. I think for a couple sets he might own just about anyone, anywhere, period! On a fast court, anyway. BTW, looks like Connors is replacing Chang. In Philly, at least... On Saturday, Agassi, Sampras, Connors, and Courier will compete. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/130398443.html __________________ "I made a decision about how I wanted to play the game. I would rather lose hitting the ball hard than win holding back." ...Rod Laver

09-23-2011, 09:16 AM	#7
thor's hammer Rookie Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 259	It would be great to get this stuff live over the net, or at least complete matches on youtube, but it takes some $$ to put a broadcast production together. Sure, someone can just put a camera on a tripod and stream/record, but that's typically not the quality we're used to for watching an entire tennis match. Hopefully these matches will show up on The Tennis Channel at some point soon. That still won't make them available to everyone who might be interested, but it would significantly increase the number, at least in the US. Maybe The Tennis Channel should think about offering "premium" content (including live matches as well as archived/on demand full matches) as a streaming service over the net for a modest subscription fee. I'm not stuck on TTC, but they already have the infrastructure largely in place, and with net delivery they could reach a worldwide audience. __________________ "I made a decision about how I wanted to play the game. I would rather lose hitting the ball hard than win holding back." ...Rod Laver Last edited by thor's hammer : 09-23-2011 at 09:21 AM.

09-23-2011, 11:49 AM	#10
sportsfan1 Professional Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 1,112	If Sampras can put up a good exhibition match against the likes of Federer, he will own Connors any day. __________________ Head LM Rad MP, Wilson Blx 6.1 95 16x18 w/ RPM Blast, 4 1/2 grip.