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The Outback Champions Series took to the road for the third annual Champions Cup Boston, the third stop on the 2008 Outback Champions Series. The event boasted a highly competitive field, including the 2008 debut for Pete Sampras.
Wayne Ferreira kicked off the first session on Wednesday evening, with a convincing, 6-2, 6-2, victory over Mikael Pernfors. His strong topspin groundstrokes on the fast court were too much for the Swede to handle. Following the Ferreira victory, Aaron Krickstein defeated fellow American and former Wimbledon finalist, Mal Washington by the same score of 6-2, 6-2.
Coming off of a 3rd place finish in Grand Cayman, Arias continued his hot streak Thursday evening, using great passing shots to lead Sampras, 5-4. However, Arias, up a break and serving for the set, injured his hamstring and was forced to retire from the match. The sudden end to the first match forced Jim Courier and John McEnroe to play earlier than either player expected. McEnroe’s powerful serves and crafty net game proved to be a challenge for Courier as McEnroe defeated the current number one ranked player in the 2008 Stanford Champions Rankings, 6-4, 6-4.
The action continued to heat up on Friday when Krickstein combined strong serves with big forehands to upset Ferreira, 5-7, 7-5, 10-8(TB). Later that afternoon, Pernfors followed up with his first win of the event, a 6-3, 6-1, victory over Washington. Pernfors, who had previously been struggling to find his rhythm, came up with some heavy forehand winners and dominated at the net.
The big story came Friday night as McEnroe recorded his first career victory over Pete Sampras handing Sampras his first ever loss on the Outback Champions Series. McEnroe’s fighting spirit was stronger than ever as he used well placed serves and deft touch to keep Sampras off balance for most of the evening eventually prevailing, 2-6, 7-5, 10-4(TB).
Also set to play Friday night was Jim Courier and Jimmy Arias, but Arias unable to recover from his previous hamstring injury, swapped places with former ATP star Justin Gimelstob. Gimelstob, who was on site for NESN, handling television commentary for the Champions Cup Boston, was able to step in to play some great exhibition tennis versus Jim Courier and John McEnroe.
Group B action continued Saturday as Ferreira defeated Washington, 6-3, 3-6, 11-9(TB) to secure a spot in the 3rd place match Sunday against Jim Courier. Courier received walkover victories over both Arias and Sampras who also withdrew on Saturday afternoon from the tournament after aggravating a back injury during his loss to McEnroe Friday evening. Saturday’s action also included a win from Krickstein who advanced to the final against McEnroe with a straight set victory over Pernfors, 6-2, 6-3. In addition to the feature matches, the crowd was entertained on Saturday night with a doubles exhibition played with Justin Gimelstob and Wayne Ferreira taking on Jim Courier and Mal Washington in an 8 game pro-set. Ferreira, an Olympic doubles silver medalist, used his savvy doubles experience coupled with Gimelstob’s diving volleys to defeat Courier and Washington 8-5.
In Sunday’s third place match, Ferreira looked to avenge the loss handed to him by Courier three weeks earlier in the finals of the Cayman event. Ferreira’s inconsistency coupled with Courier’s aggressive forehands saw the demise of Ferreira, 6-4, 6-2. Afterwards, Krickstein and McEnroe took to the court to battle for the Boston title which would be the first for either of them on the Outback Champions Series. Trading strong groundstrokes and serves, Krickstein took the first set 7-5 but McEnroe fought back using aggressive volleys, altering the momentum of the match and taking the second set 6-3. McEnroe then went on to clinch the champions’ tiebreak, 10-5, winning his first ever Outback Champions Series event. The victory also earned McEnroe enough points to tie Jim Courier for the number one spot in the 2008 Stanford Champions Rankings.
InsideOut thanks all of the tennis fans in the New England area for continued support of the Outback Champions Series and Champions Cup Boston. Be sure to check back at
www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com for 2008 event information, updates, ticket and hospitality packages and player perspectives.
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