LOS ANGELES, March 1, 2018 (Press Release)
QQQ Champions Series by Invesco, the circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30, announced its full 2018 circuit of events starting April 7 in Charleston, S.C.
The 2018 QQQ Champions Series by Invesco will also again partner alongside ATP and WTA events in Charleston, S.C., Newport, R.I., Winston-Salem, N.C., and New Haven, Conn. The series of one-night tournaments, featuring two one-set semifinal matches and a one-set final-round match played between tennis legends, will feature for a fourth straight year players making their own line-calls with the assistance of electronic line-calling.
Former Wimbledon and U.S. Open Champions Lleyton Hewitt and former world No. 2 and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Tommy Haas will join the QQQ Champions Series by Invesco tennis circuit in 2018.
Hewitt was the youngest man to achieve the world No. 1 ranking in 2001 at the age of 20, buoyed by his upset win over Pete Sampras in the U.S. Open final. The following year, he won the Wimbledon singles title defeating David Nalbandian in the final. He lead Australia to the Davis Cup title in 1999 and 2003 and currently serves as the Australian team captain. “I have followed some of my former rivals on the QQQ Champions Series by Invesco with great interest over the past few years and am really excited to finally get back out on court against them in this super entertaining format,” said Hewitt.
Haas was the silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, losing a five-set gold medal match to Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He achieved a career-high ranking of No. 2 and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1999, 2002 and 2007 and Wimbledon in 2009. He won 15 career singles title in his career, including the title in Halle in his native Germany in 2012, defeating Roger Federer in the final. “I’m excited about having the opportunity to continue to play competitive tennis on the QQQ Champions Series by Invesco this year,” said Haas. “As professional athletes, we never lose that urge to compete and the QQQ Champions Series by Invesco will give me that opportunity to continue to play the sport that I love. It will be great to compete once again against the likes of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Jim Courier and I will relish the opportunity to play against John McEnroe, which is something I have not had the chance to do.”
“It’s going to be very exciting to see Lleyton and Tommy compete on the QQQ Champions Series by Invesco,” said Jon Venison, co-founding partner of InsideOut Sports & Entertainment and the QQQ Champions Series by Invesco. “It will be fascinating to see them renew some of their longstanding rivalries against the likes of Andy Roddick and James Blake while also having the chance to take a shot at the 59-year-old John McEnroe in one of the unique cross-generational match-ups that only happen on the QQQ Champions Series by Invesco.”
The full 2018 QQQ Champions Series by Invesco schedule, with player fields, is as follows:
2018 QQQ Champions Series by Invesco Schedule:
· April 7: Charleston, SC (Family Circle Tennis Center) – Andy Roddick, Michael Chang, Tommy Haas and Mark Philippoussis
· May 5, 6: Kohala Coast, HI (Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows) – John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas and Mardy Fish
· May 17: Toronto, ON (Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre) – John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas and James Blake
· July 22: Newport, R.I. (International Tennis Hall of Fame) – Lleyton Hewitt, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas and James Blake
· August 19: Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest University) – Players TBA
· August 23, 24: New Haven, CT (Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale) – Players TBA
· October 4: St. Louis, MO (Chaifetz Arena) – Players TBA
· October 6: Houston, TX (Tudor Fieldhouse) – Players TBA
· October 19: Denver, CO (1stBank Center) – Players TBA
· October 21: Los Angeles, CA (Sherwood Country Club) – Players TBA
Each QQQ Champions Series by Invesco event also features special VIP experiences, including hit-with-the-pros opportunities and special back-stage access. All ticket, experience and event information can be found at www.PowerSharesSeries.com.
In 2017, the year-long points championship was decided in the final match of the season when Andy Roddick defeated James Blake in the Los Angeles final at the Sherwood Country Club. Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and world No. 1, won four PowerShares Series titles in all in 2017, winning in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Lincoln, Neb., and Los Angeles. Blake, the former world No. 4 and former U.S. Davis Cup star, won series titles in Charleston, S.C., Winston-Salem, N.C. and in Lynchburg, Va.
In 2016, Mark Philippoussis won the Series points title with 1600 points and tournament titles in Memphis, Tulsa, Newport, Winston-Salem and New Haven. Roddick finished in second place, also earning 1600 points but losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philippoussis 5-2, while winning titles in Charleston, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Orlando. Blake finished in third place with 1100 points and tournament titles in Chicago, Portland and Brooklyn.
In 2015, Roddick won the Series points title in his second year of competing on the series with 1,600 points. Roddick won a record eight events Los Angeles, Lincoln, Chicago, Austin, Little Rock, Dallas, Richmond and Minneapolis. Blake finished second in the points rankings with 1,200 points, winning events in Boston and Cincinnati. Philippoussis finished in third with 1,100 points, winning titles in Salt Lake City and Vancouver. The year before 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.
