Cayman’s tennis fans will not be able to see Michael Chang after
all this weekend.
The Anerican has withdrawn from the
2010 The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman Legends Championships due
to the pending birth of his first child. Chang will be replaced in the field by
1986 French Open finalist Mikael Pernfors. Rounding out the field at the
clay-court Champions Series event are Hall of Famers Stefan Edberg and Jim
Courier, former US and Australian Open champion Marat Safin and former top 10
US standouts Aaron Krickstein and Jimmy Arias.
Chang said: “I was very much
looking forward to competing in the event in the Cayman Islands. However, at
this time I need to be with my wife as we eagerly await the birth of our first
child.”
Chang played his first event on the
Champions Series in 2006, finishing in third place at The Cancer Treatment
Centers of America Tennis Championships in Surprise, Arizona. Chang married former
two-time NCAA singles champion from Stanford Amber Liu two years ago.
This year’s Grand Cayman tournament
will feature for the first time a multi-day pro-am experience that will be
combined with the world class tennis competition to create an exclusive tennis
event. All six competing pros will participate in the pro-am that will see the
legends playing matches and enjoying meals and social time with participating
amateurs over multiple days.
Edberg, Courier and Safin have won
12 major singles titles in total and each achieved the world’s No.1 ranking. The
event will be played on red clay courts in a single-knockout format event with
each player vying for a first-prize paycheck of $45,000 and ranking points that
determine the year-end No.1 ranked player on the Champions Series circuit.
In the opening quarter-final match
at 7pm on Friday, Pernfors will play Krickstein, followed by Courier taking on
Arias. On Saturday, starting at 2pm, the winner of the Pernfors-Krickstein
match will play Safin while the winner of the Courier-Arias match will play
Edberg.
The schedule of play on Sunday will
feature the third-place match between the two losing semi-finalists starting at
1pm followed by the championship match.
To be eligible to compete in the
Champions Series, players must have reached at least a major singles final,
been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a championship
Davis Cup team.
Courier finished the 2009 season as
the top-ranked player on the Champions Series, followed by Pete Sampras and
Todd Martin. Courier won the at last year’s Cayman Legends Championship beating
Arias 6-4, 6-2 in the final. Courier also won the 2008 inaugural tournament
here.
Tennis fans interested in participating in the pro-am with the
legends can find ticket, travel and tournament information by visiting
www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com
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