Sampras to make first visit to China

Move over, giant pandas. The legendary Pete Sampras is coming to town.

On Thursday, the City of Chengdu in China's Sichuan Province, and CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company, announced that Sampras, widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, is making his long-awaited debut in China as part of the eight-player field for the second Chengdu Open.

The ATP Champions Tour Event will take place from Oct. 21-24, 2010 at the Sichuan International Tennis Center.

Joining American Sampras, who is a 14-time Grand Slam Champion and seven-time winner of the Wimbledon singles crown, will be defending Chengdu champion Thomas Enqvist (Sweden), former ATP Tour singles and doubles No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia), Wimbledon champions Pat Cash (Australia) and Michael Stich (Germany), two-time US Open champion Pat Rafter (Australia), Davis Cup winner Guy Forget (France), and Thai sensation Paradorn Srichaphan.

The eight players hold a combined 150 ATP World Tour singles titles and 62 ATP World Tour doubles titles. Seven of the players are former top 5 ATP Tour players; all eight players were ranked within the top 10.

To be eligible to compete on the ATP Champions Tour, players must have been either a world No. 1, a Grand Slam singles finalist or winner, or a singles player on a Davis Cup-winning team during their tenure on the Tour. Each event may also invite two wild card players.

The Chengdu Open will be played over four days with players divided into two round robin groups of four players. The first group, called the Panda Group, consists of Sampras, Srichaphan, Forget and Cash; the second group, called the "Chili Group" features Enqvist, Rafter, Stich and Kafelnikov.

The winner in each group will advance to the final on Sunday, while the second-place finishers in each group will play-off for third place. Matches are a best-of-three sets, with the deciding set played as a champions tiebreak - the winner is the first to reach 10 points with at least a two-point margin.

Chengdu Sports Bureau Director Qin Wenlin said,"We are indeed deeply honored that Pete Sampras, a global sports icon, has selected Chengdu as the destination for his first trip to China. Following Michael Chang, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe's historic visit last year, we are putting Chengdu on the world map for all the right reasons. The city is excited."

Tournament director and IMG Senior Vice President and Head of Tennis, Asia, Nick Freyer said,"It is a tremendous honor to join forces again with Pete Sampras after his historic matches in 2007 and 2009 in Asia, against Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. To make history once again, with Pete' s first ever visit to China, and to do it in the company of so many other ATP Champions, is a coup for Chengdu and very exciting for all of us at IMG."

Sichuan Sports Bureau director Zhu Ling said,"Travelers have long been visiting Sichuan in order to see Chengdu, to experience our giant pandas and to enjoy our famously spicy cuisine. We are thrilled to give them yet another compelling reason to travel here."

The players shared their excitement in a number of video messages shown at Thursday's media launch, which can also be seen on the official event website. Enqvist, the current ATP Champions Tour No.1 and last year's titlist, eagerly anticipates the challenge Sampras represents.

"I am really looking forward to coming back to Chengdu and trying to defend my title," he said. "I had a fantastic time there last year and I' m looking forward to playing Pete Sampras."

Enqvist, a finalist at the 1999 Australian Open and the current Swedish Davis Cup captain, now holds a 21-1 record on the ATP Champions Tour. His lone loss came at the hands of Goran Ivanesvic this past April in the Barcelona final. Previously, Enqvist had won every ATP Champions Tour event he had entered.

Last year's third-place finisher at the Chengdu Open, Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia), is a former singles and doubles ATP Tour No. 1. He won singles slams at Roland Garros in 1996 and at the Australian Open in 1999, as well as the 2000 singles Olympic Gold medal.
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