Pasarell to Bring New Events, Borg to Desert

Charlie Pasarell, former star player and current star organizer of winter tennis events in the Palm Springs area, has added some new wrinkles to his desert calendar.

Pasarell has run a men’s tour stop here since 1981. That tournament, the Newsweek Champions Cup, has grown into one of the main stops of the year--designated a “Championship Series” event by the Assn. of Tennis Professionals.

Having achieved that, Pasarell has pushed for growth elsewhere, resulting in these announcements Thursday:

--Pasarell’s Hyatt Grand Champions stadium will play host to a Women’s Tennis Assn. tournament Feb. 24-March 1, the week before his men’s tournament, and the women’s tournament will mark the first tour stop named for retired Chris Evert.

--Running side by side with the final weekend of the women’s event will be the first ATP-sanctioned senior men’s tournament, Feb. 28-March 2.

--Making his senior (35 and over) debut in the event will be Bjorn Borg.

--The TNT cable network will carry the final two days of the men’s tournament, March 7-8, for the first time, and ESPN will carry portions of the women’s event.

The women’s tournament will be called the Matrix Essentials/Evert Cup. Matrix is a women’s hair and skin-care company.

Evert flew in from her home in Florida to announce the new tournament and was introduced as “Alex’s mom,” a reference to her 3 1/2-month-old son.

The senior event may be the most intriguing new concept in tennis in some time. It will award more money to doubles winners than singles winners, and doubles teams will be drawn from two hats before the tournament begins, with one hat including names of the eight youngest players entered and the other the eight oldest.

The only singles the seniors will play will be a “shootout.” The entire tournament will be finished in less than two hours and all matches will be 12-point tiebreakers, until the final, which will be a best-of-three tiebreakers.

The players will be widely known former stars: Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Ken Rosewall, Bjorn Borg and others.