PlayStation Gets Back in the Race
After a two-year hiatus, John McEnroe and the senior tennis tour are returning to Newport Beach.
McEnroe, Henri Leconte and Pat Cash have committed to play in the Newport Beach Champions event, an eight-man, round-robin tournament at Newport Beach Tennis Club. The May 9-13 tournament is the fifth and last stop on the Success Magazine Tour, formerly called the Nuveen Tour.
“We’re excited for Orange County and for our club,” said Scott Davis, the director of tennis at Newport Beach Tennis Club who also will play in the tournament. “The owner [Steve Joyce] and myself came here over a year ago and we were looking for a high visibility event to promote tennis in the area. This helps everyone in the tennis industry.”
In 1998, a field of McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and Yannick Noah drew almost 15,000 at the Palisades Club in Newport Beach for the Quality Challenge, a three-day, made-for-television tournament. Henry Brehm, executive producer of the Success Magazine Tour, said he is still searching for a title sponsor for this year’s tournament.
“Even if we don’t come up with a title sponsor, we’re still committed to the event,” Brehm said. “We’ve received enough money from support sponsors to go ahead with the event.”
The tournament will be televised on a delayed basis by Fox Sports Net and Fox Sports International. Over the five days, there will be seven sessions. Temporary seating will be built for a capacity of 3,400 spectators. Parking will be set up at sites around Newport Beach and Irvine.
To complete the singles field, Brehm said he is pursuing Noah, Mats Wilander, Monsour Bahrami and Jimmy Connors.