Hamburg is the place to be this week for anyone interested in the world’s best tennis.
While Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic battle it out for the Masters Series Hamburg presented by EON Hanse title, some of the most popular players in tennis history will contest the BlackRock Tennis Classic.
Former Wimbledon champions Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Stich and Pat Cash (pictured) will be on-hand, as will French Open winner Thomas Muster, former Roland Garros finalist Henri Leconte and Swedish duo Anders Jarryd and Mikael Pernfors. Germany’s Marc-Kevin Goellner has received a wild card invitation into the event.
Pete Sampras will make his BlackRock Tour of Champions debut in Sao Paulo
Ivanisevic has been drawn into a group with Jarryd, Pernfors and Goellner, while Stich meets Cash, Muster and Leconte.
On Wednesday, the 1991 Wimbledon winner Stich will clash with the 1987 champion Cash in what is sure to be an enjoyable throw-back to the days when players charged the net, even on the slowest surface of all.
Goellner will no doubt use his gargantuan forehand to try to quell the speedy Pernfors, and Ivanisevic will look to fight off Jarryd, who won the title in Belfast at the start of the year.
After Hamburg, Pete Sampras will make his long awaited debut on the BlackRock Tour of Champions in Sao Paulo, 21-24 May, 2008.
In this exclusive video, he looks forward to playing in Sao Paulo, and again in London in December.
The Tour opened in Belfast in February with Anders Jarryd successfully defending his title. in Barcelona last month, Marcelo Rios triumphed.
