[desmond001]

Courier, Cash And Larsson Post Opening Wins In Newport
8.13.08 InsideOut Sports & Entertainment
McEnroe To Face Washington Thursday In Outback Champions Series Play

NEWPORT, R.I., August 13 - Jim Courier, Pat Cash and Magnus Larsson all posted victories Wednesday on the opening day of play of the $150,000 Hall of Fame Champions Cup, the fourth of eight events on the 2008 Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30. Playing on the historic grass courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino – the site of the first U.S. Championships (the modern day US Open) in 1881 - Courier, a resident of New York, N.Y., defeated Mikael Pernfors of Sweden 7-6 (1), 6-4 while Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion from Australia, defeated Karel Novacek of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1. In the opening match of the day, Larsson, from Sweden, upset Wayne Ferreira of South Africa 6-2, 6-2.

Cash, playing in his first Outback Champions Series event of the year, easily defeated Novacek, primarily a clay court specialist playing in his first career Outback Champions Series tournament. Novacek had trouble on the grass surface - one that he is admittedly unfamiliar with – as he struggled throughout the match against Cash’s strong serve and volley play.

“I think Karel had trouble returning serve,” said Cash. “It takes a while to get used to a grass court surface. Later in the week, he will play better. I think we all will play a bit better”

Said Novacek, “Patrick’s (grass court) experience really got me today. I don’t play much on grass. The last time was a decade ago.”

Courier is currently the top player on the Outback Champions Series – tied for the No. 1 ranking on the Stanford Champions Rankings with fellow American John McEnroe with 1700 ranking points entering the Newport event. Against Pernfors, Courier broke his Swedish opponent at 5-5 in the first set, but was unable to immediately close out the set, serving two double-faults to have his serve broken, sending the first set into a tie-breaker. Courier then dominated the tie-breaker – winning seven of eight points – and held onto the win the second set after overcoming an early service-break deficit. Courier’s win gave him 100 Stanford Champions Rankings points, giving a 100-point temporary lead over McEnroe, who makes his tournament debut Thursday against Mal Washington.

“I take the lead (in the series) for the day,” joked Courier after the match of his lead over McEnroe in the points standings. “It’s fun. We are all competitive people. I played well right out of the box today. We have five more tournaments to play, and I just want to keep the momentum going.”

Larsson and Ferreira both displayed classic, old school serve-and-volley grass court play in their opening round-robin match. Larsson broke Ferreira’s serve in the sixth game of the match and used his big serve to knock off easy volleys and dominate the No. 3-ranked Ferreira.

“It’s good to get the first break, to get some momentum going,” said Larsson. “I was lucky to get away and win.”